The operating system Linux was not originally conceived with gaming in mind. Yet, demand for the ability grew throughout the years, and finally, the long road to Linux gaming was completed. Nowadays, fans of the operating system can enjoy a whole plethora of great games. Independent titles such as Rimworld, which is a sci-fi colony simulation game that allows players to build futuristic space-stations on hostile planets, are being played by a massive amount of people on the system. This is because the video game distribution service Steam is available to be used by Linux users, which makes buying and downloading games for the system both simple and convenient.
Looking back through the years though, Linux has had some classic games available. So here are our recommended favourites, and if you haven’t had the chance to play them yet, definitely hunt them down and download them today. You will not regret it.
Quake
This first-person shooter was the 1996 follow-up to the monster smash-hit series Doom. Developers’ id Software went all in on the dark and gritty feeling that had wowed fans of their previous series. Instead of being set in the future though, the game almost appears to take place in the past, as it’s a creepy mishmash of medieval and brutalist architecture swarming with hellish ghouls. All the weapons seem brutally archaic as well, but with a modern twist. Think rust encrusted nail guns and battle-scarred shotguns.
The greatest achievement of the game, apart from its fully 3-D rendered levels that blew everyone’s mind, is the atmosphere that haunts the player as they work their way around the mazy levels. A big part of that is the soundtrack, which was orchestrated by industrial-rock legend, Trent Reznor and his band, Nine Inch Nails. This makes it worth revisiting today, especially if you missed the horror the first time around.
Minesweeper
This logic-based puzzle game has been coded onto computers since the sixties. That’s right, Minesweeper has been confusing people on a whole range of platforms for going on sixty years, including Linux. The game is simple but devastatingly difficult.
For those rare few who haven’t played it, and even for those of you who have but have been completely flummoxed by it, the aim of the game is to try and locate a predetermined number of mines on a rectangular board by clicking on the safe space around them. If you click on a mine then the game ends, as you’ve been blown up, unlucky. If you click on one of the safe squares though, then you are given a number between zero and eight that illustrates how many mines are present in the eight neighbouring squares.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Another nineties powerhouse makes the list. Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy game that had hordes of computer owners feeling like they were in charge of an entire army. The plot takes place in an alternative history, where the Cold War soldiers are on, but instead of featuring weaponry from the past, it has massive sci-fi elements to it. This makes the entire process feel more fun than any wargame before it, and probably, since.
This feeling is amplified massively by the campy live-acting cutscenes in between missions, that have now become legendary in gaming lore. In fact, the series managed to rope in acting royalty, such as Tim Curry, and J.K. Simmons, to continue with the hi-jinx in later games. This ability to mix revolutionary gameplay, with a humorous feel, made it a must-play game back then, and even still nowadays.
