Crossfire is a free and open-source cooperative multiplayer graphical RPG and adventure game, set in a persistent medieval fantasy world. First created in 1992 by Frank Tore Johansen at the University of Oslo, it has been continuously developed by its community for over three decades — making it one of the longest-running open-source online RPGs in existence. Players explore thousands of interconnected maps in real time, cooperating or competing on public servers, and everything from the client and server to the graphics and maps is licensed under the GNU GPL.

Key Features

• Cooperative multiplayer MMORPG — any number of players connect to a shared, persistent world at once, adventuring together or competing for the same items and monsters.
• Deep character building — choose from 14 races (human, elf, dwarf, fire hatchling dragon, quetzalcoatl and more) and 16 classes, from alchemist to monk to warrior.
• Skill-based progression — experience is awarded to individual skills rather than a single overall level, so the way you play shapes what your character becomes.
• Elaborate magic and religion systems — a full spell system spanning wizardry and divine magic, plus a pantheon of gods to worship for boons and powers.
• A huge hand-built world — around 3,000 interconnected maps, over 150 monster types, quests, dungeons, cities and powerful artifacts to discover.
• Client/server architecture — play on public servers over the internet, on a private LAN server, or entirely on a single machine in local mode.
• Multiple clients — a GTK-v2 graphical client for Linux, macOS and Windows, a cross-platform Java (JX) client, and a browser-based web client.
• Open and moddable — server, client, graphics and maps are all GPL-licensed, and the Gridarta map editor lets anyone build and contribute new content.

Why Use Crossfire?

Crossfire is a rare thing: a full, persistent online role-playing game that is completely free and open source, with no store, no subscription and no pay-to-win mechanics. Because the server and the content tools are open, you can run the whole world yourself — on a public host, a home LAN or a single PC — and change it however you like. More than thirty years of community-made maps, spells and systems give it a depth few modern indie RPGs match, while its classic tile-based, pseudo-isometric look keeps it light enough to run on almost any hardware.

Use Cases

• Playing a free online RPG with friends on a public server — cooperative dungeon-crawling in the spirit of Gauntlet, NetHack and Angband.
• Hosting your own private Crossfire server for a LAN party, a classroom, a club or a small community, with full control over the world.
• Building and contributing new maps, monsters, items or spells using the bundled editors and the long-standing map guide.
• Studying or learning from a large, mature C/C++ client-server codebase that has evolved continuously since 1992.
• Running a lightweight multiplayer game on modest or older hardware, including headless servers and low-spec desktops.

Platforms

Windows · macOS · Linux · BSD (the server also builds on Solaris and other Unix systems). Client and server are written in C/C++ and run on a wide range of hardware; source and packages are distributed from SourceForge.

Licence

GNU General Public License v2.0 or later (GPL-2.0-or-later) — client, server and content. Verified against the project copyright and licence page.

Website

crossfire.real-time.com · source code at sourceforge.net/projects/crossfire

Similar open-source projects

If you enjoy open-source multiplayer RPGs, try Veloren — another free, community-built multiplayer role-playing game with a large open world. You can also browse the Games directory for more free games.

Screenshot: Crossfire GTK-v2 client gameplay, from the official Crossfire screenshots page (crossfire.real-time.com), GPL-licensed.