With the proliferation of new devices and connection technologies, the number and types of wireless sensor networks (WSN) applications have skyrocketed. This diversity has created the need to take a more systematic approach in defining the specifics and requirements of different types of WSNs. A major criterion is the topology of a WSN, which plays an important role in the trade-off between ensuring high performance and extending the lifetime of the network. In this paper we address a group of WSNs that require linear or chain topology, called Linear WSN (LWSN). Linear topology creates addition problems like increased delays, uneven load distribution between the nodes (“relay burden problem”) but also provides unique possibilities to address the issues of delay control and energy efficiency at the media access (MAC) layer. Thus in our survey we present a overview of the latest MAC protocols, developed especially for LWSN, discuss their specifics and summarize the related research challenges and open research issues.