lmemsm | Entries tagged with games

I've covered programs designed with lightweight GUIs and text user interface libraries such as SDL, FLTK and pdcurses in previous posts. Another interesting and promising cross-platform lightweight screen library is raylib. There's a GUI for it called raygui. There's even a cross-platform audio library called raudio. Programs written with raylib have been ported to several computers including Linux, Windows and Mac. It can be used to write programs for mobile devices. The audio library works on multiple platforms including mobile devices as well.

You can find raylib and several helpful libraries you can use with it at:
https://github.com/raysan5

I haven't had a chance to check out many of the programs that are built with raylib. However, you can find a group of example games at:
https://github.com/raysan5/raylib-games
I've been trying to find a decent jigsaw puzzle game written in C. There is a photo puzzle game for raylib at:
https://github.com/klaytonkowalski/game-photo-puzzle

There's also an experimental GUI editor here:
https://github.com/Demizdor/experimental-raygui-editor

I'll add other interesting raylib examples as I find them. Feel free to share you're own as well.

For some light in the darkness this year...

If you get depressed when it starts getting darker out, such as during the winter months, you may want to investigate Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Full spectrum white lighting is one method of combating the effects. Light can have a great effect on mood. Too much blue light (from computer screens, phone and TVs before bed) can make it harder to fall asleep at night and produce melatonin naturally. There are programs and apps like Red Shift screen adjustments to help combat that ( https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13704.html ). Better yet, don't use electronics before bed. Switch to lower level lighting tinted more toward the red spectrum at night. Keeping your home dark at night can improve melatonin production. You can find white light alarms to help you wake up in the morning and simulate a sunrise.
More information on circadian rhythms and the sleep cycle:
https://www.sleep.org/what-happens-during-sleep/

As mentioned in my Thanksgiving post, viewing or, better yet, getting exercise by walking in green environments can have a calming effect and help improve mood. Walking can help with neurogenesis too. Here are some more botanical garden and nature videos that I've found interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IofrAwQVZqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7rkUBkhgdE

Playing games and exercising your brain can be a good holiday pastime. It can help create new neural pathways and build new brain cells (neurogenesis). Educational games and games you can play with pen and paper are listed in previous posts.
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/15912.html
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/14863.html
Playing with a dreidel is another common game this time of year:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel

The holidays don't seem like the holidays without a chance to do some singing. I'm particularly interested in public domain and Creative Commons songs. Looking for songs that light the darkness this year. I'm including some links to carols and songs that are commonly sung during this season. If you're lucky, you may find a virtual group online that you can sing some of them with.

Was impressed with some of the carols mentioned by the Stay At Home Choir in their Carols from Around the World program:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcgqxLjk1n4&list=PL8ZG8YS4Uucek0tsRBNNwFgYooiH-w4X_&index=13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9f6zxo6X0s&list=PL8ZG8YS4Uucek0tsRBNNwFgYooiH-w4X_&index=14
More info on the Santa Lucia carol:
https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/santa_lucia.htm

Banu Hoshekh l’Garesh (We come to chase the dark away)
https://opensiddur.org/prayers/lunisolar/commemorative-days/hanukkah/banu-hoshekh-lgaresh-by-sara-levi-tanai/

Rock of Ages
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10384-ma-oz-zur

More public domain music sites:
https://ccel.org/
https://hymnary.org/
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/

There are several holidays this time of year including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Santa Lucia Day, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Solstice, HumanLight, Life Day and many others. Many of them include light in the festivities. There are lighted Christmas trees, yule logs (the type you burn in the fireplace, not the type you eat), menorahs, kinaras, diyas.

My favorite crepe recipe and some background on Yule:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060618143205/http://users.internorth.com/~wiccan/seasons/yule.htm

Here's a recipe for Lucia cats:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200928081044/https://www.kroger.com/r/saint-lucia-cats-recipe/184374

Exercise can also keep you warm during the colder months. Breathing exercises can also help with mood and can improve health. Breath is connected to life and spirit and often, the word for breath is synonymous for spirit in many languages. Chi from Tai Chi also refers to life energy. Here are some interesting exercise programs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkdRLJKajII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEGlntjbyZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdaCuigipoM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4VIw41R-PU

Check out some of the Pure Edge breathing meditations and the Mind Jar meditation in the Rest section:
https://pureedgeinc.org/curriculum/pure-brains-breaks/video-library/

Here are some astronomy events to light up your night this December:
https://www.space.com/great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-christmas-star-2020-nasa-tips
Plus, you can check out more astronomy resources at:
https://www.openspaceproject.com/

I haven't even scratched the surface on resources. Will be searching for more links for the holidays and rituals that light the darkness. Will add what I find here.

Boker Ohr to everyone.

List of Free, Libre and Open Source educational games for your computer or mobile device.

2048
https://github.com/gabrielecirulli/2048
Online puzzle game.
License: MIT

9P
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/se.tube42.p9.android/
https://github.com/tube42/9p
Android word puzzle game
License: GPLv2.0

AKFQuiz
http://akfquiz.akfoerster.de/
Make your own quizzes.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

AlexGames
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.alexbarry.alexgames/
Word puzzles and other logic games for Android.
License: AGPLv3.0

Alice and Storytelling Alice
http://www.alice.org/
http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytelling/index.html
Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game or a video to share on the web.
License: BSD 2 clause

Anagramarama
http://code.google.com/p/anagramarama/
http://www.patthoyts.tk/gitweb.cgi?p=anagramarama;a=summary
Educational game for finding anagrams.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Anagramica
https://github.com/binarymax/anagramica
Online word game for finding anagrams.
License: MIT

Anki
http://ankisrs.net/
Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy.
License: GNU GPLv3

Asymptopia Crossword Builder
https://sourceforge.net/projects/axwb/
Asymptopia Crossword Builder is a JavaScript education application that runs in any modern internet browser but does not require an internet connection.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Atomix
https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Atomix
Atomix is a puzzle game where you move atoms to build a molecule.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Brainjogging
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.telefongarten.brainjogging/
https://github.com/fkropfhamer/brainjogging
App to train you brain with mini games for Android and IOS.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Caph Game
https://sourceforge.net/projects/caphgame/
Sandbox game based on physics.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Childsplay
http://www.schoolsplay.org/
Childsplay is a suite of educational games for young children similar to gcompris.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

comistat Games Collection
http://comisat-games.sourceforge.net/en/index.html
Comisat Games Collection is an all-in-one free collection of games.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Connectagram
https://github.com/gottcode/connectagram
Word unscrambling game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Cutemaze
https://github.com/gottcode/cutemaze
Maze game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

cwordle
https://github.com/velorek1/cwordle
Wordle clone for Unix and Windows terminals in C.
License: MIT

Dual N-Back Lite
https://sourceforge.net/projects/dualnbacklite/
Designed to mimic the simple training scheme outlined in Jaeggi's paper on developing working memory.
License: GNU GPLv3

eduActiv8
https://sourceforge.net/projects/eduactiv8/
eduActiv8 is a free Open Source multi-platform educational application that aims to assist in learning various early education topics - from learning the alphabet and new words, colours, time to a wide range of math-related subjects.
License: GNU GPLv3

Everything Attacks
http://identicalsoftware.com/everythingattacks/
https://github.com/dulsi/everythingattacks
Online geography game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0 and CC

fltkmm
https://www.muquit.com/muquit/software/fltkmm/fltkmm.html
FLTK Mastermind is a simple logic game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Follow Me
https://github.com/gamedolphin/follow_me_javascript_simon_clone
Online memory game.
License: MIT

Forkyz
https://gitlab.com/Hague/forkyz
Displays and lets you play crossword puzzles in a variety of formats on Android.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Games for French pre-school
https://sourceforge.net/projects/atnag/
Games for French pre-school including memory, letters falling, puzzle, labyrinth, letters & number, domino, counting, etc.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Garith
http://www.thregr.org/~wavexx/software/garith/
A game to improve your arithmetic abilities.
License: GNU LGPLv2.1

GCompris
https://gcompris.net/index-en.html
GCompris is an educational software suite comprising of numerous activities for children aged 2 to 10.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Grabagram
https://f-droid.org/packages/uk.co.busydoingnothing.anagrams/
Android anagram game to play online with friends.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Gridle
https://github.com/billthefarmer/gridle
Android word game to move letters in the grid to make a gridle of words.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Gurgle
https://github.com/billthefarmer/gurgle
Android word game to guess a word.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Hangman
https://github.com/Sqvid/Hangman
Simple curses implementation of hangman.
License: MIT

Hexalate
https://github.com/gottcode/hexalate
Color matching game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Hextris
https://github.com/Hextris/hextris
Online puzzle game inspired by Tetris.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

How Many Blocks?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/howmanyblocks/
Challenge the limit of your 3D imagination.
License: GNU LGPLv2.1

Jigsaw
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.gitlab.derjosef.jigsaw/
Android Jigsaw puzzle using pictures on your phone.
Licence: GNU GPLv3.0

jMemorize
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jmemorize/
jMemorize is a free Open Source Java application that manages your learning processes by using flashcards and the famous Leitner system.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Johnny
http://sourceforge.net/projects/johnnysimulator/
A Simulator of a Simple von-Neumann Computer
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Kanatest
http://clayo.org/kanatest/
Kanatest is a Japanese kana (Hiragana and Katakana) simple flashcard tool.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Kumquats
https://github.com/dozingcat/Kumquats
Android and desktop word game where you place letters to create intersecting words as quickly as possible.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Learning Basic on Mars
https://github.com/dulsi/LearningBasic/
Simple missions to teach BASIC in a fun setting.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Lexica
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.serwylo.lexica/
https://github.com/lexica/lexica
App (for Android) to find words in a grid within a time limit.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

libpuz
https://code.google.com/archive/p/puz/
Library for accessing puzzle files (.puz).
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Light Speed!
http://lightspeed.sourceforge.net/
Light Speed! is an OpenGL-based program developed to illustrate the effects of special relativity on the appearance of moving objects.
License: GNU LGPLv2.1

LMastermind
http://lgames.sourceforge.io/LMastermind/
Online mastermind game.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

LMemory
http://lgames.sourceforge.io/LMemory/
Online memory game.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

LPairs
http://lgames.sourceforge.net/index.php?project=LPairs
Classic memory card game.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

MasterMindy
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/eth.matteljay.mastermindy/
https://github.com/Matteljay/mastermindy-android
Android version of mastermind game.
License: MIT

MathWar
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mathwar-gtk/
Game for improving speed at solving math problems.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Mnemosyne
http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/
Mnemosyne software resembles a traditional flash-card program.
License: GPLv2

Multiplication Station
http://www.pygame.org/project-Multiplication+Station-130-252.html
Multiplication Station will teach your child to add, subtract and multiply.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Multiverse MMO Development Platform
http://sourceforge.net/projects/multiverse3d/
Create your own sophisticated virtual world with little or no programming experience.
License: MIT

Munchers
http://code.google.com/p/munchers/
A number munchers clone.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Nootka
http://nootka.sourceforge.net/
Nootka is a program to learn classical score notation. It helps to understand the rules of reading and writing scores and develops skills for playing and singing notes.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

The Number Race
http://www.thenumberrace.com/nr/home.php
Software designed for remediation of dyscalculia (or mathematical learning disabilities) in children aged 4-8 and for teaching number sense in kindergarten children.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Open Ear
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.openear.www/
https://github.com/ShacharHarshuv/open-ear
Ear training app for Android and IOS.
License: MIT

OpenTeacher
http://openteacher.org/
OpenTeacher is an open source vocabulary training application that helps you learn a foreign language.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Peg-e
https://github.com/gottcode/peg-e
Peg elimination game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Pendumito
http://krucenigmoj.tripod.com/pendumito.htm
Web based hangman game.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Performous
http://performous.org/
A music game for singing (pitch detection), Karaoke, instrument playing and dancing.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Photo Puzzle
https://github.com/klaytonkowalski/game-photo-puzzle
Put photo pieces in order.
License: MIT

President Matchup
http://sourceforge.net/projects/presidentmatchu/
Game to learn about US Presidents
License: GNU GPLv2.0

PrimeShooter
http://thinkinghard.com/math/integers/PrimeShooter.html
Abstract browser based shooter game where the player shoots falling numbers with their divisors and scores points for clearing prime numbers.
License: GPLv2

QeoDart
https://github.com/gulp21/QeoDart
Geography education game.
License: GNU GPLv3

Scalar
http://scalar.sourceforge.net/
Puzzle game.
License: GNU GPLv2

Scrabble3D
https://sourceforge.net/projects/scrabble/
Scrabble3D is a highly customizable Scrabble game that not only supports Classic Scrabble and Superscrabble but also 3D games and own boards. You can play local against the computer or connect to a game server to find other players.
License: GNU GPLv3

Scratch
http://scratch.mit.edu
Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music and art and share your creations on the web.
License: MIT

ScratchJr
https://github.com/LLK/scratchjr
Scratch redesigned for mobile devices.
License: BSD 3 clause

Simsu
https://github.com/gottcode/simsu
Sudoku game.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Spotter
http://www.lightandmatter.com/spotter/spotter.html
Web based math and science quiz program.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Starlanes
https://web.archive.org/web/20191230071944/http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/game/starlanes.html
Space trading game
License: GNU GPLv2.0 or later

Sudoku
https://www.fltk.org/
Sudoku game from FLTK test directory.
License: GNU LGPLv2.0

Tanglet
https://gottcode.org/tanglet/
Boggle variant.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

Tangomon
https://tangomon-game.github.io/
A monster battling game that can help with learning vocabulary.
License: GNU GPLv3.0 or later

Terminalmath
https://sourceforge.net/projects/terminalmath/
A textmode math practice game for school-level children that talks via eSpeak.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Tetzle
https://github.com/gottcode/tetzle
Jigsaw puzzle that uses tetrominoes.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

toMOTko
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tomotko/
A flashcard application for learning foreign language vocabulary.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

TuxMath
https://github.com/tux4kids/tuxmath
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/lmports.htm
TuxMath is an arcade game that helps kids practice their math facts.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

TuxMath
https://tuxmath.org/index-en.html?opt_lang=en
https://gitlab.com/Afrikalan/tuxmath-android
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.afrikalan.tuxmath/
JavaScript rewrite of Tuxmath for web and mobile devices.
License: GNU AGPLv3.0

TuxMathScrabble
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxmathscrabble/
TuxMathScrabble is a math version of the classic word game Scrabble which challenges kids to construct compound equations and to consider multiple abstract possibilities.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

TuxTyping
https://github.com/tux4kids/tuxtype
Tux Typing is an educational typing tutor for children.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

TuxWordSmith
http://www.pygame.org/project-TuxWordSmith-335-2390.html
TuxWordSmith is an all in one application! It's similar to the classic word game Scrabble, but with Unicode support for multiple languages.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

Ultrastar Deluxe
http://ultrastardx.sourceforge.net/
Karaoke music game that can help improve pitch.
License: LGPLv2.1

Word Search Puzzle Generator
https://github.com/Magoninho/word-search-puzzle-generator
Python program to generate a word search puzzle from a word file.
License: MIT

Wordle
https://github.com/sehugg/libwordle/
C library for wordle games and sample implementation.
License: CC0v1.0

WordPlay
http://ironphoenix.org/tril/wordplay/
Games for improving anagram and scrabble skills.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

XWord
http://sourceforge.net/projects/wx-xword/
Interactive crossword solving program.
License: GNU GPLv3.0

xwords4
https://xwords.sourceforge.io/
https://github.com/eehouse/xwords
Portable implementation of the rules of scrabble for mobile devices, Linux and Windows.
License: GNU GPLv2.0

It can be hard to come up with ideas for Mother's Day when you have limited resources or want to complete a simple do-it-yourself project. This list brainstorms some ideas.

If you have an herb garden, it makes a great resource for homemade gifts. If you don't have one, now may be a great time to start one. You don't have to be good with plants just to grow herbs. When you grow herbs and plants that are native to your area, they can be very hardy. Many can grow like weeds and some are weeds with some very useful properties. Work with herbs and ingredients you're already familiar with and find safe or take precautions trying something new especially if you have allergies.

To start it off, here's a nice virtual tour of the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden that you can watch as a family:
https://youtu.be/BtZ0dcUzGX8

If you have Epsom salt around the house and you can safely use it, how about a relaxing foot soak? If you have an herb garden, you can add in herbs such as sage and rosemary.
https://www.healthline.com/health/diy-foot-soak

If you're growing soapwort, you can make your own soapwort shampoo rinse. Add other herbs such as rosemary and sage for dark hair, chamomile for blond or horsetail which is a great source of silicon.
http://gardenspot-natalie.blogspot.com/2014/06/soapwort-and-shampoo-diy.html

Scents can strongly affect mood. Scented herbal gardens are used in therapy. You can make a scented potpourri by dehydrating ground rosemary and citrus peels like orange and/or lemon.
https://www.gardenguides.com/12446836-how-to-make-rosemary-potpourri.html

If you have leftover organic citrus peels, you can make candied peels with a sweetener like honey. Eat them plain or dip them in chocolate for a special treat.
https://perchancetocook.com/2016/06/27/paleo-candied-orange-peels-gf/

Flowers from the garden make a nice present. However, some flowers such as nasturtium, chive blossoms, borage flowers, pansies and violas can do double duty. They make a wonderful addition to a salad or can be used to decorate a dessert. Are you growing any edible flowers in your garden?
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/edible-flowers

If your garden's not yet ready to harvest, how about communicating how you feel with song?

Music can be very relaxing and has some health benefits. If you're family has musical talent, you can sing and play favorite tunes together. If not, you can create your own music using your computer and ABC notation.
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/music.htm

There are several wonderful public domain tunes you can play or have your computer play. Here's one that's appropriate for Mother's Day:
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inharmony/detail.do?action=detail&fullItemID=/lilly/devincent/LL-SDV-167052

What about downloading an ebook to a computer or mobile device as a present and giving the gift of something interesting to read?

Check out public domain poetry books.
https://books.google.com/books?id=7dUCAAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&ppis=_e&dq=kitten%27s+garden+of+verses&source=gbs_navlinks_s

See if there are any interesting public domain joke books. Laughter can be the best medicine. Can't find a joke book that appeals to you? Then write your own and give it as a present.

Need more ideas? Think about making some homemade crafts or DIY projects for Mother's Day.

How about creating a homemade recipe book with the recipes you've been using most lately? You can also check for recipes online and see if you come up with any new favorites. There are some interesting public domain recipes books for World War I that have recipes and tips on what to do during food shortages. Also check recipes books with tips on stocking your pantry to deal with prolonged power outages or other restricting situations.
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/12966.html
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/booklist.htm

Have photos of the family? Put together a new photo album and enjoy looking at it together.

If you don't have flowers in your garden at the moment, how about creating some origami ones?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Origami_flower.svg

You can create homemade cards on your computer or draw them by hand. When you make homemade cards, it's also a great time to practice or learn calligraphy.

One of my favorite projects is creating a game set. Use items around the house or collect cards, dice, etc. and put together your favorite games in a collection. You can also create new games with your family. There are public domain books that describe how to play popular games such as those that use cards or dice. Find out about older games like chess and checkers and there many variants, Chinese checkers, reversi and mancala. Create your own games or favorite variants. You can also play games on paper or create your own game set renditions for games like peg solitaire, tic tac toe, battleship, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_solitaire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulls_and_Cows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_(game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_tic-tac-toe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_and_Boxes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouts_(game)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangman_(game)

Here's some further background on the origins of Mothers Day and some gift ideas:
https://www.almanac.com/content/when-is-mothers-day

Earth Day is April 22nd. World Tai Chi Day is the last Saturday in April. Sometimes I've seen these events combined and both are celebrated at local parks. Here are some ideas for celebrating at home this year.

Tai Chi

Try some Tai Chi. It's a great way to exercise anywhere that's good for all ages. It has many health benefits as well. You can do Tai Chi at home along with others all around the world celebrating World Tai Chi Day.

If you don't already have a Tai Chi routine, here are some that might be a good starting place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCnCSOWgIUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apIffYvzuS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyX8iIRtECc
https://www.youtube.com/user/celebhith1
https://www.worldtaichiday.org/

Origami

You can create your own menagerie of animals with origami. Decorate the house with them or hang them up to create a mobile.

Some Origami animal examples:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Origami_animals

I've even seen toys made from origami including jumping frogs. Race them and see which one is fastest.

Create Crafts by Recycling

Recycle milk cartons to create bird houses or bird feeders. Recycle plastic milk jugs to create luminaries using tea lights.

Recycle used paper towel and toiler paper rolls to create party crackers with presents in them or a kaleidoscope.

Drawing and Coloring

Coloring can be a very relaxing pastime if you don't worry too much about coloring outside the lines. Draw and/or color some nature scenes in honor of Earth Day.

Check out some of the Books on Drawing listed here:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13112.html

Gardening

Start or work on your garden. You don't need a yard. You just need a porch or window sill and some containers. You can recycle food scraps by planting them.
If you bought food that's sprouting (such as radishes or potatoes) or have the root tips on scallions or a celery stalk, you can use them to start new plants.

Bird watching

You can try bird watching from your yard, porch or even a window. If you've created your own recycled bird feeders, you can watch which birds you've attracted to your garden. You can also add plants to your garden that attract butterflies or certain types of birds.

How many different types of birds can you spot? Can you name them? Can you get any good photographs of the birds that stop by?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/

See if you can recognize birds in your area by their songs.
https://freesound.org/search/?q=bird+song

You can also record bird songs and other sounds and share them with the Creative Commons community. Projects like Freesound ( http://freesound.org ) and FreePats ( https://freepats.zenvoid.org/ ) have asked for volunteers.

Stargazing

There are some interesting Free and Open Source stargazing programs including Celestia and Stellarium.
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/celestia_portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/stellarium_portable

If you have a computer with limited resources or a handheld device try out the Nightsky stargazing program:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nightsky/

If you have an Android phone check out Google's Sky Map app.

Check out the PBS Star Gazers podcast to hear what astronomical events may be going on at this time:
https://www.stargazersonline.org/

Local Parks and Recreation and Museums

One of our local parks has taken Earth Day virtual this year and is celebrating with a drawing contest. They've also shared some activities for Earth Day. Check with your local Parks and Recreation Department to see if they've shared any online activities.

One of our local museums has also gone virtual and is sending out art activities to do at home. Check your favorite museums to see what virtual activities and online videos they might have shared.

Check if there are mailing lists available that will bring activities right to your e-mail inbox.

Virtual Tours

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to take a Virtual Tour of some of the fascinating areas on this planet? There are several virtual tours online. You can even find some in 3D.

A list of virtual field trip links:
https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/virtual-field-trip-apps-and-websites

Meditation

Meditation is great for health, healing and coping with stress.

There are several forms of meditation, so if one doesn't work for you, try another. There are walking meditations (including Tai Chi walking). There are visualization meditations. Try visualizing a nature scene such as a garden or beach for Earth Day. Try a mantra meditation or recite affirmations. Listen to music. A soundscape with nature sounds such as bird songs is very appropriate for Earth Day. Count your blessings. Name 5 things you're thankful for each day.

Tai Chi can be used as a form of meditation and is a great way to celebrate World Tai Chi Day. Also, in honor of World Tai Chi Day, you might want to try Tai Chi walking as a form of meditation. Counting the omer is a very appropriate activity for this time of year. Count the omer for 49 days starting the evening of March 9th, 2020. You can meditate or take an action related to the two sephirot that represent that day.

Computer Resources

Check out some ecology related Free, Libre and Open Source computer games such as https://libregamewiki.org/FLTK_Recycling_Game!
Save the penguins with TuxMath:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxmath/
Find Open Source games for your Android devices at:
https://f-droid.org

View the Earth with a virtual globe and world atlas:
https://marble.kde.org/
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/marble_portable

Recycle older computers by using Free, Libre and Open Source operating systems with them.
Check out some of these resources for bringing new life to older computers:
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/pbtc.htm#pb8

Check out the online libraries with public domain books. Your local library may offer online books as well.
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/pbtc.htm#pb11

ACM is offering free access to their wonderful and comprehensive digital library until June 30, 2020. This is a great resource for all things programming and computer related:
https://dl.acm.org/

archive.org has set up the National Emergency Library for people to borrow books in electronic format on a wide variety of subjects:
https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary

If you're having trouble reading, you can listen to books with collections like Librivox and Free Classic Audio Books.
https://librivox.org/
https://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/

You can also listen to public domain radio plays. Check out archive.org or sites that specialize in pd radio plays.
http://www.oldradioworld.com/

Try out some public domain sheet music. Sing and play songs or try some Karaoke at home.
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/music.htm
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/pdmuse.htm

If you're watching TV, turn on the closed captioning so you get some reading practice as well.

There are some great Open Source educational computer games. dnb is a psychological research activity that helps improve memory. Tuxmath can help keep math skills sharp.
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/8013.html

Try some online tours using Google Cardboard, Google Expeditions or other online resources. Many museums provide an online tour at their web sites.
https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/virtual-field-trip-apps-and-websites

You can do bird watching from your own backyard or window. Identify some of the birds in your area and see how many you can find.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds
https://davesgarden.com/guides/birdfiles/

Try baking.
http://www.distasis.com/recipes/

Keep a journal. Some writing resources are listed at:
http://www.distasis.com/write/

Gardening can be done in a yard or on your porch. You can garden from pots if you don't have any ground. Vegetables can be added to your salad or meal. Herbs can add flavor or be medicinal. Some flowers are edible and can add cheer to a meal.
https://davesgarden.com/community/

Try out some hobbies. If you program or want to learn, several Open Source projects need volunteers. Look into ham radio.

Use your arts and crafts skills to recycle household items. You can also try out projects like origami.

Help out a charity. You can help feed people and learn and play games at the same time. Help out via the freerice.com site.
https://freerice.com/categories/english-vocabulary

Exercise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqfGRx8k_zA

E-mail Pen Pals.

Meditation is a great activity and it can help you calm down, feel better and cope with not enough sleep. There are many types of meditation from visual and guided to breathing to mantra to music and walking. Biofeedback equipment is useful for some if you're have trouble getting started or concentrating. If one form of meditation doesn't work for you, try another. There are so many techniques, you're sure to find some that suit you.

Let's talk about Free and Open Source games. I thought I covered some of these when I discussed programs that work with various GUIs such as SDL and FLTK. However, looks like I left many out of my lists. So, here are some games I've found interesting. They're cross-platform and don't require a ton of resources to build and run. So, they should work fine on low resource or older machines as well as the newer ones. I tend to prefer educational games, but there should still be a good mix of different types of games in the list. If you have other lightweight cross-platform favorites, I would be interested to hear about them. You're welcome to discuss the topic of C/C++ games further on the CPPDesign mailing list ( https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CppDesign/info ).

I have patches for several of these to fix bugs such as memory leaks and to add support for later versions of libraries. Some of my patches are available online. If you're interested in others that I have not uploaded yet, you can let me know via the CppDesign mailing list.

FLTK BASED GAMES

Checkers and sudoku come with FLTK as examples.

fltkmm

Mastermind game. This is one of the more lightweight versions of Mastermind that I could find that's still intuitive to play. There are some ncurses/PDCurses alternatives and some SDL alternatives, but I haven't found any I like yet.

I have patches to make this work with the latest version of the FLTK library.

https://www.muquit.com/muquit/software/fltkmm/fltkmm.html

wordsearch

I've been able to port this to DOS using DJGPP. It also works fine on Windows, Linux and BSD.

http://agtoys.sourceforge.net/wordsearch/wordsearch-2.2.html

qubix

While this ports without modifications to several platforms using Nano-X support for FLTK, I've been experimenting with patches and a port to use OpenGL/PicoGL as an alternative GUI. The program was originally written for a system that had Display Postscript support so it ports very easily to a graphics API like OpenGL.

https://www.fltk.org/links.php?V153+Q

npuzzle

http://jlehtinen.net/agenda/

SDL BASED GAMES

SDL is great toolkit for games and there are several nice games that work with it. Many of the games I've listed were written for SDL 1.2.x. I have patches in various states to get them working with version 2.x as well.

lpairs

http://lgames.sourceforge.net/LPairs/

scramble, hangman, concentration, torrent

These games are by the same author and use a similar back-end. I've made a library out of the shared code and am in the process of debugging ports to SDL 2.x.

pong

A copy of the original source and my SDL 2.x patches are available from the archive link at:
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/lmports.htm
Was also able to get this working for Android, but it requires a tablet with a keyboard.

drac

Basic solitaire card game.

I have patches for porting this to SDL 2.x as well. Was also able to get this working on Android systems.

https://github.com/ricoz/drac/

yahtzee

Works with SDL, ncurses/pdcurses or via command line. I have patches for using this with SDL 2.x.

https://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/software/yahtzee.html

dual-n-back

This is a game, but it's also supposed to help improve memory.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/dualnbacklite/

tuxmath

A copy of the source and my SDL 2.x patches plus several memory and bug fixes and some modificiations for library updates are available from the archive link at:
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/lmports.htm
My patched version runs on Windows as well as Linux/BSD. The original source crashed on Windows.

Emilia pinball

I have patches porting this to SDL 2.x. I also improved Allegro support enough to build on DOS with DJGPP. I have an alternative build that works with SDL and picogl for systems that may not have easy access to an OpenGL library or mesa.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/pinball/

jooleem

I was looking for a bejeweled style game and this was the only one I found so far that I really liked.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/jooleem/

eremit

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=8724

anagramarama

https://github.com/Anagramarama/anagramarama

ReMined

https://sourceforge.net/projects/remined/

sopwith

http://sdl-sopwith.sourceforge.net/

PDCURSES/NCURSES/BSDCURSES GAMES

There should be several good games in this category but so far I just have one on my list. Please feel free to recommend your favorites in this category.

starlanes

This started out as a game written in BASIC with a few variants available. The version mentioned here is a variant that's been ported to C.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191230071944/http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/game/starlanes.html

WIN32 GAMES

To make WIN32 applications work cross-platform, you'll need nano-x or winelib. The win32api is available with Open Source compilers such as MinGW on Windows sytems.

pyramid

This is a public domain solitaire-style card game. I'm currently working on converting this to run with SDL/OpenGL as the backend (instead of Win32) so I can more quickly and easily port it to other systems such as Android. It will make a nice test case for the GUI library I'm working on. If anyone's interested in status of the port, feel free to contact me about it.

http://jdmcox.com/