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I did some research into this topic awhile ago. Here is a list depending on the age group:

3-7: GCompris (http://gcompris.net/-en-) *** Best ***, KDE Education software (http://edu.kde.org/), Tux Software Series (http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/), TuxPaint, TuxMath, TuxType all excellent, Omnitux (overlaps with Gcompris) (http://omnitux.sourceforge.net/), SuperTuxCart (no education just game) (http://supertuxkart.sourceforge.net/), SuperTux(http://supertux.lethargik.org/) (entertainment only), Secret Maryo (similar to Super Mario, pure entertainment, no educational value) (http://www.secretmaryo.org/), Frozen Bubbles (pure game, no real education here)(http://www.frozen-bubble.org/), Crayon Physics Deluxe (commercial, puzzle game)(http://www.crayonphysics.com/)

6-14: Scratch (teaches computer programming in an amazingly intuitive way..had 11 year old figure it out with no computer background and no experience) (http://scratch.mit.edu/), Alice (teaches 3d art), (http://www.alice.org/index.php?page=downloads/download_alice), World Of Goo (commercial, puzzle solving)(http://www.2dboy.com ), Trine/Trine 2 (commercial, puzzle solving)(http://http://trine-thegame.com/site/) (good for developing puzzle solving skills..good graphics), Greenfoot (teaches Java to pre-teens similar way to Scratch) (http://www.greenfoot.org/door), Cogs (Commercial puzzle game) (http://www.cogsgame.com/), DreamChess (Stragety...its chess)(http://www.dreamchess.org/), E-Adventure (teaches people to make their own point/click adventure games) (http://e-adventure.e-ucm.es/), Gbrainy (Math/logic games) (https://live.gnome.org/gbrainy), Inkscape (Vector Graphics..works well with Scratch/Alice as teaching tool and book)(http://www.inkscape.org), And Yet It Moves (Commercial puzzle/alternative physics) (http://www.andyetitmoves.net/), Machinarium (Commercial, flash adventure game..great for kids) http://machinarium.net/demo/, Minecraft (semi-commercial, install on Linux may not be straightforward) (https://minecraft.net/), Botanicula (Commercial, Flash adventure Game)(http://botanicula.net/)

Most of the non-commercial games listed above are readily available hrough the software game channels of most Linux Distros including Ubuntu, Mint (I've confirmed all on Mint), Fedora and Debian. I included links in case for some reason the user friendly Software Install Dialogs in Ubuntu/Mint or default Synpatic Package manager channel configuration doesn't do the trick. The commercial ones come in various installers, most user friendly but a few you may need to make a menu launcher manually.

Children specific OS Distros: I've never tried these but it may simplify your OS installations with pre-installed game/activities: http://www.doudoulinux.org/web/english/index.html ***(this looks VERY good for kindergarden first timers on a computer)*** http://www.qimo4kids.com/what-is-qimo/ http://www.edubuntu.org/ http://www.foresightlinux.org/release/foresight-kids-edition-1-0-release-notes/

Recommend all purposes Distro for early starters (6-and up): http://www.linuxmint.org/ (Not education specific but software installation menus make it easy to find/try educational and non-educational games...ubuntu does to but Mint makes it easier for non-techies...have 9-12 year old using it with no training...no problem)

other list of games for Linux are here: http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20080510052539217/Games.html http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20080522164112313/Games-Part2.html

While educ

Many of these games are crap, but there are some really good ones out there.

A couple of years ago, my jaw dropped when I saw that Machinarium was created using Flash. Before that, I didn't expect to Flash to be able to handle such complex scripting, remembering the state of things in different game screens, and even savegames. That game added some coolness points for Flash perceived by me. For some things, it's a nice artistic environment, but of course the wrong tool for things like restaurant menus.

http://machinarium.net/demo/

Awesome game that kids will love.

He does make a point though. Some of the best releases I played last year or the year before (like Machinarium, Trine or World of Goo) came from small companies. I can't remember when was the last time EA made a really enjoyable game, like those mentioned.

The only dissenting opinion you ever see here is by Adobe-suite 'developers' grown indulgent by Adobe's motherly coddling and embrace.

---- and the developers who know who to use Flash and Adobe's development tools effectively:

Machinarium

Yes.

Right, but the point is, how many people did in fact download the game to try it, then decided it was crap and stopped playing it?

If I had the choice of playing a free official demo in my browser with out installing anything, or downloading and installing a risky torrent, I'd obviously try the official demo.

http://machinarium.net/demo/

As for adventure games, the golden age of 1990s is gone. There were EGA or VGA games like Space Quest and Monkey Island that were so fun to play and have no modern successors.

It's not that sad. There's still gems here and there.

Casual games. Oh, and Machinarium is excellent.

I still play with my P4 and AGP card. I've been thinking about buying a new PC, but these kind of news (MW2 especially) are putting me off. Machinarium or World of Goo have Linux versions, are cheaper, and can be played in my cheap laptop.