Sometimes I like to look at what offers the open source world on the games side, today I want to introduce three little-known games that run on our beloved penguin.
For this article I have selected five games that I had never heard of, but from the first glance i’ve took to them they seem very promising; and I apologies with the developer of them, some are probably already well known and widespread in the community.
If the topic interests you I suggest also to check my previous articles regarding games:
Cube 2: Sauerbraten
Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a free multiplayer/singleplayer first person shooter, built as a major redesign of the Cube FPS.
Much like the original Cube, the aim of this game is not necessarily to produce the most features & eyecandy possible, but rather to allow map/geometry editing to be done dynamically in-game, to create fun gameplay and an elegant engine.
The engine supporting the game is entirely original in code & design, and its code is Open Source (ZLIB license, read the docs for more on how you can use the engine).
The game is available for Windows, Linux and Mac, and the package is available in Debian and Ubuntu repositories.
Pioneers
Pioneers is an emulation of the board game The Settlers of Catan.
The Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) under the name Die Siedler von Catan. Players assume the role of settlers on the game board, each attempting to build and develop their settlement while trading and acquiring resources. Players are rewarded points as their settlements grow; the first to reach a set number of points is the winner.
The players in the game represent settlers establishing colonies on the island of Catan. Players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island. The game board representing the island is composed of hexagonal tiles (hexes) of different land types which are laid out randomly at the beginning of each game; new editions of the game also depict a fixed layout in their manual, which has been proven to be fairly even-handed by computer simulations, and recommend this to be used by beginners.
Players build by spending resources (brick, lumber, wool, grain, and ore), represented by resource cards; each land type, with the exception of the unproductive desert, produces a specific resource. On each player’s turn, he rolls the two six-sided dice, determining which hexes produce resources. Any players with settlements or cities adjacent to hexes marked with the number rolled receive resource cards of the appropriate type. There is also a robber token on the board; if a player rolls 7, he moves the robber to any hex, which will no longer produce resources until the robber is moved again; he also steals a resource card from another player.
Reference : Wikipedia
The package is available in Debian and Ubuntu repositories.
Hive Rise
Hive Rise is a high speed real time strategy game full of action.
2023 – After the wars between enemy nations had gradually come to an end at the beginning of the 21 century, somebody had to make sure the supply of senseless violence didn’t stop altogether. The solution: Hive Rise! The TV show that features bored millionaires, car tinkerers and retired generals competing in a paramilitary arms race.
On the huge battlefield somewhere in the desert sand the enemy camps lie neatly lined up. From there the teams march out with highly specialized mercenaries and the latest military equipment to give each other hell.
Hive Rise is a freeware game available for Linux and Windows, you can play for free or pay to have some additional bonuses.
Gigalomania
Gigalomania is a 2D real time strategy game that is a clone of Mega-Lo-Mania. The gameplay consists of researching and developing new technology with which to conquer your enemies, from rocks and sticks to nuclear weapons and spaceships. You can advance through ten different ages, from the stone age to the future. There are 28 different maps to play through. The game is still under development, but is entirely playable in its current state.
The game is open source, available for Linux and Windows, but is not packaged, it must be compiled from source, that are available on the site. For a quick test of it i suggest download the windows binary and use wine with it.
Zero Ballistics
Zero Ballistics is a unique blend of first person shooter and tank combat, focusing on multiplayer gaming exclusively.
The game is available for Windows and linux, for distro using .deb format there is a package available on playondeb.net
The game features:
- Three levels set in an alpine environment
- Three different main weapons, and three secondary weapons
- Six different skills
- BeaconStrike, Deathmatch and Team Deatchmatch modes
- Best of all, it’s absolutely FREE to play
Explore 81 different tank setups to be ready for any given combat situation. If you want to be sneaky, use mines and the heal skill to wreak havoc among your unsuspecting enemies. You are more the frontal assault type? Combine the ram bucket and the flamethrower to eliminate your enemies up close and personal.
Popular Posts:
- None Found
Had not ever heard of any of these linux games, will definitely give them a try, thanks for writing about them.
Thanks for the Gigalomania plug – just to say the website is now moved to http://gigalomania.sourceforge.net/ .