List of open-source video games
This is a list of open-source video games which are notable; open-source video games are assembled from and are themselves open-source software, including public domain games with public domain source code. This list includes games in which the game engine is open-source but the game data (media and levels, for example) may be under a more restrictive license.
Open engine and free data
The games in this table are developed under a free and open-source license with free content which allows reuse, modification and commercial redistribution of the whole game. Licenses can be public domain, GPL, BSD, Creative Commons, zlib, MIT, Artistic License or other (see the comparison of Free and open-source software and the Comparison of free and open-source software licenses).
Title | First release | Last release | Genre | Engine license | Content license | Dimensions | Other information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 A.D. | 2009 | 2018 | RTS | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA 3.0 | 3D | Historical, cross-platform RTS, using an original engine named Pyrogenesis. Game source-code released July 10, 2009.[1] |
2048 | 2014 | 2014 | Puzzle | MIT | MIT | 2D | A sliding block puzzle game. |
Abuse | 1996 | 2011 | Run and gun | Public domain software | Public domain | 2D | |
Argentum Online | 1999 | 2018 | MMORPG | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+ | 2D | First Open Source MMORPG developed in Argentina. |
Armagetron Advanced | 2001 | 2016 | Racing | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 3D | A multiplayer, 3D Tron lightcycle racing game. |
AstroMenace | 2007 | 2019 | Arcade | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+, CC BY-SA 4.0 | 3D | A top-scrolling space shooter. |
Ballerburg | 1987 | 2008 (ports) | Artillery game | Public domain software | Public domain | 2D | Public domain software on the authors website with source code.[2] Later ported to other systems such as Linux, MacOS, iOS, etc. |
The Battle for Wesnoth | 2005 | 2020 | TBТ | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+, CC BY-SA 4.0 | 2D | Turn-based tactical strategy game with RPG elements. Includes single-player campaign and skirmish modes as well as multiplayer. |
Biniax | 2005 | 2012 | Puzzle | zlib | zlib | 2D | |
Bos Wars | 2004 | 2013 | RTS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Isometric 2D | 2D RTS running on a modified version of the Stratagus engine. |
BZFlag | 1997 | 2018 | Tank FPS | LGPLv2.1 | LGPLv2.1 | 3D | A first-person shooter 3D tank based multiplayer online game. |
C-Dogs SDL | 2002 | 2018 | Run and gun | GPLv2 | CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA | 2D | Overhead run and gun, with hotseat co-operative and deathmatch play for up to four players. |
Cart Life | 2011 | 2017 | Simulation | Cart Life's Free License (permissive license) | Cart Life's Free License (permissive license), Freeware | 2D | In March 2014 the source code and game was made available by Richard Hofmeier for free online, saying he was finished supporting the game.[3][4] Winner of the IGF 2013 award.[5] Mirrored on github.[6] |
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead | 2013 | 2020 | RPG/Roguelike | CC BY-SA 3.0 | CC BY-SA 3.0 | 2D | A post-apocalyptic, survival roguelike with an open-ended gameplay. Had a successful crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com on 22 June 2013.[7] |
Chromium B.S.U. | 2000 | 2016 | Arcade | Clarified Artistic | MIT | 2D | A fast-paced, arcade-style, top-scrolling space shooter |
Cocaine Diesel[8] | 2018 | 2021 | FPS | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+ | 3D | A Fast-paced FPS based on qfusion with a big emphasis on drug promotion and criminal lifestyles. |
Colobot | 2001 | 2018 | RTS, Educational | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+ | 3D | Source code released in October 2014 |
Colossal Cave Adventure | 1976 | 1995 | Text adventure | Public domain software[9] | Public domain | Text | The original text adventure game by Crowther / Woods. |
Core War | 1984 | 1984 | Programming game | various (public domain, BSD, GPL)[10] | various | Text | Original created by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney, continued until today by the community. |
Crossfire | 1992 | 2019 | MMORPG | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | Crossfire originally started as a Gauntlet clone[11] developed by Frank Tore Johansen at the University of Oslo, Norway.[12] | |
Diamond Trust of London | 2012 | 2012 | TBS | Public domain software | Public domain | 2D | Following a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign Diamond Trust of London was developed by Jason Rohrer and published by indiePub. On August 28, 2012 it was released for the Nintendo DS. The game has been placed in the public domain, hosted on SourceForge, like most of Rohrer's games.[13] |
DRL | 2013 | 2016 | Roguelike | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 2.5D | Based on Doom and Doom II. |
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup | 2006 | 2019 | Roguelike | GPLv2+ | CC0 | 2D | An open-source fork of the 1997 game Linley's Dungeon Crawl. |
Endgame: Singularity | 2005 | 2020 | science fiction/AI simulation game | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA 3.0 | 2D | Written in Python by EMH, later continued by the community.[14] |
Endless Sky | 2015 | 2020 | RPG, space sim | GPLv3 | Public domain, various CC BY licenses | 2D | A sandbox-style space exploration game similar to Elite, Escape Velocity, or Star Control |
Enigma | 2003 | 2014 | Puzzle | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 2D | Oxyd clone. |
Fish Fillets NG | 2004 | 2011 | Puzzle | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Released commercially as Fish Fillets in 1998. Source released in 2002 under the GPL. | |
FlightGear | 1997 | 2019 | Flight Sim | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 3D | Microsoft Flight Simulator inspired clone. |
Freeciv | 1996 | 2020 | TBS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Isometric 2D | Civilization II clone. |
FreeCol | 2003 | 2015 | TBS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Isometric 2D | Sid Meier's Colonization clone. |
FreeOrion | 2004 | 2020 | TBS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 2D | A turn-based space empire and galactic conquest (4X) computer game being designed and built by the FreeOrion project. It is inspired by the tradition of Master of Orion, but is not a clone or remake of that series or any other game. |
Frozen Bubble | 2002 | 2008 | Puzzle | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 2D | Puzzle Bobble clone. |
Gang Garrison 2 | 2008 | 2019 | Shooter | MPLv2 | MPLv2 | 2D | A retro "demake" of Team Fortress 2. The project was previously under GPLv3. |
Glest | 2004 | 2008 | RTS | GPL | CC BY-SA | 3D | 3D RTS game with two factions, A.I. and same-platform networking support. Development ceased in 2008. Two forks exist, named MegaGlest and Glest Advanced Engine. |
Globulation 2 | 2008 | 2009 | RTS | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | In open beta (2019). |
GLtron | 2003 | 2016 | Racing | GPL | GPL | 3D | Based on the light cycle portion of the film Tron. |
GNOME Games | 1997 | 2020 | Various | GPL | GPL | A collection of games accompanying the rest of the GNOME desktop environment. | |
GNU Chess | 1984 | 2020 | TBS | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | Chess playing engine developed by the GNU Project |
GNU Go | 1999 | 2009 | TBS | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | Go playing engine developed by the GNU Project | |
Hikou no mizu[15] | 2010 | 2020 | Fighting | GPLv3 | FAL, other open source | 2D | A platform-based fighting game featuring anime-styled graphics |
Hunt the Wumpus | 1973 | 1981 | Survival Horror/Adventure/Puzzle | Various (Public Domain Software,[16] GPLv2,[17] MIT[18] | Various (Public Domain Software,[16] GPLv2,[17] MIT[18] | 2D | Hunting a monster called Wumpus while moving through caves. |
HyperRogue | 2011 | 2020 | Puzzle/Roguelike/Educational | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Hyperbolic | Puzzle roguelike in the hyperbolic plane. |
kiki the nano bot | 2003 | 2007 | Puzzle | Public domain software | Public domain | 3D | Mixture of Sokoban and Kula World. |
Lincity | 1999 | 2013 | City-building game | GPL | GPL | 2.5D | SimCity clone. |
Liquid War | 1995 | 2015 | Maze games | GPL | GPL | 2D | 2D game in which you control particles and move them to defeat the opposing side. |
Lugaru | 2005 | 2017 | Action Third Person | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA[19] | 3D | A game by Wolfire Games where the player is an anthropomorphic rabbit who seeks revenge when a group of enemy rabbits kill their family. |
Maelstrom | 1992 | 2010 | Shoot 'em up | GPL | CC-BY | 2D | |
Mari0 | 2012 | 2018 | Platformer | MIT | MIT | 2D | Remake of Super Mario Bros with elements from Portal. |
MegaGlest | 2010 | 2016 | RTS | GPL | CC BY-SA | 3D | Cross-platform 3D RTS for up to eight players (can be A.I. controlled) on seven factions. MegaGlest is a fork of Glest. |
MegaMek | 2005 | 2018 | TBТ | GPL | GPL | Simulates the Classic BattleTech board game. | |
Mindustry[20] | 2017 | 2020 | Sandbox/Tower defence | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | A technical base building game with enemies. |
Moria | 1983 | 1999 | RPG/Roguelike | GPL[21] | GPL | 2D | A roguelike RPG based heavily on J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. |
NetHack | 1987 | 2020 | RPG/Roguelike | Nethack GPL | Nethack GPL | Text | A single player dungeon exploration game. |
Netrek | 1988 | 2011 | Shoot 'em up | MIT | MIT | 2D | Successor to 1986's Xtrek, Netrek was first played in 1988. It was the third Internet game, the first Internet team game, and as of 2011 is the oldest Internet game still actively played. |
Nexuiz | 2005 | 2009 | FPS | GPL | GPL | 3D | Forked into Xonotic |
Nine Chronicles[22] | 2020 | 2020 | Incremental RPG | GPLv3+ | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 2D | A fully decentralized RPG based on Libplanet backed by Ubisoft |
NoGravity | 1997 (?) | 2005 | Space shooter | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 3D | Source code of the Wing Commander inspired game released by realtech VR on February 16, 2005.[23] |
One Hour One Life | 2018 | 2018 | Survival | Public Domain | Public Domain | 2D | Multiplayer co-op survival game |
Oolite | 2006 | 2020 | Space Sim | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 3D | Elite clone. |
OpenArena | 2005 | 2012 | FPS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 3D | Quake III clone. |
OpenCity | 2003 | 2008 | City-building game | GPL | GPL | 3D | SimCity clone. |
OpenClonk | 2010 | 2018 | Action, Platform | ISC | CC BY | 2D | Successor of the Clonk shareware series. |
OpenDominion | 2018 | 2020 | MMORPG | AGPLv3 | AGPLv3 | Text | OpenDominion is a free and open source remake of Dominion from Kamikaze Games, which ran from 2000 to 2012 before stopping indefinitely.[24] |
Passage | 2007 | 2007 | Side-scroller | Public domain software | Public domain | 2D | In 2007 Rohrer released the game's source code and assets into the public domain,[25] while asking for donations (Donationware) and selling the iOS version for $0.99.[26] |
Pingus | 1998 | 2011 | Puzzle | GPL | GPL | 2D | Lemmings clone. |
Pioneer | 2006 | 2020 | Space sim | GPLv3 | CC BY-SA | 3D | Inspired by Frontier: Elite 2. |
PokerTH | 2006 | 2017 | Card | GPL | GPL | 2D | |
PySol | 2001[27] | 2020 | Card, Patience | GPLv3 | Public domain and GPLv3 | 2D | A collection of solitaire card games. |
Rigs of Rods | 2007 | 2020 | Vehicle Sim | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 3D | Rigs of Rods was initially created as an off-road truck simulator, but has developed into a versatile physics sandbox. |
Rocks'n'Diamonds | 1995 | 2018 | Puzzle | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 2D | A scrolling tile-based computer puzzle game that can be described as a combined Boulder Dash, Supaplex, Emerald Mine, and Sokoban clone. |
Ryzom | 2004 | 2018 | MMORPG | AGPL | CC BY-SA | 3D | All textures and effects, 3D models, animations, characters and clothing (no music or sounds) are under CC BY-SA. |
Scorched 3D | 2001 | 2014 | Artillery game | GPL | GPL | 3D | Clone of Scorched Earth |
Secret Maryo Chronicles | 2003 | 2014 | Platformer | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | 2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series. |
Seven Kingdoms | 1997 | 2017 | RTS | GPL | GPL | 2D | Source code released in 2009. |
shapez.io | 2020 | 2020 | Construction and management simulation | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | An open source base building game inspired by Factorio. Your goal is to produce shapes by cutting, rotating, merging and painting parts of shapes. |
Simutrans | 1997 | 2018 | Business Sim | Artistic | Artistic | 2D | Similar to Transport Tycoon and its open-source clone, OpenTTD. The player must build a profitable transportation system. |
Sintel The Game | 2012 | 2012 | RPG | GPL | CC BY, GPL | 3D | A game based on the Blender Foundation movie Sintel. |
Soldat (video game) | 2002 | 2020 | Action | MIT license | CC-BY 4.0[28] | 2D | On May 26, 2020 the source code of Soldat was released under MIT license on GitHub.[29] |
Sopwith | 1984 | 2014 | Shoot 'em up | GPL | GPL | The C and x86 assembly source code to Sopwith was released in 2000,[30] at first under a non-commercial use license, but later under the GNU GPL at the request of fans.[31] | |
Space Station 14[32]
(Space Station 13 continuation) |
2020 | 2020 | RPG | MIT[33] | MIT,[34] CC BY-SA 3.0[33] | 2D | A 2D multiplayer role-playing game. While the original game (which went open source[35] around 2006) was written in BYOND, the community around it created[36] this continuation project written in C# using a custom game engine.[37] |
Speed Dreams | 2010 | 2018 | Sim racing | GPLv2+ | FAL | 3D | Forked from TORCS in late 2008. |
StepMania | 2001 | 2018 | Rhythm game | MIT[38] | MIT | 2D, 3D | A DDR clone, the player must hit buttons or keys in time with the music. |
Stunt Rally[39] | 2010 | 2015 | Racing | GPLv3 | CC BY-SA 3.0 | 3D | A racing game with rally style of driving. |
SuperTux | 2003 | 2020 | Platformer | GPL | GPL | 2D | 2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series. |
SuperTuxKart | 2006 | 2020 | Racing | GPL | GPL | 3D | Arcade racing game similar to Mario Kart. |
Teeworlds | 2007 | 2020 | Platformer | zlib | CC BY-SA 3.0 (except font) | 2D | A 2D online multiplayer side-scrolling shooter. |
Tenés Empanadas Graciela | 1996 | 2015 | TBS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | Based on the boardgame Risk. | |
The Castle Doctrine | 2014 | 2014 | MMO | Public domain software | Public domain | 2D | A game by Jason Rohrer, developed on a Sourceforge[40] repository and sold on Steam for $15.99.[41] |
The Powder Toy | 2010 | 2019 | Sandbox game | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | A falling-sand game |
Thrive | 2015 | 2020 | Simulation | MIT | GPLv3+ | 3D | Thrive is a free, open-source game about the evolution of life. From the lowly tidepools of your home planet, you will rise to cosmic dominance. |
Tremulous | 2006 | 2009 | FPS | GPLv2 | CC BY-SA 2.5[42] | 3D | Alien VS human base building, defending, and attacking opposite team. |
TripleA | 2002 | 2018 | TBS | GPLv2 | GPLv2 | 2D | A turn based strategy game inspired by Axis & Allies and board game engine. Development is ongoing. |
Tux Racer | 2000 | 2009 | Racing | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 3D | |
Tux, of Math Command | 2001 | 2011 | Educational game | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+ | 2D | |
Uebergame[43] | 2014 | 2018 | FPS | MIT | CC0 | 3D | Modern Multiplayer Shooter with realistic graphics, comes with integrated editor. |
UFO: Alien Invasion | 2006 | 2016 | TBТ | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+, CC BY-SA 3.0 | 3D | Inspired by the XCOM-series, but with 3D-combats on surface of the earth. |
Ultimate Tapan Kaikki | 1998 | 2019 | Top-down shooter | GPLv3 | GPLv3 | 2D | The classical Finnish freeware shooter's[44] asset and source code were released in November 2018 on GitHub.[45] Development continues.[46] |
UltraStar Deluxe | 2007 | 2020 | Music | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 2D | SingStar clone. |
Unknown Horizons | 2008 | 2019 | City-building game | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+, CC BY-SA 3.0, OFLv1 | Isometric 2D | Genre-mix of city-building game and real-time strategy game, inspired by the Anno series. |
Unvanquished | 2012 | 2018 | FPS | BSD 3-clause, GPLv3+ | CC BY-SA 2.5 | 3D | Team-based first person shooter with strong RTS elements, derived from the Tremulous project. |
Vega Strike | 2008 | 2012 | Space Sim | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 3D | Wing Commander: Privateer clone and space simulator engine. |
Warfork | 2019 | 2019 | FPS | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 3D | A fast-paced arena FPS with movement tricks. |
Warmux[47] | 2002 | 2011 | Artillery game | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 2D | Worms clone. |
Warzone 2100 | 1999 | 2020 | RTS, RTT | GPLv2+[48] | GPLv2+, CC0, other open source[49] | 3D | Post-apocalyptic, cross-platform RTS. |
Widelands | 2002 | 2019 | RTS | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | Widelands is a RTS clone of The Settlers II. | |
WorldForge | 1998 | 2014 | MMORPG | GPLv3 | GPLv2+ | 3D | An open-source framework for massively multiplayer online role-playing games. |
Xconq | 1987 | 2005 | TBS | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 4X strategy game engine. | |
X-Moto | 2005 | 2020 | Platformer | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 2D | Elasto Mania clone. |
Xonotic | 2010 | 2017 | FPS | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 3D | A fork and direct successor of the game Nexuiz. Binary files for Linux and Windows is under GPLv3+. |
XPilot | 1992 | 2010 | Arcade | GPLv2+ | GPLv2+ | 2D | A multiplayer Asteroids-like game. |
Yo Frankie! | 2008 | 2009 | Action-adventure | GPLv2+, LGPLv2.1 | CC BY 3.0 | 3D |
Open-source games with non-free data
Only the game engines in this table are developed under an open-source license, which means that the reuse and modification of only the code is permitted. As some of the games' content created by the developers (sound, graphics, video and other artwork) is proprietary or restricted in use, the whole games are non-free and restricted in reuse (depending on the content license). The motivation of developers to keep own game content non-free while they open the source code may be the protection of the game as sellable commercial product. It could also be the prevention of a commercialization of a free product in future, e.g. when distributed under a non-commercial license like CC NC. By replacing the non-free content with free content, these games could also become completely free. In practice, many projects include a mixture of free and non-free own content.
Title | First release | Last release | Genre | Engine license | Content license | Dimensions | Other information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Angband | 1990 | 2016 | Roguelike | GPLv2 | GPLv2, Proprietary[50] | Text | |
AssaultCube | 2006 | 2013 | FPS | zlib | Freeware | 3D | Based on Cube. A lightweight online FPS (45-50 MB package), with a built-in map maker and capable of being played with a 56k connection. |
AssaultCube Reloaded (ACR) | 2010 | 2021 | FPS | zlib | Freeware | 3D | Based on AssaultCube, aimed at improvements while retaining its lightweight size and bandwidth requirements. |
C-evo | 1999 | 2013 | TBТ, 4X | Public domain software | Proprietary | 2D | Inspired by Sid Meier's Civilization |
Alien Arena | 2004 | 2011 | FPS | GPL | Proprietary[51] | 3D | Based on ID Software open-source engine. |
CorsixTH | 2013 | 2020 | Simulation | MIT | Proprietary (uses graphics from original game) | 2D | Open-source clone of Theme Hospital |
Cube | 2002 | 2005 | FPS | zlib | Proprietary | 3D | Deathmatch style multiplayer gameplay with map editing. |
Cube 2: Sauerbraten | 2004 | 2020 | FPS | zlib | Various non-free and some free licenses | 3D | Deathmatch style multiplayer gameplay with map editing. |
Frets on Fire | 2006 | 2008 | Music | GPL | GPL, Proprietary | 3D | Guitar Hero clone. |
Frogatto & Friends | 2010 | 2013 | Platformer | zlib license | Proprietary[52] | 2D | Initially for Windows, Linux, and Mac; hold and toss enemies, swim, talk; scripting language included. |
Gravity Bone | 2008 | 2009 | Platformer | GPLv2 | Freeware | 3D | Brendon Chung built this game on base of the Quake 2 engine and released therefore the game's source code in 2008. In 2015 ported to Linux and the OpenPandora handheld.[53] |
H-Craft Championship | 2007 | 2015 | Racing | zlib[54] | Free for personal use[55] | 3D | Sci-Fi Racer for Linux, Windows and Android which is using the Irrlicht engine. |
Hammerfight | 2009 | 2011 | physics based combat | zlib[56] | commercial | 2D | For the third Humble Indie Bundle[57][58] Ryan C. Gordon ported the underlying game engine, "Haaf's Game Engine", to Linux and Mac OS X, and released source code under the zlib license.[59][60] |
Katawa Shoujo | 2012 | 2012 | Visual Novel | MIT license (most of game and engine beside some scripts[61]) | CC BY-NC-ND | 2D | A visual novel. |
Narcissu | 2005 | 2005 | Visual novel | GPL | Freeware/PFSL[62] | 2D | Is a free visual novel by the dōjin group stage-nana, telling the story of a terminally ill young man and woman. The english version was made with the ONScripter engine.[63] |
OpenTTD | 2005 | 2020 | Business Sim | GPLv2 | GPLv2, CC Sampling Plus | 2D | An open-source clone of 'Transport Tycoon Deluxe' |
osu! | 2007 | 2020 | Rhythm game | MIT license | CC BY-NC 4.0 | 2D | Open-source clone of several games, including Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, Taiko no Tatsujin and beatmania IIDX. On August 28, 2016, osu! was open-sourced under the MIT License on GitHub, assets under CC BY-NC.[64][65] Aims is to make osu!, written in C# with the .NET Framework, available to more platforms and transparent.[66] |
PlaneShift | 2001 | 2016 | MMORPG | GPL | Proprietary | 3D | Free to play MMORPG. |
OpenJK | 2003 | 2020 | Third-person shooter | GPLv2 | Proprietary | 3D | Source code was released as GPLv2 by Raven Software and Activision following the dissolution of Lucas Arts in 2013. |
Steel Storm: Episode I | 2010 | 2010 | Action | GPLv2[67] | CC BY-NC-SA 3.0[68] | Based on DarkPlaces. An indie top-down arcade shooter with single-player, deathmatch, and co-op. | |
Smokin' Guns | 2009 | 2012 | FPS | GPLv2 | Proprietary | 3D | Western-themed first-person shooter using the ioquake3 engine. |
Tales of Maj'Eyal | 2012 | 2016 | RPG/Roguelike | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+, Proprietary[69] | 2D | Developed open-source from the beginning with the own T4E engine,[70] while the assets are kept proprietary for commercialization on Steam and gog.com.[71][72] |
The Dark Mod | 2009 | 2020 | Stealth game | GPLv3+ | CC BY-NC-SA | 3D | First person stealth game in the style of the Thief (series) games ( 1 and 2 ) using a modified Id Tech 4 engine |
The Last Eichhof | 1993 | 1993 | Shoot-'em-up | "Do whatever your want" license (public domain)[73] | Freeware | 2D | Shoot-'em-up game released for DOS in 1993 by Swiss development group Alpha Helix. Source code released in 1995. |
The Ur-Quan Masters | 2002 | 2018 | Action-adventure | GPLv3 | CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 | 2D | Source port of Star Control II. |
The White Chamber | 2005 | 2006 / 2013 | Adventure | MIT license (Wintermute Engine) / CC BY-NC-SA (game code) | CC BY-NC-SA / Freeware | 2D | The White Chamber and its Wintermute source code have been released under CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license.[74] That means anyone is free to share and modify the game as long Studio Trophis is credited, it is not for commercial gain and that the result is made available under a similar license. 2013 the Wintermute engines source code was released under MIT. |
TORCS | 1997 | 2016 | Racing | GPL | Free Art License, Proprietary | 3D | Some car models are non-free, but there is a DFSG-compliant version which doesn't include them. |
Urban Terror | 2000 | 2018 | FPS | GPL | Proprietary | 3D | Multiplayer tactical shooter based on the id tech 3 engine.[75] |
VDrift | 2005 | 2012 | Racing | GPLv3+ | GPLv3+, Proprietary | 3D | Some datas are non-free, for example the "SV" car model, under a CC BY-NC-SA license. |
Warsow | 2005 | 2017 | FPS | GPLv2+ | CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-ND 4.0 | 3D | A fast-paced arena FPS with movement tricks. |
World of Padman | 2007 | 2008 | FPS | GPL | Proprietary | Originally a Quake 3 modification. Became stand-alone in 2007, now runs on ioquake3. | |
Zero-K | 2010 | 2020 | RTS | GPLv2+ | various, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0[76] (sound) | 3D | Zero-K is a multi-platform real time strategy game inspired by Total Annihilation, powered by the Spring game engine. Released 2018 on Steam.[77] |
OpenHV | 2019 | 2020 | RTS | GPLv3 | CC BY-US 3.0, CC BY-SA 4.0 | 2D | An open-source remake of the unreleased game Hard Vacuum using the OpenRA engine.[78] |
Open-source remakes with non-free data from the proprietary original
The video game remakes in this table were developed under an open-source license which allows usually the reuse, modification and commercial redistribution of the code. The required game content (artwork, data, etc.) is taken from a proprietary and non-opened commercial game, so that the whole game is non-free. See also the Game engine recreation page.
Title | First release | Last release | Genre | Engine license | Content license | Dimensions | Other information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OpenMW | 2008 | 2018 | RPG | GPLv3+ | Proprietary / CC BY SA (OpenMW Example Suit) | 3D | Engine remake of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. |
OpenRA | 2009 | 2020 | RTS | GPLv3+ | Proprietary. It uses proprietary content from the freeware releases of the classic games.[79] | 2D | Engine remake for the classic games in the Command & Conquer franchise, in particular Red Alert. |
OpenGW | 2014 | 2016 | Shoot em up | GPLv3+ | Proprietary. It uses art assets and music from the original game. | 2D | Remake of Geometry Wars. |
Source-available games
Video games in this table are source-available, but are neither open-source software according to the OSI definition nor free software according to the Free Software Foundation. These games are released under a license with limited rights for the user, for example only the rights to read and modify the game's source for personal or educational purposes but no reuse rights beside the game's original context are granted. Typical licenses are the creative commons "non-commercial" licenses (e.g. CC BY-NC-SA), MAME like licenses or several shared source licenses.
Title | First release | Last release | Genre | Engine license | Content license |
Dimensions |
Other information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alien Swarm | 2010 | 2010 | Shooter game | Non-commercial usable and shareable[80] | Freeware | 3D | In 2010 Valve released this Source engine based game with source code, which started as a mod. |
Hero Core | 2010 | 2013 | Shooter game | Non-commercial, attribution required | Freeware | 2D | Around 2013 Daniel Remar released the GameMaker source code of the game, together with the sources of his other games like Iji.[81] |
Flow | 2006 | 2009 | Life simulation | ? (educational purposes) | Freeware | 2D (layered) | Around 2009 the flash source code was made available for educational purposes by the developers.[82] |
Fortress Forever | 2007 | 2018 | FPS | Proprietary | 3D | Unofficial, open-source Source engine successor to Team Fortress Classic. | |
I Wanna Be the Guy | 2007 | 2011 | Platform game | Proprietary | Freeware | 2D | On November 9, 2011 the developer Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly released the source code of the game under an own software license (forbidding new content)[83][84] so that the game's community would be able to create fixes and patches.[85] |
Jump 'n Bump | 1998 | 1999 | Deathmatch Platformer | Emailware[86] | Emailware | 2D | 1998 freeware DOS platform video game, written in C and Assembly language by Brainchild Design. The source code was released in 1999, then source ported to several other operating systems and platforms via SDL. |
Larn | 1986 | 2016 | Roguelike | Non-commercial | Freeware | Text | |
Minecraft | 2009 | 2020 | Sandbox | Proprietary | Proprietary | 3D | Infinite voxel sandbox game. Source code can be accessed and deobfuscated through the unofficial MCP (Minecraft Coder Pack). |
Noctis | 2000[87] | 2003 | Platformer | WTOF Public License[88] | Freeware | 3D | Space exploration/flight simulation |
Notrium | 2003 | 2008 | Top-down shooter survival game | custom FOSS license / GPLv3 | custom FOSS license / Freeware | 2D | Notrium's source code was released by the developer after 2003 under a custom software license and is developed as OpenNotrium on GitHub since then, with new code being GPLv3.[89] |
Prince of Persia | 1989 | 1989 | Cinematic platformer Action-adventure | Proprietary | Proprietary | 2D | On April 17, 2012, Jordan Mechner released the Apple II source code of the game on GitHub.[90] |
Progress Quest | 2002 | 2011 | Parody MMORPG | Proprietary | Freeware | 2D | On May 20, 2011, Eric Fredricksen released the source code of the game on bitbucket.[91][92] |
Racer | 2003 | 2011 (proprietary) | Sim racing | Proprietary | Proprietary, Freeware | Only source code of 0.5 version is available, all other releases are closed source. | |
Space Engineers | 2013 | 2018 | Sandbox, simulation | Distribution as mod allowed | Proprietary | 3D | |
Spelunky | 2008 | 2009 | Platformer | Non-commercial[93] | Freeware | 2D | The source code of the 2008's Windows freeware version was published on December 25, 2009 under a software license permitting noncommercial distribution and modification.[93] Based on this source code the game community created a community patch which added support for Mac OS X.[94][95] The source code for the 2012 remake has not been made available. |
Visual Pinball | 2000 | 2019 | Pinball simulation editor and game | MAME like license | diverse | 3D | Many free custom tables and recreations of original machines available. The program is also able to operate with Visual PinMAME |
Proprietary developed games, later released under varying licenses
For games that were originally developed proprietary as commercial closed source product, see also Category:Commercial video games with freely available source code.
See also
References
- "0 A.D. Open Source Release". wildfiregames.com.
- April 1987: Ballerburg - Zwei Spieler, zwei Burgen und ein Berg dazwischen... on eckhardkruse.net "Ich habe das Programm als Public Domain veröffentlicht" (in German)
- Petitte, Omri (20 March 2014). "Cart Life exits Steam, goes open source". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- cartlife_opensores.zip on the author's dropbox
- "The 17th Annual Independent Games Festival". igf.com. 2013-03-28.
- cartlife_src
- "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - Dedicated Developer". Kickstarter. 22 June 2013.
- https://cocainediesel.fun/
- Jerz, D.G. "Colossal Cave Adventure". Seton Hill University. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
- corewar on sourceforge
- ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/crossfire/historic%5B%5D
- "Re: CF: the begining [sic] of crossfire". real-time.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
- Jason Rohrer (2011-10-17). "DiamondTrust/ci/default/tree". SourceForge. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
- singularity on github.com
- "Hikou no mizu". Framalibre (in French). 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- The Best of Creative computing. Ahl, David H., Green, Burchenal. Morristown, N.J. ISBN 0-916688-01-1. OCLC 2188876.CS1 maint: others (link)
- "Hunt the Wumpus". www.codeproject.com. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
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- "free-moria". Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- https://nine-chronicles.com/
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- OpenDominion official site
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- Passage on itunes.apple.com
- "All releases of PySol – Freecode". freecode.com.
- Soldat asset license on github.com
- soldat on github.com
- Clark, Dave (2000-10-29). "Sopwith Code Support". Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- Clark, Dave. "Sopwith – Source Code". Dave Clark's Home Page. Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- "Space Station 14 is another attempt to capture the spirit of the classic BYOND multiplayer RPG". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- "space-wizards/RobustToolbox". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- "space-wizards/space-station-14". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- BlackPantsLegion (2017-10-21), Space Station 13 Interview: Exadv1 (Yes, HIM)!, retrieved 2017-11-09
- "About Space Station 14". SS14. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". SS14. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
- "stepmania/stepmania". GitHub. 2019-08-26.
- "Stunt Rally - a free rally racing game with editor". stuntrally.tuxfamily.org. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
- CastleDoctrine on sourceforge.net
- Castle Doctrine on store.steampowered.com
- [tremulous] View of /trunk/COPYING
- https://duion.com/games/uebergame/main
- Ultimate TK - jeden rozhněvaný muž Review by Pavel Mondschein on IDNES.cz (September 20, 2000)
- hkroger/ultimatetapankaikki on github.com
- suomipelit/ultimatetapankaikki on github.com
- "WarMUX - open source worms game". LinuxLinks. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
- "Warzone2100/warzone2100". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
- "Warzone2100/warzone2100 - COPYING.NONGPL". GitHub. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
- Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine The sounds are licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license. Shockbolt's graphics are licensed under a non-free license.
- "[alienarena] Log of /trunk/docs/license.txt". Svn.icculus.org. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- Developer Info Source Code and License: [...] Our code is open-source, our content isn’t.
- gravitybone-pandora on github.com
- "For the most part H-Craft Championship sources are released under the zlib-license."
- You are not allowed to modify or distribute the media files or use them in your own games. But you can still download the media files and they are free for personal use.
- license.txt on hg.icculus.org/icculus/hge-unix
- McLaughlin, Ryan (3 August 2011). "Humble Indie Bundle Sells Lots, Windows Users Still Cheap". Hot Hardware. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- HGE-comes-to-Mac-and-Linux-guest-post-from-Ryan-Gordon on wolfire.com (August 2011)
- Ryan Gordon Ports HGE To Linux, Then Releases Code on Phoronix by Michael Larabel (August 07, 2011)
- hge-unix on icculus.org "August 7th, 2011: Source code released to the world!"
- "Katawa Shoujo Forums • View topic - Please release Katawa Shoujo source code as free software". renai.us.
- narcissu.txt
- narcissu on insani.org
- "ppy/osu". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- "2016-08 dev meeting". ppy blog. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- "demystifying open source osu!". ppy blog. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- "Steel Storm Episode I". blendernation.com. 2010-09-20.
- "STEEL STORM EPISODE 1 LIMITED USER SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT". steel-storm.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
the Art Assets [...] are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. The Engine [...] licensed under GNU GPL v2 license.
- COPYING-MEDIA on git.net-core.org/tome "All the medias located in all the "/data/gfx" folders are granted to use with the Tales of Maj'Eyal game only. Please contact darkgod@te4.org for more informations." (2016)
- COPYING on git.net-core.org/tome (2016)
- "Tales of May'Eyal on Steam". Steam. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
- "Release: Tales of Maj'Eyal and Ashes of Urh'Rok expansion". GOG. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- beersrc.zip - readme "Do whatever your want" license
- source code at studiotrophis.com
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- "license.txt". github.com.
- Dominic Tarason (2018-04-27). "Free Total Annihilation-like RTS Zero-K lands on Steam". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
- A cancelled old RTS named 'Hard Vacuum' gets revived with OpenRA
- https://www.openra.net/legal/
- AlienSwarm fork on github.com "readme: You may, free of charge, download and use the SDK to develop a modified Valve game running on the Source engine. You may distribute your modified Valve game in source and object code form, but only for free."
- resources on remar.se "source code"
- You can get it here. Archived 2016-04-01 at the Wayback Machine on thatgamecompany.com by Jenova Chen (Sep 21, 2009)
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- DIYGamer: Recursive Romhackery – I Wanna Be The Guy Source Code Released (2011)
- "IWBTG! - Downloads!". Kayin.pyoko.org. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- Jump 'n Bump Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine readme.txt JUMP 'N BUMP by Brainchild Design in 1998 Jump 'n Bump is e-mailware. That means you're supposed to send us an e-mail.
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- license
- copying github.com OpenNotrium
- Prince of Persia source code
- Source Code ReleasedProgressQuest v6.3
- pq on bitbucket.org
- Spelunky User License v1.1b
- Sarkar, Samit (2012-10-12). "Spelunky unofficially patched with Mac OS X support". polygon.com. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
Spelunky [...] is now playable on Mac OS X, thanks to an unofficial patch from the game's community.
- "Spelunky v1.3 (and Source) - Now for Mac OS X and Windows". 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
External links
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