Linux has an ever-expanding library of thousands of free games, many of which are released under an open source license. A good selection of these titles are entertaining, highly addictive, offer captivating gameplay, and are most importantly, great fun to play. Identifying entertaining and challenging games is something that we have a passion for.

The purpose of this article is to focus on free Linux games that garner very little attention, certainly far less than any of the commercial counterparts on Steam. All of the games featured here are worth downloading. Whilst some may lack some polish and finesse of their commercial brethren, they are still good fun to play.

To be eligible for inclusion in this list each game needed to meet the following requirements:

Free to play (no download charge, no monthly charge)

Does not require Wine to run. Wine is a compatibility layer for running Windows software

Must be playable and great fun

This article is the second instalment in a four part series, identifying free games that are worth giving a whirl. Lots of gamers have contacted us saying how much fun they have had playing Unvanquished. As games are a matter of taste, we have again tried to cover a wide range of game genres. Hopefully there will be something in this article which will be of interest to any type of gamer.

Now, let’s scrutinize the 6 games at hand. For each game we have compiled its own portal page, providing screenshots of the game in action, a full description of the game, with an in-depth analysis of the features of the game, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

Peachy Games Mari0 Recreation of Super Mario Bros. with elements from Portal Haunt First person, single-player, adventure horror game Cube MetalHeart 2 Fast paced, multi-player shooter based on the Cube 2 Engine OpenRA Open-source implementation of the Red Alert engine TANK@WAR Solo and team-based multiplayer 3D online game dedicated to armored warfare Freespace Port User-made FreeSpace 2 port of the main Descent: FreeSpace campaign

Return to our complete collection of recommended free and open source software including our latest additions.