TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age just entered Early Access with Linux support, and if you love RTS games you need to check it out. Disclosure: personal purchase.
A good thing about it is that you don't need to know anything about the first game, it's entirely standalone. The first game was good, but this already feels much bigger and better. So what is it? A classic base-building RTS game set during the fall of the Bronze Age. It includes some of the game modes you might expect like offline and online skirmish battles but it also brings with it a full narrative campaign.
This is not about building up the biggest base and the biggest army though - it has an interesting focus on food. A system that is central to keeping your population alive because you always need it, and your people are always hungry. It's a RTS game of survival.
It gives off a feeling of the original Age of Empires but with some fresh ideas (like the food system) to make it feel fresh and interesting. Having it be real-time with pause (for offline play) is a nice touch for this type of game too, since you can issue orders while paused. Especially useful when you're running low on food and need a moment of panic to sort the situation out.
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Narrative-driven RTS campaign set during the Late Bronze Age Collapse.
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Survival-focused gameplay with base-building and resource management.
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Food is a central system impacting population, armies, and progression.
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Playable factions: Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hittites.
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Tactical real-time combat with asymmetric units and strategies.
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Scenario-based missions and skirmish mode.
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Multiplayer on dedicated servers with AI opponents.
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One thing I would like to see is more fine-tuning of the UI size. I find the normal size a bit too small, and the double size option too big - needs a slider to set it where you want it.
The Native Linux version tested on Fedora KDE 44 runs well. I haven't encountered any bugs I can remember that's worth noting here.
Since it's in Early Access I won't be giving it a full review or score just yet, I'll let it sit in the oven until it's ready. But so far, so good. Some excellent pixel artwork, an interesting start to the campaign and fun skirmish battles have set it on the path towards greatness. It has all the makings of a true gem for the RTS genre.
Definitely one to check out even this early on.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Caldathras 19 Aug 2026
I wonder if it will be available on GOG, like the first game (External Link: You need to be logged in to view this.)?
when you're running low on foodWhich will be 100% of the time, if you're raising teenage boys to be soldiers (or any other productive citizen).
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