Back to Puffinholm Isle
Muckle's croft-table shelf

Eight games for the croft table
while the midnight sun hangs over the pier

On Puffinholm the summer sky never quite goes dark, so when the ferry is tied up and the puffins have settled, Muckle pulls a laptop onto the croft table and opens eight free games that carry on between visits. There are fleets to send between planets, a medieval village farm, two football clubs to manage, a zoo of rare animals, a Stone Age tribe, a gothic night war and a fantasy questing hero. Each one opens in a computer browser tab, and five of them also have an official phone app.

8games stacked by the peat fire
5carry a pocket version on the phone too
4kinds of game, from zoo to galaxy
Zoo 2: Animal Park key art
The pony's own favourite

Zoo 2: Animal Park

Zoo keeping and breeding sim · Farm, town & zoo

A pony who shares his cliffs with a whole colony of puffins was always going to open the zoo first. Here you raise and house the animals, keep the crowds at the gate well fed and cheerful, and push the fences out one enclosure after another. Feeding rounds, decorating and a slow trickle of new species give it the steady pace of a croft year, fine for ten minutes or a whole wet Sunday.

Good for
Animal lovers who like watching a park fill up visit after visit.
Typical session
A short round of feeding and tidying
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Settle the first enclosures before buying new species.
  2. Keep food stalls near the paths so the crowds stay content.
  3. Expand slowly so every animal keeps its care routine.
Play Zoo 2: Animal Park freeOpens zoo2animalpark.upjers.com/en in a new tab

Seven more on the shelf above the peat stack

OGame key artSpace & sci-fi

OGame

Planets, mines and fleets MMO

Planets dig their mines, labs climb a research tree and fleets cross the dark in genuine hours, which makes this the slowest-burning tab Muckle owns. A fleet in mid-flight can be ambushed, so wise commanders send a spy probe ahead and tuck their ships away before bedtime.

  • A few minutes to queue builds and send fleets
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Patient strategists who enjoy moves that truly matter.

Your first session
  1. Put your early resources into mines.
  2. Probe a target before any fleet leaves orbit.
  3. Never leave a fleet parked at home when you log off.
Play OGame freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/ogame
My Little Farmies key artFarm, town & zoo

My Little Farmies

Medieval village farm sim

Barley and turnips go into the furrows, the mill and the bakery turn them into wares, and a medieval village grows up around the folk who buy them. No swords are drawn here at all, so it is the tab Muckle opens when the wind is up and the peat fire is lit.

  • A harvest and a restock
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Croft-minded builders who prefer ploughs to swords.

Your first session
  1. Plant fields that finish while you are away.
  2. Build one workshop chain before starting a second.
  3. Keep a store of basic crops for new orders.
Play My Little Farmies freeOpens mylittlefarmies.upjers.com/en
Hattrick key artSport & management

Hattrick

Training-led football management

Seven days of training go into one chosen skill for the entire first team, so a squad improves slowly and exactly as you planned it. Transfers happen on one big market against other human managers, and your match orders can go right down to a single winger.

  • A short weekly visit, plus match day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Managers who like a deep game and a living transfer market.

Your first session
  1. Choose one training focus and stay with it.
  2. Study the transfer list for a week before you bid.
  3. Set match orders before each game, not after.
Play Hattrick freeOpens hattrick.org/en
goalunited LEGENDS key artSport & management

goalunited LEGENDS

Club, squad and stadium manager

The second football club on the shelf feels different from the first. You drill the squad, pick tactics, add stands to the ground and steer the team through season after season against other managers, in a browser relaunch of a game many players remember fondly.

  • A quick training and tactics check
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Football fans who want to run the whole club, terraces included.

Your first session
  1. Set a training plan in the first week.
  2. Keep tactics simple until you know the squad.
  3. Grow the stadium alongside the team, not ahead of it.
Play goalunited LEGENDS freeOpens legends.goalunited.org
Stonies key artFarm, town & zoo

Stonies

Cave-folk camp builder

A small band of cave folk gathers berries, knaps flint and works out new ideas, and their camp spreads wider with every discovery. Daily survival jobs keep hands busy, while a long, slow climb through new technologies means each visit unlocks something fresh.

  • A few minutes handing out chores
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Builders who like a touch of survival in their sim.

Your first session
  1. Hand each cave dweller a chore before logging off.
  2. Research the basics before widening the camp.
  3. Keep food stores ahead of the tribe.
Play Stonies freeOpens stonies-game.upjers.com/en
BiteFight key artRole-play & adventure

BiteFight

Vampire and werewolf RPG

Choose fangs or fur in a never-ending feud between vampires and werewolves, then send your character on timed hunts to grow stronger. Rival players can be called out face to face, and a ladder that never resets shows exactly how high you have climbed.

  • One timed hunt and a duel or two
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Players who want a darker, simpler role-play game.

Your first session
  1. Choose your side with care; it shapes the whole game.
  2. Send out a hunt every time you visit.
  3. Pick duels against rivals near your own level.
Play BiteFight freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/bitefight
Tanoth key artRole-play & adventure

Tanoth

Fantasy RPG of timed quest-board jobs

Jobs are picked off a quest board and finish in real elapsed time, so the hero is still out adventuring while the tea brews. Each new level brings points to spend on attributes, ruin crawls turn up rare gear, and guild members band together against bosses.

  • A quest or two per visit
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, & Muckle’s first steps

Good for: Players who like a light role-play game to dip into daily.

Your first session
  1. Choose quests sized to the minutes you have spare.
  2. Spend attribute points as soon as you level up.
  3. Join a guild early for the boss fights.
Play Tanoth freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/tanoth

All eight laid out on the croft table

Game on the croft tableSort of game, in Muckle’s wordsBrisk or slow, by Muckle’s clockCompany in the gameA sitting by the peat fireScreens Muckle runs it on
Zoo 2: Animal ParkZoo keeping and breeding simUnhurried, one new paddock at a timeYour paddocks, your pace, no rivals at the gateA short round of feeding and tidyingDesktop browser; mobile app also available
OGamePlanets, mines and fleets MMOSlow and deliberate, flight by flightA whole universe of rival playersA few minutes to queue builds and send fleetsDesktop browser; mobile app also available
My Little FarmiesMedieval village farm simRelaxed, harvest by harvestNeighbours, but no fightingA harvest and a restockDesktop browser; mobile app also available
HattrickTraining-led football managementWeek by week, one match day at a timeLeagues of real managers, week in, week outA short weekly visit, plus match dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
goalunited LEGENDSClub, squad and stadium managerOne long season after anotherOther managers fighting for the same promotionA quick training and tactics checkDesktop browser
StoniesCave-folk camp builderSteady, task by taskA quiet tribe of your ownA few minutes handing out choresDesktop browser; mobile app also available
BiteFightVampire and werewolf RPGTimed outings, a hunt at a timeDirect duels on a persistent ladderOne timed hunt and a duel or twoDesktop browser
TanothFantasy RPG of timed quest-board jobsQuest by quest in real timeGuild raids on bosses, ranked one-on-one boutsA quest or two per visitDesktop browser

What the eight cost: nothing to start, though each one sells optional extras inside the game.

01

Nothing to pay at the croft door

The zoo, the star fleets, the farm village, both football clubs, the cave-folk camp, the night feud and the questing hero are whole games from the first evening, and a summer of play can pass without a penny spent.

Every studio keeps a shop of boosts and trimmings on the side, and lots of players simply walk past it. If the laptop is shared with children, look in the account or app-store settings for a spending cap.

02

First night in a fresh game

Each button opens the studio's official site next to this page. Hand it an email address and, in less time than it takes the ferry to tie up, your zoo, club, camp or hero is waiting under a name of your choosing.

A short tutorial greets you in every game, and it is worth finishing. Menus and systems arrive one by one, rather like a newcomer to the isle learning the sheep track to the pier before trying the crag tops.

03

A glance at dawn, a long sit at dusk

Most of the shelf runs on while you are out: fleets land, barley ripens and match days get played. A peek over the morning porridge and another when the puffins settle at night will keep each game ticking over nicely.

Spend the short visits collecting, queueing up builds and answering teammates. Big decisions deserve a slow evening by the fire: a new species, a transfer bid, a guild boss or a fleet sent clear across the map.

04

Keep every sign-in safe

Every studio guards its own door, so type a password only into the web address that studio publishes itself. Muckle keeps a separate key for each croft on the isle; do likewise and let no two games share a password, and switch on any extra login code a studio sends by text or email.

No real studio worker will ask for your password, however friendly the note. A message promising piles of gems for a peek at your login comes from someone hoping to empty your account, so report it and delete it.

Why these eight earned a place by the croft fire

  • Not one of them needs more than an ordinary computer browser, so a drizzly afternoon on the isle can turn into a cup run or a new penguin pool before the kettle has cooled.
  • Joining costs nothing anywhere on this shelf, and Muckle has yet to find one that locks its main game behind the shop.
  • Ships keep flying and barley keeps ripening with the lid of the laptop down, so one look after the late ferry nudges all eight along.
  • It stretches from star fleets and moonlit werewolf hunts to a cave-dwelling tribe, a peaceful farm village and two quite different football clubs.

No. Each of the eight runs in a tab of a computer browser. OGame, My Little Farmies, Zoo 2: Animal Park, Hattrick and Stonies offer an official phone app too, but nobody needs it to play.

No. You can register with every one of them for free and play on without spending; every shop stays strictly optional.

No. Muckle just keeps the shelf dusted. Every title is built and looked after by its own studio, and the buttons on this page simply point you to their official sites.

No. Eight separate studios mean eight separate free registrations, one for each game you fancy.

OGame, My Little Farmies, Zoo 2: Animal Park, Hattrick and Stonies also turn up as official phone apps. goalunited LEGENDS, BiteFight and Tanoth are played in a computer browser.

Stonies or My Little Farmies, where handing out jobs or bringing in a harvest takes a few minutes. OGame and the two football clubs reward longer, more thoughtful sessions.

Yes. OGame fills a universe with rival players, Hattrick and goalunited LEGENDS run leagues of real managers, BiteFight and Tanoth have duels, guilds and ladders, while the zoo, the farm and the cave-folk camp are calmer and mostly solo.