Best ways to procrastinate using Ubuntu

Sometimes you just want to take a break and distract yourself a bit. Here are some games and other amusements I've come across that I would suggest people try if their looking for some light entertainment on their Ubuntu system. Of course, people's tastes vary quite a bit but at least this is a place to start. But some people might find some of these games may take more time then they would like so install with caution.

Non-linear Games

• Battle for Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org/)
  This is one of the first games I tried under Ubuntu because I was really interested in whether an open source turn based strategy would be any good. After playing it I think it's one of the better open source games out there. The game play is fairly straightforward. There are campaigns as well as network play. I find that even when working on a campaign I can stop and come back much later and pick it up, therefore I feel it's not particularly linear (in the sense of really needing to focus on the campaign as a whole). It's under fairly active development and there are a large number of user created campaigns which is pretty cool.
  install wesnoth-all
• Frozen-Bubble (http://www.frozen-bubble.org/)
  Frozen-bubble is a Puzzle Bobble clone that is well done and fun to play. I'm a fan of Puzzle Bobble so this was a good discovery. It's an easy game to waste some time on enjoying the graphics, sound, and gameplay. I've never tried the network multiplayer mode but I would think that it would be fun.
  install frozen-bubble
• Patience
  What operating system would be complete without a solitaire game. This KDE version has about 15 different games of solitaire including the popular Freecell and Klondike.
  install kpat
• Monsterz (http://sam.zoy.org/monsterz/)
  Monsterz was another good find. I'm sure it's analogous to other games but I'm not familiar with them. It's a puzzle game where you try to make a line of matching monsters of 3 or more. The time limits are pretty short which makes the game challenging. The music and graphics are good though the amd64 version in Ubuntu is broken and requires 2 code changes in order to work properly.
  install monsterz

Linear Games

• Beneath a Steel Sky (http://www.revolution.co.uk/_display.php?id=16)
  Beneath a Steel Sky was released in 1994 and then released as freeware in 2003. It was quite popular during its release and features a cyberpunk like city in which the main character finds himself after being kidnapped from the Outback. The game play is typical of adventure games of its era, which is something that I am a fan of. You walk around, talk to people, pick up items, then use them in often unconventional ways. I haven't played very much through the game and some of the puzzles have seemed fairly difficult, especially early on where I feel a more gradual increase in difficulty is more enjoyable. Though, maybe I'm just out of practice.
  install beneath-a-steel-sky
• Flight of the Amazon Queen
  Like Beneath a Steel Sky, flight of the Amazon Queen was released in the mid-90's (1995) and released as freeware 9 years later (2004). It is a similar adventure style game. I've only played a bit of it and didn't find it particular engaging. Still, I miss this genre of games so it can be fun to play every now and again to see if I can make any progress. Though significant time between sessions can really be a detriment to remembering what you've done. where things are, and what you might be trying to do next.
  install flight-of-the-amazon-queen
• KQ (http://kqlives.sourceforge.net/)
  KQ is a role-playing game strongly inspired by Final Fantasy (the first one). I played through it a bit and found it enjoyable. I know that the game is unfinished so that might be a deterrent to people looking for a fun game. I also found the game to be lacking some balance though not terribly. The size of the party seems to be limited to 2 characters and from what I've played the game is fairly linear. There are a number of jokes aimed at the genre which keeps it light-hearted.
  install kq

Other Diversions

• KStars
  A nice reference to the sky.
  install kstars
• Stellarium
  Another nice reference to the sky.
  install stellarium
• Celestia (http://www.shatters.net/celestia/)
  For those who want to explore the sky from a position other than the surface of Earth.
  install celestia
• TuxTyping
  The best typing practice tool I've come across so far.
  install tuxtype