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Linux game database

lgdb.org

75 pointsamarsahinovic18 comments

It's a shameless plug but I keep a game index site with a fair list of Linux games:

http://www.gamefndr.com/games?game%5Bplatform_ids%5D%5B%5D=7

The site is still only half-done and is a work in progress. (and features ugly deep link URLs)

BTW slick work on the lgdb tools and emulators listings.

Well there has to be a replacement for The Linux Game Tome (http://www.happypenguin.org/) but this one just feels soulless and generic. The Linux Game Tome was never very good from a technical point of view but it had style.

A sad demise, this page was part of my Linux using in the early 2000s.

Also list of Linux games on Steam:

1. http://steamlinux.xpaw.ru/

2. http://steamdb.info/linux/ (automated, pulls data from Steam)

I was going to recommend http://www.happypenguin.org/ but apparently this week they announced its demise, sad to see it go.

There is also http://www.penguspy.com/ which contains a well curated list of Linux games.

I'm sorry to be mean, but with a 1994 feel like that, no wonder it didn't get the attention and interest it deserved. And this is coming from an enthusiast. Hopefully someone will take the reins and do it justice though.

I rather enjoyed the Linux Game Tome for many years. It got a lot of attention and was well-known in the community. As the post says, its maintainers stopped updating and maintaining it, but it went on for a long time. I actually appreciate that "1994 feel" and am glad it didn't become polluted with such modern "niceties" as tag clouds, infinite scroll, and share buttons on every post.

For games specifically distributed under free software licenses take a look at https://libregamewiki.org/Main_Page. SourceForge's games section [1] is also still a surprisingly good tool for discovering smaller and more obscure Linux game titles. I wish there was this sort of cataloguing going on on GitHub (even if it was through a third-party website).

[1] https://sourceforge.net/directory/games/

I tried to create an account using Yahoo! OpenID to submit one of my games: http://www.guacosoft.com/njam

I got this error from Yahoo!:

Sorry! You will not be able to link your Yahoo! account with this website or application. It is using an older version of the OpenID technology.

How can gaming on linux be taken seriously when the same tired old ports and poor quality games dominate the "top" list by user reviews?

You'd get a better sense of linux gaming with Steam for Linux.

The top choices are weird , there are a lot of newer more exciting games than those available. Maybe it's because they are free?

Or give up and use wine with Windows steam. It's buggy, but some great games work.

I use Wine with Windows games from GOG. Many games work great (from time to time you get exceptions which don't work with Wine, like this one: http://www.gog.com/gamecard/heroes_of_annihilated_empires ).

Unfortunately Steam remains DRMed, so it's not going to "cut it" for Linux gaming (i.e. to be a presentable selection of Linux users), since Linux crowd has little respect to DRM and many aren't using Steam because of that. The only hope could be GOG, but they aren't itching to start selling Linux games yet (feel free to let then know if you are interested: http://www.gog.com/wishlist/site/add_linux_versions_of_games ).

Steam does not require games to use their DRM, it is one of their many optional features. I do not know if anyone has compiled a list of non-DRMed games at Steam though.

I mean DRM in general (running the Steam client and so on). GOG is completely DRM free in comparison.

""How can gaming on linux be taken seriously when the same tired old ports and poor quality games dominate the "top" list by user reviews?""

Well, the answer to this question is this: those making bleeding-edge interesting games for Linux, or those playing them, learn about sites like this and decide to publish reviews.

Anything that makes that happen can only be a good thing, right? There are tons of nice games for Linux, or at least buildable on Linux, out in the universe .. its no longer a dirth of 'good games', its just a matter of knowing what and where to find what you like and get it running.

I personally am a huge fan of Linux gaming, both on Ubuntu and Android, and as a developer myself have absolutely no problems getting into any game, either distributed or in source form, and getting it running on my system. I rarely game on anything but Linux.

In the last few days, my sons and I have played:

* WorldWarVi (fantastic retro shooter)

* crrcsim (I play this on OpenPandora nowadays.. the boys have the big-screen Linux machine with the bluetooth gamepads .. we fly and are trying to make models, not there yet)

* PacPac (we're making new levels..)

* OpenCity (it needs love, but entertains..)

* PangZero (nice and easy)

* TORCS (makes me puke, the boys now want a proper drivers wheel)

* Faster Than Light (mostly me)

* Cave Story (mostly the wife)

* Serious Sam (also makes me puke, we boys get in trouble for playing it right now tho', but we do sneak..)

* Garden Of Colored Lights (very fun!)

* FlightGear (mostly me, and I also need a decent controller)

* AtomicTanks (mostly me and the elder son)

* Voxatron (we play this most of all lately, its just cute fun)

So, with many of those games .. the source is available. Or at least the ability to edit levels. Some games not so much, but where it exists .. we always poke at it. And thats not a bad thing for kids who game with their Dads on Linux to be learning.

So maybe the answer to your question is, if you're not satisfied with Gaming on Linux right now, wait until another generation grows up with it first, it'll continue to keep improving ..

(PS; I'll go review the games above at the new site, I personally love it when things like this get a kick, its certainly worth watching when new game releasers/developers start utilizing these things .. in point of fact, merely keep an eye on http://repo.openpandora.org if you want to know where the bleeding edge Linux gaming is happening .. oh and here is my personal favourite Linux game-review site right now: http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=all&cat=Game&s=new... ')

edit: list formatting edit2: Found another great tome of Linux games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Linux_games

No way to filter by DRM free criteria there?

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