Back to Kettlemist Hills
Fernella's fog-day shelf

When the fog sits too thick to pick,
Fernella opens one of these eight in the tea house

Some mornings the valley mist climbs right over the top terrace, the baskets stay stacked by the door and Fernella settles at the tea-house table with a laptop instead. These are her eight free fog-day picks, from a clay-and-iron village and a medieval empire to a fortress under siege, a farm, a Stone Age camp, a football club, a pirate ship and a tank garage, and every one of them runs in a plain browser tab.

8games on the tea-house shelf
3with a phone app from the studio too
Freeto register, every game on the shelf
KingsAge key art
Clay, wood and iron

KingsAge

Clay-and-iron village conquest · Strategy & war

The potter in Fernella approves: this whole kingdom runs on wood, clay and iron. Grow a medieval village, drill spearmen, swordsmen and horsemen, and send scouts to look over any target before you march. When you are ready, noblemen let you annex a neighbouring village outright, so one hamlet slowly becomes a whole ridge of them, much like the shields along the castle wall above the tea rows.

Good for
Fans of classic village-conquest strategy with a slow build.
Typical session
Short visits between picking rounds
Where it runs
Desktop browser
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Keep the clay pit, the woodcutter and the iron mine all busy.
  2. Scout each village before a single spearman marches.
  3. Save up for noblemen before eyeing a neighbour.
Play KingsAge freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/kingsage in a new tab

Seven more for a morning lost in the mist

Imperia Online key artStrategy & war

Imperia Online

Ever-running medieval empire

A medieval empire that never stops running. Found a village, then raise economic, military and university buildings side by side; when rivals push back, roll out catapults and trebuchets for a siege. Beaten players can be made vassals, so every conquest leaves a lasting mark on the map.

  • A daily look, a long sit when catapults roll
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Strategists who want each victory to carry consequences.

Your first session
  1. Balance the economy before the army.
  2. Put early research into the university.
  3. Build siege engines only once your walls are safe.
Play Imperia Online freeOpens imperiaonline.org
My Free Farm key artFarm, town & zoo

My Free Farm

Classic sow-and-sell farm

Simple to look at, this farm hides a remarkably deep economy. Plant the fields, rear the animals, take every harvest to market, then learn to plan the planting cycles so no plot sits idle. Fernella likes it for the same reason she likes tidy tea rows: patience and timing pay off far more than flashy pictures.

  • Short visits to sow, feed and sell
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Planners who would trade glossy pictures for a deep economy.

Your first session
  1. Plant only what you can harvest on time.
  2. Feed the animals before the fields.
  3. Sell steadily rather than hoarding the barn full.
Play My Free Farm freeOpens myfreefarm.com
goalunited LEGENDS key artSport & management

goalunited LEGENDS

Dugout-and-stadium football club

Football for a foggy Saturday indoors. Train your squad, set the tactics before each fixture and grow the stadium one stand at a time, then follow the club through season after season against other managers. Every choice is made from the dugout, so quick fingers never come into it.

  • A short look before each match
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Football fans who would rather pick the team than kick the ball.

Your first session
  1. Settle on one formation and train for it.
  2. Spread training so the bench stays sharp.
  3. Expand the stadium as the crowds grow.
Play goalunited LEGENDS freeOpens legends.goalunited.org
Stonies key artFarm, town & zoo

Stonies

Stone Age tribe and camp builder

A Stone Age camp from long before anyone threw a pot on a wheel. Set your tribe gathering, crafting and researching, then stretch the camp outwards as their know-how grows. Survival chores keep the opening days busy, and the slow climb up the technology ladder is what pulls you back each morning.

  • Short rounds to hand out tasks
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Builders who enjoy a survival flavour to their settlement sims.

Your first session
  1. Leave no one in the tribe standing idle.
  2. Keep food stores ahead of the camp size.
  3. Research the next tool before expanding.
Play Stonies freeOpens stonies-game.upjers.com/en
Seafight key artRole-play & adventure

Seafight

Broadside pirate seafaring

Salt water a long way from the tea hills. Captain your own ship, trade broadsides with rival crews on the open sea and upgrade the hull and cannons between voyages, then sail off to dig up buried hoards on far islands as you rise through a world of buccaneers.

  • Medium sessions at sea
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Players who fancy a swashbuckling voyage.

Your first session
  1. Upgrade the hull before the cannons.
  2. Sail with a crew while learning the waters.
  3. Pick fights with ships your own size.
Play Seafight freeOpens seafight.com
Combat Siege key artStrategy & war

Combat Siege

Hold-the-wall siege strategy

Made for anyone who would rather hold the wall than storm it. Raise defences, plan each attack with care and coordinate with an alliance over repeated sessions, so every fortification you add makes the next siege a little harder for the other side.

  • Regular sessions with the alliance
  • Desktop browser
Good for & first steps

Good for: Defensive tacticians who enjoy a long plan.

Your first session
  1. Shore up the defences before attacking anyone.
  2. Find a busy alliance in your first week.
  3. Plan sieges together rather than alone.
Play Combat Siege freeOpens combatsiege.com
Tanki Online key artAction & arcade

Tanki Online

Hull-and-turret tank battles

Tank battles straight from a browser tab. Pair interchangeable hulls and turrets in your garage, improve them using whatever each battle earns you and climb the rank tiers that open up better kit, across deathmatch and capture modes against other live players.

  • A match or two at a time
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Good for & first steps

Good for: Players after quick, noisy matches between quieter games.

Your first session
  1. Try a few hull and turret pairings first.
  2. Upgrade one favourite set rather than many.
  3. Stick with your team in capture modes.
Play Tanki Online freeOpens tankionline.com/en

All eight chalked up on the tea-house board

Game on Fernella’s listGenre, as Fernella files itHow briskPlaying alongside others?A typical sitting, tea in handRuns in or on
KingsAgeClay-and-iron village conquestReal time, built up over weeksNeighbours who scout, trade and raidShort visits between picking roundsDesktop browser
Imperia OnlineEver-running medieval empireReal time, sieges planned in advanceRival lords, vassals and alliancesA daily look, a long sit when catapults rollDesktop browser; mobile app also available
My Free FarmClassic sow-and-sell farmGentle, set by crop timersA long-standing farming communityShort visits to sow, feed and sellDesktop browser
goalunited LEGENDSDugout-and-stadium football clubFixture to fixture, season to seasonRival managers in every divisionA short look before each matchDesktop browser
StoniesStone Age tribe and camp builderUnhurried, one discovery at a timeA calm single-tribe buildShort rounds to hand out tasksDesktop browser; mobile app also available
SeafightBroadside pirate seafaringBattles in real timeCrews and rival buccaneersMedium sessions at seaDesktop browser
Combat SiegeHold-the-wall siege strategyRepeated sessions of planningAlliances that defend and attack togetherRegular sessions with the allianceDesktop browser
Tanki OnlineHull-and-turret tank battlesQuick, noisy roundsSquads of live opponentsA match or two at a timeDesktop browser; mobile app also available

What all 8 cost: nothing to start; each sells optional extras inside the game.

01

Nothing owed at the tea-house door

All eight let you in without paying, and you could play through a whole picking season without spending anything; every village, farm, camp and club is the complete game.

On the side, each studio offers an optional shop selling shortcuts and decorations. Many veterans have never bought from it, and on a laptop shared around the family the account settings often let you put a cap on spending.

02

Your first fog-bound morning

Every button opens the studio's own website in a new tab next to this one. Register there with an email address and soon there is a village, a farm, a ship or a club with your name on it.

Each of the eight starts with a short tutorial. Stay with it until it ends, since it leads you round every menu one by one, much as Fernella shows a new picker which leaves to take before the first basket is filled.

03

Short looks and long afternoons

None of the eight pauses when the tab closes: crops grow, troops train, ships sail and fixtures get played. A visit with breakfast and another when the lamps come on keeps everything running smoothly.

Use the quick looks for harvesting, queuing builds and answering allies. Save a properly wet afternoon for weighty moves like launching a siege, signing a striker or founding a new settlement.

04

Keep your sign-in safe

Each game's account belongs to its own studio, so type your password only on that studio's real web address. Pick a fresh password for every one of the eight, and say yes to any extra login step a studio puts on offer.

A moderator worth the name never needs your password. A stranger trading shiny in-game extras for your login details only wants your account for themselves, so block and report them.

How these eight earned a place by the tea-house window

  • Each of the eight needs nothing more than a browser on a laptop or desktop, so your first move is made before the kettle on the tea-house stove has come to the boil.
  • Joining is free across all eight, and steady players climb a long way in each of them while leaving its shop untouched.
  • Villages, fields, camps and clubs carry on growing after the tab is shut, so even a short look between two rows of picking still gets real work done.
  • All eight have been running for years with settled communities, so a newcomer finds plenty of old hands willing to point the way.

No. All eight run in the web browser on a computer, and Imperia Online, Stonies and Tanki Online also offer a phone app from their own studio.

No. Registering is free for every one, each can be played without paying, and anything you buy inside a game is entirely your choice.

No, and Kettlemist Hills did not either. Each of these games was built and is still run by its own studio, and every button here simply leads to that studio's official website.

No. They come from eight different studios, so you register with each one separately.

Imperia Online, Stonies and Tanki Online each have a studio phone app alongside the browser version, while KingsAge, My Free Farm, goalunited LEGENDS, Seafight and Combat Siege are browser-only and play best on the bigger screen of a laptop or desktop.

My Free Farm and Stonies, because a few minutes of attention keeps both ticking along. KingsAge, Imperia Online and Combat Siege reward longer, planned sessions.

Yes. KingsAge and Imperia Online put you among rival rulers, Combat Siege is built around alliances, goalunited LEGENDS has leagues of managers, and Seafight and Tanki Online pit you against live players.