A game that you can play for free, with a heavy restriction on the "can play" part. Browser games based around this idea are also known as "Free To Pay".
This is primarily an advertising trope about a mismatch between PR and reality. If the commercials bandy about terms like “FREE,” “UNLIMITED” and “WITHOUT PAYING” while the ability to complete or be competitive within the game is walled off for [...] [tvtropes.org]