Want To Learn Linux? These 5 Games Make It Fun - And They're Free

3 weeks ago

Want to study Linux? These 5 games make it nosy - and they're free

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

If you request to up your Linux skills, play a game.
There are respective games, each focusing connected a different skill.
These games are free to play arsenic often arsenic you need.

Get much ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred Google source.

For many, nan thought of learning Linux is simply a task champion near to nan geeks. The bully news is that desktop Linux has go truthful easy to usage that you don't person to interest astir nan challenges that whitethorn person kept you from diving in. With modern Linux desktop distributions, there's nary need to study nan bid statement aliases nan much precocious devices (such arsenic YaST).

Now, if you want to really get nan astir retired of Linux, aliases are considering a profession arsenic a Linux administrator, you'll request to study considerably more… including nan bid line. Now that tin beryllium intimidating, particularly to those who've ne'er opened a terminal model aliases typed a command.

Also: The first 5 Linux commands each caller personification should learn

There's a spot of bully news. You tin make learning much precocious Linux concepts easier pinch nan thief of a fewer games.

If you've ne'er knowledgeable "gamified learning," you're successful for a dainty because it not only makes learning easy but besides fun.

There are a fewer games that are geared specifically for learning Linux skills, and I'm going to present you to them now.

1. OverTheWire

OverTheWire is simply a postulation of web-based games that situation you to execute tasks. One of nan champion things astir nan OverTheWire games is that they thatch you really to lick problems connected your ain and do truthful pinch Linux commands, record permissions, web protocols, matter encoding, and more.

Also: I'm a command-line pro and this is nan champion terminal app I've ever used, acknowledgment to AI

Currently, location are 12 games, specified arsenic Bandi, which is aimed astatine absolute beginners and teaches nan basics basal to play nan different games. There's also:

Natas, which teaches nan basics of server-side web security.
Leviathan, which teaches basal Linux commands.
Krypton, which teaches record encoding.
Narnia, which teaches basal exploitation.
Behemoth, which deals pinch regular vulnerabilities.
Utumno, which teaches much precocious concepts (and moreover leaves retired a description, truthful you person nary thought what you're getting into).
Maze, which teaches much precocious exploitation techniques, programming, and reverse engineering.
Vortex, which teaches connecting to non-standard ports.
Manpage, which is each astir breaking communal Linux C programming misconceptions.
Drifter, which is akin to vortex but is much advanced.
Formula One, which teaches you information concepts.

2. cmdchallenge

The thought down cmdchallenge is simple: lick problems fixed to you pinch thing much than nan bid line. This is simply a web-based game, truthful there's thing to install. For example, you mightiness beryllium challenged to people "hello world" connected nan terminal pinch a azygous bid (echo "hello world") aliases people nan existent moving directory (pwd).

Also: 10 open-source apps I urge each Windows personification download - for free

Every clip you get a bid right, you are asked to lick different challenge. As you complete each task, it gets somewhat much challenging, truthful nan longer you play, nan much you'll learn.

3. Terminus

Terminus is an absorbing terminal escapade app crippled wherever you research a virtual world via Linux commands. For example, you rumor nan ls bid to spot what locations are available. You mightiness spot WesternForest listed, truthful you spell location pinch cd WesternForest. When you do that, an image appears to show you what you see.

Also: 5 reasons to move to an immutable Linux distro today

You support exploring different locations and solving puzzles pinch commands for illustration ls, cd, less, etc. The extremity of this crippled is to study really to navigate nan Linux filesystem.

4. Bashcrawl

Bashcrawl is simply a crippled you install connected your Linux instrumentality to thief you study nan basics of Linux, BSD, and UNIX terminals. You don't really instal nan app, but download nan source, unpack it, and past cd into nan entranceway subdirectory of nan recently created directory. You tin past publication nan scroll record pinch less scroll to find retired what to do next.

The nosy really starts erstwhile you tin formed "spells" pinch commands, for illustration ls -F. Directories (rooms wrong nan "catacombs") extremity pinch /, and encounters (programs) extremity pinch *. You cod wealth and do each sorts of dungeon crawler-esque things.

5. Root Me

Root Me is much precocious and focused connected cybersecurity. This is akin to WarGames, successful that it hosts respective different challenges successful 1 location. With Root Me, you tackle real-world challenges, specified arsenic record forensics, privilege escalation, and more.

Also: How overmuch RAM does your Linux PC really request successful 2025?

Root Me is not for beginners, but for those pinch capable Linux skills to understand nan concepts and rumor nan correct commands. You do person to create an account, but it's free to use. There are complete 600 challenges to return connected pinch Root Me, arsenic good arsenic 178 different virtual environments, and 6063 solutions.

All of nan supra games are free to usage arsenic overmuch arsenic you need, and tin really thief you commencement to grasp various Linux concepts and commands.

Want to travel my work? Add ZDNET arsenic a trusted root connected Google.