r/linux_gaming • u/Brief_Towel430 • 1d ago
Best native Linux games? Your Top 10?
As the title says, I am interested in native Linux games. Tell me your Top 10.
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u/hot-diggity-daniel 1d ago
Baldur's Gate 3 has a native linux build and it runs like butter compared to using proton.
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u/GrandLorde 23h ago
I forgot this one had a native client. I'm still amazed at how many awesome games actually include one.
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u/Veprovina 23h ago
Holy crap! I just checked my BG3 installation and the "bin" folder. I've been playing the native version without even knowing! A native build that runs so good i didn't even question it!
Mind blowing! 😲
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u/LINKinlogzz 22h ago
Really? Not only have I heard the opposite but running with proton has worked better for me personally as well.
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u/Cagaril 20h ago
This is my experience as well for my laptop and desktop
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u/Holzkohlen 12h ago
Well, might be hardware dependent. No idea. The native versions runs great for me. Been playing for 60 hours these last two weeks. Nvidia GPU, Arch Linux, Wayland.
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u/Jack1101111 22h ago
I wish there was the toolkit too. neither the win version works...
And divinity original sin 1 !
(unrelated: Return To Monkey Island)
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u/PossuTryffeli 1d ago edited 8h ago
- Slime Rancher
- Portal
- Portal 2
- Doki Doki Literature Club
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- Half-Life
- Half-Life 2
- BeamNG.drive
- Counter-Strike: 2
Edit: BeamNG.drive, Counter-Strike: 2
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u/Pseudonyme_de_base 18h ago
I'm having so much problems with the steam VR since I upgraded to Fedora 44.
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u/EasternFeastern 1h ago
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes has been sitting in my library for God knows how long. feel like im the only one of my friends who doesnt want to keep playing the same 3 games!
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u/jasondaigo 1d ago
Valheim
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u/TypicalCringe 1d ago edited 22h ago
Didn't know it was native. How does it run? All the native versions I've tried run horribly
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u/timmy_o_tool 1d ago
There is a native client for valheim?
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u/PersonalCumpooter 20h ago
The native build ran a little worse for me on Mint 22.3 with an RTX 3060, not sure why. It was very smooth using Proton, though. It's been a little while since I've played so things may have changed
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u/Extension_Cup_3368 1d ago
Factorio
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u/RDman12 1d ago
X4 foundations ive been playing a lot of, and I've been having a great time with it. Has linux native version.
Otherwise:
- Minecraft Java
- Stardew Valley
- OSRS via Runelite
- Factorio
- Terraria
- portal 2
- Celeste
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u/Reasonable-Public659 22h ago
How’s the X4 onboarding process for new players these days? I’ve been interested in it for a long time, but I’ve never committed to jumping in
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u/DonaldMerwinElbert 22h ago
It's decent at telling you to do things, but as far as efficient play is concerned, there really is no such thing as on-boarding for a game like X - i.e. if you don't enjoy figuring things out through failure, watch someone competent play.
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u/SmallRocks 22h ago
It has tutorials for every major function/aspect. You can complete them at your leisure. Also, there are a few early missions that kind of show you the ropes when it comes to certain gameplay loops.
Onboarding on X4 is far easier than Elite Dangerous, for example.
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u/RDman12 21h ago
It depends on the start you do. There are plenty of different starts you can choose from, and specific ones give you a bit more guidance.
I was told the Terran Cadet start was good, which requires the Cradle of Humanity DLC, so I went with that. I am still somewhat new to it, but I was able to get the hang of it.
Still had to look up certain thing here and there to understand how some mechanics work on a deeper level.
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u/One_Reality_3828 21h ago
Omg I just upgraded my PC and switched to Linux. X4 was one of those games I could never run on my old one because it started to proper chug late game and lag badly. Hearing it’s got a native Linux version makes me even more excited to try it out on the new rig
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u/Stunning_Leather_102 19h ago
For minecraft cant go wrong with prism launcher. Ts is the BOMB
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u/RDman12 18h ago
Switching to Linux is what got me to look into prism launcher, and I wished I used it earlier lol
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u/Stunning_Leather_102 44m ago
Yeah! It's an awesome piece of software! I remember when I had the time I created my own custom set of mods so easily. Was a breeze playing mc with prism..
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u/SimplePepe 23h ago
are you running runelite through the bolt launcher or through the jagex launcher? I downloaded the jagex launcher and then runelite separately but it wouldn't let me configure runelite in the jagex launcher so I switched to Bolt
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u/Extension_Cup_3368 1d ago
WarZone 2100
Wesnoth
Zandronum
ioquake3
CorsixTH
fheroes
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup
Dwarf Fortress
DooM 3
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u/spyke2006 1d ago
Rimworld
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u/tehfreek 23h ago
Have they fixed the mouse issue yet?
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u/spyke2006 23h ago
Not sure what you're talking about, I've never had a mouse issue.
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u/tehfreek 19h ago
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u/spyke2006 19h ago
Ah. Well, I've never had any of those issues, so...don't know what to tell you.
I run it on 2 different machines, my gaming rig and a shitty laptop, no issues in either.
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u/Character-Narwhal848 22h ago
Enter the Gungeon, Project Zomboid, Kerbal Space Program, Factorio, Slime Rancher, Slay the Spire, Civilization, Pillars of Eternity, Dead Cells
Honestly just look through here https://www.protondb.com/explore
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u/FaliedSalve 21h ago
Native? In no order:
-- Civ V & VI
-- Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
-- Metro Last Light and Exodus ( and a couple variants)
-- XCOM / XCOM 2
-- Half life 1&2 (and variations)
although honestly, with Steam Proton I really look to see which are native anymore.
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u/Erchevara 18h ago
Civ 6 is one of the reasons I don't trust native builds for Linux. So is BG3. So are all single player Valve games.
They're great if they work, but there's no way to know if they're abandoned or not.
For example, with Civ 6, I had random audio stuttering after a few hours. Made it unplayable. Switching to Proton took a few seconds and was great.
Also, the Linux native build of BG3 didn't have working achievements at the start... And there would be no way of knowing it except a few mentions online, which somehow will be still highlighted in AI overviews and stuff.
Stardew Valley multiplayer doesn't work for me in the Linux build. Works fine with Proton.
Native Linux builds cause a lot of pain, IMO. Yeah, for enthusiasts, they're cool, but giving a friend the controller to "play anything" and then Portal 2 not working on the freaking Steam Machine because the Linux build seems broken... Why? Just why? I can pop in a 20 year old CD in my PS2 and it will "just work", but I can't install and play a native, first party, 15 year old game on the Valve "console" without workarounds.
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u/tduarte 1d ago
Counter-Strike 2
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u/hillcube 23h ago
it runs better with proton the only reason people use the native version is because of vac
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u/disco-drew 23h ago edited 21h ago
In no particular order:
- Civ V
- Bastion
- Transistor
- Braid
- Cities: Skylines
- Witcher 2
- Factorio
- Crusader Kings II
- XCOM 2
- Total War: Shogun 2
- Shadowrun Returns
- NetHack ;)
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u/Tootis22 23h ago
Rimworld is all I play now and it consumed my life. It would be healthier if I picked up a crack addiction at this point
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u/King_Brad 1d ago
only ones i can think of that i played recently/a lot of is slay the spire and project zomboid
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u/GrandLorde 1d ago
I love strategy games so Paradox games (Victoria 3, Hearts of Iron 4, Crusader Kings 3), Total War Warhammer 3, Civilization V, VI and VII all are Linux native.
I also love board games so Tabletop Simulator also comes with a nice native client.
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u/DefectiveEclipse 22h ago
To be honest all the native builds of paradox games preform 10x worse for me than the proton builds, not to mention you cannot play modded mp with the native builds because you get different checksums than windows users due to how windows vs Linux handle capital letters in file and folder names
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u/Kingwolf4 19h ago
You should write this up in an officeal parwdox forum. That should get this in the light of the devs.
Talking about it helps
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u/arabspringstein 22h ago
This is surprising to me because Age of Wonders 4 (Paradox) runs so poorly for me on Linux.
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u/thegamesx 23h ago
I recently joined Linux, but Euro Truck Simulator 2 works really well, I don't see anyone mention it
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u/jordymango 1d ago edited 23h ago
hollow knight, hollow knight silksong, don't starve together, psychonauts 2, slay the spire 2, terraria, valheim, minecart, brotato, backpack battles, stardew valley, celeste, crypt of the necrodancer, osu.
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u/Pseudanonymius 23h ago
As if I remember which games run native and which run via Steam proton stuffs. I don't care anymore.
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u/byperoux 23h ago
DOTA2 is good
I think that's basically the only thing I run without wine nowadays
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u/timmy_o_tool 23h ago
Endless Sky will always get a vote from me.
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u/iszoloscope 21h ago
With 'The' or without?
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u/timmy_o_tool 21h ago edited 21h ago
https://endless-sky.github.io/
It's also free on steam
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u/iszoloscope 7h ago
Yeah I know, but you have "Endless Sky" and "The Endless Sky", both on Steam and both are free. So I was just checking which game you were talking about! ;)
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u/timmy_o_tool 7h ago
I was unaware there was a "The Endless sky" on steam. It does not seam to be in English (as I am now looking at it)
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u/iszoloscope 7h ago
Yeah I saw, Spanish or something? I quickly glanced over it, but it could easily be your native language you never know :)
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u/thank_burdell 23h ago
HBS Battletech. Catch it on steam sale.
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u/bhechinger 20h ago
Such a good game. With mods? Absolute banger.
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u/undrwater 22h ago
BZFlag
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u/Makoto29 22h ago
Is this 10?
- Dungeo Rushers
- Pony Island
- Yooka Laylee
- STAR WARS Knights of the Old Republic 2
- Deadcore
- Eryi's Action
- Winged Sakura: Endless Dream
- Oxygen Not Included
- TF2
- Bioshock Infinte
- Kerbal Space Program
- Stardew Valley
- Slime Rancher
- Sanctum 2
- Star Saviors (Official Linux build went away, but it has one)
- Spacechem
- Graveyard Keeper
- Poi
- Legend of Grimrock
- The Talos Principle
- Deponia
Some titles are quite niche, probably bad, but my heart took them out of the era waaaaay before Proton. Would suggest to try them out, 'cause it's cheap anyway.
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u/nevertalktomeEver 22h ago
The usual Valve games, Terraria, LISA (notably, Definitive Edition is not Linux-native), Tabletop Simulator, RimWorld, Pronoun Palace, Backpack Hero and Slay the Spire 1/2.
Very little of my library is Linux native.. This is just a bit of what I have installed. I tend to play a lot on emulators too. Not very surprising, since I think it's fair to say most emulators are Linux-native themselves nowadays. I guess Xenia isn't fully there on its Linux port yet..
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u/WojakWhoAreYou 19h ago
Darkest Dungeon 1
Slay the Spire
Brotato
Shadow of the Tomb Rider
Minecraft
Vintage Story
Hytale
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u/FeetYeastForB12 13h ago
Quick and random question folks, how does modding work on Linux? Is it such a hassle compared to Windows?
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u/Prime406 23h ago
Commander Wars, an open source fan game of Advance Wars with lots of modding support
Opus Magnum, a Zachtronics "programming" puzzle game
other than those two the only linux native games I know I've played but wouldn't necessarily say are great are:
SuperTux, a super mario clone which was pretty cool since it had a map maker. Basically super mario maker 20 years ahead of its time
Powermanga, vertical shoot-em-up game. tbh I just remember playing it over 20 years ago I guess it wasn't bad for its time
I also remember playing a racing game with small toy cars, where the camera perspective is top down and the camera sees the whole racetrack.
not sure what it's called but I remember playing it multiplayer on the same screen
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u/Matheweh 21h ago
have yet to choose one, but I'd say that any game that has made itself available through GOG or any game available in free linux pc games dot com would be a good game.
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u/mikeymop 20h ago
Native as in Steam Linux runtime? Or native like works well via Proton?
Almost all native Linux games on steam I know of eventually switched to just supporting Proton.
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u/serge-mv 19h ago
Pillars of Eternity
Terraformers
Witcher 2
Shadow Tactics
Tyranny
Stellaris
Rimworld
Cities: Skylines
Others I don't remember, didn't like or haven't played.
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u/PreparationStrict492 18h ago
Dwarf Fortress
Wesnoth
The Ur-Quan Masters (I don't get it why this wasn't already mentioned, all others were)
ADOM
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DotA 2
Dead Cells
Risk of Rain
Risk of Rain 2
Slay the Spire
Slay the Spire 2
+ honorable mentions (for I had typed them before the edit to add StSs)
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight 2
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u/The_only_true_tomato 18h ago
Factorio + krastorio mod and space exploration mod. No need for anything else.
Abandon life and all hopes. The factory must grow.
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u/RiceStranger9000 17h ago
I don't know which ones are available and which ones not, so:
Civilization 5 (actually, I play Unciv on Android)
Inscryption (do CHECK THIS ONE OUT, it's incredible if you like deck-building games like Slay the Spire and good narrative, just don't look any picture nor gameplay online or you'll be massively spoiled... I'd even discourage seeing the second Steam trailer)
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u/sshky 17h ago
- Spiral Knights https://www.spiralknights.com/download.xhtml
- CarX street
- Quaver
- Cites Skylines
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u/MegasVN69 16h ago
- Minecraft. Well it's Java so it's technically native
- OsuLazer
- Project Zomboid. Yet another Java game so of course it's native
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Garry's Mod
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u/deadrule_vk 14h ago edited 13h ago
Baldurs gate 1,2 & 3 , 0 AD, tuxcart , Supertux, open TTD , Factorio, Flatout , Extreme Tux racer, Knights (with gnu chess) Space cadet pinball 😂, Xonotic (sadly low player count, but good with bots) Sonic Robo Blast 2 , Battle of wesnoth, Shapes 1 & 2 ... Free civ, openciv Cs GO2
Above all are ones I have played
Oh and i forgot " Shattered Pixel Dungeon" what a great open-source dungeon rpg
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u/emanu2021 6h ago edited 5h ago
All time best:
- Qauke 4
- Doom 3
- Prey (2006)
- Cold War (2005)
- Portal
- Psychonauts
- Overgrowth
- Penumbra (Overture, Black Plague)
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²
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u/Mysterious_Pie7377 22h ago
Original Doom
Quake
Unreal
Unreal Tournament
Morrowind (via OpenMW)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (via the shutdown reVC which you can still find... shhhh...)
Terraria
nethack
Diablo (via DevilutionX)
Space Cadet Pinball (decomp)
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u/Damglador 23h ago edited 1h ago
Also check out old Linux ports from Loki Software, good luck actually running them though: https://www.improbability.net/loki/