5 best games that can run on Linux in 2020
Linux gaming has gradually become much more mainstream, all thanks to the plethora of games that are now available on Google Stadia.
Steam has recently introduced a compatibility layer between Windows and Linux operating systems, which allows Linux users to play the games that were initially designed for Windows. The compatibility layer, Proton, has the ability to translate Windows DirectX API to Vulkan or OpenGL API.
Five best games that can run on Linux
Here are the top five games that you can play on Linux:
The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt
If you’ve grown up admiring Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean, then you will surely enjoy playing this game. Explore the Caribbean and lead your crew into sea battles and raids to become the most feared captain.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
To play this game on Linux, you will have to take the help of Proton. If you have a decent gaming setup, The Witcher 3 can be played without any major issues.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
You can play the definitive edition of this adventure game on Linux. Step into the shoes of Lara Croft as she journeys through the scary American forests to reach the legendary city of Paititi. Learn new skills and eliminate enemies on your way to rescue everyone from the Mayan apocalypse in this thrilling game.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
With great graphics and excellent controls, CS: GO is very engaging and exciting to play. Choose between various modes, and shoot away to glory.
The Battle for Wesnoth
This epic battle saga is all about defending your kingdom. You can play ‘The Battle for Wesnoth’ alone, or in a multiplayer session. The game also comes with a map editor, which allows you to create your own maps.
Gaming on linux 2020
A subreddit for discussions and news about gaming on the GNU/Linux family of operating systems (including the Steam Deck).
As many of you may know, I joined this subreddit a little over a year ago, and as a result choose to use Linux as my primary gaming platform on PC.
Although 2020 was, let’s face it, a shit year, the progress of Linux gaming, in particular was very impressive, especially when it came to Windows developed games compatibility, and although there are still some show stoppers, primarily EAC and BattleEye, I believe the future can only be brighter.
As a result, I’ve produced a quick video covering my honest experience over the last year.
Kubuntu 20.10 / Windows 10 Pro
For those that do not want to watch the video, the following observations are made.
- Ultimately distribution does not matter, rolling release distribution will give you access to drivers and software sooner, but often an alternative can be found with fixed release distribution such as PPAs.
- EA Origin games are stuttery unless you disable write access to the Origin folder.
- The performance hit for DirectX 12 games is really not worth it in my experience if you have a 10 series or below from nVidia (I have a GTX 1080).
- Custom kernels that are designed for better management for resources when your system is under load, I honestly did not find made any difference to gaming performance.
- nVidia proprietary drivers work very well on Linux, with the exception of screen tearing occurring when the compositor is disabled, but this is fixed by enabling Force Composition Pipeline.
- Desktop environments do not really make a difference to gaming performance, however I have noticed that using stock Proton do not longer disables the compositor in KDE Plasma, but Proton-GE does.
Ultimately I concluded that Windows 10 is still the superior platform for gaming, and advised people not to switch to Linux purely on a gaming basis, but for other reason such as having a genuine interest in other operating systems, wanting to build your own operating system, and ultimately want to have control over your operating system, not the other way round.
The gaming is a bonus, but really, use whatever works best for you, whether that is Linux, Windows, or Mac OS or Android.
But that was my experience, how about everyone else’s?
Alex Seibz’ Site
Welcome to my blog! I’ll detail projects that I’m working on here and more, as I make my lifelong journey through the wonderful land of Linux and computing!
My Journey With Gaming on Linux in 2020
Having used various Linux distros on and off since around Fedora Core 2, I started using Linux daily around Q4 2018. 2020 man, what a year for Linux gaming!
I remember back when Valve first worked with various community members to get Proton (SteamPlay) up and running to the point that you could play Windows games on Linux with a fairly button-press solution…then came the GloriousEggroll community releases in years to come, following Valve’s official releases (5.13) with big changes to how containerizing games are handled etc. Needless to say, a lot has happened in the WINE, Proton and Lutris worlds since I first started slowly moving all my games to a Linux install in 2018.
A few friends, such as my buddy Jason, have been posting about gaming on Linux in 2020. These publications inspired me to write my own post about my experiences this year. Believe it or not, excepting Genshin Impact and one other, I haven’t had to use Windows to play any games this year! Such a freeing feeling.
I’ll go into a little more detail on the playability and ease of getting into the games I’ve been playing on Linux this year. I’ll make sure each title name is clickable to send peeps to the associated storefronts or websites as well.
Note that I’ve been running all of these on Fedora 33 on an original Corsair One Pro with 16gb RAM, 1tb SSD, 7th gen Core i7 and GTX 1080 as well as my Thinkpad P51 with 48gb of RAM, Core i7 7th gen and Quadro M1200 4GB.
- Starcraft II
- Install Lutris, run the install script, sign into Battle.net afterwards to install it and you’re good to go! Runs fine on my Corsair One Pro and Thinkpad P51
- I just install the flatpak that Mojang apparently contributes to, sign in and play the game from there! Flawless on the C1P and Thinkpad.
- Note that you can also install the Technic Launcher, if you want to play modded installs of Minecraft etc, you just have to download the .jar and then open it in terminal with “java -jar TechnicLauncher.jar” and it will install. Note if you want a desktop shortcut, see here.
- I have the GOTY version of Oblivion from a huge sale on GOG, so I just sign into my GOG account on Lutris, run the install script and I’m good to go! Alternatively, I’ve heard some people enjoy using the community-built Minigalaxy client to install GOG games.
- This is probably one of my favorite games that released this year. I was looking forward to this and Borderlands 3, but since I’ve had too many glitches and hangs in Borderlands 3 I’ve given up on it and have mainly been playing this. This is a PERFECT 3D roguelike in my opinion!
- Once you enable SteamPlay (Proton) for all titles in the Settings menu of Steam, you just install this title and you’re good to go! I highly recommend a nvidia 10xx series/Vega 64 or higher GPU for this title though, as it can get pretty heavy when you have a ton of enemies on your screen! The best part of how fun and replayable this title is, is that it’s a one-click install once you have SteamPlay enabled! Just see all the positive Linux feedback on it here!
- Another fun exploration/crafting title on Steam! This game ran for me fine before Valve released Proton 5.13 for some reason, so I’ve been using an older version of Proton from GloriousEggroll that has this game running fine! I just extracted the .tar file with “tar -xvf” and then moved the extracted folder to ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/ and restarted Steam. Maybe in 2021 I’ll see a Proton release that has it running fine again with no need for older versions!
- Note that after restarting steam, as of the date of this post, you have to go into game properties and force the older Proton version to get it running.
- This game has a native release for Linux on Steam! Just install and run with no issues! This felt like a fun, peaceful mashup between Stardew Valley, Legend of Zelda and Terraria.
- Yet another Linux-native game! This game, which is still in active development, can be installed via Airshipper/flatpak/snap or other methods as listed on their install page! I’ve been using the flatpak with no issues at all. Note that this is a lovely, open source title! It kind of feels like older Legend of Zelda games meet a Minecraft graphics style.
- Note that while an account is required to keep your save data consistent in the game, they don’t track or mine any of your data, as they wouldn’t want that either.
- An oldie but goodie! I have this through GOG so I mainly just run the installer, follow the steps and jump into a game! I’ve also had LAN games with my buddies work fine.
- Alternatively, I’ve heard some people enjoy using the community-built Minigalaxy client to install GOG games like this one as well.
- I have this through Steam as well! I’m once again using the older version of Proton from GloriousEggroll, extracted and moved to the ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/ directory. This had some problems on 5.13 or newer for me for some reason. I love jumping into some classic Halo 3 and Reach games, though!
- Note that, for multiplayer, you’ll have to choose to disable EAC when opening the game…as of the time of this writing, you can only play private games with friends. Also you’ll need a Microsoft account to sign in on first launch.
- Another title through Steam, once again using the older version of Proton from GloriousEggroll, extracted and moved to the ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/ directory. Runs fine! This game definitely requires a beefy GPU for the textures and the like though, so I’ve only been able to run this on my C1P, as the Thinkpad suffers from loading all the textures.
- Though this game initially released on Epic Games, I have some problems with the way they run their company, so I waited for release on Steam. You can use your Steam account to “sign into epic games” and play this game on launch.
- This is a newer title that recently came out on Steam. Runs fine with current gen Proton builds and is a great roguelike! People seem to agree with me that it just runs fine out of the box, even on my weaker Quadro-equipped Thinkpad!
- This game has recently been re-awakened by the community! I’m so happy to see one of my earlier ahead-of-its-time first person shooters get some support from the community! I have no idea how to get this running on Linux yet, so stay tuned for news on that! I might need to install it via the Origin launcher using a CD key purchased off a third-party site….and then add some stuff via the Reclamation project…