Gaming

Factorio

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).

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.

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

FTL

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.

Factorio works well (at a smaller scale).

Slay the Spire is pretty cool.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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/

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

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.

Mount and blade: Warband

Its on Steam

Garry's Mod, Super Tux Kart

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'd suggest to check IFDB for the text adventures.

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.

Earthbound would keep you busy for quite a while

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)

RimWorld is great and runs on my toaster

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.

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.

Tunic is a cute little old-zelda-like. It's 3d, but very simple and has run on my steamdeck better than most things.

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.

Omori, if you are into Motherlike games. More story based if that's your thing

• Star Ocean First Departure (PPSSPP)
• Star Ocean Second Evolution (PPSSPP, Maybe even Yuzu?)
• Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth
• Stardew Valley
• Wargroove
• FTL: Faster Than Light
• Spiritfarer Farewell Edition

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.

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

Not exactly text based, but the old sierra style games are still a blast to play. Leisure Suit Larry, Maniac Mansion, Thimbleweed Park. They sure don't need many resources to play.

Here you can find a bunch free software RPGs: https://libregamewiki.org/Role-playing_games

Also you can install MAME and download like 5000 arcade games from the 70, 80, 90, 2000.

Vampire Survivors. It's dopamine in digital form.

Into the breach is a pretty underrated game to try out

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

I know that you can run TES 4 Oblivion decently well on Linux with a Windows emulator (WINE). I had a few odd graphics glitches like a gigantic texture of a tree just completely taking over the sky. I guess it wanted to be some kind of Yggdrasil tree or something.

It ran well though, and on a early 2010-era laptop. I don't know about mod compatibility though.

Maybe I haven't scrolled far enough, but haven't seen anyone recommending Persona, if so I definitely recommend it, in this case, Persona 4, which I played.

There's also Fable Anniversary, the classic Xbox exclusive RPG, both games are also Deck Verified.

Baba Is You, Into The Breach, Ultima VII (with Exult)