Gaming on the GNU/Linux operating system.
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Dwarf Fortress is linux compatible, although I haven't played it in years its a colony builder that can get super in-depth. Its interface is a learning hurdle though.
You might like Conan Exiles, its a sandboxy survival game that just got updated recently with better graphics. I kind of feel its more a exploration game than a builder though. Hrm...
I have hundreds of hours in Dwarf Fortress and i feel i've barely scratched the surface
I was very happy when the band of goblin singers and dancers I had recently admitted to live in my fort (to entertain the patrons in my tavern, which was of some repute locally) turned out to all be werebadgers. This caused the whole attempt to fail in a cascading manner, as at first I thought the problem had miraculously resolved itself once my guards had killed all hostiles, and I failed to provide the necessary precautions for an epidemic of lycanthropy (not that I would have known how to, anyhow); only to witness the carnage return about a month later, after which the fort consisted of one wounded, elderly dwarf as a leader and a dozen or so children. Most of these I saw transform back to dwarves, so I abandoned the fortress to ruin.
Anyway, that was the first time I actually played Dwarf Fortress as-intended instead of just fucking around and losing interest. It took probably around a hundred hours across multiple versions, but I really recommend Dwarf Fortress nonetheless. It's kinda like Rimworld as a story generator, and also DF doesn't have a win-state (losing is fun), so it isn't the gameiest game ig? And also the mechanics run deeper than dwarf can dig, and the UX might be a hurdle (though the Steam version improved on this significantly, as it also has a tutorial).
Werebadgers made my fort tore itself apart. 6/5 best game ever
I love rimworld. Over 4k hours in it.
For some similar games, vee Multiplayer :
Factorio
Factorio is pretty chill if you turn enemies off. If you want to go for max efficiency it can get really stressful though.
I highly recommend factory games! Factorio, Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Program, Shapez 2, Captain of Industry, to name my favorites. I also hear Mindustry is great and is free. All of these games run perfectly on linux (some via proton) and work offline just fine.
Oxygen not included is nice but mentally taxing sometimes.
Factory games can be mentally taxing in a similar way that programming can be, but less abstract and more hands-on. If you disable enemies (it's always an option in these games), there's no pressure or stress of messing up like there is in Oxygen Not Included.
You can easily put hundreds or thousands of hours, and years of your life, into a single save. There's always goals to shoot for, production to expand, new paradigms for structuring parts of your factory, and ways to rework or improve what you've already built.
I look at it as if my world and factory is a zen garden that I visit and spend some time tending to it, since there's always something to work on. it helps me avoid getting overwhelmed. there's no rush, there's no standards to live up to, it's purely your own little world that you can design however you like and work on at your pace. There's always a million little dynamic puzzles to solve, and a million different ways to solve them. Or if you're not feeling up to solving puzzles, you can fix up an older factory design, or add to the aesthetics of an area of your base.
+1 for Mindustry
OpenTTD, it's the main thing I play these days.
Project Zomboid - harsh learning curve but fun survival
Avorion - Space combat and trading sim with block-building for custom ships.
Dwarf Fortress - very hard learning curve but you can sink thousands of hours into it and it will still surprise you.
Valheim - easy to start but difficulty scales fast as you explore
Or if you don't mind proton some great survival/builders are:
Raft
Abiotic Factor
Satisfactory
Satisfactory, i've just pulled a torrent, because the last Steam-enforced update broke my mods again and the Satisfactory Mod Manager also got a update problem, can't update the mods. A game i can't play, is useless.
Luanti (formerly minetest) surprised i didn't see it brought up (also, it's FOSS!)
cities: skylines (1,2)
space haven
dystopika
tiny glade
solar 2
necesse
I've just heard about this, gonna give it a go soon. Free for all three platforms.
oh wow, bringing escape velocity back to life! what a great game
No one suggested Minecraft? ??
Veloren is pretty good. https://veloren.net/
It's fun in multiplayer, but afaik you can play it completely offline as well.
Shattered Pixel Dungeon, OpenTTD, or Tux Kart.
Big fan of Vintage Story. It's a voxel survival game like Minecraft but with a much heavier focus on realism and depth. There's a much more satisfying sense of progression compared to Minecraft and the slower paced gameplay makes it feel extremely cozy despite the higher difficulty and complexity. Plus it's got a very active modding community too!
I know it's not quite a community builder, but it's definitely a game for watching your world grow and evolve over significant periods of time!
Longterm, you say?
Then it's GregTech: New Horizons
Open Transport Tycoon
Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps - My absolute favorite platformer ever. Like playing a beautiful painting, with excellent music, and satisfyingly tight controls.
The Subnautica series - Great story with deep lore, but also has fun base building. Latest game has multiplayer up to 4 person co-op, but can also be enjoyed alone.
Stardew Valley - You mentioned this.....just get it. Seriously, I never met someone who didn't like it. Sorry for the 200+ hours of your life that are about to disappear. The very definition of "cozy game".
Dave the Diver - Fun and quirky game. "Base building" via a sushi restaurant, but also exploration and combat elements. There is a weeb character that makes your guns and your sushi chef is an eccentric man who is a bit too crazy about his sushi knives. New expansion DLC coming this summer.
Cult of the Lamb - Has co-op multiplayer local and remote. Base building meets rogue-like with cute animals that join a cult.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Best played with up to 4 person local or online co-op. Weird name, great game.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - Rivet and Ratchet OTP
It Takes Two - Requires co-op, either local or online. Excellent game to play with a significant other or close friend.
Rimworld!
You could try Manor Lords (medieval village builder), or Songs of Syx (low-fantasy city builder that kind of converts into Total War (you can train your citizens in combat and then field massive armies to fight other cities)).
I recently had a great time with StarRupture (kind of like Space Engineers but with a very interesting world mechanic).
Also, less of a "watch the world evolve" and more like "I used to enjoy MMOs but hated the grind" - Crimson Desert offers a massive world where you can just relax and ride your horse, or farm, or fish. Or mow down dozens of enemies. You kind of have a growing camp, but it's not "I'm building my camp", it's "I'm doing quests and eventually my camp grows a level". It's basically "what if Skyrim but larger and with phenomenal graphics".
Watched friend play manor lords a few times, its a cool city builder game that is in early access with updates regularly ( or did it get an official release?)
It's still in Early Access, but it's getting lots of updates.