8 Best Free ASCII Linux Games
Linux has a huge library of free games many of which
are released under an open source license. The vast majority of these
games are athestically pleasing. Popular games often have full motion
video, vector graphics, 3D graphics, realistic 3D rendering, animation,
texturing, a physics engine, and much more. Early computer games did
not
have these graphic techniques. The earliest video games were text games
or text-based games that used text characters rather than vector or
bitmapped graphics.
Text-based games are often forgotted and neglected in the
Linux press. However, there are some real ASCII gems out there waiting
to be explored which are immensely addictive and great fun to play.
The idiom 'don't judge a book by its cover' can be extended to
'don't judge a computer game by its graphics'. Whilst the games
featured in this article have extremely basic graphics, they have many
redeeming qualities beyond evoking fond memories of the early days of
computer gaming.
The purpose of this article is to identify our favourite ASCII
based games. There are no fancy graphics here, just great gameplay
coupled with the urge of always having just one more play.
Now let's scrutinize the 8 games at hand. For each game we
have compiled its own portal page, providing screenshots of the game in
action, a full description of the game, with an in-depth analysis of
the features of the game, together with links to relevant resources and
reviews.
| ASCII Linux Games |
| Ascii
Sector |
Roguelike variant of Wing Commander: Privateer |
| ASCIIpOrtal |
Enter
the test chambers for a non-euclidean good time |
| DoomRL |
Fast and furious coffee-break Roguelike game |
| Dwarf
Fortress |
Extremely
addictive rogue-like ASCII game |
| NetHack |
Classic dungeon crawling |
| 0verkill |
Bloody
2D action deathmatch-like game in ASCII-art |
|
Angband |
Single-player dungeon exploration game |
| Empire
|
Multi-player,
client/server Internet based war game |
|
|
For other Linux games, please
check out these articles: 42
of the Best Free Linux Games, 42
More of the Best Free Linux Games, 21
More of the Best Free
Linux Games, 42 Hot
Free Linux Games (Part
1, Part
2, Part
3), 24 Addictive Free Linux Games (Part
1, Part
2, Part
3), 21 Notable Linux Games (Part
1, Part
2, Part
3), 18 Best Free Up-and-Coming Linux Games Part
1, Part
2, Part
3, a Chess
feature, and Educational
Games.
Return to our complete collection of Group
Tests, identifying the finest Linux software.
Last Updated Friday, May 04 2012 @ 10:55 PM EDT
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