This list is a little old, so some of the links may not work anymore, but overall it’s still a pretty solid compendium for any budget concious Linux (or Windows) gamer!
Know of a game that should be added to the list? Leave a comment below! ^_^
Also check out:
FPS
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| CS:GO |
Counter Strike: Global Offensive, the premier online FPS [Free-to-Play] |
No |
| Warfork |
Fork of Warsaw to continue development, Cel-shaded Quake-like online FPS |
CC-SA |
| Cube 2 |
Online Quake-like Arena FPS with multiple game modes & level editor |
zlib |
| Assault Cube |
Counterstrike-like FPS in the Cube engine |
Freeware |
| Xonotic |
Quake-like arena online FPS |
GPL |
| FreeDoom |
Open-source implemantation of Doom, best used with Chocolate Doom |
Yes |
| Dystopia |
Cyberpunk online class-based FPS |
??? |
| Urban Terror |
Fast paced online FPS reminiscent of CS |
??? |
| OpenArena |
Online arena FPS using the id tech engine |
??? |
| Fistful of Frags |
Online Western FPS - Not as good as it used to be |
??? |
| Ravenfield |
Singleplayer Battlefield type game |
No |
| Alien Arena |
Retro Sci-Fi Online FPS |
??? |
| Red Eclipse |
Online FPS with parkour |
SRC Available |
| ET Legacy |
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory for modern PCs |
SRC Available |
| Team Fortress 2 |
Class-based online FPS with many game-modes to choose from (Not suitable for weak PC) |
No |
| Team Fortress 2 Classic |
Sick of hats, nerfs, and other changes to TF2? Than Classic is for you! TF2 Classic is a resurrection of what the game was like in 2013, with restored gamemodes, guns, and classes |
No |
| Open Fortress |
A total conversion of TF2 with unique characters, weapons, gamemodes, and maps! |
No |
| Aleph One |
Open Source implementation for Bungie’s Marathon series |
GPL |
| Double Action Boogaloo |
Online 3rd-person shooter with slow motion |
No |
| Ultrakill Prelude |
Demo for an ultra violent oldschool FPS |
No |
| OpenSpades |
Clone of Ace of Spades 0.75, featuring fully destructible terrain and plenty of game modes |
GPL |
| Blade of Agony |
Story-driven FPS inspired by WWII shooters from the 90’s and early 2000’s - Extremely polished and fun |
SRC Available |
RPG
Adventure
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Beneath a Steel Sky |
Classic point’n’click with great art and voice talent - Available in most distro’s repos |
Source Available |
| ScummVM’s Freeware Games |
Fantastic point’n’click games here, my favorite being Dreamweb |
??? |
| Aye Fair Lady |
Point’n’click combined with a musical |
No |
| Heroine’s Quest |
Excellent Point’n’Click/RPG hybrid inspired by the Quest for Glory series from Sierra |
No |
| Black Sect 2 |
1st-person dungeon mystery game where you play as a monk investigating a crypt |
No |
| Space Quest II Remake |
Excellent VGA remake of SQ2 with voice acting, now available for Linux! |
No |
Strategy
Side Scroller
City Builder/Tycoon
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| OpenTTD |
Clone of Transport Tycoon Deluxe |
GPL |
| Unknown Horizons |
Village builder inspired by the Anno series |
GPL |
| Widelands |
Settlers clone |
GPL |
| Simutrans |
Transportation simulator clone with multiplayer ability |
SRC Available |
| Mindustry |
Factory builder / Tower Defense hybrid |
GPL |
| Terra Nil |
Relaxing city builder about ecosystem reconstruction |
No |
| Arcane Fortune |
Inspired by Civilization, SimCity and Dwarf Fortress, Arcane Fortune is a game of empire building, diplomacy, conquest, construction, and deconstruction. Whether or not you build a utopia, or a hell on earth is entirely up to you |
AGPL |
MMO
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Ryzom |
Open-source MMO with a unique world [Free-to-Play] |
Affero GPL |
| Isleward |
Browser-based MMO Roguelike that’s moddable & open-source! |
LGPL |
Roguelikes
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Dwarf Fortress |
Famous RL that has both a City-builder/management sim mode, as well as a more traditional RL experience in adventurer mode (you can even visit the ruins of fortresses you’ve built in the sim mode) |
No |
| Roguebox Adventures |
Graphical RL with focus on survival |
GPL |
| Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead |
Unique zombie survival RL that’s quite thrilling to play |
CC BY-SA |
| UnReal World |
Crazy In-depth survival-sim RL based in iron age Finland |
No |
| Dungeon Crawl Soup |
Fairly standard RL to find the Orb of Zot |
No |
| NetHack |
Dungeon crawler RL continually updated since 1987 |
N-GPL |
| Brogue |
RL distilled to fundamentals, terminal-like UI |
No? |
| Tales of Maj’Eyal (ToME) |
Very polished graphical-heavy RL/RPG |
GPL |
| ASCII Sector |
Excellent RL Demake of Wing Commander Privateer |
No |
| ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) |
Extremely polished graphical RL with multiplayer |
No |
| DoomRL |
DOOM, but as a Roguelike! |
No |
| Sil & Angband |
Tolkien Roguelikes |
SRC Available |
| Pixel Dungeon |
RL with a nice pixel-art |
GPL |
| HyperRogue |
RL built on a mathematically rigorous hyperbolic surface, with an infinite and space-bending world |
GPL |
| Basingstoke |
Uniquely free to Linux users only. A tense roguelike that mixes stealth and arcade action. Explore the smouldering ruins of apocalyptic Basingstoke, UK, a world of extreme peril where reanimated undead and ferocious alien monsters roam! |
No? |
Space Sim/Trader
Puzzle
Arcade / 2D
Racing
Stealth
Sandbox
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Minetest |
Minecraft clone written in C++ instead of Java for better performance. Base game is purposefully lacking in features, instead relying on mods from the community to flesh out the experience |
CC BY-SA |
| TrueCraft |
Clean-room implementation of Minecraft 1.7.3 |
MIT |
| PyCraft |
2D Terraria-like ASCII game played in the terminal |
GPLv2 |
| The Powder Toy |
Complete physics and material simulaton sandbox in a 2D environment |
GPLv3 |
Surreal
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Orchids to Dust |
Wandering alone on strange worlds |
No |
| Off-Peak |
Searching for a ticket in a head-trippy world |
No |
| Emily is Away |
Branching narrative in an online chat |
No |
| CHYRZA |
First-person flash-fiction horror story, explore a surreal desert while collecting fragments of a memoir |
No |
| Dagdrom |
Weird and colorful platformer thing |
No |
| Naut |
Explore mars in a convertible - Short little exploring game |
No |
| Leive-Oma |
Walk through the woods with your grandma |
No |
| No Players Online |
Short psychological horror |
No |
| Out of The Game |
The self claimed ‘Inception’ of video games |
No |
| Sacramento |
Explore a watercolor world |
No |
| David Lynch Teaches Typing |
It’s exactly what it sounds like |
No |
| A Museum of Dubious Splendors |
Explore a storybook from the world of Somewhere. A visual feast for the eyes |
No |
Vehicle Combat
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Warthunder |
WWII to Cold War Multiplayer Dogfighter/Tanker/Warship Sim (Not suitable for weak PC) [Free-to-Play] |
No |
MOBA
| Name |
Description |
Open Source? |
| Dota 2 |
Valve’s entry into the MOBA genre, with native Linux support [Free-to-Play] |
No |
MS-DOS
| Name |
Description |
| Archive.org |
Archive.org has uploaded over 6000 MS-DOS games to their library for future preservation, all fully playable for free right in your browser! |
Dang, I remember playing that when I was 14 or so. Surprised to see it’s still being developed. Looking at gameplay of the latest release… It still looks awfully janky still. Does it play well nowadays?
Been a long time since I played it myself, but it was my first introduction to space sims.
Development of the game picked up again just a year or so ago, after a long time of hiatus.
Yeah, the game looked nice over 15 years ago, but the graphics haven’t updated at all, so the visuals are incredibly dated. Gameplay is still quite solid, though, and the background simulation aspect of the game is still on-par with Elite Dangerous.