Useful Information on Getting and Installing Linux Games

If you have just switched to the Linux operating system you may want to know how it is possible for you to start playing games on this program. As a gamer, you must know that one or another of the Linux distributions needs to be installed, but you still have to know how to get games and have them installed and configured.

This is where you will find this article helpful. It is however important to know that there will be different methods, some requiring you to install firstly Flash or configure WINE for games designed in Windows OS. Others may need to enable extra archives through an executable bit or copy files to one of the directories.

Once you have chosen a game title from the list, you should make sure to go as follows:

For those games that have been developed to run on Linux, you must know they exist in software repositories and at this stage, the installation is simple by selecting the package to allow it to download and then install it. Also, these repositories are great sources that can introduce you to various games (in case you haven’t decided what to choose).

You simply have to type in names, and any keywords that can help software into identifying games, and shortly after you will be displayed with results to choose from. Another way that can narrow down your search is to look for ratings of the games that appear with the Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.

• In case there are no repositories of game titles with your distribution, you have to enable them, but there is as well another method: manually downloading games for Linux. They are presented in two types: executable.RPM or.DEB package (which is very simple to install) and Zipped archives.
  The later ones may need to be extracted into files from where they become converted into files (.i386 or .x86_64) that are ready to play. For the 32-bit Linux version, it is important that you run its executable and at this point, you may need to read the following lines.
• It may be that this version won’t work due to a security precaution but you shouldn’t freak out. You must know by now that files have 3 modes of working – read, write, and execute and once these modes are disabled you can control what the file can do and if the executable file doesn’t have its executable bit enabled, it clearly won’t run. At this point, you simply need to enable its executable bit to ensure that it runs and that you can as well play the specific game.
• Look for games sources that can assist you in learning more things about Linux games. There are many websites with games reviews, easiness of installation, and other similar aspects.
• When it comes to playing your Windows favorite game on Linux, you must be warned of the fact that there is no guarantee to have a functional game, but once you get it running it may appear with imperfections due to the less optimal migration from one system to another. Once you get this, we need to move on with playing Windows games on Linux.
• You have to install CrossOver by registering on the site and downloading the package -.RPM or.DEB – and have it installed. Once it’s there you must run it and install the desired Windows game(s).
• Many distributions of Linux come with downloading and installing WINE packages from the repositories. This is a program loader that allows you to run Windows apps on Linux as well as other systems based on UNIX. This one is for free and it is usually the first Linux choice when it comes to playing Windows games on Linux. It is a good method to use because it has a configuration menu rich in aspects that can be controlled when it comes to game behavior.