OpenTTD is open source, so not sure that fits.
Older? Check.
Free? Check.
Software/game? Check.Checks out in my book!
I happened upon the original for $20 in Wal Mart in 1995 and I’ve been playing it on and off ever since!
One of the best games ever made.
Dwarf Fortress, since 2008
ASCII no questions, I’ll tell you no lies
🪨⛏
Haven’t played recently, but this one came to mind’
I missed the original, but Scorched 3D was a big hit at my high school.
I always have to have Hover! on my PC. It’s hella dumb that it doesn’t just come with Windows as it did originally.
Beyond All Reason!
OpenTTD
I’ve been playing it off and on since maybe 2016-18 (somewhere within that range), so a pretty long time for me, but Pokemon Rejuvenation.
If you don’t mind swearing, death, and generally kinda edgy stuff, it’s a fun enough game with a lot of content. 15 out of 18 badges (one per type) are currently available, with a very long story to go with it.
Just started over on my Steam Deck, making this my umpteenth time starting over, because I felt like it and wanted to do a grass only run, similar to my fire only run. Also, unlike just about every other RPGMaker XP fangame, the devs have a Linux version available, which has an appimage instead of the .exe file to run the game and have made a bash script to update the game to replace the .exe file for that. Wine not required to play at all!
Something about Castle of the Winds really seemed unique and even today it’s distinct from most roguelikes. I liked the fact that items could be enchanted or cursed. Simplistic graphics, but fun! I also liked the 3D pinball game (demo) that came with an old version of Windows…
Wow holy shit I’ve literally never heard another person speak of this game. I came here thinking, “it’s a shame Castle of the Winds is never mentioned in these kinds of threads” and here it is. I wasted a summer of my youth playing this game and listening to Blues Traveler Four every day.
We never had the sequel so the game just ended. I thought of it about fifteen years ago and found it! Beat the game and it was every bit as much fun as I remembered it being as a kid.
Random dungeon levels, traps, hidden doors, magic, monsters, treasure - this game is an absolute blast.
Clonk! It’s a 2D mining/strategy/base-building hybrid that was apparently more popular in Germany than other places. I actually paid to play it way back in '05, but it has since become freeware. It’s got a particle sim (similar to Noita, but not as extensive) that plays into the scenarios well.
I’ve played Simutrans on and off ever since the mid 2010’s. I’m not any good at it, and usually play it without regard to a lot of its mechanics (especially managing finances), but I’ve spent countless of hours just connecting communities and cities with over-engineered roads, rail systems, ferries, and airplanes.
bubble tanks
I play Shareware
What shareware do you play?
Different Lemmy denizen here: for a long time I was quite sucked into Soldat, though I haven’t touched it in a decade. Been thinking about it as of late, though…
They’re shareware but I think Pocket Tanks and Super DX Ball have been on every computer of mine since 2002
I happened upon the original game from Wal Mart in 1994 or 1995 and have been playing it on and off ever since.
One of the best games ever made!
If we’re sticking strictly to free, I’m not sure Doom mods work if you only have the free version installed. Either way, people basically never stopped making wads since the game came out, and I try various ones out from time to time.
There are tons of them, so if you’re interested you can see what won the annual Cacowards throughout the years and start there.
