Linux

This is such a short, sweet game, runs on everything: Portal. Even my mom likes it!

Addictive? Factorio.

Factorio

Doesn't seem to be on the list yet:

Terraria.

I have hundreds of hours on my steam account, and I'm pretty sure it's actually thousands. It's a great game, and it's been updated so much since it released. When you could buy and hold gift copies of steam, I used to regularly buy new copies to hang on to to hand out to people; I've probably gotten ten people into it. Currently doing a modded master playthrough with my family and having a great time.

Factorio

It's worse than crack cocaine.

Hard to say without some indication of what sort of thing you'd like. Are you looking for something to just power trip and blow off steam, are you looking for strategy games that make you think, narrative experiences, dexterity/reaction time challenges etc etc etc? But knowing absolutely nothing here's 3 good games:

Stardew Valley has native Linux support. It's a game about farming. There's not really any consequences for doing things slowly so take your time and enjoy the game.

factorio is a strategy game essentially about optimizing supply lines. Programmer types tend to find it extremely addicting.

Baulder's gate 3 is a Turn based RPG based on Dungeon's and Dragons. It may be a little difficult for beginners especially if you haven't played DnD but it is also one of the best games to have come out recently having swept all the award shows for both it's great story telling and run mechanics.

If there's anyone in your life who really likes gaming asking them for games you can play together or that they can watch/guide you through would be a great idea.

1. Install Team Fortress 2

2. Get prawned like a noob repeatedly

3. Get good

4. Prawn noobs repeatedly

I'm somewhere between steps 2 and 3 myself after around 2500 hours or so of gameplay.

So, you're a tech nerd who wants an addictive game?

Factorio.

Also Satisfactory, but I'm not sure how well it runs on Linux. Fairly sure Factorio will run on just about anything

Unrelated, but it is interesting that people ask for addictive games rather than for good games. Those are not the same.

Don't miss this entire genre: classic LucasArts point-and-click adventure games! Sam & Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle and Monkey Island are a few of the stand-outs for me, and they all run on Linux via the amazing ScummVM.

That, as others have mentioned, is a moderately difficult question for us without knowing what you like or what the specs on your laptop are.

If you install Steam, they have a pretty generous return policy. You just need to act within 2 weeks of the purchase OR before you hit a total of two hours played in that game - whichever comes first. I like Steam because the Proton compatibility layer built in makes gaming on Linux so incredibly easy.

I'm hesitant to do so because you undoubtedly like different things, but here is a short list of some of the games I've played that I really enjoyed based on total time played.

Sid Meier's Civilization (the whole series is good, but 5 is my favorite)
Stellaris
Battletech
Satisfactory
Valheim
Football Manager (think of this title as the complex strategy game to FIFA's action game)

These days "games I can play on Linux" is, like, almost every game released on Steam. Install Steam via your package manager or Flatpak, set up your account, and the vast majority of both native and Steam Play-based games will install and run very well. (The only thing worth noting is that while Windows and Mac versions of games are indicated by Windows and Apple logos, Linux native games are indicated by the Steam logo for SteamOS.)

In addition to that, there are free and open-source games that may be available for installation straight from your package manager (or Flatpak). Here are some:

• OpenTTD is a clone of Chris Sawyer's Transport Tycoon Deluxe series, but with massive improvements to both UI and game logic. Run a transportation company, move people and cargo from one place to another, make money, expand, compete against AI or human opponents in online multiplayer.

• Xonotic is an original Quake/UT-style FPS. I don't play it much, but I have friends who really enjoy it.

• "The Battle for Wesnoth" is a turn-based strategy game with gameplay reminiscent of console/handheld titles like Advance Wars, but redesigned to better suit PC gameplay. Has both singleplayer missions and online multiplayer.

Deep Rock Galactic

Outer Wilds

Go with a classic: Minecraft Java. Bonus - use the prism launcher for mod packs. Vanilla MC is kinda boring (at least once you see all the bonkers stuff mods can add, just like Skyrim XD )

I guess you don't really know what kind of games you like?

Some good ones to try would be Skyrim or The Witcher 3 or Fallout 3, New Vegas, and 4 for open world RPGs, Road Rampage or any Need For Speed game for arcade racing, Mini Metro for a casual puzzle game, Stardew Valley for a casual farming/life sim, Bioshock 1, 2, and 3 for a first person shooter, the recent Tomb Raider games for third person adventure, Dishonored 1 and 2 for stealth, Civilisation V (or any other) for turn based strategy.

Well, really just go find super popular games and give then a go. Easiest is to get them on Steam and they should just work on Linux and refund them if they don't, though you can still play non-Steam games and you can check on protondb.com if others have had success (Proton is Steam's wine-based tool for playing Windows games on Linux).

A lot of these recommendations are for advanced gamers.

Some more entry level games include Portal and journey.

Slay the spire is also excellent if you like card games.

This might not be what you mean when you say "addictive", but since I've been addicted to it for the last half year or so, I'm gonna suggest it anyway: Morrowind.

While the original came out in 2002 for Windows and later Xbox, there's been a fan remake of the engine which runs on linux (and windows and macos) called OpenMW.

It's an open world role playing game about exploring the island of Vvardenfell, which is a strange and alien place that's easy to lose yourself in. Most of the wildlife is made up of insect- or dinosaur like creatures. There are forests made up of giant mushrooms, and ancient wizard lords who use magic to grow mushrooms into buildings that you have to be able to fly to navigate. It's a world with a rich history, featuring several different religions, cultures and overlapping and competing political structures.

Despite its age, it is to this day a game with a very active modding community which can extend and improve the games mechanics and visuals. It also features what is probably the longest running active modding project, Tamriel rebuilt which seeks to add the rest of the province of Morrowind to the game. It's about half way done and has basically another game worth of content in it at this point.

Battle for Wesnoth is my go to Linux for a decade at this point. Free fantasy turn based strategy game with fun campaigns.

for someone totally new?
i guess it depends on what you mean by "addicting," so i'll try to put in "potential hours" as a reference. regardless i think all of these are quite fun and consuming for me for a while.

The Binding of Isaac Rebirth.
its difficulty sort of "scales" with how well you do in your runs: if you never beat mom, the next boss, the next boss etc, it'll stay "easier" for as long as that takes. (and if it gets too hard when you start beating stuff, you can always wipe your save and start over, or start a new save, hah!)
the control scheme is extremely simple and it's fine to not be completely perfect at it if you're just going for basic runs and okay with relying more on "lucking" into victory. you really don't have to take on mega-satan or whatever.
up to you if the horror-to-horror-adjacent visuals appeal or not. you do also have to be okay with the idea of dying, it's a roguelike.
you can play this for literally thousands of hours.

Slime Rancher 1.
just a fun time shlorping up slimes. very low stakes and silly and cute. meant to be pretty accessible. if you're brand new i could see it taking up some time, and it's a good way to learn "video game logic." i've spent 80 hours in SR1, playtimes can be a bit varied.

Plants vs Zombies (the original GOTY edition, and definitely not the ad-ridden mobile port)
old 2000's popcap games in general were onboarding for many a gamer back in the day. i've spent 60 hours of it on steam, no idea how much back in the 2000's. playtimes overall can be a bit all over the map on this one.

Garden Paws,
if you like cutesy and the idea of gathering stuff for villagers, with farming / animal raising mechanics. it's slightly jank but it's very endearing. no fail condition. (it's somewhat similar to stardew valley with some differences!) this can be played almost infinitely, if you really like the loop, decorating, or have a few people to play with. playtimes tend to be 40-200 hours roughly.

Wobbledogs,
if you like the idea of raising cute pets with a genome and don't mind the very subtle horror/bizarre aspects (they can die, eat each other's bodies, and they pupate like caterpillars lol.) pretty sandbox game, and you can turn death off if you want. (or "clone" dogs you want to keep with the export/import tool in the menu.) this is a newer one for me so i've only put in 35 hours, but i fully intend to go back and try for some Huge Dogs TM. average seems about 20 hours but you can spend a lot if you like raising weirdo pets.

Rimworld, it is your ant colony and it will take over your life

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

TF2, addictive class shooter with cartoony style.

Borderlands 2 (especially with friends), very fun looter shooter. Can be modded with some pain, but it will refreshen the experience after 1k hours into vanilla.

Ultrakill. Not very addictive, but a very fun doom-like shooter.

Sid Meier's Civilization VI (or any other part)

My Foss game list:

• Veloren
• Minetest
• Super Tux Kart
• Super Tux
• Mindustry

There are tons more but I'm not a heavy gamer.

Rimworld if you want to play the Sims but with war-crimes.
Factorio if you like automation and IRL time skipping.
Oxygen not Included if you like to accidentally starve people due to your poor understanding of thermodynamics 100 hours ago.
Minecraft because everyone likes Minecraft.
Noita if your an unhinged masochist.
Helldivers 2 to discover your friends lead a much more busy life than you.

Steam is probably the best platform for gaming on Linux right now. Here are some games I recommend that run well on Linux:

• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (the spiritual successor of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
• Romancing SaGa 3 (retro JRPG that involves non-linear, open-world exploration)
• Octopath Traveler 2 (another JRPG; you don't need to play the first game in the series to enjoy this game)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution (not a freemium game!)

For someone new to gaming, I'd recommend Outer Wilds. It isn't "addictive" in that you can play it endlessly, but it's something easy to get into for someone new to gaming and one of the best games ever made. It's also only $15 right now.

If you end up sucking at flying, like many players do, just remember it doesn't matter how pretty your landing is if you can walk away from it. Even if you can't, no big deal.

Dead Cells. Bloody love it.

With Lutris + Wine-ge you can play practically any game you want. My recommendation is the games I have enjoyed playing since I got my PC a few months back, in no particular order.

1. God of War
2. Spiderman Remastered + MM
3. Horizon Zero Dawn + FW
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Forza Horizon 5
6. Armored Core 6
7. Maybe Hogwarts Legacy if you're into the gameplay hint mash RT

It depends on what kind of game you like. Here are 2 video games I play on Linux:

• Minecraft is a sandbox game with a survival aspect, where you can be as creative as you want while still having fun challenges. There are many different playing styles. It costs about $30 and requires a Microsoft account to play legally. Minecraft: Java Edition officially runs on Linux. Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (the one with console cross-play) does not run on Linux by any official methods.

• Mindustry is a techy/industrial game, I've heard some say it's like if Factorio was a tower defense. It is free and open-source (under GPLv3), requires no account.

For purchasing or acquiring games, I'd recommend Steam. It has lots of games and many of them work on Linux. There's also Heroic Games Launcher for Epic and GOG games.

If you're going to be on Steam, and become a gamer, the other suggestions over here are good.

However, if games aren't really your thing, and you just want a casual gaming experience, then I'd suggest a few Linux native games, that exist in all distro repos: gweled, ltris, lbreakout2, lgeneral, frozen-bubble, gnome-mahjongg, gnome-tetravex, xye, kobo-deluxe, aisleriot, powermanga, open-invaders, supertux, pingus, berusky, opentyrian (requires data from the dos game, which are also free to download elsewhere).

Then there are some more heavy hitters (still native linux games), like freeciv-gtk3, opencol, 0ad, tuxracer, lincity-ng, simutrans etc.

The multiplayer classics:

• Counter-Strike 2
• Dota 2

Some single player gems:

• Black Mesa (Half-Life remake)
• Half-Life 2
• Soma

Surprised no one has said it, but Minecraft. I love it as much now as I did when I was 12. It can be as simple or as complex as you want it, especially if you start playing with mods. Then there's servers such as Hypixel which for all intents and purposes are an entirely separate game in and of themselves.

I'm sure part of it is nostalgia, some of my fondest gaming memories were playing Minecraft with friends, but I still find it to be an excellent way to relax.

(Tangentially related, anyone else remember when waiting 3 months for 1.2.5 > 1.3 was an absurdly long update time for the game? Different times.)

Whatever floats your boat.
https://youtube.com/results?search_query=best+games+of+all+time

Oh, and go with Steam.

BeamNG.Drive, and go wild with the destruction.

Classicube for that simple block-building itch

Not really sure what would be your type of game but here's some that I've played that I found addicting, from various genres. All of these are on Steam and I've played on Linux.

Definitely look at Portal 2. Great game that's easy to get into.

If you played and liked Portal 2, also take a look at Portal, The Talos Principle, and Q.U.B.E. (I probably can't go wrong recommending puzzle games)

Maybe also Mirror's Edge (2008).

Baldur's Gate 3 is one I've put a lot of time into recently.

Chill exploration game that I couldn't put down and am still obsessed with: INFRA

If you think you could like base builder games: RimWorld, Factorio, Satisfactory

And then some absolute PC classics: Half-Life (1998, or you can also play the remake Black Mesa), System Shock (play the 2023 remake), Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Probably check out Batman series, they run quite well on Linux, just been working my way through them myself. Otherwise Red Dead Redemption 2 I found difficult to put away once I started.

Most games will run fine through Steam, as long as you check of the compatibility box in steam settings. Otherwise there is Heroic Launcher, and Lutris as different launchers.

Dwarf Fortress.

But you need to read the wiki :)

Download steam to buy and play games first: steampowered.com