Prelogue

This list is initially based on a video I made titled “FOSS Video Games: My Top 9 Recommendations”, but this is in a more condensed format and I’ve also added some entries to the list based on other people’s recommendations.

Why care about FOSS games?

  • Software freedom matters, video games are a form of software, therefore video games should also respect your freedom.
  • Modern gaming often does not respect your freedom (e.g., Steam is a proprietary platform and a platform that uses DRM).
  • Many proprietary, multiplayer video games require the use of kernel-level anti cheats… these usually require the user to run Microsoft Windows, and some run constantly, even when you are not playing the game.
  • Most multiplayer FOSS games support self-hosting servers, meaning people can still play the game even if the developer discontinues it.

Criteria

The game itself must be free (libre) software, so this excludes:

  • Proprietary games (obviously)
  • Emulators (many emulators are free software, but the actual games are not)
  • FOSS launchers for proprietary games (e.g., Prism Launcher)
  • Engine ports (e.g., xash3d for Half-Life, openmw for Morrowind, dhewm3 for Doom 3)

Original List of Games

Xonotic

An arena first person shooter inspired by games like Quake and Unreal Tournament. Licensed under the GNU GPL v3.

SuperTux Advance

A platformer game inspired by the original “SuperTux”, but with a pixel art style. Licensed under the GNU AGPL v3.

osu!lazer

A free client for the popular rhythm game “osu!”. Under the MIT License. I wasn’t originally going to include it since the original osu! client is proprietary and doesn’t have a native GNU/Linux version (though you can run the Windows version through Wine).

SuperTuxKart

An arcade-style racing game that bears some similarities to games like Super Mario Kart.

Luanti (formerly Minetest)

Technically not a game, but a platform/engine which games are built on (much like how “Roblox” itself isn’t really a game).

It’s aesthetically very similar to Minecraft with some games replicating its gameplay (e.g., VoxeLibre) and others being unique (e.g., C.O.W., Jail Escape, Thinking With Arrows, Super Sam). There are also some cool mods like FamiliarCraft (makes the game look more Minecraft-like) and Mesecons (which allow you to build circuits that are more sophisticated than plain old Redstone).

I’ve played Luanti quite a bit, and I honestly think I prefer it to Minecraft itself.

Taisei Project

A bullet hell game with some great music inspired by Touhou Project. It’s not based on a particular game in the franchise, but it features characters from the original games (e.g., Reimu, Marisa, Cirno, Youmu).

When I made the video, I had never actually played a Touhou game before. I later played Touhou 6: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, and I actually felt Taisei Project was harder.

Celeste 64

A 3D platformer based on Celeste, created by the original developer EXOK (Extremely Okay Games) to commemorate the original game’s anniversary.

The game is fairly short compared to the original game, but it’s hard to complain when it’s free (both libre and gratis) and was made in a week.

Unciv

A 2D turn-based strategy game inspired by Sid Meier’s Civilization series. I’ve played a fair bit of Civ VI, and while this game isn’t as visually pleasing or exciting, it can be fun.

Rigs of Rods

This is a sandbox physics simulator and it’s basically the predecessor to BeamNG Drive.

Additional Games

These were games I didn’t mention in my original video, either because I hadn’t heard of them, weren’t keen on them (completely subjective, I’m not saying these games are bad), or I felt they were too similar to other games in the list. I’ve grouped them by genre.

Honourable Mentions

Games I mentioned, but didn’t talk about:

  • OpenArena
  • OpenTTD
  • Battle For Wesnoth
  • FlightGear
  • Veloren
  • Teeworlds
  • ExtremeTuxRacer
  • SuperTux
  • Freedoom (1 & 2)
  • 0ad

First Person Shooters

  • Warsow
  • AssaultCube

“Strategy” Games (e.g., RTS, Turn-Based)

  • Beyond All Reason (BAR)
  • Freeciv
  • OpenRA
  • Widelands

Miscellaneous

  • Mindustry
  • Space Station 14
  • Shattered Pixel Dungeon
  • Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
  • Endless Sky
  • Sonic Robo Blast 2
  • The Ur-Quan Masters
  • Friday Night Funkin