The Diligent Circle

Libre Game Recommendations

This page is archived and no longer actively maintained due to a lack of spoons. However, we still think that the games listed here are good games that are worth a try, so feel free to take a look. We may sporadically add games that catch our attention, but we no longer take requests. Thank you for your understanding.

It can sometimes be hard to tell which of the hundreds of libre games out there are really worth trying. We would like to help out with that. To that end, we have compiled a list of completely libre open source games that we think are worth playing in their own right, regardless of whether or not them being libre open source is important to you. The games are listed alphabetically, ignoring any leading articles ("the" or "a"). Links are provided to the most relevant and useful pages available for each of the games. Note that if you are using a Linux distro, the best way to install any of these is through the package manager, if possible.

Individually Distinguished Games

This list is of games that stand on their own merit individually, meaning that it does not include games that are clearly designed to be very similar to other, more popular games, unless they do a good job distinguishing themselves either with noticeably better production value than even the most recent iterations of said games, or with substantial design changes. In short: no clones. Clones are listed in the Clones and Implementations section further down. This list also does not include any game which is in an incomplete (alpha) state, or any game which we know to cause some kind of social harm. A list of all rejected games is found in our Rejected Libre Games list.

Click a section to expand. Games that fit in more than one of these sections are listed in all those that they fit into.

Single-Player
  • A7Xpg - An arcade game centered around avoiding enemies while collecting as many gold pieces as possible. Centered around a "booster" which repels enemies and makes you go faster.
  • Adanaxis - A first-person 4-D space shooter game. Literally "adds an axis" to typical 3-D space shooters for a very unique experience.
  • Alex the Allegator 4 - A fun, lighthearted, short platformer.
  • Armagetron Advanced - A 3-D variant of the Light Cycles sub-game of the classic Tron arcade game. Highly configurable and very fun to play.
  • The Battle for Wesnoth - A turn-based strategy game with fantastic artwork, including campaigns and multiplayer.
  • Battle Tanks - An engaging multiplayer overhead shooter game. Features deathmatch and cooperative modes.
    • CW: blood, realistic violence
  • BrogueCE - A very nice-looking and easy to learn classic-style roguelike.
  • Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - A vast sandbox survival roguelike game with a wide variety of complex scenarios and vast customizability for your character. Start out just trying to survive, and if you can achieve that, pursue your own ambitions.
  • C-Dogs SDL - A fast-paced, fun top-down 2-D shooter with customizable characters and a wide variety of weapons. You "pay" points to shoot your gun and then gain them back for killing enemies. Includes single-player campaign and "quick play" (arcade) modes, as well as two multiplayer modes.
  • Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup - A very fun and well-made dungeon crawl game with a nice interface. Find the "Orb of Zot" and then exit the dungeon (without getting yourself killed, of course) to win!
  • Endgame: Singularity - A very fun real-time strategy game from the perspective of the Singularity, an advanced A.I. that seeks to eventually surpass reality itself. Help the Singularity achieve the highest possible state before the humans uncover its presence and destroy it.
  • Enigma - A fun marble-based puzzle game involving memory and golf aspects.
  • Flare: Empyrean Campaign - A very fun, engaging, well-balanced, and detailed isometric action fantasy RPG about someone who has been exiled from their homeland and their quest to regain entry.
    • CW: dark fantasy elements including zombies and skeletons
  • Funguloids - A simple arcade game where you control some sort of blob thing in space, collecting mushrooms while avoiding asteroids. The thing you control moves at a constant speed which increases as you collect mushrooms and move through levels, so it gets harder and harder until you finally mess up. Great production value and very fun to play.
  • Gunroar - An abstract naval-themed bullet hell game.
  • Hex-a-Hop - A fun puzzle game where you have to find the right path to clear the board of tiles.
  • Inside a Star-filled Sky - Progress as deep as you can into an endless abstract world. Your actions in the current level affect the state of your character in the next level. You can enter into yourself and enemies, regressing back a level, to change their properties if you find yourself in a pinch. Very unique and challenging.
  • Jump 'n Bump - A classic multiplayer deathmatch game where you stomp on your friends' heads. Features fully customizable graphics, allowing you to create any kind of map you can imagine if you are so inclined.
    • CW: blood
  • Krank - A puzzle game incorporating elements from Pool/Billiards. You have to use a large ball to bump smaller balls into their proper place. Includes a lot of variety and gets quite challenging later on.
  • Konquest - A fun turn-based strategy game which is a twist on the Risk board game. Send ships from planets you control to conquer others. Crush all other empires and conquer the whole galaxy to win!
  • Kobo Deluxe - A fun, unique space shooter centered around destroying battle stations bit by bit. Fantastic production value and very fun to play.
  • Liquid War - A unique real-time strategy game: you tell your liquid what direction to move in, and nothing else. Liquid attacks enemy liquid when it goes in its direction. Your goal is simply to end up with more liquid than all of your opponents when the timer runs out. For such a simple concept, it is surprisingly engaging.
  • M.A.R.S. - A fun space deathmatch game with several interesting weapons and great visuals.
  • Meritous - A fun action-adventure dungeon crawler game.
  • Mindustry - A pixel-styled "sandbox tower defense" game centered around building networks to collect materials and then using those materials to build defense systems. Fantastic production value and highly engaging, with online multiplayer support.
  • Mirror Magic - A fun puzzle game where you have to use mirrors to manipulate a beam (similar to games like Deflektor and Mindbender).
  • Mr. Rescue - A very fun, unique, and funny puzzle platformer where you have to rescue people by throwing them out of a burning building.
  • Mu-cade - A unique abstract shooter game taking place on a ring. Knock your enemies off the ring while preventing them from knocking you off.
  • NetHack - One of the oldest and most famous roguelike games in existence, with its origins going all the way back to 1987.
  • Nikki and the Robots - A very nice original puzzle platformer with a retro style.
  • OpenClonk - A fun game combining elements of parkour with elements of RTS games. Features multiple game modes and has great production value.
  • OpenTTD - A faithful remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe with several improvements. Centered around making money by building transportation systems.
  • Overgod - A fun twist on the classic Asteroids, featuring several different ships, multiplayer support, powerups, and "asteroids" that shoot back.
  • Phlipple - A simple, but engaging puzzle game centered around folding 3-D objects together.
  • Project: Starfighter - A classic original side-view space shooter, featuring a nice variety of missions and weapons.
  • Powermanga - A thrilling and challenging arcade-style scrolling shooter where you have to balance ship upgrades and survive an increasingly dangerous swarm of enemies.
  • Red Eclipse - A fun original first-person shooter with an emphasis on parkour.
  • ReTux - A nice retro-style platformer that provides a good but fair challenge, with each level containing a hidden Tux doll for the player to locate and collect.
  • Ri-li - A simple game centered around helping a train collect all cars on the board without allowing it to run into itself. Effectively, a variant of Snake where you are only allowed to move along set paths.
  • rRootage - An abstract bullet hell game. Your weapon is a continuous beam that fires straight forward, and all enemies are boss-like.
  • Rocks'n'Diamonds - A highly sophisticated game combining elements of Boulder Dash, Emerald Mine, Supaplex, and Sokoban as well as several original elements, creating an engine that is capable of highly varied gameplay. If that wasn't enough, the production value is great, too.
  • Spout - A simple abstract game where you use a spray to propel as high as you can through the level, without touching obstacles. Spraying the obstacles erodes them, clearing the path.
  • SuperTuxKart - A fun, family-friendly racing game heavily inspired by the Mario Kart series, but with its own spin (including several original game modes and an original item set) which makes it unique.
  • Titanion - An abstract shooter game in a style similar to Galaxian or Galaga, with great visuals and an emphasis on fast action.
  • Torus Trooper - A highly fast-paced abstract shooter where you travel down a tube as fast as you can, destroying enemies to regain your timer and avoiding getting shot yourself (which causes you to lose time).
  • TUMIKI Fighters - A fun abstract side-scrolling shooter where you can pick up enemy "toys" to use as both extra weapons and shields.
  • Which Way Is Up? - A simple puzzle-platformer centered around rotating the stage to make it to the exit.
  • Word War vi - A simple, fun abstract shooter inspired by the famous rivalry between Emacs and vi.
Local (Hotseat) Multiplayer
  • Armagetron Advanced - A 3-D variant of the Light Cycles sub-game of the classic Tron arcade game. Highly configurable and very fun to play.
  • The Battle for Wesnoth - A turn-based strategy game with fantastic artwork, including campaigns and multiplayer.
  • Battle Tanks - An engaging multiplayer overhead shooter game. Features deathmatch and cooperative modes.
    • CW: blood, realistic violence
  • C-Dogs SDL - A fast-paced, fun top-down 2-D shooter with customizable characters and a wide variety of weapons. You "pay" points to shoot your gun and then gain them back for killing enemies. Includes single-player campaign and "quick play" (arcade) modes, as well as two multiplayer modes.
  • Jump 'n Bump - A classic multiplayer deathmatch game where you stomp on your friends' heads. Features fully customizable graphics, allowing you to create any kind of map you can imagine if you are so inclined.
    • CW: blood
  • Konquest - A fun turn-based strategy game which is a twist on the Risk board game. Send ships from planets you control to conquer others. Crush all other empires and conquer the whole galaxy to win!
  • Liquid War - A unique real-time strategy game: you tell your liquid what direction to move in, and nothing else. Liquid attacks enemy liquid when it goes in its direction. Your goal is simply to end up with more liquid than all of your opponents when the timer runs out. For such a simple concept, it is surprisingly engaging.
  • M.A.R.S. - A fun space deathmatch game with several interesting weapons and great visuals.
  • OpenClonk - A fun game combining elements of parkour with elements of RTS games. Features multiple game modes and has great production value.
  • Overgod - A fun twist on the classic Asteroids, featuring several different ships, multiplayer support, powerups, and "asteroids" that shoot back.
  • Rocks'n'Diamonds - A highly sophisticated game combining elements of Boulder Dash, Emerald Mine, Supaplex, and Sokoban as well as several original elements, creating an engine that is capable of highly varied gameplay. If that wasn't enough, the production value is great, too.
  • Slingshot - A fun 2-player turn-based strategy game centered around aiming shots so that the gravity of nearby planets flings them toward the enemy ship.
  • SuperTuxKart - A fun, family-friendly racing game heavily inspired by the Mario Kart series, but with its own spin (including several original game modes and an original item set) which makes it unique.
Online Multiplayer
  • Armagetron Advanced - A 3-D variant of the Light Cycles sub-game of the classic Tron arcade game. Highly configurable and very fun to play.
  • The Battle for Wesnoth - A turn-based strategy game with fantastic artwork, including campaigns and multiplayer.
  • Battle Tanks - An engaging multiplayer overhead shooter game. Features deathmatch and cooperative modes.
    • CW: blood, realistic violence
  • Jump 'n Bump - A classic multiplayer deathmatch game where you stomp on your friends' heads. Features fully customizable graphics, allowing you to create any kind of map you can imagine if you are so inclined.
    • CW: blood
  • Liquid War - A unique real-time strategy game: you tell your liquid what direction to move in, and nothing else. Liquid attacks enemy liquid when it goes in its direction. Your goal is simply to end up with more liquid than all of your opponents when the timer runs out. For such a simple concept, it is surprisingly engaging.
  • The Mana World - A simple, but fun 2-D MMORPG.
  • Mindustry - A pixel-styled "sandbox tower defense" game centered around building networks to collect materials and then using those materials to build defense systems. Fantastic production value and highly engaging, with online multiplayer support.
  • OpenClonk - A fun game combining elements of parkour with elements of RTS games. Features multiple game modes and has great production value.
  • Red Eclipse - A fun original first-person shooter with an emphasis on parkour.
  • Sleep Is Death - A unique 2-player-only RPG, limited only by the players' imagination.
  • SuperTuxKart - A fun, family-friendly racing game heavily inspired by the Mario Kart series, but with its own spin (including several original game modes and an original item set) which makes it unique.
  • Teeworlds - A fun, original 2-D online multiplayer side-scrolling shooter game, with some minor parkour elements.

Clones and Implementations

This is a list of clones and implementations of games which fail to meet the requirements for the Individually Distinguished Games section, but nonetheless are worth checking out if you are a fan of the games they are cloning or implementing. In addition to clones in the traditional sense, this section also includes libre software versions of board games.

This list is less stringent than the above section, but games still must be of reasonable quality and be reasonably complete to be put on this list. Additionally, if multiple clones or implementations exist for a particular game, only the best among them will be listed here. If there is no clear frontrunner for the best clone or implementation, all contenders will be listed, with strengths and weaknesses of each indicated.

Note that this is a list of straight clones and implementations, not original games inspired by other games. Those will only be listed in the Individually Distinguished Games section, if appropriate. This may mean that some games that are often considered to be "clones" may not be listed here if, despite their reputation, they deviate too far from the original game. Additionally, if a clone is substantially superior to the original, it will be included in the list above instead of the list below.

Click a section to expand. Games that fit in more than one of these sections are listed in all those that they fit into. Sorted alphabetically by the original title being cloned or implemented.

Single-Player
Local (Hotseat) Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
CC BY-SA
This page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.