For a long time, entertainment was the weak point of the penguin operating system. But, things are changing to forced marches and, therefore We tell you how to celebrate the day of the video game player in Linux.
I am from the time when the first consoles appeared that allowed you to exchange games and made mothers say that you better grab a book and journalists blame them for the violence. A completely different world than today where playing video games is a respected and profitable profession.
Why is it the day of the video game player?
You can't celebrate a date just because. You have to give a grand reason and, today August 29 «We not only recognize the cultural and technological impact of video games, but we also pay tribute to the community of passionate gamers who have transformed this form of entertainment into a global force.
There are many "fathers of the idea" to celebrate it today. But, for the purposes of this article, we are going to accept the one that is best for us. On August 29, 1978, the Space Invaders game was launched, one of the most iconic titles in the industry.
How to party on Linux
Repositories
The Linux repositories include a list of games that may not be as sophisticated as the titles offered by big companies, but quite addictive.
Some titles:
- Neverball: Move a ball through different scenarios while collecting pieces.
- Blobby Volley 2: Play volleyball against another player on the beach.
- Teeworlds: Two-dimensional multiplayer screen game.
- Kapmann: Pacman clone for Linux.
- Battle Tanks: Multiplayer tank battle.
- Eat The Whistle: Play soccer in the style of the old Commodore Amiga titles.
- Tennix: JPlay tennis against a friend or the computer.
- Flight Gear: Train yourself in the piloting of various air vehicles.
Emulators
In the repositories of Linux distributions there are also emulators that allow you to run games from different platforms. Some of them are:
- Snes9x: Super Nintendo emulator.
- DOSBox Staging: Run x86 DOS games on any architecture.
- VICE: Allows you to run software for 8-bit computers from the Commodore line.
Stores
There are some app stores where you can buy (or download for free) games designed for Linux or with versions for Linux. The best known of these is Steam. Steam it has its own Linux-based video game console which makes its offer quite extensive.
Another option where you can find both free and paid titles is GOG.com But if you're more into independent titles and good deals, you should definitely take a look at Humble Bundle
Windows Games
There are ways that Linux distributions can run Windows games, at least the titles that have been with us for a while.
Traditionally the way to do it was using WINE, a tool that acts as an interpreter translating the needs of the program into instructions that Linux can understand and vice versa. Both the Flatpak and Snap format packages include in their stores titles that already come with WINE built-in making it unnecessary to install WINE separately.
In the case of manually installed programs, there are some tools that help you configure WINE, one of them is Bottles.
Building on the work of the WINE developers, Valve, the company behind Steam, and Codeweavers, marketers of a paid solution for running Windows programs on other platforms, created Proton. a series of programs, libraries and patches that further increase the number of compatible titles.
Proton is included in the Steam store client that is in the repositories of the main Linux distributions, although it is also possible to download it independently.
And, to end this series of recommendations, we cannot fail to mention lutris, the best game collection manager for the Linux platform. With Lutris you will have access to the best Linux compatible game stores from one place.