Free Games
| We are talking about Linux and open source software, so, of course, there are free game choices. Which games you might be interested in depends on what you like. A lot of free games are available on your Mandrake or Fedora install disks. Those games include the KDE and GNOME game collections. Popular open source games also have been around for quite some time, including FreeCiv and Tux Racer. More ambitious projects have been started for large-scale first-person shooter games and massive multiplayer online games. Both the GNOME Games collection and KDE Games consist of small desktop games such as card games, puzzle games, and arcade games. These are the games you play when you need something to do, when you are waiting for something to download, or when you have odd fantasies of becoming the Olympic Solitaire gold medalist. Other free games can be more involved and time consuming. You can have a lot of fun with the many free games available for Linux, but don't expect most of them to be up to the standard of the popular commercial video games. GNOME Games
The GNOME Game package is on your install disks. You can also use Apt, Yum, or URPMI to get the packages online, but there are a few associated libraries to get as well. You are better off grabbing the packages from your install disks using the Fedora package manager tool or Mandrake's RPMDrake. These are games that have been around for a while, so it's not essential that you get the absolute latest versions of the packages. All the games in the GNOME Games collection are small and simple, but they can be challenging and addictive. Sometimes the hardest part of these games is figuring out what you are supposed to do in the game, thanks to a few cryptic game titles. You might get a few more games than the ones described in this topic when you install, but these are the official core games in the GNOME Games collection. AisleriotIt's Solitaire. To be technical, Aisleriot includes 70 different types of solitaire. You can play the popular Freecell or Klondike, as well as odd variations that surely no one can ever win. AtaxxThis is sort of like Reversi, but twisted. Instead of placing colored pieces on the board, you try to replace the other player's pieces with yours. BlackjackYou know what blackjack is. Try to get closest to 21 with your cards, without going over. Four-in-a-RowThis is sort of a combination between Tic-Tac-Toe and that old board game Connect Four. My sister and I had enough fights over Connect Four as kids that this game brings back bad memories of getting scratched. GnometrisThis is a Tetris clone. Try to turn and put together the falling shapes to complete horizontal lines (see Figure 12.1). Figure 12.1. Gnometris.
IagnoRemember the board game Othello? That was a copy of the old game Reversi. Iagno is another version of Reversi. Control the board by having the most pieces of your color showing. KlotskiThis is a puzzle game in which you have to slide blocks to solve the puzzle in only a few moves. LinesThe game doesn't have a creative name, but Lines is an apt name for this game. You have to move balls around to form them into lines of five in a row. MahjonggOh, Mahjongg, the bane of centuries of Chinese slackers and of me when I have an unpleasant task before me. Match tiles to make them disappear from a stacked pattern. This is an ancient game, but putting it on the computer makes it so much betterno tiles to clean up. MinesMines is the same game as Minesweeper. You have to look for mines on a grid. NibblesThis one can get addictive. You have to move a worm through a maze to collect gems. Your worm grows longer as you go, and you have to be sure not to hit a wall or part of your own worm. Actually, now that I've described it, Nibbles sounds sort of like a psychedelic drug trip turned into a game. RobotsThere are robots out to kill you. You have to avoid them. The robots aren't that smart, which is nice if you don't want to be killed by robots. Same GNOMEFrankly, I have never quite gotten this game (see Figure 12.2). I understand what you're supposed to do: You have to remove balls from the board in as few moves as possible. However, I get mesmerized by the spinning tiger-stripe patterns on the balls, fall over, and start foaming at the mouth. Figure 12.2. GNOME Games, Same GNOME.
StonesEverything scrolls. There are gems: Get them. It's not a very pretty game. If you miss Atari games, circa 1982, Stones will comfort you. TaliYahtzee! Err, I mean, Tali! You have to get poker combinations by rolling dice. TetravexMatch grids of tiles from the right to the left. This game isn't full of excitement, but it can be interesting. KDE Games
The KDE games are numerous. Just as with the GNOME Games, you should install the KDE game packages from your Fedora or Mandrake install disks, to save headaches. Also as with the GNOME Games, the KDE Games collection includes simple, quick games. There are more games and a wider range of game types in the KDE collection. Some of the games are the standard ones you expect, such as Solitaire (KPatience), Mahjongg (KMahjongg and KShishen), Tetris (KSirtet and KSmiletris), Minesweeper (KMines), and Reversi (KReversi). Other KDE Games that have similar GNOME Game counterparts are KSnakerace, kWin4, KLines, and KSame. Here are others in the KDE Game collection that are different. And, yes, most of them start with a K. KAsteroidsIt doesn't take a genius to deduce that KAsteroids is like the arcade game Asteroids. The game has good graphics and quick play, and, of course, no quarters are needed. KAtomicIn this game, you are sort of a scientist forming atoms into molecules. The game can be challenging and has decent graphics for its type. KBackgammonThis is a computer version of the board game Backgammon. You can play alone, against another player, or even online. KBattleshipYou sunk my . . . never mind. It's like the board game Battleship and supports online play. KBlackboxThis is a funky little game in which you play hide and seek in boxes on a grid. The game takes some good logical thinking as well as a little getting used to. KBounceCatch as many balls as you can as they move across the field by building walls to trap them. KBounce seems simple at first, but a good player can come up with some elaborate strategies. KenolabaThis is like the computer board game version of King of the Mountain. You have to shove the other player's pieces off the board while following the rules of the board. Kenolaba is based on the board game Abalone. KFoulEggsKFoulEggs (see Figure 12.3) is based on a Japanese game called PuyoPuyo. The game is similar to Tetris-type games. Figure 12.3. The KDE game KFoulEggs.
KJumpingCubeYou try to control as many squares on the board as possible to get the best score. This is a multiplayer tactical game. KonquestA multiplayer strategy game, Konquest consists of trying to win by expanding your empire across space. KPokerIt's poker. You can play against the computer and choose different deck designs for your cards. KSokobanYou know it's a Japanese game when there is an odd premise to it like this. Hey, kids! Have you ever dreamed of being a warehouse manager and moving crates around all day? Then play KSokoban! KSpaceDuelGunslingers in space, in ships, shoot each other. KSpaceDuel is a multiplayer arcade game in which you shoot the other guy's ship and try not to run into the other things floating by you in space. You can play against a person or the computer. KTronRemember the Disney movie Tron? This game is a multiplayer game that is like the arcade game they play in that movie. You move around quickly, trying not to run into walls or another player. Try not to kill any of those sentient programs; it's sad when they die. Lieutenant SkatThis is based on a German card game. You can play with two players and choose different decks of cards. |
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