#26 Babelum Linux Edition (100% free)
2026-04-06 04:30:25
Babelum Linux Edition (100% free) just released on itch.io: https://retro-tales.itch.io/babelum-linux-edition
Why a Linux Edition?
The open-source community has been giving a lot to humankind for free: they deserve some love back! This game itself was created with many open-source tools, without them it would not exist today. For that reason we decided to release a Babelum Linux Edition 100% free! The game was simultaneous released on Steam (here), with Windows and Linux/Steam Deck versions, both paid, if you wish to support us or to experience it via Steam you have that option too. This version, only on itch.io, is the exact same version, compiled and available only for Linux. The only difference, is that the Steam version supports various Rankings systems via Steam Leaderboards (and soon Achievements): supporting that in a free release for Linux, would require us to setup a custom server and pay for it, we cannot afford that right now. This game was created by one single person, without budget, a Nerd Batman: father (most important mission), worker (Software Engineer) and student (PhD on how can tech support democracy) during the day, but a Game Dev lover (childhood passion) during the late night hours (#realindie , like in the Cave Story era, for love and no glory). I say this, only to justify why the leaderboards were not ported (Steam Leaderboards are free to developers, but independent ones would have real costs, cannot support that myself alone right now).
The plan is to keep this version up to date with the same patches released on steam, including future expansions (Arcade and Online/Lan modes incoming), 1:1 exact version, except the leaderboards/multiplayer (if the community grows and the game gets some sales [no illusions, educational games sell very bad] maybe one day we can add it). The plan is to release new language packs/words in the future, I am targeting 300 words minimum: in average, research show that if someone knows 200-500 words for one language, they know the minimum required for general day to day understanding and contextual learning from that point onward (this games aims that minimum).
I created this game for myself (academic purposes, child of past research; also to teach myself Japanese, to be able to watch Anime/Manga/Videogames without translations), and for my daughter (she is trying to learn English, maybe this can help with vocabulary; I also wanted her to experience some games from my past, I already introduced her to SMB 1, with Babelum I am curious to see her experience hard games, that do not take us by the hand, aiming for Snake high scores and speedrunning, like we children of the 80's did in the 90's. now it is an opportunity to try the Snake mechanics from the 90's). As a father, I am also worried about the impact of smartphones and AI on kids (everything is too easy and casino/gamification-like nowadays, no struggle = no growth), so I wished that my first video game could be something to contribute positively to that (from my past research, I know pedagogical games are awful to sell, kids hate "educational" tags, and parents are not the ones that choose which game to buy, but I am happy with the result, that is what matters most).
