61
votes

This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not considered a good, on-topic question for this site, so please do not use it as evidence that you can ask similar questions here. See the FAQ for more information.

What games are available that run natively on Ubuntu?

Please limit one game per answer - and include why you enjoy the game.

4
  • 1
    Re-opened to see how well this question can do. META: Are we too harsh on this one? Oct 14, 2010 at 13:36
  • 2
    At least it should be a community wiki!
    – txwikinger
    Oct 14, 2010 at 14:31
  • @Matthew: Title editing for googleability
    – Roger Pate
    Oct 17, 2010 at 16:09
  • @Roger: Ah ok, thanks for letting me know. The title "What native games are available" does feel kind of awkward, though. Maybe there is some middle-ground...
    – Matthew
    Oct 17, 2010 at 16:12

63 Answers 63

11
votes

Penumbra: Overture:

Genre: Survival Horror
Native, but commercial at ~20€.

It's creepy, has an great atmosphere, just a little short.

10
votes

FreeOrion

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy

A free space space exploration and domination game based upon Masters of Orion.

alt text

9
votes

Unreal Tournament 2003

Pretty much everyone is familiar with Unreal Tournament. This version had native Linux support.

9
votes

Altitude Pay for application

Commercial game, costs $10

From the official Wiki:

Altitude is the best multiplayer 2-D aerial combat game on the internet.

Note: Don't purchase on Steam if you're going to play under Linux. Steam version works only when launched from the Steam client.

1
  • Just a note: I play this game from Steam using Wine. The only problems I've had is sometimes the Stream client doesn't cooperate well with wine. But overall it works well.
    – Joel
    Nov 1, 2010 at 18:27
9
votes

Open Arena

OpenArena is a free network enabled multiplayer first person shooter based on the ioquake3 fork of the id tech 3 engine. It features many game types including the traditional deathmatch and sports a varied cast of sadistic characters. Due to violent and occasional racy content it is probably unsuitable for children under the age of 17.

You can install openarena from the software center.

9
votes

There are around 100 commercial Linux games listed on LinApp, and many have demos.

9
votes

Torcs Download torcs

Genre: Racing

The Open Racing Car Simulator. TORCS is a highly portable multi platform car racing simulation. It is used as ordinary car racing game, as AI racing game and as research platform. It runs on Linux (x86, AMD64 and PPC), FreeBSD, MacOSX and Windows. The source code of TORCS is licensed under the GPL ("Open Source").

alt text

9
votes

Secret Maryo Chronicles Download smc

Genre: Platform

For Mario fans like me.

38 levels of pure frivolous fun! alt text

8
votes

Vdrift

Vdrift is a great racing simulator, it works best if you have a joystick or a steering wheel. It's partially open-source and a native Linux game. It isn't in the repos due to licensing issues but you can get it from playdeb.

Vdrift has lots of tracks and a lot of cars. There are 2 racing modes: the first is trying to gain as much points as possible by drifting, the second is the traditional game.

Vdrift screenshot

8
votes

20,000 Light Years into Space Install 20,000 Light Years into Space

alt text You're a space colonist, and the planet you're colonizing happens to have an overabundance of steam, thanks to geothermic vents on the surface. It's your job to build up a network of these vents to keep your city growing.

Of course, there are plenty of hazards in your way that make this difficult; earthquakes, storms, and the alien natives don't want you to get your colony going.

I find it to be a highly addictive game, although frustrating at times. I'm pretty sure they added the "Expert" difficulty as a joke. Reminds me of computer networking, in all the worst ways!

7
votes

Dofus Pay for application

alt text Dofus is a Flash based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Ankama Games, a French computer game manufacturer.

Originally released solely in French, it has since been translated into many other languages. It is primarily a Pay to Play game, though it still offers a limited amount of free content. Its success has led to the marketing of spin-off products, such as books, art and comics. It has also led to the development of two continuations: Dofus Arena, released at the beginning of 2006, which is an alternative "tournament" version of Dofus; and Wakfu, a continuation of Dofus, which is currently in the process of beta testing. The game has attracted over ten million players worldwide and is especially well-known in France where it is sold in stores as an explicitly Linux-compatible game.

7
votes

Steel Storm

Steel Storm is an old school top down arcade shooter with score oriented competitive gameplay, and is designed for people who like fast paced action and have limited amounts of time to play computer games.

The events take place in an alternative universe where you control an advanced hovertank, packed with the most advanced and sophisticated weapons. Your task is simple, but, nevertheless, is not trivial. In the fight with presumed extraterrestrial invaders, you must prevail!

alt text

7
votes

OpenTracks is an open-source railway simulation game that I just recently started. It has progressed quite rapidly, as you can see by the screenshot below:

The project is still under heavy development but you can try it out (in Maverick) via my PPA:

ppa:george-edison55/george-edison

6
votes

Globulation (package named glob2) is a real-time-strategy. I had fun playing it, but not everyone might like it.

alt text

6
votes

Prey Pay for application

Prey is a first-person shooter. The story revolves around a young, rogue Cherokee who wishes to uproot and leave the old ways behind. Unfortunately, an alien invasion puts a halt on those plans as he tries to save his friends and family from the insurgents. To achieve his goal, he has to learn the true way of the Cherokee and the magic within.

If you want to run it natively go here: Prey For Linux

This game is more of a tech demo, with loose physics and and anti-gravity gameplay but that doesn't stop it being a cardio workout. It's really gross too. I bought this from a charity shop for £1.99 and got it working on linux within minutes. Well worth it. One of the better looking games that can run on linux natively, that I know of.

0
6
votes

Quake Live

Genre: FPS

A game by id Software designed to run on x86-based computers via a web browser plugin. It is a variant of its predecessor, Quake III Arena (Q3A).

Quake Live is free to download and play. Additionally, there are subscription options that include more arenas, game types and game server options.

5
votes

Unreal Tournament 2004

Following on from 2003. This version also had native Linux support.

5
votes

Cave Story is one of my favourite games.

Very similar in gameplay to Super Metroid or Metal Slug with a hit of RPG. What's staggering about this game is that it was written - including all of the music and art - by one guy.

0
5
votes

Free Tennis

Genre: Tennis Sim

The most notable features of Free Tennis are:

  1. Real tactics are useful in the game. For example, it is best to take the net with a slow, low shot (backspin); it is best to play diagonal when you are decentered horizontally, in order not to give angles; you should get back to center and behind the baseline after the shot, in order not to be caught in No-Man's-Land when the opponent hits;
  2. The A.I. is very advanced and reflects those tactics;
  3. You have total control over the parabola described by the shot;
  4. The graphic gestures are realistic and elegant;
  5. Different players have different skills;
  6. The game is developed by a former tennis player;

alt text

5
votes

The Ur-Quan Masters Install The Ur-Quan Masters

StarControl 2 was made open source awhile back and has the new title, "Ur Quan Masters". It's the complete game. Great melee battles against either the AI or a friend and has a fun and challenging story mode. It's available in the Software Center.

StarControl 2 - Ur-Quan Masters

5
votes

Speed Dreams

Speed Dreams is a fork of the open racing car simulator Torcs, aiming to implement exciting new features, cars, tracks and AI opponents to make a more enjoyable game for the player, as well as constantly improving visual and physics realism.

enter image description here

4
votes

BZFlag rocks! Open Source 3D first person Multiplayer tank game for any system.

4
votes

Awesome Soccer World 2010 is a soccer game featuring 16 tournaments from around the globe. It uses an after-touch system that lets you bend and swerve the ball in multiple directions. It comes with a fully featured Team Editor, Kit Designer, Badge Designer and a Formation Editor.

page

4
votes

Check http://www.penguspy.com/ and http://ubuntugamer.com/ they have most games listed

1
  • The best answer so far
    – Jader Dias
    Sep 2, 2011 at 14:35
3
votes

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, a roguelike like no other. You can play offline, using graphic tiles or your terminal and also online over ssh. I've played it on and off for a few years now, still addicted :)

3
votes

Freedoom (available in repository) is a clone of... you might guess it.

alt text

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  • 1
    Freedoom is only half of the puzzle, though: it is just the game "world data". You also need a doom engine to play it: A compatible engine packaged for Ubuntu is "prboom".
    – jmtd
    Jan 25, 2011 at 11:55
3
votes

Check out ubuntugamer you can find lot of games that run in Ubuntu. This site is dedicated for gaming in Ubuntu.

2
votes

i also find PlayDeb

The creators of getdeb.net present to you our latest service that caters to the Ubuntu gamer.

Not sure what game you want? Just looking for something to kill some time? All games are well categorized and we offer a comprehensive search.

How to Install follow this instruction

2
votes

We have quake 4 Quake wars for Linux