How to run games on linux

Gaming On Linux: All You Need To Know

Last updated November 9, 2020 By Abhishek Prakash 91 Comments

Can I play games on Linux?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by users who are thinking about switching to Linux. After all, gaming on Linux is often termed as a distant possibility. At least, by some hardcore gamers using another platform to play games.

In fact, some people even wonder if they can listen to music or watch movies on Linux. Considering that, the question about playing games on Linux seem genuine.

In this article, I am going to answer most of the Linux gaming questions that a beginner may have. Some of the potential questions that I’m going to address here are:

• Is it possible to play games on Linux?
• What are the Linux games available?
• Where can you download Linux games?
• How do you get more information about gaming on Linux?

But before I do that, let me make a confession. I am not a PC gamer or rather I should say, I am not a desktop Linux gamer. I prefer to play games on my PS4 and I haven’t dived into the PC games available or even mobile games (no candy crush request sent to anyone in my friend list). This is the reason you only see a few articles in the Linux games section of It’s FOSS.

So why am I covering this topic then?

Because I have been asked questions about playing games on Linux several times and I wanted to come up with a Linux gaming guide that could answer all those questions. And remember, it’s not just gaming on Ubuntu I am talking about here. I am talking about Linux in general.

Can you play games on Linux?

Yes, you can play games on Linux and no, you cannot play ‘all the games’ in Linux.

Confused? Don’t be. What I meant here is that you can get plenty of popular games on Linux such as Counter Strike, Shadow Of Mordor , etc.

However, you should not expect a native Linux support for the latest and greatest games – which are typically available for Windows.

The reason, in my opinion, is that Linux has less than 2% of desktop market share and the numbers are demotivating enough for most game developers to avoid working on the Linux version of their games.

Not just limited to the userbase, but not all games work perfectly on Linux. But, there are workarounds (ways) to play a huge list of games and I’ll be mentioning how to do that.

If I have to categorize, I’ll divide the games on Linux into four categories:

1. Native Linux Games (games officially available for Linux)
2. Windows games in Linux (Windows games played in Linux with Wine or other software)
3. Browser Games (games that you can play online using your web browse)
4. Terminal Games (games you can play in the Linux terminal)

Let’s start with the most important one, native Linux games, first.

1. Where to find native Linux games?

Native Linux games refer to those games which are officially supported on Linux. You just have to download it and hit it to play it without any potential troubleshooting.

Of course, there are a lot of games that support Linux officially – but where do you find them?

Hence, I am going to list some of the resources which you can utilize to download Linux games.

Steam

Steam is a very popular digital video game store which offers incredible deals on games for Linux (including free games as well). So, it is an obvious source of PC games.

You can explore it to find tons of games ranging from AAA titles to Indie games.

Usually, you can easily find Steam listed in your app center or package manager. But, if you have no clue how to install and use it, refer to my guide below on installing and using Steam on Ubuntu Linux to get an idea.

GOG.com

GOG.com is yet another platform similar to Steam. Like Steam, you can browse and find hundreds of native Linux games on GOG.com, purchase the games and install them. If the games support several platforms, you can download and use them across various operating systems. Your purchased games are available for you all the time in your account. You can download them anytime you wish.

One main difference between the two is that GOG.com offers only DRM free games. Also, GOG.com is entirely web-based. Unlike Steam, you don’t get a native desktop client on Linux for GOG.com.

Portable Linux Games

Portable Linux Games is a website that offers a good collection of Linux games for 32-bit systems. You can’t run the games on a purely 64-bit system by default – however, you can try following a troubleshooting guide to make it happen.

The downloaded files have all the dependencies (at times Wine and Perl installation) and these are also platform-independent. All you need to do is to download the files and double click to install them.

It’s a great source for gamers who aren’t into the games made by big studios but just want to have a good time playing some games on Linux.

Itch.io

Looking for native Linux Indie games? if that’s the case, Itch.io is a fantastic source to find interesting games.

You can find a lot of Indie games for free and can also opt to choose a paid game.

Interestingly, you do not need to create an account to download free games. You can simply head to its page and download the file meant for Linux.

Software Repositories

You can also look into the software repositories of your own Linux distribution. There will always be some games on it.

If you are using Ubuntu, the Software Center itself has an entire section for games. The same is true for other Linux distributions such as Linux Mint etc.

2. How to play Windows games in Linux?

There’s a bunch of native Linux games out there. However, most of the popular games available aren’t available on Linux directly. In other words, the latest and greatest games do not support Linux (for the most) and are available for Windows only.

In that case, do we have a workaround to play those games on Linux? Yes, we do!

With the help of tools like Wine, Phoenicis (formerly known as PlayOnLinux), Lutris, CrossOver, and GameHub, you can play a number of popular Windows games on Linux.

Steam Play

If you’re fond of using Steam as your only source of games on Linux, you can easily try the Windows-only games using Steam Play.

Steam utilizes a compatibility layer to directly run a Windows-specific game on Linux. We do have a detailed guide on using Steam Play on Linux – I’d recommend you to explore that to get started with it.

Wine is a compatibility layer that is capable of running Windows applications in systems like Linux, BSD and OS X. With the help of Wine, you can install and use a number of Windows applications in Linux.

Installing Wine in Ubuntu or any other Linux is easy as it is available in most Linux distributions’ repository. There is a huge database of applications and games supported by Wine that you can browse.

CrossOver

CrossOver is an improved version of Wine that brings professional and technical support to Wine. But unlike Wine, CrossOver is not free. You’ll have to purchase the yearly license for it.

The good thing about CrossOver is that every purchase contributes to Wine developers and that in fact boosts the development of Wine to support more Windows games and applications. If you can afford about $10 a year, you should buy CrossOver for the support they provide.

GameHub

We already have a separate article on how to use GameHub on Linux.

But, to give you a heads up, GameHub lets you manage and play games from multiple sources that include Steam, GOG, and Humble Bundle.

Lutris Gaming

Lutris is something similar to GameHub but supports a wide range of sources that include Origin, Uplay, Epic Games Launcher, and several others.

It makes it easy for you to play Windows-only games on Linux. And, it is a quite popular tool used by many users. You can also check the official list of games it potentially supports before trying it out.

Phoenicis PlayOnLinux

PlayOnLinux too is based on Wine but implemented differently. It has a different interface and slightly easier to use than Wine. Like Wine, PlayOnLinux too is free to use.

It may not be the best choice among the others mentioned but you can browse the applications and games supported by PlayOnLinux on its database to decide for yourself.

3. Browser Games

Needless to say that there are tons of browser-based games that are available to play in any operating system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac OS X. Most of the addictive mobile games, such as GoodGame Empire, also have their web browser counterparts.

Apart from that, thanks to Google Chrome Web Store, you can play some more games in Linux. These Chrome games are installed like a standalone app and they can be accessed from the application menu of your Linux OS. Some of these Chrome games are playable offline as well.

4. Terminal Games

The added advantage of using Linux is that you can use the command line terminal to play games as well.

I know that it’s not the best way to play games but at times, it’s fun to play games like Snake or 2048 in the terminal.

To help you out, we have two separate lists of top command-line games and best ASCII games which are pretty easy to install.

How to stay updated about Linux games?

Now that you know where to find the games and how to use them on Linux, the next question is – how to stay updated about new games on Linux?

Of course, we will try to cover major game releases for Linux – however, we at It’s FOSS aren’t completely focused on gaming (as of yet).

And for that, I advise you to follow these blogs that provide you with the latest happenings of the Linux gaming world:

• Gaming on Linux: I won’t be wrong if I call it the best Linux gaming news portal. You get all the latest rumblings and news about Linux games. Frequently updated, Gaming on Linux has dedicated fan following which makes it a nice community of Linux game lovers.
• Free Gamer: A blog focusing on free and open source games.
• Linux Game News: A blog that updates on various Linux games.

Wrapping Up

I think that’s pretty much what you need to know to get started with gaming on Linux. There are plenty of free Linux games that you can try at the moment.

There’s also a very useful migration guide by the subreddit r/linux_gaming that can help you kickstart your gaming journey on Linux.

It’s time for you to add your inputs. Do you play games on your Linux desktop? What are your favorites? What blogs do you follow to stay updated on the latest Linux games? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

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How to Play PC Games on Linux

If you’re fed up with Windows but don’t want to give up your PC games, don’t worry. These days, gaming on Linux is a lot easier than it used to be thanks to Steam Play and compatibility layers like Proton and WINE.

Linux is an open-source operating system that’s great for programmers, but it also offers enough options to keep gamers happy too. If you’re new to the OS, it might be best to read our guide for switching from Windows before reading further, as it will help to know the basics.

There’s no one distro that’s “best” for gaming, but Ubuntu-based distros like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Pop!_OS are good options for their widespread support and helpful communities. If you have a different Linux environment on your system, you may have to research the best way to install the right packages and drivers, but you can almost certainly get games working.

Before trying anything, you should make sure your distro comes with the requisite graphics drivers. If not, Nvidia users should grab the company’s official proprietary drivers, and AMD users should install the open-source Mesa drivers. The procedure for installing drivers may vary from system to system, so we won’t get into it too deeply here, but I used these instructions for Linux Mint for the drivers and these instructions for some extra Vulkan packages, which produced good results.

Now, before we continue, temper your expectations just a tad. While Linux gaming is easier than ever, it still isn’t on par with Windows. Some games won’t run at all, and others may have small graphical quirks, or decreased performance. Others may require some web searches and command-line tweaking to get playable. The experience isn’t exactly smooth as butter yet—it’s still very Linux-y—but once you have the basics down, you might be surprised at how many games you’re able to run. Here are your options.

Find Linux-Compatible Games

Linux has gained a bit of ground in the gaming world, and a number of worthwhile titles are natively playable on the platform. As you shop for games, try filtering your digital store by Linux-friendly titles. In Steam, for example, head to the Store tab, click the Games drop-down, and choose SteamOS + Linux to see all of Steam’s Linux-native games.

You can also search for a title you want, then look at the compatible platforms. If you see a little Steam logo next to the Windows logo, that means it’s compatible with SteamOS and Linux. You’ll find a lot of indie games alongside some big-name titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Civilization VI, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Other stores have similar filters. On GOG.com. Head to Store > Browse All Games > All Games for Linux. Any game with a little penguin icon should be compatible. The same goes for The Humble Store, where you can go to Browse > All and then filter the Platform to Linux—look for that penguin icon. You might be surprised how many games are developed specifically for your favorite open-source OS. But don’t stop there—it gets better.

Play Windows Games With Proton/Steam Play

Thanks to a tool from Valve called Proton, which leverages the WINE compatibility layer, many Windows-based games are completely playable on Linux through Steam Play. The jargon here is a little confusing—Proton, WINE, Steam Play—but don’t worry, using it is dead simple.

When you open Steam on Linux, look through your library. Some games have a blue Install button even if they aren’t listed as Linux-compatible in the store. Those games are cleared to run under Proton, and playing them should be as easy as clicking Install. In my case, both NieR: Automata and Doom were Proton-ready out of the box.

If you’re shopping for Proton-compatible games, you’ll have a hard time because the Steam Store doesn’t show which games are compatible. Instead, you will have to look at your existing game library to see which titles are installable. What makes things even less clear is that many games will work with Proton, even if Steam hasn’t officially cleared them for duty yet.

This is where ProtonDB comes in handy. It’s a community-curated list of games that work under Steam Play with Proton, along with details on what hardware, which version of Proton, and any tweaks are required for optimal performance. For example, Dishonored doesn’t have that blue Install button, but is reported as “Gold” by ProtonDB users, which means it should be playable.

To install unsupported games, open Steam’s settings, head to the Steam Play tab, and check the Enable Steam Play for All Other Titles box. You’ll then be able to install and play any game in your library. Keep in mind that many won’t work, but ProtonDB can tell you which titles will get the best results. If you have trouble, try sorting ProtonDB reports by your CPU or GPU to see notes from people with similar hardware.

If a ProtonDB listing says that a game works with a specific version of Proton, you can right-click the game, head to Properties, and check Force the Use of a Specific Steam Play Compatibility Tool to choose the right one. You can also click the Set Launch Options button to include any extra flags mentioned in the ProtonDB listing. It may take a little trial and error to find what works, but I’ve been able to get quite a few games up and running with a bit of fiddling.

Install Other Games With Lutris

Proton isn’t the only tool bringing Windows-only games to Linux. Lutris is a game management program designed to run games under WINE and other emulators or compatibility layers. It acts as a one-stop shop for all your games, with one-click install scripts that include all the necessary tweaks. That said, it may still require a bit of command line work to get up and running. You’ll be rooting through documentation to put all the pieces together, so it helps to have some Linux experience.

You can install Lutris using these instructions, though your favorite games may need some other packages before they’ll work properly. On first startup, Lutris told me that I needed certain 32-bit drivers, along with WINE and its dependencies, installed before a game would work. Then, on top of that, the game in question may need some extra packages—Overwatch, for example, has a few prerequisites for Battle.net to run properly.

Lutris should point you in the right direction when you go to install a given game, but the instructions aren’t always perfect. As a result, you may run into a few hiccups as you’re installing all the prerequisites, depending on your system and level of experience.

Once you have all those packages installed, though, setting up a game should be fairly simple: search for it in Lutris, click the Install button, and Lutris will prepare the game with the optimal WINE settings. Note that some games may run very slowly until they finish compiling shaders, after which performance should be more playable—you have to wait a bit after opening the game for the first time before it runs smoothly.

Alternatives: PlayOnLinux, Streaming, and Beyond

These are far from the only ways to get a game running on Linux, but most of the modern, big-name titles you can play should be available through one of these means. If you have a specific game you want to run that isn’t available through the above resources, do some searching on that specific game. Some may require a bit more fiddling to get running, though you may be able to skip the legwork with similar WINE-based tools like PlayOnLinux.

If you get the game working through one of the above methods but encounter problems, there may be specific settings you need to tweak, dependency packages to install, or patches to apply to the game—again, ProtonDB is a great resource. Don’t get discouraged, and don’t be afraid to ask for help in communities like /r/linux_gaming (after searching to see if your question has already been asked, of course).

And hey, if all else fails, you can always stream the game from the cloud. Stadia and Luna only need a browser, while GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming have been known to work with Linux. You can also stream directly from a Windows PC in your house with Steam’s Remote Play, AMD Link, or Moonlight—check out our guide to in-house game streaming for more.

Disclosure: Humble Bundle is owned by IGN, which is owned by PCMag parent company Ziff Davis.

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