Durandal Has A Job For You
Marathon 2 is a free fps game released under Open Source (GPL-3.0). It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, needs about 25 MB of disk space, and requires no account, payment or trial. On a computer, the fastest route is the PlayBound Launcher. On a phone or tablet, use the official store or site instead.
One-click install
PlayBound fetches the official release — no third-party mirrors.
Alternatively, download alephone directly from the official site at https://alephone.lhowon.org/. Always download from the official source — third-party mirrors of free games are a common malware vector.
Official releases are published on GitHub at github.com/Aleph-One-Marathon/alephone/releases. Pick the newest stable release matching your operating system.
Windows
Run the downloaded installer and follow the prompts. If Windows SmartScreen warns about an unrecognised publisher, that is normal for open-source projects without a paid code-signing certificate — choose More info, then Run anyway.
macOS
Open the downloaded .dmg and drag the app into Applications. On first launch macOS may refuse to open it as unidentified — right-click the app and choose Open to approve it once.
Linux
Check your distribution's package manager first, which is usually the easiest route. Otherwise download the AppImage from the official site, mark it executable and run it.
chmod +x *.AppImage && ./*.AppImageLaunch the game and look at the settings menu before your first session — resolution and control defaults are worth checking. alephone needs roughly small of free disk space.
Minimum
Any 64-bit desktop · 1 GB RAM · OpenGL 2.1 · 250 MB storage
Recommended
Any machine made this century
Yes. Bungie permitted the Marathon trilogy's game data to be distributed at no cost, and the Aleph One engine that runs it is open source under the GPL. The download includes both — there is nothing to buy and no original copy required.
Aleph One is the open-source continuation of Bungie's Marathon 2 engine, maintained since Bungie released the source code in 2000. It adds modern resolutions, mouselook, OpenGL rendering and network play, and is what makes the games run on current machines.
Not necessarily. Marathon 2 is the usual starting point — it is the strongest of the three and its story stands on its own. The first game is also free if you want the full arc afterwards.
Yes, with native builds for all three, including Apple Silicon. There is no emulator or compatibility layer involved.
Yes, Aleph One supports internet and LAN play, though the population is small and organised through community channels rather than matchmaking. Treat this as a single-player game with multiplayer available, not the other way round.
Yes. It is extremely light on hardware and works well with a gamepad configuration, though a mouse remains the better way to aim.