Following up on a post I made here last year (Open Source Mac Gaming), I wanted to spotlight a couple of other titles — ones that hearken back to the earliest days of video gaming. Back when we paid the arcade owner with salt pork and chickens instead of quarters, and you had to hand-crank the machines like a Mutoscope movie.

First up is BZFlag, a very updated version of Battle Zone that is multiplayer and (depending on your hardware) an OpenGL visual smorgasbord. Powerups, known as “flags,” abound, and can do everything from give you extra weaponry to make you invisible. And if setting things up is not immediately obvious, see So how do I start playing?). It is well worth the effort.

Next is Armagetron Advanced, which brings the Light Cycles from Tron to your computer. Greetings, Programs! Now, this idea is nothing new — however, the project has done a stellar job of capturing the “deathmatch” spirit of the original scene, while adding new game types like capture the flag and labyrinth. And the game can be played versus other humans or the built-in AI, appropriately enough. End of line.