List of open-source video games
This is a list of notable open-source video games . Open-source video games are assembled from and are themselves open-source software , including public domain games with public domain source code . This list also includes games in which the engine is open-source but other data (such as art and music) is 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
Programming language
0 A.D.
2009
2022
RTS
GPL-2.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 3.0
3D
Historical, cross-platform RTS, using an original engine named Pyrogenesis. Game source-code released July 10, 2009.[ 1]
C++ , JavaScript , GLSL
2048
2014
2014
Puzzle
MIT
MIT
2D
A sliding block puzzle game.
Ruby , JavaScript, HTML , CSS
A Dark Room
2013
2013
Online text-based role-playing game
Mozilla Public License
Mozilla Public License
Text
In July 2013 the source code of the game was put on GitHub under MPL 2.0.[ 2] Became commercially successful after the source code release.
Python , JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Abuse
1996
2011
Run and gun
Public-domain software
Public domain
2D
C , C++, newLISP , CMake , Common Lisp
Argentum Online
1999
2018
MMORPG
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
First open-source MMORPG developed in Argentina.[citation needed ]
Visual Basic , VBA , JavaScript, C++, HTML
Armagetron Advanced
2001
2020
Racing
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
A multiplayer 3D Tron lightcycle racing game.
AstroMenace
2007
2022
Arcade
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later , 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.[ 3] Later ported to other systems such as Linux, MacOS, iOS, etc.
The Battle for Wesnoth
2005
2024
TBТ
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later , CC BY-SA 4.0
2D
Turn-based tactical strategy game with RPG elements. Includes a single-player campaign and skirmish modes as well as multiplayer.
C++, Lua , Python
Biniax
2005
2012
Puzzle
zlib
zlib
2D
Bos Wars
2004
2013
RTS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
Isometric 2D
2D real-time strategy game running on a modified version of the Stratagus engine.
BZFlag
1997
2022
Tank FPS
LGPL-2.1-only and MPL-2.0
LGPL-2.1-only and MPL-2.0
3D
A first-person shooter 3D tank-based multiplayer online game .
C-Dogs SDL
2002
2024
Run and gun
Public-domain software (engine) / GPL-2.0-or-later (game code)
CC0 , CC BY , CC BY-SA
2D
Overhead run-and-gun, with hotseat cooperative 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.[ 4] [ 5] Winner of the IGF 2013 award.[ 6] Mirrored on GitHub.[ 7]
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
2013
2023
RPG /Roguelike
CC BY-SA 3.0
CC BY-SA 3.0
2D
A post-apocalyptic survival roguelike with open-ended gameplay. Financed by a successful crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com on 22 June 2013.[ 8]
Chromium B.S.U.
2000
2016
Arcade
Clarified Artistic
MIT
2D
A fast-paced arcade-style top-scrolling space shooter.
Colobot
2001
2021
RTS , Educational
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
3D
Source code of the original game by EPSITEC SA was released in March 2012.[ 9] [ 10] Since then, the game is maintained by the community as Colobot: Gold Edition.[ 11]
Colossal Cave Adventure
1976
1995
Text adventure
Public-domain software [ 12]
Public domain
Text
The original text adventure game by Crowther and Woods .
Core War
1984
1984
Programming game
Various (public domain, BSD, GPL)[ 13]
Various
Text
Original created by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney , and continued through the present day by the community.
Crossfire
1992
2019
MMORPG
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Crossfire originally started as a Gauntlet clone[ 14] developed by Frank Tore Johansen at the University of Oslo , Norway.[ 15]
DDraceNetwork
2013
2024
Platformer
zlib
CC BY-SA 3.0 (except font)
2D
2D online multiplayer side-scrolling co-op platformer.
C++
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.[ 16]
DRL
2013
2016
Roguelike
GPL-2.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 4.0
2.5D
Based on Doom and Doom II .
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
2006
2023
Roguelike
GPL-2.0-or-later
CC0
2D
An open-source fork of the 1997 game Linley's Dungeon Crawl .
Endgame: Singularity
2005
2020
Science fiction /AI simulation game
GPL-2.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 3.0
2D
Written in Python by EMH, later continued by the community.[ 17]
Endless Sky
2015[ 18]
2024[ 19]
Space trading and combat simulator [ 20]
GPL-3 [ 21]
Public domain , various CC licenses [ 22]
2D
Inspired by the Escape Velocity series of games. Continuously updated.[ 23]
C++
Enigma
2003
2021
Puzzle
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Oxyd clone.
Fish Fillets NG
2004
2011
Puzzle
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Released commercially as Fish Fillets in 1998. Source released in 2002 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
FlightGear
1997
2023
Flight Sim
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Microsoft Flight Simulator -inspired clone.
Freeciv
1996
2023
TBS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
Isometric 2D
Civilization II clone.
FreeCol
2003
2023
TBS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
Isometric 2D
Sid Meier's Colonization clone.
FreeDink
2006
2019
RPG
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
Dink Smallwood fork with non-free assets replaced with free ones
C++
Friday Night Funkin'
2020
2021
Rhythm
MIT License (engine) / Apache License 2.0 (game)
Apache License 2.0 (may be non-commercial[ 24] )
2D
A bi-dimensional rhythm game, with gameplay reminiscent of Dance Dance Revolution and aesthetics reminiscent of early-to-mid-2000s browser games .
Frozen Bubble
2002
2008
Puzzle
GPL-2.0-only
GPL-2.0-only
2D
Puzzle Bobble clone.
Gang Garrison 2
2008
2019
Shooter
Proprietary (engine) / MPLv2 (game code)
MPLv2
2D
A retro "demake " of Team Fortress 2 . The project was previously under GPLv3 .
Glest
2004
2008
RTS
GPL-3.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 3.0
3D
3D real-time strategy game with two factions, AI, and same-platform networking support. Development ceased in 2008. Two forks exist, named MegaGlest and Glest Advanced Engine .
Globulation 2
2008
2009
RTS
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
In open beta as of 2019.
GLtron
2003
2016
Racing
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Based on the light cycle portion of the film Tron .
GNOME Games
1997
2021
Various
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
A collection of games accompanying the rest of the GNOME desktop environment.
GNU Chess
1984
2021
TBS
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
Chess-playing engine developed by the GNU Project .
GNU Go
1999
2009
TBS
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
Go -playing engine developed by the GNU Project .
Hunt the Wumpus
1973
1981
Survival horror /adventure /puzzle
Various (Public-domain software ,[ 25] GPLv2 ,[ 26] MIT )[ 27]
Various (Public-domain software ,[ 25] GPLv2 ,[ 26] MIT )[ 27]
2D
Hunting a monster called Wumpus while moving through caves.
HyperRogue
2011
2021
Puzzle /Roguelike /Educational
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
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-2.0-only
GPL-2.0-only
2.5D
SimCity clone.
Liquid War
1995
2015
Maze games
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
2D game in which you control particles and move them to defeat the opposing side.
Lugaru
2005
2017
Action /third-person shooter
GPL-2.0-or-later
CC BY-SA [ 28]
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-2.0-only
CC BY 3.0
2D
Mari0
2012
2018
Platformer
zlib License (engine) / MIT License (game code)
MIT
2D
Remake of Super Mario Bros. with elements from Portal .
MegaGlest
2010
2016
RTS
GPL-3.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 3.0
3D
Cross-platform 3D real-time strategy game for up to eight players (can be AI-controlled) on seven factions. MegaGlest is a fork of Glest .
Mindustry
2017
2023
RTS ,
TD ,
Sandbox
GPL-3.0
GPL-3.0
3D
The automation tower defense RTS, written in Java.
Minetest
2010
2023
Sandbox , Survival
zlib (engine) / LGPL-2.1-or-later [ 29] (game code)
LGPL-2.1-or-later [ 29]
3D
A voxel engine for building games similar to Infiniminer and Minecraft .
Moria
1983
1999
RPG /Roguelike
GPL-2.0-only [ 30] [ 31]
GPL-2.0-only
2D
Roguelike RPG based heavily on J. R. R. Tolkien 's novel The Lord of the Rings .
NetHack
1987
2023
RPG /roguelike
NetHack GPL
NetHack GPL
Text
Single-player dungeon exploration game.
Netrek
1988
2020[ 32]
Shoot 'em up
MIT
MIT
2D
A 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 2022 is the oldest Internet game still actively played.
Nexuiz
2005
2009
FPS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Forked into Xonotic .
NoGravity
1997 (?)
2005
Space shooter
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Source code of the Wing Commander -inspired game released by realtech VR on February 16, 2005.[ 33]
One Hour One Life
2018
2023
Survival
Public domain
Public domain
2D
Multiplayer co-op survival game.
Oolite
2006
2020
Space Sim
GPL-2.0-or-later
Dual-licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later and CC BY-NC-SA-3.0
3D
Elite clone.
OpenArena
2005
2012
FPS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Quake III clone.
OpenCity
2003
2008
City-building game
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
SimCity clone.
OpenClonk
2010
2018
Action , Platform
ISC
CC BY
2D
Successor of the Clonk shareware series.
OpenTTD
2005
2023
Business Sim
GPL-2-0-only
GPL-2-0-only , GPL-2-0-or-later , CC BY-SA 3.0 , CDDL 1.1
2D
Open-source clone of Transport Tycoon Deluxe .
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 ,[ 34] while asking for donations (donationware ) and selling the iOS version for $0.99.[ 35]
Pingus
1998
2011
Puzzle
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
Lemmings clone.
Pinball Construction Set
1982
1983
Pinball , game creation system
MIT
MIT
2D
First construction set video game, and one of the initial Electronic Arts releases.
Pioneer
2006
2023
Space sim
GPL-3.0-only
CC BY-SA
3D
Inspired by Frontier: Elite 2 .
PokerTH
2006
2017
Card
AGPL-3.0-or-later
AGPL-3.0-or-later
2D
Open-source virtual poker game.
Red Eclipse
2011
2019
FPS
zlib license
CC BY-SA
3D
A fork of Cube 2: Sauerbraten , with improved graphics and a style of play that incorporates parkour movement.
Rigs of Rods
2005
2022
Vehicle sim
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
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
GPL-2.0-only
GPL-2.0-only
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
2024
MMORPG
AGPL-3.0-or-later
CC BY-SA 3.0
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-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Clone of Scorched Earth .
Secret Maryo Chronicles
2003
2014
Platformer
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
The Secret Chronicles of Dr. M.
2017
2020
Platformer
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
Seven Kingdoms
1997
2017
RTS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Source code released in 2009.
Shattered Pixel Dungeon
2014
2024
Rogue-Like game
GPL-3.0-or-later
Java
2D
Rogue-Like game with procedurally generated levels and a storyline.
Simutrans
1997
2022
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
2002
2020
Action
MIT license
CC BY 4.0[ 36]
2D
On May 26, 2020, the source code of Soldat was released under MIT license on GitHub .[ 37]
Sopwith
1984
2014
Shoot 'em up
GPL
GPL
2D
The C and x86 assembly source code to Sopwith was released in 2000 ,[ 38] at first under a non-commercial use license, but later under the GNU GPL at the request of fans.[ 39]
Speed Dreams
2010
2023
Sim racing
GPL-2.0-or-later
FAL
3D
Forked from TORCS in late 2008.
StepMania
2001
2018
Rhythm game
MIT [ 40]
MIT
2D , 3D
A DDR clone, the player must hit buttons or keys in time with the music.
StuntRally
2010
2024
Racing
GPL-3.0-or-later
C++
3D
Racing game similar to Trackmania .
SuperTux
2003
2021
Platformer
GPL-3.0-or-later
Various
2D
2D platformer inspired by the Super Mario series.
SuperTuxKart
2006
2022
Racing
GPL-3.0-or-later
Various
3D
Arcade racing game similar to Mario Kart .
Teeworlds
2007
2020
Platformer
zlib
CC BY-SA 3.0 (except font)
2D
2D online multiplayer side-scrolling shooter .
Tenés Empanadas Graciela
1996
2021
TBS
GPL-2-0-only
GPL-2-0-only
2D
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 [ 41] repository and sold on Steam for $15.99.
The Powder Toy
2010
2023
Sandbox game
GPL-3.0-only
GPL-3.0-only
2D
Falling-sand game .
Tremulous
2006
2009
FPS
GPLv2
CC BY-SA 2.5 [ 42]
3D
Alien vs. human base-building, defending, and attacking the opposing team.
TripleA
2002
2020
TBS
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
A turn-based strategy game inspired by the board game Axis & Allies . Development is ongoing.
Tux Racer
2000
2009
Racing
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
A downhill slalom racing game featuring Tux, the Linux mascot.
Tux, of Math Command
2001
2011
Educational game
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
2D
UFO: Alien Invasion
2006
2016
TBТ
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later , CC BY-SA 3.0
3D
Inspired by the XCOM series but with 3D combat on the surface of the Earth.
UltraStar Deluxe
2007
2020
Music
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
SingStar clone.
Unknown Horizons
2008
2019
City-building game
GPL-x2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later , 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
2023
FPS
BSD 3-clause , GPLv3+
CC BY-SA 2.5
3D
Team-based first-person shooter with strong real-time strategy elements, derived from the Tremulous project.
Vega Strike
2008
2022
Space sim
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
Wing Commander: Privateer clone and space simulator engine.
Veloren
2018
2024
Adventure , RPG
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later
3D , Voxel
Open-world, open-source multiplayer voxel RPG.
Rust
Warzone 2100
1999
2023
RTS , RTT
GPL-2.0-or-later [ 43]
GPL-2.0-or-later , CC0 , other open source[ 44]
3D
Post-apocalyptic cross-platform real-time strategy game.
Widelands
2002
2022
RTS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Widelands is a real-time strategy clone of The Settlers II .
WorldForge
1998
2014
MMORPG
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
An open-source framework for massively multiplayer online role-playing games .
Worms?
1983
1983
Software toy
MIT
MIT
2D
An interactive version of Paterson's worms , and one of the initial Electronic Arts releases.
Xconq
1987
2005
TBS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
4X strategy game engine .
X-Moto
2005
2023
Platformer
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
Elasto Mania clone.
Xonotic
2010
2023
FPS
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
3D
A fork and direct successor of Nexuiz . Binary files for Linux and Windows are under GPLv3+ .
XPilot
1992
2010
Arcade
GPL-2.0-or-later
GPL-2.0-or-later
2D
A multiplayer Asteroids -like game.
Yo Frankie!
2008
2009
Action-adventure
GPL-2.0-or-later , 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 [ 45]
Text
AssaultCube
2006
2022
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.
C-evo
1999
2013
TBТ , 4X
Public-domain software
Proprietary
2D
Inspired by Sid Meier's Civilization
Alien Arena
2004
2011
FPS
GPL
Proprietary [ 46]
3D
Based on ID Software open-source engine.
Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain
2024
2024
Platformer
MIT license
Proprietary
3D
A open-source game made for the six anniversary of Celeste . [ 47]
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.
Doom
1993
1997
FPS
GPL
Shareware
2.5D
Game engine source code was released on December 23, 1997.
Frets on Fire
2006
2008
Music
GPL
GPL , Proprietary
3D
Guitar Hero clone.
Frogatto & Friends
2010
2013
Platformer
zlib license
Proprietary [ 48]
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 II engine and released therefore the game's source code in 2008. In 2015 ported to Linux and the OpenPandora handheld .[ 49]
H-Craft Championship
2007
2015
Racing
zlib [ 50]
Free for personal use[ 51]
3D
Sci-fi racer for Linux, Windows and Android which is using the Irrlicht engine.
Hammerfight
2009
2011
physics based combat
zlib [ 52]
commercial
2D
For the third Humble Indie Bundle [ 53] [ 54] 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 .[ 55] [ 56]
Katawa Shoujo
2012
2012
Visual Novel
MIT license (most of game and engine beside some scripts[ 57] )
CC BY-NC-ND
2D
A visual novel .
Narcissu
2005
2005
Visual novel
GPL
Freeware /PFSL [ 58]
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.[ 59]
osu!
2007
2023
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, an Open-source re-write of the osu! client was announced (code named osu!lazer ). It was released under the MIT License on GitHub , assets under CC BY-NC .[ 60] [ 61] Aims is to make osu! , written in C# with the .NET Framework , available to more platforms and transparent.[ 62] The closed-source stable osu client is still used by the majority of the playerbase, however it is feature locked[ 63] and the developers aim to deprecate it once osu!lazer gains user acceptance.
Overgrowth
2008
2017
Action
Apache License 2.0
Proprietary
3D
Source code released on 2022, April 22.
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 [ 64]
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0[ 65]
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
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later , Proprietary [ 66]
2D
Developed open-source from the beginning with the own T4E engine,[ 67] while the assets are kept proprietary for commercialization on Steam and gog.com .
The Dark Mod
2009
2023
Stealth game
GPL-3.0-or-later
CC BY-NC-SA
3D
First person stealth game in the style of the Thief games (1 and 2) using a modified Id Tech 4 engine
The Last Eichhof
1993
2014
Shoot-'em-up
"Do whatever your want" license (public domain )[ 68]
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
2021
Action-adventure
GPL-2.0-or-later
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 .[ 69] 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 does not include them.
Urban Terror
2000
2018
FPS
GPL
Proprietary
3D
Multiplayer tactical shooter based on the id tech 3 engine.[ 70]
VDrift
2005
2012
Racing
GPL-3.0-or-later
GPL-3.0-or-later , Proprietary
3D
Some datas are non-free, for example the "SV" car model, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.
Warsow
2005
2017
FPS
GPL-2.0-or-later
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 III modification. Became stand-alone in 2007, now runs on ioquake3.
Zero-K
2010
2023
RTS
GPL-2.0-or-later
various, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 [ 71] (sound)
3D
A multi-platform real time strategy game inspired by Total Annihilation , powered by the Spring game engine . Released 2018 on Steam.[ 72]
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.
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[ 79]
Freeware
3D
In 2010 Valve released this Source engine based game with source code, which started as a mod.
Bugdom
1999
2003
Platformer
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
3D
Released under a non-commercial license in 2020.[ 80]
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 .
Half-Life [ 83]
1998
2023[ 84]
FPS
Proprietary
?
3D
The source codes of the Half-Life video game are available, but the source codes of GoldSrc , the game engine of this video game, are not available.
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)[ 85] [ 86] so that the game's community would be able to create fixes and patches .[ 87]
Jump 'n Bump
1998
1999
Deathmatch Platformer
Emailware [ 88]
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
Noctis
2000[ 89]
2003
Platformer
WTOF Public License [ 90]
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 .[ 91]
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 .[ 92]
Progress Quest
2002
2011
Parody MMORPG
Proprietary
Freeware
2D
On May 20, 2011, Eric Fredricksen released the source code of the game on bitbucket .[ 93] [ 94]
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
Space Station 13
2003
2024
RPG
Proprietary
GNU AGPLv3 / CC BY-NC-SA / Others (depends on server)
2D
Many different servers exist each with a different codebase and different license.
Spelunky
2008
2009
Platformer
Non-commercial [ 95]
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.[ 95] Based on this source code the game community created a community patch which added support for Mac OS X .[ 96] [ 97] 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 .
VVVVVV
2010
2020
Platformer
Attribution required[ 98]
Proprietary
2D
On the 10th anniversary of the game's release in January 2020, developer Terry Cavanagh made its source code publicly available on GitHub .[ 99]
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 .
^ A Dark Room goes open source Archived 2015-09-07 at the Wayback Machine on doublespeakgames.com (July 3, 2013)
^ 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.
^ (in Polish) Announcement on Polish Portal of Colobot Archived 2012-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
^ Original Colobot source code release license
^ Colobot: Gold Edition README
^ Jerz, D.G. "Colossal Cave Adventure" . Seton Hill University . Retrieved 2007-09-07 .
^ corewar on SourceForge
^ ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/crossfire/historic [permanent dead link ]
^ "Re: CF: the begining [sic ] of crossfire" . real-time.com . Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2013-04-27 .
^ Rohrer, Jason (2011-10-17). "DiamondTrust/ci/default/tree" . SourceForge . Retrieved 2013-05-22 .
^ singularity on github.com
^ "Releases · endless-sky/endless-sky" . GitHub . Retrieved 2023-10-24 .
^ "Releases · endless-sky/endless-sky" . GitHub . Retrieved 2023-10-24 .
^ Endless Sky , Endless Sky, 2023-10-23, retrieved 2023-10-24
^ Endless Sky , Endless Sky, 2023-10-23, retrieved 2023-10-24
^ Endless Sky , Endless Sky, 2023-10-23, retrieved 2023-10-24
^ Endless Sky , Endless Sky, 2023-10-23, retrieved 2023-10-24
^ Taylor, Cameron [@ninja_muffin99] (14 March 2021). "By default we made Friday Night Funkin, so we automatically get copyright protection. The game is open source, but that only covers like the actual code. The assets are in a state where we cool if people use it in fanstuff, but it gets iffy when people [are trying] to make money" (Tweet ). Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021 – via Twitter .
^ a b Ahl, David H.; Green, Burchenal, eds. (1978). The Best of Creative computing . Morristown, N.J. ISBN 0-916688-01-1 . OCLC 2188876 . {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link )
^ a b "Hunt the Wumpus" . www.codeproject.com . 14 June 2014. Retrieved 2020-11-06 .
^ a b Lovy, Ben (2020-05-28), deciduously/hunt-the-wumpus , retrieved 2020-11-06
^ "Lugaru HD" . Gitlab . Retrieved 14 January 2017 .
^ a b "LICENSE.txt" . GitHub . October 25, 2021.
^ "Umoria - The Classic Roguelike Dungeon Crawler" . Retrieved 2021-04-15 .
^ "free-moria" . Retrieved 2009-04-04 .
^ "Netrek Client (C and X11)" . Github project page . 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2022-02-19 .
^ No Gravity (Classic) on sourceforge.net
^ supportMyWork on hcsoftware.sourceforge.net "I release all of the source code that I write as free software (free as in "freedom") into the public domain" (accessed 2016)
^ Passage on itunes.apple.com
^ Soldat asset license on github.com
^ soldat on github.com
^ Clark, Dave (2000-10-29). "Sopwith Code Support" . Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. 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 .
^ "stepmania/stepmania" . GitHub . 2019-08-26.
^ CastleDoctrine on sourceforge.net
^ [tremulous] View of /trunk/COPYING
^ "Warzone2100/warzone2100" . GitHub . Retrieved 2020-07-01 .
^ "Warzone2100/warzone2100 - COPYING.NONGPL" . GitHub . Retrieved 2020-07-01 .
^ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/angband/angband/master/copying.txt 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 .
^ "Releases · ExOK/Celeste64" . GitHub .
^ Developer Info Source Code and License: [...] Our code is open-source, our content isn’t.
^ gravitybone-pandora on github.com
^ http://www.irrgheist.com/hcraftsource.htm "For the most part H-Craft Championship sources are released under the zlib-license."
^ http://www.irrgheist.com/hcraftsource.htm 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 .
^ "Add a feature that allows you to report bugs in-game for stable" . GitHub . 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2023-10-27 .
^ "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)
^ beersrc.zip - readme "Do whatever your want" license
^ source code at studiotrophis.com
^ "Urban Terror News" . urbanterror.info .
^ "license.txt" . github.com .
^ Tarason, Dominic (2018-04-27). "Free Total Annihilation-like RTS Zero-K lands on Steam" . Rock, Paper, Shotgun .
^ Clayton, Gavin (2022-02-20), What is Daggerfall Unity? , retrieved 2022-02-20
^ SFTtech/openage , [SFT]Technologies, 2022-02-20, retrieved 2022-02-20
^ "Legal | OpenRA" .
^ "OpenRCT2 About" . OpenRCT2 . Retrieved 2022-02-20 .
^ "A little history" . OpenXcom . 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2022-02-19 .
^ "Installing (OpenXcom)" .
^ 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."
^ Jorio, Iliyas (2022-02-19), Bugdom , retrieved 2022-02-20
^ 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)
^ ValveSoftware/halflife , Valve Software, 2024-09-12, retrieved 2024-09-13
^ "Half-Life | Builds, patches, and notes" . 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2024-09-13 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link )
^ "Fix My Game: IWBTG Source Code Release" . Kayin.pyoko.org. Retrieved 2015-03-26 .
^ 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.
^ "Web Archive records of the earliest Noctis' homepage" . Archived from the original on 2000-04-25. Retrieved 2017-01-29 .
^ license
^ copying github.com OpenNotrium
^ Prince of Persia source code
^ Source Code Released ProgressQuest v6.3
^ pq on bitbucket.org
^ a b 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 .
^ "VVVVVV Source Code License v1.0" . GitHub. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2021-07-22 .
^ Brown, Fraser (10 January 2020). "VVVVVV goes open source for its 10 year anniversary" . PC Gamer . Retrieved 10 January 2020 .
External links