Best games
Best Linux games of 1998
The 8 best Linux games released in 1998, ranked from 3,730 critic and player ratings.
The best Linux game of 1998 is Half-Life, with a critic score of 96/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 30 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 1998.
- 8 games are listed on this page, carrying 3,730 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 28 September 2026.
Top 8
01
Half-Life
Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by aliens following a disastrous scientific experiment. Its gameplay consists of diverse combat, exploration and puzzles.
96
/100
02
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. It is the first game in the Baldur's Gate series and takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using a modified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd edition rules. It was the first game to use the Infinity Engine for its graphics, with Interplay using the engine for other Forgotten Realms-licensed games, including the Icewind Dale series, as well as other licensed D&D campaign worlds such as Planescape: Torment. The game's story focuses on players controlling a protagonist of their own creation who finds themselves travelling across the Sword Coast alongside a party of companions, to unravel the mystery surrounding a sudden iron crisis affecting the region and attempting to discover the culprits behind it, all while uncovering dark secrets about their origins and dealing with attempts on their life.
91
/100
03
Fallout 2
A turn-based tactical Western RPG in which the Chosen One is tasked with exploring post-nuclear California to locate and retrieve the fabled Garden of Eden Creation Kit for their famine-stricken tribe, while coming into contact through branching dialogue trees with numerous tribes, factions and micro-civilizations, each with their own virtues, vices, socioeconomic situations and political agendas.
89
/100
Half-Life
Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by aliens following a disastrous scientific experiment. Its gameplay consists of diverse combat, exploration and puzzles.
96
/100
02
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. It is the first game in the Baldur's Gate series and takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using a modified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd edition rules. It was the first game to use the Infinity Engine for its graphics, with Interplay using the engine for other Forgotten Realms-licensed games, including the Icewind Dale series, as well as other licensed D&D campaign worlds such as Planescape: Torment. The game's story focuses on players controlling a protagonist of their own creation who finds themselves travelling across the Sword Coast alongside a party of companions, to unravel the mystery surrounding a sudden iron crisis affecting the region and attempting to discover the culprits behind it, all while uncovering dark secrets about their origins and dealing with attempts on their life.
91
/100
03
Fallout 2
A turn-based tactical Western RPG in which the Chosen One is tasked with exploring post-nuclear California to locate and retrieve the fabled Garden of Eden Creation Kit for their famine-stricken tribe, while coming into contact through branching dialogue trees with numerous tribes, factions and micro-civilizations, each with their own virtues, vices, socioeconomic situations and political agendas.
89
/100
04
Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom
Knights and Merchants recreates the era of the Middle Ages. Apart from the purely fictitious geography of our world, all game elements and scenes are based on the Anglo-Saxon period, 1200 A.D. And we haven't used imaginary elements like fabled creatures, either. The player takes on the role of an ordinary captain in the Palace Guard. A conspiracy against the king catapults the captain into a situation where he finds himself responsible for the defence of the last royal province. This is all that remains of the shattered kingdom, which has been split into numerous small principalities and fiefdoms. And now even the king himself, ensconced in his capital, is threatened by enemy armies. This is the starting point of your Middle Ages adventure. Now you must win back all those provinces which once belonged to your king.
88
/100
05
Railroad Tycoon II
89
/100
06
SiN
When the CEO of SinTEK Industries begins injecting the streets with a DNA-altering drug, it's time to reassess the laws of morality. When the same twisted biochemist plans to conquer the world with her army of mutated abominations, it's time to rewrite the golden rule. You are Colonel John Blade, head of the most prominent private protection agency in Freeport. Elexis Sinclaire is waging her holy war against the security industry...and you along with it. You've made a religion out of fighting crime. Now you're going to make Elexis pay for her sins.
80
/100
07
Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell
The Great Conch Shell has been stolen and it's up to Freddi Fish and Luther to catch the culprit!
81
/100
08
Vangers
Mind-altering sandbox game that can be described as a racing role-playing adventure game with a complicated storyline. You’ll find a unique atmosphere, complete freedom and lots of gameplay hours to figure out what’s the game is all about.
72
/100
Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom
Knights and Merchants recreates the era of the Middle Ages. Apart from the purely fictitious geography of our world, all game elements and scenes are based on the Anglo-Saxon period, 1200 A.D. And we haven't used imaginary elements like fabled creatures, either. The player takes on the role of an ordinary captain in the Palace Guard. A conspiracy against the king catapults the captain into a situation where he finds himself responsible for the defence of the last royal province. This is all that remains of the shattered kingdom, which has been split into numerous small principalities and fiefdoms. And now even the king himself, ensconced in his capital, is threatened by enemy armies. This is the starting point of your Middle Ages adventure. Now you must win back all those provinces which once belonged to your king.
88
/100
05
Railroad Tycoon II
89
/100
06
SiN
When the CEO of SinTEK Industries begins injecting the streets with a DNA-altering drug, it's time to reassess the laws of morality. When the same twisted biochemist plans to conquer the world with her army of mutated abominations, it's time to rewrite the golden rule. You are Colonel John Blade, head of the most prominent private protection agency in Freeport. Elexis Sinclaire is waging her holy war against the security industry...and you along with it. You've made a religion out of fighting crime. Now you're going to make Elexis pay for her sins.
80
/100
07
Freddi Fish 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell
The Great Conch Shell has been stolen and it's up to Freddi Fish and Luther to catch the culprit!
81
/100
08
Vangers
Mind-altering sandbox game that can be described as a racing role-playing adventure game with a complicated storyline. You’ll find a unique atmosphere, complete freedom and lots of gameplay hours to figure out what’s the game is all about.
72
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Linux game of 1998?
Half-Life currently tops the ranking with a score of 96/100 across 2,448 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.