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! |
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.