What is Pingus?
Pingus is a free Lemmings clone for GNU/Linux and Windows covered under the GNU GPL. Pingus uses ClanLib and libxml and might also be usable on some other OSs like FreeBSD, but hasn't been tested there. Pingus is mainly developed under GNU/Linux, that's why the Windows port is sometimes a bit behind.
The Game
Pingus has started at the end of 1998 with the simple goal to create a Free (as in freedom, not as in free beer) Lemmingstm clone. The Free means you get the sources and are allowed and encouraged to change and distribute them. You basically get everything that I used to create this game. In the years it has grown than quite a bit over the original goal and become something more than just a clone, we have original artwork, a built-in level editor, new actions, multiplayer and a few other features.
If you don't know Lemmingstm, here comes a short introduction. Its a puzzle game developed in 1991 by DMA Design. The player takes command in the game of a bunch of small animals and has to guide them around in levels. Since the animals walk on their own, the player can only influence them by giving them commands, like build a bridge, dig a hole or redirect all animals in the other direction. The goal of each level is to reach the exit, for fix multiple combination of commands are necessary. The game is presented in a 2D site view. For more information you might want to visit Lemmingstm fanpage
While Pingus is based on the idea of Lemmingstm, it has included some other ideas, which weren't presented in the original Lemmingstm, like the worldmap or secret levels, which might be familiar from games the Super Mario World and other Nintendo games. We have also a few new actions, like the jumper which weren't presented in the original game. To get an impression of the look of the Pingus game you might want to have a look at some screenshots.