Seems to me that GOG doesn't really take freeware games, unless they're from some big publisher and probably added to promote or supplement something else.

Hmm. Yep.

Erm... It wasn't ported to PC and it's always been freeware. You can easily get it from the game's own website -- the only difference is that it doesn't have a GOG installer: https://www.wesnoth.org

EDIT: Just to clarify, there's no real reason why GOG should release a freely available game that's never been commercial when it's easily accessible from the game's own website.

The game is also available on Android BTW.

You're right. Port is the wrong term. Steam platform release would have made more sense.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/599390/Battle_for_Wesnoth/]


I simply wondered if they attempted to get the game in this store
as it's advertising for a game mostly unknown outside of Linux distro.

Make it known to more people. Granted, won't do much for one that's also already on Steam, but still, may be easier to notice here, and there's still a (sadly small) crowd that won't touch Steam.
Granted, it's more important for games that get less ongoing support though, and which may lose download mirrors or vanish completely if something happens, single dev projects...

I'm sure a bunch of people would buy it just to have it in their GOG library.

Seems a little silly to me, but if it makes people happy, who am I to argue? :-)

I've played the first few missions. It's a nice setting and story and I enjoyed it at first, but the gameplay is atrociously RNG-heavy. I stopped playing after I lost a battle due to a run of terrible luck, reloaded, tried again with the exact same strategy and won handily.

There are some RNG reducing (or even removing) mods for Wesnoth.

I also dislike the RNG in Wesnoth but more for 'aesthetic' reasons. I dont think it has too much influence on the outcome of a campaign. Only on a smaller scale is the influence very high.

What I dislike more in campaigns is the surprise scripting in some scenarios/campaigns. I do not think this befits a proper strategy game.

All the questions are pretty much answered but still want to give my 2.5 cents.

I still play it, had sink 1000+ hours on it and is indeed a VERY good game, as someone previously mentioned, better than a lot of GOG games. It runs on pretty much any hardware although the Steam version seem to tax the system a little more.
The art style is very good and the music is simply fantastic.
In my experience the single player campaings are very enjoyable, multiplayer can be frustrating some times, although with friends is much better.

People that complain about the RNG all the time doesn't seem to totally understand the basic mechanic of the game: the hex where you place your unit dictate the defense and that is the chance the opponent have to hit you (If you place a unit on a 70% defense, the opponent has a 30% chance to hit you, except modifiers of course). The game play is pretty much choosing the best place to move the units, depending on theyr type.
I certainly did take a lot of time to understand this and rage a lot... Now I rage just a little less :D

Games like HOMM3 or King's Bounty are still heavy RNG based and are regarded as very good games.

This is precisely the reason that Wesnoth Steam reviews aren't higher. People try it for 1 hour and judge based on that time. Wesnoth is a somewhat deep game and to be honest I didn't understand it for the first 20 hours or so.
This is of course my opinion and I feel is still valid on loads of games, it do take time to fully appreciate the ups and downs of a game.

Exactly, so RNG determines whether there's (potentially a lot of) damage or no damage, not a % variation...

Yes, unlike many other games, and this is where the confusion starts...
Lets say you have your unit on a 60% defesnse terrain, any number of attacks the opponent has will have a 40% chance of hitting, dealing exactly the same damage per attack (of course, except modifiers).
There ara some attacks wich modify this ratio, like Magic attacks, wich has always 70% chance of hitting the opponent, despite the terrain or status. In my opinion Magic attacks are kinda OP in this game but usually the unit is very weak and should be well protected. The game overall balance is very good, any unit can be countered...

The tutorial should really explain this better as it is the most basic mechanic on the game and quite different from most other games... And many people seem to struggle to understand this and say "RNG is a bitch" wich in reallity is!!!!

Another "good" feature is the possibility to replay the same move, the game has a somewhat "undo" function wich is not available on many turn based games, making Wesnoth much more "casual" if you want.
A good exemple is "into the breach" where a simple misclick can throw a entire game on the garbage.

I used to play Battle for Wesnoth a few years ago.
It is really polished and fun.
However, RNG ...
Otherwise a really good title. Well maintained. Don't forget to check add-ons for the game.