Hari's Corner

Ok, I'm writing a column at LinuxQuestions.org about Random Linux apps and games, but I decided that I'd share them here as well for your benefit, since the LQ.org articles section is kind of hidden and out of the way.

First of all, who says Linux doesn't have great games? Some of the most addictive games I've played are on Linux and not all of them are graphics-rich either. Enjoyable games don't need to be heavily loaded with rich 3d graphics and sound -- they just need to have fairly easy control mechanisms and involved gameplay. Here are some of my discoveries featuring a few lesser known but very enjoyable Linux arcade games.

Wormux

Website: www.wormux.org

A FOSS game along the lines of the classic Team17 game, Worms, Wormux recreates some of the fun and enjoyment of tiny creatures blasting each other on a 2d map. Although far from complete and lacking the polish of the originals, it looks promising to fans of this genre.

Ri-li

Website: ri-li.sourceforge.net

A toy train game where you have to collect all the wagons on the map with a concept very similar to Snake Race, it is an easy to play, yet extremely addictive game. While it's controls are very simple, it is deceptively engrossing and has nice music as well.

SuperTuxKart

Website: supertuxkart.berlios.de

A very nice Kart racing game featuring many tracks and players to choose from. Fun and addictive for fans of cartoonish racing games.

KGoldRunner

Website: none (?)

Part of the KDE games package, it is a very involved running and digging action/puzzle game which involves collecting all the gold pieces in a level and escaping the enemies who relentlessly pursue you. This is a very addictive game and can vary from very easy to extraordinarily challenging, based on the level design. Also comes with an integrated editor which allows you to create new level sets.

I will be covering more FOSS apps/games in the future, both here (in the blog) as well as in my column at LinuxQuestions.org! In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for apps/games to be featured in my column, please post a comment here or send me an e-mail.