If you’re interested in games for a Linux platform, then you know that game probably is open source, free from cost in most cases, and free to modify. The latter attribute is why Linux games are so popular…a developer can take a great game and make it even better, share it with the world, and become a hero. So, why waste your time and money on proprietary games when so many great Linux games are available?

Freeciv is a turn-based strategy game, with some real-time elements, in which each player is the leader of a civilization, fighting to obtain the ultimate goals of a nation: The extinction of all other nations, being the first nation to plant a colony in another star system, or survival to the end of the game.

In the world of turn-based strategy games, Civilization rules the roost. Or at least used to. I personally have spent a lot of hours over the years playing the original series (although I’m not much of a player any more, and never really was very ‘good’ by any decent standards).

There are Linux games for every taste: first person shooters, board and arcade games. But if you prefer to train your intellectual skills instead of blasting monsters or conquering the world, there are a few high-quality puzzle games, too!

Linux has games. I'm not just talking about solitaire, chess and mines; I'm talking about the dozens of great 3D first person shooters, puzzle games, role-playing games, community games, simulators, and more.

Linux might not have as much games as Windows (or game consoles) but people enjoying this wonderful open source operating system can have fun with games too, as there are a lot of free games for Linux available, even some huge commercial ones. Even Linux games are a niche market, Linux gaming has got a pretty colorful history so far. So what’s the state of Linux gaming?

Freeciv is a free and open source empire-building strategy game inspired by the history of human civilization. The game commences in prehistory and your mission is to lead your tribe from the stone age to the space age...

A good open source platform game that never gets a mention is The Goonies: 20th Anniversary Edition. This game is a remake of the classic NES / Master System version by Konami. The same team is also responsible two rather fun arcade top-down racing games, F1 Spirit and Road Fighter, which are also remakes. I'm not sure what the source license is for these (ack, there goes my Free Software credibility) but you can get the source and the games compile / run on the 3 major platforms (y'know, Lin/Win/Mac).

This is huge bigfix release of Free and open source empire-building strategy game inspired by the history of human civilization. FreeCiv commences in prehistory and your mission is to lead your tribe from the stone age to the space age.