LibreWands - A New Free Software Pokémon-Like

A Pokémon-like for GNU/Linux is highly desirable. Unfortunately, Tuxemon, the closest thing we’ve had to such a thing leaves much to be desired. My new project, LibreWands, could potentially scratch this itch. While one could argue that my project could fall into the same traps as Tuxemon, my goal is to keep the barrier of contribution as low as possible to encourage rapid development. With the right strategy, there’s no reason why we can’t create an excellent Pokémon-Like video game for GNU/Linux.

I’ve personally been watching Tuxemon development off and on for a while. A fully free software Pokémon-like RPG is a very prized concept in the GNU/Linux world. It’s one step closer to the idea that we can do without proprietary software.

It’s a shame then, that Tuxemon sure does feel like abandonware. Other than the new release made a week ago, it hasn’t seen any new releases since August of 2022. Perhaps development is starting to kick off again. I sure hope that it is. The thing is though, Tuxemon is far from fun in its current state. It leaves much to be desired.

The full Tuxemon map, consisting of a few generic towns and tiny routes.

Here’s the thing. I have a special love in my heart for Pokémon generation I and II. I have a special love for the Gameboy. I used to love writing games on my Ti-83+ graphing calculator. One of my great regrets, is not having created a complete video game for either console. I’ve grown up, and become a big GNU/Linux fan. I still have my love of programming, and my love of handheld computers and their games. As such, I’m very dedicated to finishing this project with a high degree of quality.

LibreWands will be an ncurses based RPG featuring magick and monsters, written in the C programming language. One could argue that this project may be abandoned too, but it’s my personal goal to lower the barrier of entry for all contributors as much as possible. That means that you can likely contribute to the project right now, regardless of your programming experience. There is a map editor, so we can grow the world as we see fit. There is a need to get this software built on multiple platforms, such as FreeDOS and ReactOS. There’s a need to get LibreWands packaged for distribution. There’s an engine that needs tuning, and a game that needs to be written.

I’d argue that with community support, kindness and a low barrier to contribution, there’s no reason why we can’t have our libre Pokémon-like masterpiece.

The git repository can be found here. Please check it out, give me feedback and perhaps consider contributing to the project.