This is such a short, sweet game, runs on everything: Portal. Even my mom likes it!

Addictive? Factorio.

Factorio

Minecraft is super fun and addictive, and works great on Linux.

Steam has Proton now which is a god send for Linux gaming. https://www.protondb.com/ which is just a setting in the Steam client.

For games it depends on what might interest you. If you are into history sorta stuff, maybe Civilization V or VI? If you want more of a fun game that a lot of non gamers play, you try The Sims or Stardew Valley. If you want something like the current trend of games, try Helldiver's 2 or Baldurs Gate 3.

If you ultimately don't have a preference. Just browse the sales on steam for games that look interesting as well as browsing https://www.humblebundle.com/ which can sometimes be good. Just check it against that protondb or look up if the game runs good on Linux first before purchasing.

Factorio

It's worse than crack cocaine.

Doesn't seem to be on the list yet:

Terraria.

I have hundreds of hours on my steam account, and I'm pretty sure it's actually thousands. It's a great game, and it's been updated so much since it released. When you could buy and hold gift copies of steam, I used to regularly buy new copies to hang on to to hand out to people; I've probably gotten ten people into it. Currently doing a modded master playthrough with my family and having a great time.

Factorio and OpenTTD

Valheim, factorio, rimworld, dwarf fortress, songs of syx, openttd, kopanito, battletech, baldurs gate 3, Witcher 3, project zomboid, streets of rogue, terraria, stardew valley. All of this works on Linux

Hard to say without some indication of what sort of thing you'd like. Are you looking for something to just power trip and blow off steam, are you looking for strategy games that make you think, narrative experiences, dexterity/reaction time challenges etc etc etc? But knowing absolutely nothing here's 3 good games:

Stardew Valley has native Linux support. It's a game about farming. There's not really any consequences for doing things slowly so take your time and enjoy the game.

factorio is a strategy game essentially about optimizing supply lines. Programmer types tend to find it extremely addicting.

Baulder's gate 3 is a Turn based RPG based on Dungeon's and Dragons. It may be a little difficult for beginners especially if you haven't played DnD but it is also one of the best games to have come out recently having swept all the award shows for both it's great story telling and run mechanics.

If there's anyone in your life who really likes gaming asking them for games you can play together or that they can watch/guide you through would be a great idea.

So, you're a tech nerd who wants an addictive game?

Factorio.

Also Satisfactory, but I'm not sure how well it runs on Linux. Fairly sure Factorio will run on just about anything

Rimworld (Survival. Very quirky, choose your own survival adventure)

Hades. (Made me feel like i was renting video games for the snes and trying to play it all weekend long)

Backpack Hero. (Indie game, bit of tetrising needed, loot adventure with a decent turn based combat for what it is)

Dead Cells. (Lot of humour packed into a metroidvania platformer. Roguelite gives it a lot of replayability. Reminds me of Hades but sidescrolling goodness)

Valheim (Viking survival game. They specifically wanted to go low poly and get the feel of something like OG Tombraider)

1. Install Team Fortress 2

2. Get prawned like a noob repeatedly

3. Get good

4. Prawn noobs repeatedly

I'm somewhere between steps 2 and 3 myself after around 2500 hours or so of gameplay.

Super Tux Cart!

How to actually get games running:

Download steam, make an account, log in. Go to the settings, find "Steam Play" and enable for unsupported titles. This enables Proton, which is a customized version of Wine, a Windows-Linux translation layer, plus some extra tweaks specifically for gaming. This lets you play the vast majority of all Windows games on Steam on your Linux machine.

Check out protondb to find out how compatible your chosen game is. You'll see a rating, as well as user experiences on how well it worked, what issues they experienced, and the tweaks they made to mitigate them (take note that there is a section on each games page that is specific to the Steamdeck, Valves handheld. Not all info in this section is relevant to general PC users, so make sure you follow the more generic section).

If you look around and find a specific game that isn't on Steam, Heroic Launcher and Lutris are your friends.

Heroic is a very nicely polished launcher for Epic Games, Amazon and GOG. It allows you to pool all three into a single library. You can use tools like winetweaks directly in the launcher, pick different Wine/proton versions per-game, etc. I'd use this as a secondary option to Steam.

Lutris also allows you to pool your games from multiple storefronts into one (Steam, Epic, EA, Ubisoft, GOG, and manually installed). Lutris can be a little complex compared to Steam and Heroic. It's very powerful, but somewhat spartan and can also be a bit buggy in some specific instances. It's very well suited for older games that aren't on major storefronts, emulators, or old CD games, mainly thanks to its option to set games up via standard windows installers or add existing games by pointing lutris to their installation path.

TL;DR, Start with steam, try some cheaper/free games. A great starting point would be Valves own games, as they're cheap and heaps of fun (Portal, Half-Life, etc). They also usually have a Linux native version so you don't need proton (although, counterintuitively, I find Linux Native games often don't work as well as Windows games+proton). After you get your toes wet, go for some other storefronts and library apps. Have fun and good luck, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Outer Wilds

Sid Meier's Civilization VI (or any other part)

Don't miss this entire genre: classic LucasArts point-and-click adventure games! Sam & Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle and Monkey Island are a few of the stand-outs for me, and they all run on Linux via the amazing ScummVM.

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

A lot of these recommendations are for advanced gamers.

Some more entry level games include Portal and journey.

Slay the spire is also excellent if you like card games.

Here a quick run down of PC gaming in general and the state of it on Linux.

PC gaming has boiled down to Clients which will manage your games, this would be your Steam, EA App, Ubisoft Connect, GOG Galaxy, and many many more. These Clients act as both the Store to buy your games, the Game manager to install and delete your games, the online client to let you play online with friends, and the DRM to ensure that you and only you can play your games. Out side of GOG most PC games will not run without a client installed.

In Linux there is only officially Valve's Steam which is compatible. You can find Steam as a Flatpak or as a Package in your distros Package Manager. Thanks to Valve's Steam Deck console there is a shocking number of Linux native games to choose from, however thanks to Steams implementation of Wine called Proton, many native Windows games are also compatible. Proton can be enabled for all games in the settings, though the results cannot be guaranteed.

Hardware wise, your default controller is your mouse and keyboard. But Linux is compatible with, from my testing, any modern controller compatible with Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo systems. For certain generas of games you may want to consider getting a controller if you find your mouse and keyboard is frustrating to control your game with.

In terms of games it really depends on your tastes so a recommendation is difficult. I'd look at what TV Shows, books and other forms of entertainment you'd like to discover titles which you prefer. If you aren't afraid to raise the Jolly Roger you may find some classic games on older video game consoles online as ROM files which you can play on open source emulators. Linux is compatible with a wide array of them, though Retroarch is used as a hub that has a minor learning curve but is compatible with everything. (Just make sure to install the Flatpak version or the steam version).

Last piece of advice, Humble Bundle bundles is a good place to find a lot of games for cheap. Not all the games are bangers, but often can include games from small developers than can often fall between the cracks of many user recommendations. You can find them here: https://www.humblebundle.com/games

Here are some game recommendations which I feel would be fun to anyone who wants to play games.

• Antichamber A Fun Indi puzzle game which twists reality and loop back onto itself.

• Fallout 3/The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - Some of the more critically acclaimed games, both are adventure games in the same style, but Fallout has guns and based in the Post Apocalyptic Future, while Skyrim is more like Dungeons and Dragons.

• The Stanly Parable - A Hysterical narrative adventure with no combat. A YouTube playthrough will explain the game better than I could.

• Team Fortress 2 A Team Based First Person shooter, also the first Free game here. It's an older title but it still holds up and can be a lot of fun once you get the hang of it.

• Besiege A sandbox medieval weapon construction game. The tutorials will get you going and you can many many silly things.

• Portal/Portal 2 Puzzle Platformer shooter, where you play with physics to solve puzzles. It's a must play and is often on sale.

• SimCity 3000/Cities Skylines A City Building game where you can build and manage your own City. SimCity is an older title but holds up well IMHO but Cities Skylines is a more modern game (Skylines 2 is a buggy unoptimized rushed mess. Avoid it for the time being)

• Civilization 6 Strategy game where you can build an empire. I prefer 5, but 6 is the go to game right now.

• Rollercoaster Tycoon/Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 Make your own theme park, from the rollercoaster to the rides. OpenRCT2 has a more modern look to the classic.

Now just because I am recommending Steam doesn't mean the other launcher won't work in Linux. Lutris and Bottles can be used to install and manage your Windows apps, with varying degrees of stability.

That, as others have mentioned, is a moderately difficult question for us without knowing what you like or what the specs on your laptop are.

If you install Steam, they have a pretty generous return policy. You just need to act within 2 weeks of the purchase OR before you hit a total of two hours played in that game - whichever comes first. I like Steam because the Proton compatibility layer built in makes gaming on Linux so incredibly easy.

I'm hesitant to do so because you undoubtedly like different things, but here is a short list of some of the games I've played that I really enjoyed based on total time played.

Sid Meier's Civilization (the whole series is good, but 5 is my favorite)
Stellaris
Battletech
Satisfactory
Valheim
Football Manager (think of this title as the complex strategy game to FIFA's action game)

These days "games I can play on Linux" is, like, almost every game released on Steam. Install Steam via your package manager or Flatpak, set up your account, and the vast majority of both native and Steam Play-based games will install and run very well. (The only thing worth noting is that while Windows and Mac versions of games are indicated by Windows and Apple logos, Linux native games are indicated by the Steam logo for SteamOS.)

In addition to that, there are free and open-source games that may be available for installation straight from your package manager (or Flatpak). Here are some:

• OpenTTD is a clone of Chris Sawyer's Transport Tycoon Deluxe series, but with massive improvements to both UI and game logic. Run a transportation company, move people and cargo from one place to another, make money, expand, compete against AI or human opponents in online multiplayer.

• Xonotic is an original Quake/UT-style FPS. I don't play it much, but I have friends who really enjoy it.

• "The Battle for Wesnoth" is a turn-based strategy game with gameplay reminiscent of console/handheld titles like Advance Wars, but redesigned to better suit PC gameplay. Has both singleplayer missions and online multiplayer.

I guess you don't really know what kind of games you like?

Some good ones to try would be Skyrim or The Witcher 3 or Fallout 3, New Vegas, and 4 for open world RPGs, Road Rampage or any Need For Speed game for arcade racing, Mini Metro for a casual puzzle game, Stardew Valley for a casual farming/life sim, Bioshock 1, 2, and 3 for a first person shooter, the recent Tomb Raider games for third person adventure, Dishonored 1 and 2 for stealth, Civilisation V (or any other) for turn based strategy.

Well, really just go find super popular games and give then a go. Easiest is to get them on Steam and they should just work on Linux and refund them if they don't, though you can still play non-Steam games and you can check on protondb.com if others have had success (Proton is Steam's wine-based tool for playing Windows games on Linux).

This might not be what you mean when you say "addictive", but since I've been addicted to it for the last half year or so, I'm gonna suggest it anyway: Morrowind.

While the original came out in 2002 for Windows and later Xbox, there's been a fan remake of the engine which runs on linux (and windows and macos) called OpenMW.

It's an open world role playing game about exploring the island of Vvardenfell, which is a strange and alien place that's easy to lose yourself in. Most of the wildlife is made up of insect- or dinosaur like creatures. There are forests made up of giant mushrooms, and ancient wizard lords who use magic to grow mushrooms into buildings that you have to be able to fly to navigate. It's a world with a rich history, featuring several different religions, cultures and overlapping and competing political structures.

Despite its age, it is to this day a game with a very active modding community which can extend and improve the games mechanics and visuals. It also features what is probably the longest running active modding project, Tamriel rebuilt which seeks to add the rest of the province of Morrowind to the game. It's about half way done and has basically another game worth of content in it at this point.

Minecraft is pretty fun, especially if you're new to gaming. Lots of different ways to play.

And Minetest is a great FOSS clone.

I personally find Balatro, on Steam (is most likely already in the package repo for your distro), to be addicting enough for me at least. Don't know if the demo is still up, but if it is, I'd start there to make sure you don't have buyers remorse. Works with Proton (right click on full game or demo in library, properties, compatibility settings, force them on, and I found it works with Proton experimental if I remember correctly).

Game is simple enough to play. Get hand of 8 cards. Play poker hands. Get chips based on hand. Win and get money. Use money in shops to buy things that change your deck or buy joker cards that do different things to the hands you play. Repeat for 8 rounds of 3 blinds, each time the required score going up.

That, or Baba Is You if you want a puzzle game that will warp your mind. Works out of the box on Steam, Proton not required. Complex game where you control character(s) and/or object(s) to try and get to the win condition. The catch is you have little text words that take up tiles on the screen (can turn tile outlines on in settings if it makes it easier to see and understand, which it does for me). You can move them to change the rules of the game. You might start off controlling Baba, the rabbit(?) creature the game is probably named after, then switch to controlling all the walls in a level.

Has a built in level editor and even has bonus levels from the developer that show off things added for the level editor and scrapped levels cut in development, some with signs that give commentary.

Though, for non-Steam games, I personally like to recommend games like SuperTuxKart (don't know a single mainstream distro that doesn't have it in their package manager). Game starts you off, if you start the story mode that is kinda just there, with a tutorial that teaches you how to play. Simple enough racing game with a ton of community made add-ons for when you get bored of the official content. Has online multiplayer and can be played with friends through split screen so long as you have enough keyboards/controllers. Don't know the max amount of split screen can support though.

I've played enough of all three games that they aren't as addicting as I have either played too much (SuperTuxKart and Balatro) or I've gotten to the point where the puzzles are tedious to the point I spend a few minutes on them before giving up (Baba Is You)

Go with a classic: Minecraft Java. Bonus - use the prism launcher for mod packs. Vanilla MC is kinda boring (at least once you see all the bonkers stuff mods can add, just like Skyrim XD )

for someone totally new?
i guess it depends on what you mean by "addicting," so i'll try to put in "potential hours" as a reference. regardless i think all of these are quite fun and consuming for me for a while.

The Binding of Isaac Rebirth.
its difficulty sort of "scales" with how well you do in your runs: if you never beat mom, the next boss, the next boss etc, it'll stay "easier" for as long as that takes. (and if it gets too hard when you start beating stuff, you can always wipe your save and start over, or start a new save, hah!)
the control scheme is extremely simple and it's fine to not be completely perfect at it if you're just going for basic runs and okay with relying more on "lucking" into victory. you really don't have to take on mega-satan or whatever.
up to you if the horror-to-horror-adjacent visuals appeal or not. you do also have to be okay with the idea of dying, it's a roguelike.
you can play this for literally thousands of hours.

Slime Rancher 1.
just a fun time shlorping up slimes. very low stakes and silly and cute. meant to be pretty accessible. if you're brand new i could see it taking up some time, and it's a good way to learn "video game logic." i've spent 80 hours in SR1, playtimes can be a bit varied.

Plants vs Zombies (the original GOTY edition, and definitely not the ad-ridden mobile port)
old 2000's popcap games in general were onboarding for many a gamer back in the day. i've spent 60 hours of it on steam, no idea how much back in the 2000's. playtimes overall can be a bit all over the map on this one.

Garden Paws,
if you like cutesy and the idea of gathering stuff for villagers, with farming / animal raising mechanics. it's slightly jank but it's very endearing. no fail condition. (it's somewhat similar to stardew valley with some differences!) this can be played almost infinitely, if you really like the loop, decorating, or have a few people to play with. playtimes tend to be 40-200 hours roughly.

Wobbledogs,
if you like the idea of raising cute pets with a genome and don't mind the very subtle horror/bizarre aspects (they can die, eat each other's bodies, and they pupate like caterpillars lol.) pretty sandbox game, and you can turn death off if you want. (or "clone" dogs you want to keep with the export/import tool in the menu.) this is a newer one for me so i've only put in 35 hours, but i fully intend to go back and try for some Huge Dogs TM. average seems about 20 hours but you can spend a lot if you like raising weirdo pets.

Battle for Wesnoth is my go to Linux for a decade at this point. Free fantasy turn based strategy game with fun campaigns.

My Foss game list:

• Veloren
• Minetest
• Super Tux Kart
• Super Tux
• Mindustry

There are tons more but I'm not a heavy gamer.

Rimworld if you want to play the Sims but with war-crimes.
Factorio if you like automation and IRL time skipping.
Oxygen not Included if you like to accidentally starve people due to your poor understanding of thermodynamics 100 hours ago.
Minecraft because everyone likes Minecraft.
Noita if your an unhinged masochist.
Helldivers 2 to discover your friends lead a much more busy life than you.

For someone new to gaming, I'd recommend Outer Wilds. It isn't "addictive" in that you can play it endlessly, but it's something easy to get into for someone new to gaming and one of the best games ever made. It's also only $15 right now.

If you end up sucking at flying, like many players do, just remember it doesn't matter how pretty your landing is if you can walk away from it. Even if you can't, no big deal.

TF2, addictive class shooter with cartoony style.

Borderlands 2 (especially with friends), very fun looter shooter. Can be modded with some pain, but it will refreshen the experience after 1k hours into vanilla.

Ultrakill. Not very addictive, but a very fun doom-like shooter.

Stardew Valley is a very relaxing and fun game where you start a farm in a small town. It has also has optional multiplayer. I found it very addictive.

I just broke 1000 hours on baldurs gate 3.

Minecraft also great, thankfully it does not tell me how many hours I've spent mining and crafting...

Most of these have been mentioned already, but it all depends on what do you like, of course that's difficult because most people know what type of game they like because they've played other games before that they can use as reference. So instead I'll go the other way around and suggest addictive games if you think you would like certain mechanics/types of games.

Are you an engineer? Do you like Rube Goldberg machines? I have just the game for you. In Factorio you create your factory from scratch, first gather some coal and iron by hand, but before long you'll have a fully automated overly complicated factory.

Do you think you would like to instead build a base, starting with some colonists striving to make it through the winter but then growing into a huge settlement? If you like sci-fi RimWorld is about exactly that, with a small team of people who crash-land on a planet on the edge of the Galaxy and now need to build their base. If you prefer fantasy, Dwarf Fortress is a (more complicated) game about Tolkien types dwarves building their new home.

Do you have a controller and like to play games with it? Do you like being challenged? If so Dead Cells might be interesting. It's a game where each time you die you go back to the beginning, but the entire map has changed so it's never the same, and you'll unlock new things to explore different things and discover new paths.

Do you like Strategy? There are a series of games from Paradox Interactive that take place in different time periods, so choose what you prefer, they're all great and all have somewhat different mechanics (e.g. the game that's set on the middle ages has genetic traits so choosing who you marry is very important, not just because of what you'll inherit from them but also for their genetic traits for your sons). Going chronologically, if you want a game about the time of the Roman empire then Imperator: Rome; if you prefer a game about medieval times Crusader Kings (the current one is 3, but 2 is also very good); if you prefer colonization period Europa Universalis (EU 4 has an interesting mod where you can carry over your save game from CK2 into it to keep going from how the map looked there); If you prefer industrialization Victoria is a great game (current game is Victoria 3, although I haven't yet played it, most bad reviews usually compare it to Victoria 2, so I assume Victoria 2 is better but might be more difficult since it's quite old); if you prefer World War 2 then Hearts of Iron is an excellent game about grand strategy of war instead of how the games usually deal with this period, if you would prefer a more focused, i.e. control soldiers in a battlefield, I recommend the Company of Heroes (this is very different from the others here, but thought it would be worth mentioning because of the same time period but very different gameplay); If you prefer galaxy exploration then you might want to look into Stellaris.

Team Fortress 2 has native support and is very addictive and has a large active community despite the game being over 15 years old now.

...just don't play in casual servers. It's filled with bots

The multiplayer classics:

• Counter-Strike 2
• Dota 2

Some single player gems:

• Black Mesa (Half-Life remake)
• Half-Life 2
• Soma