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Five commercial games

Exclusive delights

Tim Schürmann

The Ubuntu Software Center provides some exclusive game titles that are not yet commercially available or on the Internet. We take a look at five especially interesting games from different genres.

Despite a persistent myth to the contrary, Linux users are totally okay with spending some money on programs, especially when it comes to games. And, Ubuntu users are lucky: They don't need to do any cumbersome downloads from project websites or distributors, such as Desura [1]. They can order games directly off the integrated Software Center. As if that were not enough, some of the games are created exclusively for Ubuntu. At the time of writing, you can get, among others, Bit.Trip Beat, a skill game; Fieldrunners, a strategy game; the Psychonauts jump-and-run game; the Splice puzzle game; and the Torchlight role-playing game.

Bit.Trip Beat

In Bit.Trip Beat, the player needs to strike at incoming beats with a paddle. It sounds monotonous and boring, but you soon find yourself breaking a sweat as the beats relentlessly come at you from every angle or change direction midstream (Figure 1). Later, special beats cause the paddle to shrink or split into two, with two parallel streams of beats. Bit.Trip Beat also gradually ups the tempo and increasingly distracts you with its moving outer space background.

Fieldrunners

In Fieldrunners, heavily armed villains run from left to right through a small forest clearing. With skillful construction of defense towers (turrets), you try to prevent the scoundrels from reaching the right side of the screen. If more than 20 villains get through, the game is over.

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