Gaming

I wouldnt limit yourself to native linux. Check out protondb.com. You can even use non-steam games through steam for use with proton (or if you're feeling more technical you could use other tools that are more hands on).

Stardew Valley is really lightweight and Linux native.

Since you mentioned battery being an issue and that you just switched to Linux, have you looked into using TLP or Powertop to try doing some tweaks to squeeze out a bit more? It's been years since I've used Linux on a laptop, but that's what I used.

OpenTTD is an open source game based on TTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe). Basically you just connect cities and industries with each other by different forms of transport like trains, busses, airplanes, etc.

FTL

All Steam Deck verified games should play just fine on that laptop. While Intel Xe graphics are not the greatest, Steam Deck is restricted to 15W and you laptop is not.

The Battle for Wesnoth is one of those oldies but goldies when it comes to Linux gaming.
I'd also heartily recommend trying out OpenMW (not just because I'm part of the team there) as a modern way to play Morrowind, though the upcoming release is not entirely finished, there are a few blockers being hammered away at still.

Factorio works well (at a smaller scale).

Factorio

This is what I have from Steam on my Linux laptop, similar HW, a bit older:
Baba Is You, The Binding of Isaac, Celeste, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Darkest Dungeon, Dicey Dungeons, Enter the Gungeon, FTL, Hollow Knight, Into the Breach, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Monster Train, Opus Magnum, Slay the Spire, Spelunky.
And traditional roguelikes are always good: Crawl, Brogue, Nethack.

Rimworld is pretty resource light and runs native on Linux. Has the benefit of being one o of the greatest games ever, too. If you're into to that kind of game (colony resource management and light war crimes)

I've seen OpenMW mentioned (and it's fantastic), but you might want to check out Daggerfall Unity as well. The game's available at no cost, and you can find a zip of the necessary game files on the install guide in the dfworkshop forums.

It's way better than the old DOS version, and it supports mods, too.

I mean, if you install Steam, you're not that limited in terms of ports, are you? Just about any game being solidified for the Steam Deck to run through Proton will also have the same effect on other Linux distros.

Of course, if it's a low-end laptop, you'd aim for relatively simple, 2D or old games, but they don't explicitly have to be ported to Linux.

Slay the Spire is pretty cool.

Minecraft is often a good time and can run well on low end machines.

Text based and RPGs you say? Maybe it's time to explore some MUDs?

For the King is also a nice chill game with a great system reqs:fun ratio. Currently on sale too.

Hey, DOSBox is available on Linux! There are some hidden gems from the DOS era.

I'm a fan of card games like Slay the Spire, Dicey Dungeons, and Monster Train run on practically anything. There's hundreds of hours of fun in there if you're into these games.

Try Factorio great automation simulator but this game shoul come with a warning it is practicly a full time job or if you want something to play for hour daily i love Deep Rock Galactic. Both games are quite easy to run and doesnt take much disk space especially DRG have like 5GB i dont know how.

Might be a bit off topic here. I really suggest to have a check at https://www.protondb.com/

Many Win-only steam games are performing great on Linux now.

Besides, I've played https://vita3k.org/ for a while. There are countless decent old games which can be played via emulators on linux

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. It's free and open source available as a download or in browser here. Not sure if your familiar with traditional roguelikes, but it's basically a permadeath turn based rpg. I finally picked it back up recently and have been addicted. Finally got my first won today after some 300 games.

Not related to your stated interests, but Minecraft will work better on Linux than Windows due to Java optimizations.

itch.io client works well on Linux from my tests, but I have no specific recommendations for you because it has been some time.

... NetHack. Always NetHack.

Veloren is inspired by games such as Cube World, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft.

You can play single player or multi-player, standalone or use an online server, or even host your own server in a Docker container, or on a Raspberry Pi. Plenty of options!

You start by creating your character, you can collect items for your inventory, you can craft items, there are weapons and combat, you develop skills, can tame creatures, you can trade with merchants, you can socialise, and lost more. There is no single, specific goal or focus, and the idea is to keep exploring and have adventures.

The game is community driven and actually updates quite regularly.

It is clearly no clone of Minecraft. It is fun and adventure!

See https://veloren.net/

Battle for Wesnoth: open source turn based strategy rpg.

Same boat! Here are some i picked up;

• Planescape Torment - rpg & adventure,
• Darklands - old skool rpg & adventure,
• Spiritfarer - simulation & adventure,
• Papers Please - simulation & puzzle,
• The Captain - rpg & simulation,
• Shadowrun - rpg & strategy,
• Baldurs Gate II - rpg & strategy,
• Don't Starve - action & adventure,
• Rimworld - simulation & strategy,
• FTL - strategy & simulation

Edit; formatting

If you want try Minetest - opensource "Minecraft" clone.

You need mods it is more game engin to build mods on so lots of Minecraft like games.

Suikoden I and II are great PSX RPGs, if you can emulate. Shadowrun (Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong) are great and Linux native.

Small list from me: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, Caves of Qud, Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead, ADOM, Reigns, SanctuaryRPG: Black Edition, King's Quest, Liberal Crime Squad. The old Elder Scrolls Arena and Daggerfall are also currently available for free. I see Daggerfall is playable with DosBox/Lutris, I assume Arena is as well.

Into the breach is a pretty underrated game to try out

Vampire Survivors. It's dopamine in digital form.

Deus Ex, the first game. Easy to run, a lot of rpg elements. Half-life 1 and 2 are obvious choices and I think have Linux ports. Emulation is definitely a good route to go as well. A lot of good RPGs on consoles that are easy to emulate.

If you want an old classic, I've been playing rollercoaster tycoon 2 recently and there is an open source engine for it (openrct2) that has native linux compatibility. The controls take some getting used to, But I think that artstyle looks totally amazing.

https://r-roms.github.io/megathread/sony/ I found this absolute treasure trove of roms if you want. well I was waiting for my main gaming pc to be shipped I pretty much lived off old ps2 games like ratchet and clank 2

With the blackout, I see the Gaming community will be assimilated into the LinuxGaming community and I'm here for it.

Earthbound would keep you busy for quite a while

Mount and blade: Warband

Its on Steam

The Shadowrun games from Harebrained Schemes are some of the best RPGs I've ever played, and they all have native Linux versions. Daggerfall's my favourite, but all three are good.

RimWorld is great and runs on my toaster

Currently playing through Tunic on my Linux machine. Its a fun adventure game that doesn't hold your hand.

Shouldn't be too hard on your machine.

VA-11 HALL-A (not sure if I wrote that right) is a nice little cyberpunk visual novel that can run on a toaster and has a native linux version. It sort of falls in line with the choose your own adventure you mentioned because you can make some choices that affect certain things, but mostly, the game is about mixing drinks and changing lives.

Well steam has proton, which can run many, many windows games at generally good speeds. I suggest looking at older games and indie games, as they will run best on your Xe. For example, the Heroes of Might and Magic series, particularly 3 and 5 are very good 4x/RPG hybrids. Find interesting games then go to protondb.com and see if its 'gold' or better

I'd suggest to check IFDB for the text adventures.

hotline Miami, katana zero, osu.

Garry's Mod, Super Tux Kart