Drive a train across the wasteland in this free indie game

If Metro Exodus was set entirely on the train, it might look something like Keep It Alive: a game of powering through the post-apocalypse in a train carriage. As a train driver, well, more of a shoveller and a security guard, you have attend to multiple spinning plates, as the train advances from station to station in the world.

First, there's the engine, which you have to constantly fill with precious coal. If you don't—by moving to the right side of the screen and hitting left and right, alternately—a zombie-style creature will begin to climb onto the train. When this happens, you have to jump to the middle of the train, and put a bullet in it. Both coal and bullets are limited, and only refreshed between stages.

When you're not keeping the train fed, and zombies at bay, you need to keep a beating heart—your cargo—alive, by frequently turning a handle. It's a tense, fun game of spinning plates, with an ending that's a bit too silly for me. But this is an enjoyable, sidewise look at the post-apocalypse.

For more great free experiences, check out our roundup of the best free PC games.

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.