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Linux for Starters: Your Guide to Linux – Gaming – Part 17

Last Updated on May 22, 2022

Emulators

Emulation is the practice of using a program (called an emulator) on a PC to mimic the behaviour of a home computer or a video game console, in order to play (usually retro) games on a computer.

Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single non-technical user.

Back in the 1980s, home computers came to the forefront of teenagers’ minds. Specifically, the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Atari ST were extremely popular. They were hugely popular home computers targeted heavily towards games, but they also ran other types of software.

We showcase the best emulators for Linux in this article.


Other locations

Flathub is the home of hundreds of apps which can be easily installed on any Linux distribution. There’s a small choice of 22 games and most of them are available from the Ubuntu Software app.

We provide roundups of free and open source games.

PortableLinuxGames is a site that packs and distributes Linux games as portable, self-contained packages that will (or should) run on any Linux system including Ubuntu. However, many of the AppImages are 32 bit and won’t run on Ubuntu 21.04 without installing various libraries.


Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Ubuntu Software App
Page 2 – Steam Store
Page 3 – Emulators and more


All articles in this series:

Linux For Starters: Your Guide to Linux
1What is Linux? Why use Linux? What do I need?
2Choose a Linux distribution meeting your specific needs and requirements.
3Make a bootable Ubuntu USB stick in Windows.
4We show you how to install Ubuntu 21.04 on your hard disk.
5Things to do after installing Ubuntu.
6Navigating your way around the Desktop.
7Updating the system, install new software.
8Open source replacements for proprietary Windows desktop software.
9Get started with the power and flexibility of the terminal.
10We cover the basics of files and permissions.
11Getting help from your system.
12Learn all about the file system.
13Manipulating files from the shell.
14Maintain your system with these simple tips.
15Managing users on your system.
16Explore different desktops to GNOME 3.
17Gaming on Linux.
18Protect your privacy with this guide.
19Access the Windows desktop from Linux using a remote desktop client.
20Set up a virtual machine running Ubuntu as the host and openSUSE as the guest.
21Wine lets you run Windows programs on Linux without emulation.
22Extend your GNOME desktop with extensions and themes.
XUseful Linux commands.
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Leden
Leden
3 years ago

Gaming on linux? Are you serious?

Big Col
Big Col
3 years ago
Reply to  Leden

Well I am. Linux is vastly underrated as a gaming platform. Of course many big titles aren’t available but there’s still tons of great games out there.

Andrey
Andrey
2 years ago

A section about gaming distros would be nice. I’m using Drauger.

Nitro
Nitro
2 years ago

All these forks of Ubuntu are just a colossal waste of opportunity.

Winston
Winston
2 years ago
Reply to  Nitro

Are they really? It’s agreed there is often a lot of duplicated work when people fork distros and open source software in general. That also applies to proprietary software. In fact the implications are much worse with proprietary software.

When a proprietary product is abandoned, all the work is effectively lost. This happens so many times when a large multinational acquires a promising product and then just dumps it after 12-18 months.

With an open source project, when the original developer or team stops developing, there’s still a chance that someone else or a group will take the code and carry on with the program’s development. The code is not lost.