Little Big Adventure: 4 Open Source Clones Compared
The two engine-source-code releases only contain the original 1994 engine code, not the copyrighted game assets, so a working copy of the actual game must be sourced separately; the official release explicitly does not accept pull requests and points contributors instead to the community fork, LBA1 Classic (Community), which targets modern CMake/OpenWatcom builds. TwinEngine is a from-scratch rewrite started in 2002 that also requires the original HQR game files, and its own fork is the basis for the LBA support built into ScummVM, though TwinEngine itself is still missing the Holomap and menu-management features. Players who just want to play rather than build from source are pointed toward the commercial Little Big Adventure Classic re-release on Steam/GOG, which adds New Game+, achievements, and full controller and cloud-save support.
Comparison table
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, OSX, PS3, PSP, Android, iOS, Wii, BeOS, Amiga, Atari
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- Android, iOS
Project health
- Development status
- Active
- Last updated
- today
- Stars
- 2,811
- Contributors
- 970
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires original game data files from supported games to run.
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- DOS
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 5y ago
- Stars
- 474
- Contributors
- 3
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesThe engine source code is provided, but game assets (art, models, textures, audio) are not open-source and must be supplied from the original game.
Availability
- Status
- Playable
- Platforms
- Linux, OSX, Windows
- Play in browser
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 1y ago
- Stars
- 91
- Contributors
- 7
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Engine
- SDL2
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires Little Big Adventure 1 game files (HQR assets) to run.
Availability
- Status
- Unplayable
- Platforms
- Windows, DOS
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Archived
- Last updated
- 10mo ago
- Stars
- 67
- Contributors
- 11
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesGame assets (art, models, textures, audio) from the original game are required; the engine source code alone cannot run the game.
| Title | ScummVM | Little Big Adventure 1 - Engine source code | TwinEngine | LBA1 Classic (Community) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Playable | Playable | Playable | Unplayable |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, OSX, PS3, PSP, Android, iOS, Wii, BeOS, Amiga, Atari | DOS | Linux, OSX, Windows | Windows, DOS |
| Play in browser | No | No | No | |
| Mobile | Android, iOS | No | No | No |
| Project health | ||||
| Development status | Active | Halted | Halted | Archived |
| Last updated | today | 5y ago | 1y ago | 10mo ago |
| Stars | 2,811 | 474 | 91 | 67 |
| Contributors | 970 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Engine | — | — | SDL2 | — |
| Compatibility | ||||
| Requires original assets | YesRequires original game data files from supported games to run. | YesThe engine source code is provided, but game assets (art, models, textures, audio) are not open-source and must be supplied from the original game. | YesRequires Little Big Adventure 1 game files (HQR assets) to run. | YesGame assets (art, models, textures, audio) from the original game are required; the engine source code alone cannot run the game. |
| Preview | | |
Known limitations
- features: Holomap and menu management features are missing.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Little Big Adventure clones on this page open source?
Yes — every clone catalogued here is an open-source project. Availability, license, and development-status details for each one are listed in the comparison table above.
What license do these Little Big Adventure clones use?
ScummVM (GPL-3.0); Little Big Adventure 1 - Engine source code, TwinEngine, and LBA1 Classic (Community) (GPL-2.0).
Do I need to own the original Little Big Adventure to play these clones?
ScummVM, Little Big Adventure 1 - Engine source code, TwinEngine, and LBA1 Classic (Community) require original game assets to play.
Can I play any of these Little Big Adventure clones directly in a browser?
Yes — TwinEngine has a browser-playable build linked in the comparison table above, no install required.
Which Little Big Adventure clone is the most actively maintained?
ScummVM is currently under active development, based on recent commit activity. See the "Development status" row above for every clone's current status.
See the full write-up for each clone, or go back to Little Big Adventure.