Hedgewars

Hedgewars is a free and open-source turn-based strategy game built around the classic artillery formula popularized by Worms. Players command teams of colorful hedgehogs across destructible landscapes, taking turns moving, aiming, and firing an increasingly ridiculous collection of weapons at their opponents.

The premise is simple: take turns trying to blow up the other team's hedgehogs before they blow up yours. The execution, however, can become wonderfully complicated.

Each turn gives you a limited amount of time to position your hedgehog and choose how to attack. Weapons range from relatively straightforward grenades and shotguns to much more elaborate tools capable of reshaping the battlefield. Terrain is fully destructible, meaning a successful attack can do more than damage an enemy—it can remove their cover, open a new route, collapse part of the map, or send them tumbling into the water.

That creates the game's real strategic depth. You aren't simply calculating damage. You're constantly considering positioning, terrain, weapon physics, timing, and the possibility that your opponent has a much better plan than you do.

The physics are particularly important. Projectiles arc, bounce, roll, and react to the environment, while many weapons behave in deliberately unpredictable ways. A shot that looks perfect can bounce off a wall and come straight back at you. A carefully planned attack can accidentally destroy the ground beneath your own hedgehog. And occasionally, the best strategy is simply to do something so ridiculous that your opponent has no idea how to respond.

Hedgewars also has an enormous arsenal. Traditional weapons sit alongside absurd tools that can completely change the flow of a match. There are explosives, melee attacks, aerial strikes, traps, teleportation, construction tools, and plenty of other toys to experiment with.

The game supports both single-player and multiplayer, with local and networked matches making it particularly well suited to group play. Players can also customize maps, teams, game rules, and other aspects of the experience.

Its open-source nature is a major part of the appeal. Hedgewars has been developed by a community rather than a major publisher, and the project remains freely available without locking gameplay behind purchases or progression systems.

Most importantly, it understands why this type of game is fun. The rules are easy enough to explain in thirty seconds, but mastering the weapons and physics can take years.