Best Open Source Games and Gaming Tools for Linux

Proton is the reason Linux gaming took off. Steam picks it automatically for games verified on Steam Deck. For anything else, open Steam settings, go to Compatibility, and turn on Steam Play for all titles. Proton 11.0-2, released on August 21, 2026, is the current stable version and is based on Wine 11.

If a game misbehaves, try Proton Experimental from the game's Properties menu before anything else. It gets fixes first. The ProtonDB community reports are the fastest way to see what settings other players use for a game.

Wine is the project almost everything else on this page builds on. It is not an emulator: it rewrites Windows system calls into Linux ones, so programs run at close to native speed. Most people never run Wine directly. Proton, Lutris, Heroic and Bottles use it for you.

Wine 11.0, released on January 13, 2026, finished the new 64-bit Windows mode (WoW64) and added support for NTSYNC, a Linux kernel driver that copies how Windows handles thread syncing. That gives a real speed boost in some CPU-heavy games. NTSYNC needs Linux 6.14 or newer, and on some distros you have to load the module yourself.

GE-Proton is a community build of Proton with extra patches: media codec fixes for in-game videos, game-specific fixes that have not reached Valve's build yet, and newer Wine features. When a game crashes at an intro video or shows a black screen in cutscenes, GE-Proton often fixes it.

You do not install it by hand. Use ProtonPlus or ProtonUp-Qt (below), restart Steam, and pick GE-Proton in the game's Compatibility settings. GE-Proton11-7, released in September 2026, is the latest version.

Epic, GOG and Amazon do not make Linux launchers. Heroic fills that gap: log in to each store, see your full library in one window, and install games with one click. It handles Wine and Proton versions for you, syncs cloud saves for supported games, and can add games to Steam so they show up in Steam Deck's Gaming Mode.

It is the easiest way to claim and play Epic's weekly free games on Linux. Version 2.22.3 is the current release, available on Flathub.

Lutris is the long-standing all-rounder. Its website hosts community install scripts for thousands of games, so installing something like Battle.net or an old CD game becomes a few clicks instead of an afternoon of Wine settings. It also launches emulators, native Linux games and GOG or Epic titles from one library.

It is a little less polished than Heroic, but it covers far more launchers and edge cases. Version 0.5.22 shipped on February 24, 2026.

Bottles keeps each Windows program in its own "bottle", a separate Wine environment with its own settings and libraries. If one game needs an old DirectX setup and another needs something newer, they never fight. It has gaming and software presets, snapshots so you can roll back a broken change, and a simple dependency installer.

It is the best pick for single Windows apps, mod tools, and old standalone games. Flatpak is the only install method the developers support. Version 67.4 is the current release.

ProtonPlus installs and updates GE-Proton, Wine-GE and similar tools for Steam, Lutris, Heroic and Bottles from one small window. Version 0.6.8 shipped in September 2026.

ProtonUp-Qt does the same job and is just as good. Pick whichever looks better on your desktop: ProtonPlus is a GTK app that fits GNOME, ProtonUp-Qt is a Qt app that fits KDE.

MangoHud draws a small overlay in your game with FPS, frame time, CPU and GPU load, temperatures, and RAM use. It is also how you cap frame rates and log benchmark runs. In Steam, add mangohud %command% to a game's launch options. The Steam Deck performance overlay is built on it.

Editing its config file by hand is fiddly, so install GOverlay, a small open source app that gives MangoHud a settings window with a live preview. MangoHud 0.8.4 shipped on May 27, 2026.

Gamescope is the small window manager that runs Steam Deck's Gaming Mode. On a desktop, you can wrap a single game in it to force a resolution, upscale with FSR, cap frame rates, or fix games that behave badly with multiple monitors. Distros like Bazzite use it to give you a console-style session on a TV.

It is a power-user tool, so expect to read the docs for launch options. It is maintained by Valve and updated often.

Linux has no official AMD or NVIDIA control panel with fan curves and power limits. LACT is the open source answer: set custom fan curves, undervolt, overclock, change power limits, and watch clocks and temperatures, with profiles that apply when a game starts. It works with AMD, NVIDIA and Intel cards. Version 0.10.1 shipped on August 29, 2026.

AMD owners can also look at CoreCtrl, which focuses on AMD and adds CPU profiles.

Sunshine runs on your gaming PC and streams the screen to Moonlight on any other device in your home: a TV, an Android or iPhone, a laptop, or a handheld. With wired Ethernet on the PC, the delay is low enough for fast games. It works with any GPU, not just NVIDIA.

Set up Sunshine once through its web page, pair Moonlight with a PIN, and you are done. Sunshine now uses date-based version numbers (its September 2026 build is the latest), and Moonlight 6.2.0 shipped on October 3, 2026.

RetroArch runs emulator "cores" for dozens of systems, from the NES and Mega Drive to the PlayStation, inside one interface with shared controller settings, save states, shaders and rewind. It has a learning curve, but once set up it handles most retro systems in one place. Version 1.22.2 is the current release.

Pair it with Steam ROM Manager (GPL-3.0) to add your emulated games to Steam with cover art, which is the neatest way to play them on a Steam Deck.

Dolphin plays GameCube and Wii games at higher resolutions than the original hardware, with widescreen hacks, texture packs and netplay. It is one of the best-run emulator projects anywhere, with monthly releases. Release 2609a landed on October 8, 2026.

PCSX2 runs almost the whole PlayStation 2 library, and most games can run at 2x to 4x resolution on a mid-range PC. It needs a BIOS file from your own PS2. Version 2.8 arrived in late August 2026.

For other Sony consoles, PPSSPP (PSP, GPL-2.0) and RPCS3 (PS3, GPL-2.0) are also open source. RPCS3 needs a strong CPU.

0 A.D. is the best-looking open source game you can play today: a full historical strategy game in the style of Age of Empires, with many civilisations, naval combat, and online multiplayer. After more than 20 years in development, Release 28 "Boiorix" in February 2026 was the first version without the "alpha" label. It added the Germans as a new civilisation.

The AI is decent for practice, and the multiplayer lobby is active in the evenings in Europe.

SuperTuxKart is the open source game everyone should try first. It is a kart racer with Tux the penguin and other open source mascots, a story mode, battle arenas, and online races. It runs on almost anything, including old laptops, and it is a safe pick for kids. Version 1.5 shipped on October 20, 2025.

OpenTTD started as a remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe and grew into something much bigger: build rail, road, sea and air networks, grow towns, and run a transport company over a hundred years. It comes with free replacement graphics and sound, so you do not need the original game. Version 15.3 is current.

One change to know: since March 14, 2026, OpenTTD is no longer a separate free download on Steam and GOG. It now comes bundled with the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe for $9.99 there. It is still completely free from the official website and Flathub.

Wesnoth is a turn-based fantasy strategy game on a hex map with many single-player campaigns, more made by players, and online multiplayer. Both the code and the art are GPL, which is rare. Each campaign takes hours, and the luck in combat keeps every battle tense. Version 1.18.8 shipped in August 2026.

Mindustry mixes Factorio-style conveyor-belt factories with tower defence: mine resources, build production chains, and defend your core from waves of enemies. It has campaigns, custom maps and multiplayer. It is paid on Steam and itch.io (which supports the developer) but free from Flathub, F-Droid and its source code page.

Luanti is the voxel game engine you may know as Minetest. It was renamed in November 2024, so older guides still use the old name. It is not a Minecraft clone out of the box: you pick a game from its content browser, such as VoxeLibre (closest to Minecraft) or Mineclonia, plus mods and texture packs.

It runs well on low-end PCs and is popular with schools and families who want to host a private server. Version 5.17.0 shipped in August 2026.

A short, tough dungeon crawler where every run is different and death sends you back to the start. Sessions take 10 to 60 minutes, it plays well with a mouse, keyboard or touch, and several hero classes to master. Version 4.0.0 shipped on September 9, 2026.

Start with a small ship and a loan, then trade, run missions, fight pirates, and slowly upgrade your fleet across a large galaxy with a real story. It is a top-down 2D game that is easy to learn and hard to put down. Version 0.11.2 shipped on June 27, 2026.

Cataclysm is a deep survival game set after a disaster: scavenge, craft, build vehicles, and manage hunger, injuries and mutations. It has a huge amount of detail and a steep learning curve. Unusually, the code is under a Creative Commons licence instead of the GPL. Stable release 0.I "Ito" landed on June 6, 2026.

Veloren is a multiplayer voxel RPG with a huge open world, dungeons, gliding, and real-time combat. It is still before version 1.0, so expect rough edges, but the official servers are lively and new versions land regularly. Version 0.18 arrived in January 2026.

A Flatpak Steam cannot see a GE-Proton folder installed for the distro version of Steam, and the other way around. Pick one way to install Steam and use matching tool versions. ProtonPlus and ProtonUp-Qt detect which Steam you have.

New GPUs and new games often need recent graphics drivers (Mesa for AMD and Intel). A long-term-support distro from two years ago can be the reason a game stutters. If you game on new hardware, use a distro that ships fresh drivers.

Linux gaming changes fast. Guides from 2021 to 2023 recommend tools that have stopped updating and fixes that are now built in. If a tip mentions Minetest, Wine-staging setup by hand, or a DXVK install script, it is out of date.

Steam lets you set a Proton version per game. When one game breaks after an update, set that game to an older Proton or GE-Proton instead of changing the default for your whole library.