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

Name Description Open Source?
Daggerfall Unity TES: Daggerfall recreated in the Unity engine with tons of improvements (Download the base game from here) ???
Solarus Games Game engine for making Zelda-like games w/ many completed games available on their website SRC Available
Flare Isometric Diablo-like action-RPG Creative Commons
Dungeon Master CSB Modern Engine for the 1987 First-person dungeon crawler ???

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

Name Description Open Source?
FreeCiv Sid Meier’s Civilization II Clone GPL
FreeCol Sid Meier’s Colonization Clone GPL
UnCiv Civlilization 5 style empire buillder MPL 2.0
FreeOrion Master of Orion Clone GPL
OpenRA Modern engine for C&C: Red Alert, Tiberian Sun, and Dune 2000 GPL
Tanks of Freedom Turn-based strategy, similar to Advance Wars on the GBA MIT
The Battle For Wesnoth Turn-based fantasy RPG/Strategy hybrid GPL
Hedgewars Worms Clone GPL
Argentum Age Fantasy collectable card game GPL
Wyrmsun Warcraft II-like RTS GPL
0 A.D. Superb 3D RTS, professional grade (Not suitable for weak PC) GPL
Total Annihilation Prime Fan-made prequel to the 1999 RTS Total Annihilation GPL
Zero-K Polished RTS with multiplayer support, available on Steam GPL
Warzone 2100 RTS that has campaign, multiplayer & singleplayer skirmish modes GPL
Thrive Game about the evolution of life GPL
Scorched 3D Turn-based & real-time artillery strategy game GPL
UFO2000 X-Com-like with Multiplayer functionality SRC Available
UFO: Alien Invasion Turn-based tactical combat inspired by X-Com SRC Available
OpenApoc Open-source implementation of X-Com 3: Apocalypse GPLv3
The Fertile Crescent RTS set during the Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East. Manage a delicate balance between food surplus and the maintenance of your army - Multiplayer mode available No
TripleA Turn-based strategy and board game engine inspired by Axis & Allies or Risk GPL
Star Ruler 2 Turn-based 4X/RTS Strategy space colonization game - This is a commercial game that was open-sourced, you must compile the game from source code to obtain it for free. Consider buying it on Steam or GOG to support the devs MIT & CC-BY-NC
Beyond All Reason Open-source remake of Total Annihilation, a Sci-fi RTS GPL & CC-BY-SA

Side Scroller

Name Description Open Source?
Sealed Bite Game-Jam platformer with nice pixel art CC-BY-NC-ND
Mr. Rescue Rescuing people from burning buildings while putting out fires CC-BY-SA
Sienna Fun runner/platformer CC-BY-SA
Super Tux Super Mario Clone - currently in need of help GPL
Hurrican 2D Platformer Shooter Inspired by Turrican - Mostly forgotten SRC Available
Abuse Commercial 2D shooter turned Public Domain SRC Available
Frogatto & Friends Platformer with great music and graphics. Available in Debian/Ubuntu repos No
Commander Keen 4 New engine for classic DOS-era platformer GPL
OpenClonk Commercial 2D Mining game turned freeware, very unique, multiplayer ISC
Mari0 Mario, but with Portals! SRC Available
Cave Story Charming platformer, one of the first big indie hits No
VVVVVV retro platformer w/ level editor SRC Available
Spelunky Classic Roguelite platformer No
OpenSurge Sonic the Hedgehog clone with Level editor GPL
Lost Constellation Travel into the frozen woods in a folktale from the world of Night In The Woods No
Himno Peaceful 2D platformer game with an infinite number of beautiful procedurally generated maps No

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

Name Description Open Source?
Ur-Quan Masters Updated version of Star Control II. Be sure to get the Voice Pack! (Alternative HD version available here) SRC Available
Endless Sky 2D space trading/combat game similar to Escape Velocity GPL
Oolite Elite remake, huge mod support SRC Available
Pioneer Frontier: Elite II Remake GPL & CC BY-SA
Naev Space exploration, trade and combat ???
Race Into Space Re-implementation of 1989’s Liftoff! GPL

Puzzle

Name Description Open Source?
FloboPuyo PuyoPuyo Clone SRC Available
Frozen Bubble Puzzle Bobble Clone with level editor & multiplayer GPL
Duck Marines Chu Chu Rocket Clone Multi-License
Pingus Lemmings Clone SRC Available
Portable Puzzle Collection 39 Old-school puzzle games MIT
Blockout2 3D Tetris-like Game GPL
Enigma Inspired by Oxyd on the Atari ST and Rock’n’Roll on the Amiga - The object of the game is to find uncover pairs of identically colored Oxyd stones GPL
Lix Action-puzzle game inspired by Lemmings with over 700 levels, multiplayer, and a level editor CC0 Public Domain

Arcade / 2D

Name Description Open Source?
AstroMenace Hardcore 3D space scroll-shooter with spaceship upgrade possibilities GPL
Leapoundary Arcade-y Puzzle Shooter SRC Available
SSVOpenHexagon Super Hexagon Clone AFL
LBreakout2 Breakout Clone Source Available
Witch Blast Binding of Isaac Clone GPL
TeeWorlds Online 2D shooter CC BY-SA
OpenTyrian Polished Shmup with excellent visuals and music SRC Available
Kobo Deluxe 8-Way space shooter SRC Available
Altitude 2D online plane combat No
Liero Real-time Worms SRC Available
Frets on Fire Guitar Hero clone GPL
Eat the Whistle Sensible Soccer Clone GPL
NeverBall Super Monkey Ball Clone GPL
NeverPutt Mini-Golf with hot-seat multiplayer GPL
Shootout Inc If Hotline Miami and SuperHot had a baby, this would be the result. Also check out Super Hotline No
Hammer Dongers 4-Player top-down party game No
C-Dogs SDL a classic overhead run-and-gun from the DOS era updated for modern systems, supports up to 4 players in co-op and deathmatch modes - Installer Downloads GPL

Racing

Name Description Open Source?
SuperTuxKart 3D Kart Racer, similar to e.g. Mario Kart Multi-License
Yorg Top-down racer in the Micro Machine’s style No
Speed Dreams Realistic racing sim SRC Available
Max Downforce F1 style arcade racing game inspired by Pole Position SRC Available
Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart Mario Kart style racer with characters from Sonic the Hedgehog GPL
Pixel Wheels Top-down 2D Racer similar to Micro Machines CC BY-SA

Stealth

Name Description Open Source?
The Dark Mod Incredible Fan-made spin-off of the Thief series using the Doom 3 Engine (Not suitable for weak PC) GPL, BSD & CC BY-NC-SA

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!
  • str82L English
    46•16 days ago

    Let us know when the ultimate list is ready.

    • naticusEnglish
      9•16 days ago

      Lol yeah I don’t think OP knows what penultimate means.

      • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
        12•16 days ago

        It may have been the ultimate list 4 years ago, but I haven’t updated it in so long I would’ve been embarrassed to call it the ultimate now :p

        • southsamuraiEnglish
          9•16 days ago

          Well, if you only plan to do one more, this could actually be the penultimate list. But if this is the last one, then the previous one would have been penultimate.

          Mind you, I’m 100% okay with using penultimate to mean second best, instead of the actual definition as next to last. It makes sense as a non standard/slang usage, since the last is often the best (depending on the list, of course, but most save the best for last). It’s a good play on the way we use ultimate as both final/last as well as best.

          One of these days, the dictionaries will catch up to this usage and it’ll become a standard usage, so you’re getting in on the penultimate use of penultimate as slang, in a way :)

          • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
            8•16 days ago

            Mind you, I’m 100% okay with using penultimate to mean second best,

            That was my intended use of the word, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I fully misread the little info blurb in my search engine, which led me to believe I was using it appropriately 😅

            I thought it said: a formal or literary way of saying it is not a superlative or beyond ultimate, as many people think.

            …I didn’t notice the period after ‘it’ (or the double ‘it’). But the sentence right after that one is really the pièce de résistance! 🤌

            But I very much appreciate your charitable view on my fumble.

            • southsamuraiEnglish
              4•16 days ago

              Well hell, that’s just as cool as using a word in a fun way. You looked it up and just got steered wrong by difficult typesetting. My dyslexic ass would have gotten the same impression as you if I had to scan that on my own and come out with a definition.

          • classic
            4•16 days ago

            I like where you went with your take. We collectively could probably stand to be more flexible like that

            • southsamuraiEnglish
              3•16 days ago

              I feel that :)

              A living language is going to shift. It’s inevitable. It’s necessary to hold a formal version of a language for important things for sure, but for every day conversation, pedantry is just silly. Not only can we never expect everyone to know every word and every usage of every word, mistakes happen. It’s a very human thing to pick up a word and never run across a formal definition for it, and that’s okay.

              It’s easy enough to offer a formal definition if there’s a misunderstanding, to get everyone on the same wavelength. But if everyone gets the intended gist, why get all het up? Communication should be fun and engaging, not a battle over semantics and usage.

  • @daddy32English
    8•16 days ago

    Good list. Covering many different categories. Have found every game I thought of. I like that the roguelikes listed are the actual, “classic” roguelikes. What I don’t like: inclusion of the games that cost money to play (via in-game purchases). These should be at least marked as such, pretending they are free is not OK.

    • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
      4•16 days ago

      Back when I created this list, I had the mindset that if I did include a game with the a Free to Play monetary model, it would only be eligible if it was absolutely not Pay to Win, and if it was possible to have a lot of fun without and be on a fully equal playing field spending a dime.

      Looking over the list again, I think you’re right in that a couple titles (runescape, eledivin, and argueably EVE online) really don’t meet that criteria.

      However, I think others such as CS:GO, TF2, and War Thunder still deserve a spot on the list, as you’re still experiencing the full game with no disadvantage without spending anything.

      But I will remove those titles and put Free To Play in the description of the others.

  • @warmasterEnglish
    4•16 days ago

    Actually amazing list, thanks for sharing !

  • @[email protected]English
    3•16 days ago

    Awesome

    Hoping I’ll find a good fps in this. Been looking for one for a while now. Most of them are basically fancy doom wads and quake clones. Might be able to find something of a more modern style.

    • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
      4•16 days ago

      Though I mention the monetary aspect, it doesn’t mean I’m not fully aware of and advocate for the FOSS philosophy. I would’ve thought going to the extra effort of finding out what software license each and every title used, along with a direct link to the source code (which in some cases was not trivial to find) would’ve made that much obvious.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•16 days ago

        I would’ve thought … would’ve made that much obvious.

        Using the word “free” to refer to proprietary games in a GNU/Linux context is a huge indicator of a lack of awareness. I wouldn’t look further.

        finding out what software licence each and every title used, along with a direct link to the source code

        FYI, the page you linked to isn’t publicly accessible. When I try to look, Reddit demands that I log in and doesn’t present the page content.

        • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
          2•16 days ago

          Using the word “free” to refer to proprietary games in a GNU/Linux context is a huge indicator of a lack of awareness.

          If I’d intended to create a FOSS only list, I would’ve just said FOSS instead of free. I think it’s a little much to expect people to always qualify ‘Free as in beer’ anytime they ever use the word free in a monetary sense in a Linux community. The information needed to determine if a game is FOSS was provided next to each title, it’s not like you’ve been deceived. This was just a little list I put together in hopes to give people who are struggling financially (as many of us are these days) to have more options for fun games they can play with their friends or by themselves, I’m sorry it didn’t meet your standards. 🫤

          FYI, the page you linked to isn’t publicly accessible.

          I was able to add the list in the body of the lemmy post, the link is no longer required, but unfortunately it’s not federating my action of having removed the post link.

          • @[email protected]English
            1•14 days ago

            I think it’s a little much to expect people to always qualify ‘Free as in beer’ anytime they ever use the word free in a monetary sense in a Linux community.

            That seems really odd to me. I don’t expect people to qualify use of the word free in a montery sense in a Linux community, I expect people to avoid using the word free in a monetary sense entirely. And it doesn’t seem a little much, it seems blindingly obvious if one’s goal is to communicate effectively.

  • @db2English
    3•16 days ago

    Gross, reddit.

  • @steeznsonEnglish
    2•16 days ago

    A few personal recommendations here: Xonotic is the most engrossing quake clone I’ve ever played. The gameplay is fabulous and it would run on a potato. Definitely check it out if you like arena shooters.

    Also people who bounced off FreeCiv for its somewhat dated mechanics (I believe it’s most similar to Civ 2 in terms of gameplay), might enjoy Unciv. It’s a FOSS porr of Civilization 5 and the last time I played it a few years back it appeared to be almost feature complete in terms of parity with its inspiration.

    Lastly nethack is hard as nails and I’ve never been able to finish it. Good game though!

    • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
      2•16 days ago

      Added UnCiv to the list, thanks for the suggestion! Plays really well on my phone, surprisingly.

      • @steeznsonEnglish
        2•15 days ago

        Yeah it’s very good. Written in java so Android is a first class citizen but it runs well on desktop too.

  • @TattorackEnglish
    1•15 days ago

    The space sim lidt seems to be missing Vega Strike.

    • ProdigalFrogOPEnglish
      1•15 days ago

      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?

      • @TattorackEnglish
        1•15 days ago

        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, so I’d say it’s a pretty good choice if someone is looking for a FOSS space sim.