OneAndOneIs2

This is a well known fact. There are no "proper" games for Linux, and the only 3D-accelerated software available is Tux Racer.

So last night, I wasn't bored of Mah jong and I didn't go looking through my drawers for something more exciting to play, and I didn't rediscover an old favourite. Nor was it the first time I'd played said game (because there wasn't one) on my new flatscreen monitor with a higher resolution (1400x1050) than my old CRT.

The game in question wasn't Darwinia, one of the few games I've actually considered worth spending money on. It isn't (I'm sick of all these negatives, that's the last one!) a 3D strategy game with a somewhat Tron-like feel to it. It's multi-platform, running on Windows, OS X, and Linux.

The object of the game is to wipe out the invading virus and save the little green men, AKA Darwinians. You can't directly control the Darwinians, but you can create "squads" and "engineers" - squads shoot things, engineers reprogram infected machines and gather up "souls" of dead Darwinians, infected or not, so they can be reincarnated.

You get more things as you go through, as you find "research" cubes scattered around. The first one upgrades your squads so they can lob grenades as well as fire lasers. Others let you drop bombs, arm the Darwinians, and do other such fun things.

The good thing about the game is that, although there's only so many levels, as you learn more about the various upgrades & strategies, you can play them different ways.

For instance, the first level, instead of slowly fighting your way through half the viral infection to get to the grenades, you can instead send an engineer on a rather circuitous route around the infected areas so you gain the grenades before you go anywhere. Then your squads can quickly wipe out the infection and get on with the game.

Second level, you have to disinfect as many Darwinians as possible. This can be awkward, as you have to fight your way through hundreds of infected individuals before you can reach the reincarnation machines, and you only have a short time to rescue the "souls" of dead infected Darwinians before they float away and you lose them.

So whilst fighting your way through seems the way to go, a better ruse is to use decoys: Send a couple of engineers straight through the infected area. They will be killed as the viruses follow and destroy them. But they'll leave a clear path behind them that you can use to send an engineer right the way around the island, where it can reprogram a reincarnation unit for you, before you've killed a single infected Darwinian.

Then you can put a squad there, and attack from the rear, and almost every Darwinian can thus be saved.

My next goal is to upgrade the Darwinians as fast as possible, because the sooner they upgrade, the sooner they'll be armed with guns and lasers. When that happens, you can use them as a fairly intelligent attack squad that takes the burden off you having to use squads, which only work when you actively direct them.

If you fancy a go on the game, download the free demo - it's how I got started!