Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
The Best Command-Line-Only Video Games, Part II
Because one list of ridiculously awesome, text-only games just isn't enough.
March 03, 2024
post photo preview

If you plunk down "Best terminal games" into any search engine... you're going to find a whole heck of a lot of the same results.  Repeated.  Over and over again.

Article after article listing the same text-based, simplified versions of Space Invaders, Tetris, and Sudoku.

Which is fine.  We need fun little versions of those games in our Linux (or macOS, or Windows) shell.

But... what if you're looking for something... more?  Deeper games.  More visually impressive games.  But still entirely in your text-mode shell?

It was for this very reason that I published -- some time back -- a list of the "Best Command-Line-Only Games".  And, while that first list is -- indeed -- truly awesome... we have only scratched the surface of amazing terminal games.

So buckle up, Buttercup.  Because I've got some more awesome text-mode games for you.  Behold!  Part 2!

Gorched

Scorched Earth (aka "The Mother of All Games") was a mainstay of DOS gaming in the early 1990s. 

Take turns launching a variety of munitions (with adjusted angles and power) at your friends.  A simple, but addictive formula -- one which the "Worms" series of games has used for years.

And "Gorched" recreates the core of that game... entirely in ANSI / ASCII art.  All right in your terminal.

The Mother of All ASCII Games

Awesome, right?  The darn thing even has clouds floating through the sky.  Not too shabby for a Shell-only game.

DOOM-ASCII

What if you could play DOOM... entirely in a terminal?

Not a 2D recreation... the actual game.  3D.  But... you know... in ASCII art instead of pixels?

Yeah.  It's real.

I'm not kidding here.  It's DOOM.  And it's playable.

How rad is that?!  

Curse of War

Here's a slightly unconventional Real-Time Strategy game: Curse of War.

The overall mechanics are pretty simple and approachable: move your armies, build your infrastructure, get more resources.  But you don't build and maneuver a bunch of specific units.  It's much more... high level.

Pokete - Grey Edition

This is, essentially, a Pokemon like game.  For Linux.  In ASCII art.

Which... awesome.

Simple.  Recognizable.  Yeah, it's Pokemon.  Kinda.

Battles.  Exploration.  It's all here.  And, while there are some rough edges, the overall game is not too darn shabby!

Wolfentext3D 

Take the overall look of Wolfenstein 3D.  Implement it entirely in a 3D ASCII engine.

It's not really much like the original game which inspired it.  It's more of a simple maze game.  But it looks like Wolfenstein 3D in the terminal.  Which is nifty.

Impressive, right?  And it runs on Windows, Mac, & Linux (though it does require Ruby).

GameShell

This one is a little... different.

It's a shell game... built entirely to teach people who to use UNIX style shell commands.

The player goes on a series of missions in a fantasy world... and the only way to accomplish your goals... is to learn to use commands like "ls" and "pwd".

Nifty, right?

Brogue: Community Edition

You can't go wrong with a good Rogue-like!  Hack!  Slash!  ASCII!

And Brogue is a truly excellent one.

Randomly generated, 26-level dungeon.  Both complex and visually pleasing.  While there are oh-so-many Rogue-like games in this world, Brogue is worth at least a quick look.

That brings us to the end of this list.  If you haven't checked out the previous list, I highly recommend it.  There are a great many, truly fantastic text-mode games in this world... and it would be a shame to miss out on any of them.

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
4
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
Illinois Operating System Age Verification Law Passes House, Moves to Senate

Illinois HB 5511, which would require all Operating Systems (Linux, Windows, etc.) to include Age Verification, is moving closer to becoming law. And it's a really WEIRD one.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:16:18
Arch Linux Deletes XLibre Wiki Page, Cites "Code of Conduct"

"The XLibre project goes against [Arch Linux Code of Conduct] and should not be listed on ArchWiki."

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:17:16
NHS Vaccines at Risk from Chinese Fridge-Hackers

That's a real headline. Because the future is retarded.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:09:26
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

Tim Cook (aka Tim Apple) has stepped down as Apple CEO. John Ternus will be the new CEO. He had been the VP of Hardware Engineering at Apple since 2021.

https://archive.is/bb4Rf#selection-725.139-725.150

https://grokipedia.com/page/John_Ternus

Dang this guy over on Lunduke's new Telegram chat is nuts.

He's posting literally every few seconds.

post photo preview

BSD Week - Day 2: Programming On GhostBSD

Let's see what it takes to get a proper development project up and running on GhostBSD

placeholder
Last call for the "Amiga" Lifetime Subscriber Wall. It's almost full!

Holy smokes, that was fast.

The 6th Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Wall (aka the “Amiga OS 3.1” Wall) was introduced… what… a week ago?

I kid you not, the darn thing is already almost full! I was wildly unprepared for how popular this would be!

There’s enough space left for maybe 5 or 6 more names. Tops. Then I’ve gotta declare “Wall 6 (Amiga) is Full” and start Wall Number 7!

Here’s what all of the Lifetime Subscriber Walls look like (each shown at the end of every Lunduke Journal video):

 

If you want to get onto the Lifetime Subscriber Wall (and have any chance of making it onto the Amiga Wall before it’s full) here’s what you need to do (and do it quickly):

  1. Grab a Lifetime Subscription to The Lunduke Journal (if you don’t already have one).

    1. A Lifetime Sub includes all the standard perks (plus a few) and can be picked up via Locals, Substack, or Bitcoin (whichever you prefer).

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” and let me know how you would like your name displayed (“Joe A.”, “Joseph Arnold”, “JoeyPants”, “SirJJMcManly”, etc.)

It’s first come, first served.

If you’ve already emailed me about being added to the wall, your spot is secured.

For the rest of you: Chop chop. At the current rate, I would be very surprised if the “Amiga Wall” wasn’t full by some time this weekend.

“Lifetime Wall 7” will be unveiled after the final name is added to the Amiga Wall. And, yes, it will be a different (awesome) retro computing platform.

As always, a huge thank you to every subscriber to The Lunduke Journal. Absolutely none of this would be possible without your support.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
post photo preview
Amiga Lifetime Wall & March Lunduke Journal Stats!

Hello all of you amazing Lunduke Journal subscribers!

With March now behind us, I wanted to give you crazy kids a quick “behind the scenes” look at the stats for The Lunduke Journal. Because Inside Baseball stuff is fun.

The Amiga Wall!

But before we dive into charts and numbers… behold! The brand new 6th Lifetime Subscriber Wall of Shame Awesomeness! The AmigaOS 3.1 Wall!

 

Every Lifetime Subscriber Wall (which I show at the end of each video) is a real screenshot from a different computing platform. Mostly retro. All awesome.

 

If you’d like to see your name listed on the new AmigaOS 3.1 wall, grab a Lifetime Subscription (if you don’t already have one) and toss me an email. I update the walls about once each week with new names.

The last few Lifetime Walls filled up incredibly quickly. So if the Amiga Wall interests you, I wouldn’t wait too long. Hint, hint.

March 2026 Stats

The big news: Total “views” were way, way up in March.

A fair bit beyond what was anticipated. A hair over 19 million during the month.

 

That’s in total, across all platforms. As usual, the audio podcast and X lead the way in terms of total views/listens for shows (by quite a lot).

Interestingly, we saw significant “views” growth on even the smallest platforms in March (Facebook and TikTok).

Free subscribers also took a major jump in March, with the largest one month gains ever (I’m pretty sure, certainly the largest this year or last). Up 7,623 over the month before.

 

Again, new subscribers grew across the board. The biggest gains were seen on X, but all platforms saw a significant bump.

Hard to complain about that!

The top 3 shows for March were all focused on the Age Verification laws:

While those were the top 3… it’s worth noting that the top 10 (and, really, the top 15 or so) shows for the month were all incredibly close in terms of viewership numbers.

As always, a huge thank you to all of The Lunduke Journal subscribers. You make all of this possible.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
Lifetime Wall Number 6, Plus How to Access MP4s & Forum

A few quick reminders for all of you amazing Lunduke Journal subscribers:

First: If you have any kind of payed subscription (Monthly, Yearly, or Lifetime) there are a bunch of cool perks available to you. MP4 Downloads, PDF eBooks, and access to the Lunduke Journal Forum. All the details on how to gain access to everything is right here.

Enjoy.

Second: At the end of this next week I’ll be unveiling “Lifetime Subscriber Wall of Shame” number Six at the end of all new Lunduke Journal videos.

 

At that same time I will be updating and permanently locking down Walls 1 through 5.

If you are already a Lifetime Subscriber, and would like to be added to the new Wall number 6 (or to one of the couple remaining spots on Walls 4 and 5), email me (bryan at lunduke.com) with how you would like your name to be displayed (full name, first name only, nick name… any way you like).

  1. CRT Linux Pico Wall: Full

  2. DOS Word Wall: Full

  3. Win 3.11 Notepad Wall: Full

  4. MacOS 9 Wall: 2 Spots Left

  5. PalmOS Wall: 1 Spot Left

  6. Mystery Wall: Open

Those final spots on the MacOS and PalmOS Walls are first come first served. The first people to request those spots get them.

Everyone else will roll over into Wall 6. Which is a secret, retro computer platform. You’ll dig it.

If you have already contacted me regarding being added to one of these walls (or changing the way your name is displayed), I’ve already got you on the list for the changes later this next week.

If you don’t already have a Lifetime Subscription, grab one and get yourself on the wall.

It’s pretty sweet.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals