Stop Wine-ing: 15 Games for Linux

Do you think that Linux lacks some good games? If so, you’re wrong! To be fair, Linux does miss most of the top commercial games on the market (not quite the fault of Linux itself, though), but aside from those, the selection seems to be limitless. Even indie developers are getting in on the Linux action, not by releasing a game that happens to work through Wine, but by delivering a true Linux binary version.

Our good friend Susan Linton has made it her goal to prove that great Linux games exist, and urges people to stop “Wine-ing” in the process. So, she’s picked 15 current and upcoming titles that are well worth checking out, and happen to run on Linux natively, without the use of an emulator or Wine. I have to admit… I thought I knew Linux gaming, but some titles on this list completely went under my radar.

One example is Bullet Candy Perfect, a sequel of sorts to the original. I played the original quite a bit under Windows (I highly recommend checking it out… it’s very unique and interesting) but was completely oblivious to the fact that there was even a sequel, much less one that works under Linux! Another interesting title is Machinarium, one that I’ve been tempted to try under Windows but have failed to do so up to this point. With a Linux version being available, I’m running out of excuses to not give it a go.

While many games on this list tend to revolve around a 2D point-of-view, there are some quality fully 3D titles as well, such as the horror game Penumbra, and of course, the multi-player and very colorful World of Padman. Oh, and who could forget Quake Live, which has truly classic Quake action and works just fine through Linux. See? The gaming scene isn’t so bad on Linux, after all!

There are plenty of additional maps and soundtracks available from community contributers and it boasts a rather large core team with frequent updates and releases. World of Padman began life several years ago as a mod for Quake 3, but was released as a stand alone game in late 2007. The community surrounding Padman has grown rapidly making the game quite popular and the recipient of several positive reviews. The graphics of this game might not appeal to all users, but it does make for some wacky gameplay suitable for gamers of all ages.