December is OSS Game Appreciation Month!
Two years ago today I released a video:
I’m very proud of this video and I consider it a defining step in my pseudo-career as a YouTube content creator.
But this video is more than just a personal accomplishment. It is a shout out to all of the great developers behind some of the best yet most obscure Open Source games.
Linux Gaming is a thing
Rocks n Diamonds was arguably one of the first games ported to Linux. In 1995, Linux was hardly thought of as a home or desktop operating system. Despite this, a developer named Holger Schemel brought the game to Linux.
Since then, lots of games have been ported to Linux. The first “heyday” in Linux Gaming was in the late 90s when a company named Loki Entertainment built a business around porting games to Linux. Unfortunately, Loki was ahead of their time and the company disbanded in 2001 due to financial troubles.
2014 to 2016 was the next big boom in Linux gaming with Feral Interactive porting several popular and exciting titles to Linux. This was followed by more titles in 2017 and in 2018, Valve announced SteamPlay, a way to seamlessly play Windows games on Linux via the Steam Client.
Open Source Gaming is a thing too
With the recent popularity of Linux as a legitimate gaming platform, many Open Source games have faded into obscurity. Games that were developed years ago have been forgotten and games that are being developed today are overshadowed by big titles released on Steam and GoG.
The vast majority of these great Open Source games are developed and released completely free of charge. I think the least I can do as a YouTube content creator is give some of these great games a spotlight!
December is Open Source Game Appreciation Month!
Starting this December, 2018, I will make a video each week about a great Open Source game that you easily install and play today!
I’ll be installing the games from either the Snap Store, Flathub, or my distribution’s package management system. Given how far package management has come on Linux, I do not find it acceptable to compile or download binaries just to play the game.
With that said, Happy December, and merry Open Source Game Appreciation Month!
