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Best open source games

1.Battle for Wesnoth

Paid: $3.99

The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based tactical strategy game with a high fantasy theme. Form a mighty army, train recruits, make them hardened veterans, recall your fiercest warriors to form deadly hosts against your enemies, and more.

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  • Genre:Strategy

  • Betty Ruiz

    by Betty Ruiz

    One of the best open source games is Battle for Wesnoth. It's free and available for a variety of computers. It's sort of like Warsong, where you buil More

  • Betty Payne

    by Betty Payne

    A fun mobile game that is based around a fantasy world. You can really get the good vibes from this and I think it's a decent game.

  • Esther Saldaña

    by Esther Saldaña

    The Battle for Wesnoth is a very interesting open source website where a bunch of people from all over the world contribute their talents to build a g More

  • Christina Olson

    by Christina Olson

    I love this little gem of a strategy games and the fact that they made it open source is icing on the cake. This game is a must-try, and be sure to ch More

  • by Christian Rogers

    This is exactly what I needed. An open source game with all builds and code published. The game itself isn't that great, but open source ones rarely a More

  • Gerald Price

    by Gerald Price

    Don't let anyone tell you their aren't any great open source games on the Android platform. If they do, just show them the Battle for Wesnoth. I love  More

2.OpenTTD

Free download
This is an open source simulator based on the classic game Transport Tycoon Deluxe. It attempts to mimic the original game while extending it with new features.

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  • Genre:Strategy

  • Jose Delgado

    by Jose Delgado

    Askaron Nov 13, 2013 10 For me TTD means everything. It was the game that started it all. My passion for videogames, my interest on economy and politi More

  • Socorro Rocha

    by Socorro Rocha

    This solution seems to make repairs to or make fixes work better as I play the game. Some of the fixes make game play much better and more exciting fo More

  • Jonathan Reed

    by Jonathan Reed

    I enjoy a good Tycoon game, problem with them is they're almost never open source and mod friendly. OpenTTD is a neat open source Tycoon game about tr More

3.Xonotic

Free download
Xonotic is a free open source arena first person shooter with crisp movement and a variety of weapons to choose from. It uses intuitive mechanics and thrilling action that keeps you on your toes.
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  • Genre:FPS, Action

  • Howard Pearson

    by Howard Pearson

    Xonotic is a free open source FPS game and it has good graphics and extremely addictive gameplay. Being open sourced, it's available for windows, macs More

  • Aaron Day

    by Aaron Day

    Great first person shooter with a huge array of weapons to play with. This one just might cost me some sleep.

  • Jaiwan Bindraban null

    by Jaiwan Bindraban null

    doesn't work with macos mojave

4.Warsow

Free download
Warsow is an open source free fast-paced first-person shooter set in a futuristic cartoonish world, where you can jump, dash, dodge, and walljump, grabbing power-ups, planting bombs, and stealing your enemy’s flag.
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  • Anthony Carroll

    by Anthony Carroll

    Warsow is a great open source game that is free and fun to play. It's based on a first person perspective where you have to try and capture the enemy  More

  • Amber Delgado

    by Amber Delgado

    ive always enjoyed soldier games ever since i was a kid, and now i not only get to play this sweet game, i also get to make my own levels and gameplay More

  • Parakram Chatterjee

    by Parakram Chatterjee

    This game is set in a futuristic cartoonish world. This game may not be for everyone but I really love it! It's free and there are lots and lots of di More

  • Mark Foster

    by Mark Foster

    Warsow definitely solves the problem of finding an open source game. It calls back to Quake and Doom, but the graphics sets it aside to stand on its o More

5.Minetest

Free download
Minetest is a sandbox game where you have to explore, dig and build in a beautiful procedurally-generated world, and craft stuff from raw materials. It's a good alternative to Minecraft or Roblox.
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  • Billy Gray

    by Billy Gray

    Minetest is a open source version of Mine Craft. It looks as good as you could expect. I think having it open sourced has made this a gem. I really li More

  • Jessica Santos

    by Jessica Santos

    Never knew that a minecraft bootleg would be a good game and would let you configure the game's settings and programming to suit your needs more. this More

  • Benjamin Phillips

    by Benjamin Phillips

    Provides users to full access of the game so they can create their own modifications and designs. Absolutely wonderful open source game.

  • Kathryn Garrett

    by Kathryn Garrett

    Minetest is a fun alternative to Minecraft, and I love that it's open-source. If you're interesting in dipping your toe into the world of open source  More

6.Teeworlds

Free download
Teeworlds is a free online multiplayer game where you fight against up to 16 players in a variety of game modes. You can design your own maps and even temporarily become a ninja to defeat your enemies.
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  • Jeffrey Watkins

    by Jeffrey Watkins

    There's nothing like playing a multiplayer game where everyone's been playing longer than you and you feel like you cannot catch up, it's annoying. Te More

  • Grace Fisher

    by Grace Fisher

    Teeworlds is a great multiplayer game for any operating system. You can design your own maps with classics like Capture the Flag and other fun game mo More

7.Oolite

Free download
Oolite is a free and open source 3D space trading and combat simulator where you play the pilot of a spacecraft and must find a way to make money and gain Elite rating in a convoluted universe.
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  • Susan Welch

    by Susan Welch

    I was looking for something different than sword fighting games. This game allows me to fly through space and visit different planets. Not only does i More

  • Kelly Robinson

    by Kelly Robinson

    This is definitely a fun game for everyone, story-line is easy to follow with plenty of action. And its free

  • by Vincent Ortiz

    This game was disappointing. For an open source game is does the bare minimum...it works. I found the sound fx very poor and the game play just downri More

8.2048

With in-app purchases
2048 is a simple but addictive game where you must join the numbers with the objective of reaching the 2048 tile without getting out of the game. It's a strategy game in which the player needs to add the number to get to the goal. 
  • Patrick Cox

    by Patrick Cox

    "2048" is the best open source game for Android devices! I not only enjoy playing it but I have used it to model my own games. It's very well designed More

  • Mario Aguilera

    by Mario Aguilera

    This is a neat little puzzle game, the concept is simple and yet it's very challenging. You can keep playing beyond the 2048 moniker too, but it's pre More

  • Roger Turner

    by Roger Turner

    It's a merging numbers game, the concept is simple, move everything over to one side and it two pieces match they merge into one tile that doubles the More

  • David Sanchez

    by David Sanchez

    Great game that works the mind and keeps you entertained at the same time. Great time filler.

  • Randy Henderson

    by Randy Henderson

    A fantastic game that will keep you guessing. Flex your mind and focus while advancing. This game will keep you sharp as you move though levels.

  • Andrea Roberts

    by Andrea Roberts

    2048 is a game thats all about thought. Its also good for developers. Its very addictive and will kill time no matter where youre at.

9.Angband

Free download
Angband is a roguelike game inspired by the original Rogue, Moria & Nethack and based on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. It has variants that offer both slight and more notable changes in gameplay. In it, you are a hero, fighting your way down to the Pits of Angband in order to defeat Morgoth.
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  • Joseph Estrada

    by Joseph Estrada

    If you're looking for a good open source game I'd suggest skipping Angband. It really wasn't that much fun and I really tried hard to like it. The gam More

  • Juan Dean

    by Juan Dean

    It's hard to find a lot of open source games but Angband is one that stood out. It is a lot like Rogue and is based on Tolkien. It's a fighting strate More

  • Andrew Ortiz

    by Andrew Ortiz

    This game appears more similar to an eighties ASCII game. I could not get into the regular version, and I was not impressed with the graphical version More

10.RetroArch

Free download

RetroArch is a free emulator that makes use of a powerful development interface called Libretro to make it compatible with PlayStation, Game Boy, SNES, and Nintendo DS. It requires users to download some programs called 'cores' from within the app.  

  • Lori Wright

    by Lori Wright

    A simple all-in-one emulator that I've been waiting for. All the different cores stay within one program, making it super simple to keep everything in More

  • Stephanie Hunt

    by Stephanie Hunt

    This is an open source emulator. It is not specifically a game. You can play games on it but it's not exactly a game on its own.

11.Wolfenstein 3D

Paid: $4.99
Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter developed by id Software. This game comes the grandfather of the genre, it involves the adventures of an Allied soldier, William B.J. Blazkowicz, fighting his way through a series of Nazi dungeons during World War II. 
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  • Héctor Solano

    by Héctor Solano

    As a gamer I live a life full of games. Wolfenstein 3D is a classic shooter that takes me back to my pc days. A game that help change the pc gaming la More

  • Zachary Moreno

    by Zachary Moreno

    Wow this is an old classic. I think you might have a hard time running it for iPhone from this link, but it's still worth firing up sometimes on compu More

12.0 A.D.

Free download
0 A.D. is a real-time strategy game which is still under the development of Wildfire Games. The first version was released on May 17, 2018. It supports a free and open-source mode and is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
  • Website:https://play0ad.com/download/
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  • Genre:Historical, Strategy

  • Terry Hunter

    by Terry Hunter

    Wanting to get my hands on an open source game to mess around with. I ended up getting this game called "0 A.D.". This game is very well done. It's de More

  • Angela Cunningham

    by Angela Cunningham

    This game's graphics is soooo bad that it's actually good. Cartoony and interesting, and it lets me edit the game itself to make it more suitable for  More

  • Victoria Salinas

    by Victoria Salinas

    Wow! This is a very confusing game. The game really doesn't make sense. Spent to much time trying to read the instructions and trying to understand th More

13.Simutrans

Free download
Simutrans is an open-source transportation simulation game where you must establish a successful transport company: Build road, rails, channels and more to get passengers, mail, and goods to their destinations.
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  • by Johnny Tran

    Wanting to mess around with open source games, I decided to give Simutrans a try, I'm glad I did. This game is really fun to mess around with. It's ve More

  • Andrew Knight

    by Andrew Knight

    Are you having problems with open source games that both work AND are fun at the same time? Then try Simutrans! I love this little game. I designed th More

  • Tammy Henry

    by Tammy Henry

    It looks like a good game to play and it definitely meets all of the requirements for being open source. If someone likes transportation games, then t More

14.Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

Free

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is an online browser roguelike adventure game. It is free and continues the saga from the original Dungeon Crawl form 1997. You can play it in your web browser creating an account.

  •  Jorge Luis Carrera

    by Jorge Luis Carrera

    Ok.... A little bit of retro gaming won't hurt anyone... Seems innocent and it appears to be exactly what its meant to be. Nothing fancy or jaw-droppi More

  • by Christian Hunter

    Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup will be a time killer that you can spend many hours on. Very fun to play and learn.

  • by Diane Morales

    Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a linux based adventure game. It's free to play and offers the old school graphics that are sure to bring back fond memori More

15.OpenRA

Free download
OpenRA is an Open Source, Cross-Platform reimplementation of Command & Conquer: Red Alert.
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  • Aaron Patterson

    by Aaron Patterson

    Even if OpenRA was only half as good as it is it would still be far better than trying to play Red Alert with Dosbox but no it's so much more than a w More

  • Philip Vargas

    by Philip Vargas

    TBH, I missed the red alert game from when i was a child, now i can play it again, and customize the game to my own preferences, something that i wasn More

  • Christian Jordan

    by Christian Jordan

    Command and Conquer: Red Alert was one of my favorite games. And now thanks to OpenRA this game has been given a second life in open source software.  More

  • Eugene Day

    by Eugene Day

    Bored in free time, I decided to try and get into open sources games. So, I started searching and ended up downloading OpenRA, a game very similar to  More

16.Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead

Free download
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, or CDDA, is an open source survival horror roguelike video game.The game is freely downloadable on the game's website and the source code is also freely available on the project's GitHub repository.
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  • Wayne Morgan

    by Wayne Morgan

    What a great free game. But I really love how everything is open source and people can do whatever the heck they want with it, modify it, do things ho More

  • Ralph Campbell

    by Ralph Campbell

    Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is fun. I like all the modding options. It has an active community still adding things and releasing newer versions. I like  More

  • Grace Mitchell

    by Grace Mitchell

    I was needing an open source game to play because I enjoy games that are like that. I like the concept of being able to love a game, taking the source More

17.OpenTyrian

Free download
OpenTyrian is rewrite of Tyrian's Pascal that replaces the arcane DOS code with SDL. In this scrolling shooter computer game you are a terraforming pilot who must scout for habitable locations and suddenly find yourself in the midst of a life threatening mission.
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  • Kathryn Taylor

    by Kathryn Taylor

    To that redneck who says he didn't like the game because of the graphics, just know that every gamer who isn't 15 or lower is laughing at you LMAOOO I More

  • Ricardo Andrade

    by Ricardo Andrade

    OpenTyrian is an open source game I tried out. I like the game play. It seems people put a lot of hard work into it. The graphics are extremely dated  More

  • Kathryn Williamson

    by Kathryn Williamson

    Open Tyrian is a great solution to the problem of open source games. The port uses SDL, making it easily cross-platform.

  • Billy Ray

    by Billy Ray

    If this is the best, I hate to see the worst. The "action" is extremely boring and the graphics are horrible (hello 1980's). The play is jerky that yo More

18.The Ur-Quan Masters

Free download
The Ur-Quan Masters is a multi-platform open source port of the classic sci-fi game Star Control 2, based on the original source code of the 3DO version.
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  • by Arthur Davidson

    The Ur-Quan Masters is a great game for gamers looking for a nostalgic time as it's based on the classic sci-fi Star Control 2. Ur-Quan Masters is als More

  • Keith Lucas

    by Keith Lucas

    The sci-fi premise of this game is designed very well. The arcade style game play is both engaging and entertaining. The game brings a lot of great hu More

  • Brenda Alvarez

    by Brenda Alvarez

    Good game that is easy to download and use. Graphics are OK but the game is fun.

19.Tales of Maj'Eyal

Free
Tales of Maj'Eyal is an open source roguelike role playing game with a turn-based combat and with an advanced character building. You can choose between unique and special races and character classes in a world that is full of enemies, adventures and surprises.

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  • Michelle Wells

    by Michelle Wells

    While the website's look is not as professional as I would like I feel like it still looks trustworthy. The game sounds very interesting and worth a p More

  • by Edward Banks

    Now, I am a fan of open source software period. To find open source games is rare, but Tales of Maj;Eyal is great! So happy I found it.

  • Angela Chavez

    by Angela Chavez

    Tales of Maj'Eyal is a fun, adventurer game. At every stop and turn you will find something new to explore, to enemies to beat and things to conquer.

20.Super TuxKart

Free download
SuperTuxKart is a free 3D open-source arcade racer with a variety characters, tracks, and modes to play. In Story mode, you must face the evil Nolok, and defeat him in order to make the Mascot Kingdom safe once again. You can race against the computer or with up to four friends on one PC and more.
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  • Nicholas Sanchez

    by Nicholas Sanchez

    Super TuxKart is a good open source game available for windows, linux, and MAC os. The source code is available right on the site and characters, trac More

  • Raymond Willis

    by Raymond Willis

    I was able to download Super TuxKart and absolutely loved playing it with my friends! I think it did a really good job at filling my need for an open  More

  • by Dhruv Rangan

    Because this game is Linux based, this game slices the problem. This is the correct response and the game is exactly what the problem looks for

21.Warzone 2100

Free download
Warzone 2100 is an open-source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid game where you command the forces of The Project in a battle to rebuild the world after a nuclear disaster that almost wiped mankind out from the face of the Earth. 
  • Website:https://wz2100.net/
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  • by Roger Pearson

    This is an okay game, but not very good. Lots of small bugs that make the gameplay a bit annoying. It is fully open source though, if that's all you'r More

  • Ralph Chapman

    by Ralph Chapman

    As far as open source games go, Warzone 2100 is pretty good. I've only spent a few hours with the game but they've been fun and interesting.

  • Rebecca Silva

    by Rebecca Silva

    This is a very interesting open source game. I've played it a few times and enjoyed it. Plus the story is very interesting.

22.OpenRCT2

Free download
OpenRCT2 is an open source re-implementation of Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 (RCT2) where you must build and manage an amusement park with attractions, shops and facilities while making profits, keeping visitors happy, and maintaining a good reputation.
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  • Jeffrey Chapman

    by Jeffrey Chapman

    Open RCT2 is an open source emulator for Roller Coaster Tycoon 2. It is an open source game but it still requires you to have the original files from  More

  • Raymond Harvey

    by Raymond Harvey

    OpenRCT2 is a great game where you have many options of building your amusement park. Very addictive.

  • William Bailey

    by William Bailey

    OpenRCT2 is awesome. This has made it possible to customize and mod my park. The game is so much fun and now I am able to enjoy it again and change th More

DID YOU KNOW?

Software and computers shared a common history during the 1950s to 60s. In the early days of computing, software and hardware were being bundled together. Profit came from hardware, so the source code for software was available for free. Early adopters of new technologies were most often academics. Hence, the culture of sharing knowledge was also adopted for software. During the early 70s, IBM started charging for its software. Also, a commission by the US DOJ states that computer programs would be subject to copyright laws. These events gave rise to the development of proprietary software. Following this trend, Unix operating systems became commercialized in the early 1980s. An MIT researcher named Richard Stallman went and did something about this. He launched the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation during the mid-80s. This was around the same time when the GNU General Public or GPL came to be. It was the first ever open source license. This inspired computer science student, Linus Torvalds, to create his own operating system. He created Linux, a free and open source OS that would see wide use until today.

GPL still had some limitation on the methods for its distribution. The Open Source Initiative (which coined "open source") was born during the late 1990s. Alongside the Apache Foundation (Apache License) soon after. Things changed for the better after these events. Open source projects became widespread. Businesses centered around the open source model became legitimate. Some of the best software available to us today is open source and free. This trend even made its way to open source games, although to a lesser extent with a specific following.

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