fheroes2
fheroes2 is a recreation of Heroes of Might and Magic II game engine
The Lens
By Erik Loyd, SaaS CEO and former COO/CFO of an AWS Premier Partner.
Updated Sep 2026
fheroes2 rebuilds the engine behind Heroes of Might and Magic II, the 1996 turn-based strategy classic, from scratch. You bring the original game files and it runs them with high-resolution graphics, better AI, bug fixes and a cleaned-up interface. GPL-2.0, free, funded by donations.
Installation is the easy part. There are builds for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch, plus Flatpak, Homebrew and AUR packages. The installer pulls resources from a copy you already own, or downloads the free English demo if you don't.
This is for people who want to play the game on modern hardware, and for developers curious how a long-running engine reimplementation stays alive. The team sends you to GOG or the Ubisoft Store for the full game, which keeps the project on the right side of copyright. Fans of the sequel should look at VCMI, which does the same job for Heroes III.
The catch is scope. This is not a game engine you build new games on. It exists to run one specific game, and without the original data files you only get the demo.
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
fully freeFree tier: Everything, under GPL-2.0: the engine, the improved AI, high-resolution support and every interface change. The original game's art, maps and music are not included; those rights belong to Ubisoft.
Self-hosted: Nothing to host. Install a precompiled release for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, PlayStation Vita or Nintendo Switch, or build from source. A bundled script downloads the free English-only demo of the original game if you do not own it.
Paid: The project sells nothing and takes donations through Patreon, PayPal and Boosty. The only purchase is the original Heroes of Might and Magic II, which the maintainers recommend buying on GOG or the Ubisoft Store.
Free under GPL-2.0. The only cost is a legal copy of the original game, and the demo works without one.
What to do by team size
- Solo
- free; buy the original game for the full campaign
- Small team
- free
- Medium team
- free
- Large team
- free
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Trust Signals
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
Commercial OK but must share source of modifications.
Commercial use: ✓ Yes
About
- Owner
- Ihar Hubchyk (User)
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