Ubuntu has a few offline games out-of-the-box. Now, the developer team is going to remove them from the installer in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Since Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu Desktop no longer provides ‘Minimal installation‘ option in the installer. Instead, it’s “re-named” to “Default installation” with just the essentials, web browser and basic utilities. User can choose “Full installation” option for the office, media player, games, and other app packages that’s previously installed by default in old Ubuntu releases.
Just a few days ago, the desktop team proposed to remove the games from full installation, then made the decision with wider support.
Meaning that the game packages may be completely removed from the iso image, though they are still available to install in Ubuntu Software (App Center).
Play Final Fantasy XIV Online in Linux? There’s a custom launcher for the game for better experience!
It’s XIVLauncher, a free and open-source launcher that provides a customized WINE version for perfect compatibility with FFXIV.
Since the original launcher is slow and cannot save your password, XIVLauncher provides a faster experience, better Linux integration, as well as following QoL features:
Auto-login
Fast patching
Discord Rich Presence
Fast in-game market board price checks
Chat filtering
Chat bridge to Discord
Discord notifications for duties, retainer sales, etc.
Got GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, or GameBoy Color ROMs? It’s easy to play them in your Linux PC through VBA-M emulator.
There are quite a few game emulators for Linux. You can use PPSSPP to run PSP games, and RetroArch for multiple consoles support. For Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, VBA-M is a good choice.
VBA-M, stands for VisualBoyAdvance-M, is the continued development of the now inactive VisualBoy Advance project, with many improvements from various forks.
It’s a free open-source emulator app that included in system repositories for many Linux, including Fedora, Arch, Manjaro, and so forth.
This simple tutorial shows how to install Chatterino, a Twitch Chat app with enhanced features, in Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, 23.10 via PPA.
Chatterino is a free and open-source chat app for Twitch.tv. With it, you can connect as many channels as you like to, either in tabs or in single tab side-by-side.
The client supports features, such as Chat Replies by right-clicking a message and choose “Reply to message”.
Left clicking a user will open dialog for user info, message history, as well as buttons to block, ignore highlight, etc. And, right-click on user allows to @ mention him/her in message.
It supports emotes from BetterTTV, FrankerFaceZ, and 7TV, allows to drag’n’drop image or paste image from clipboard to upload to custom service, such as imgur.com, though not enabled by default.
Other features include:
Hotkeys (customizable)
Link preview (not enabled by default)
Ignore or highlight messages
Search, filters, regular expressions
And more.
How to Install Chatterino via Ubuntu PPA
The app provides Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Ubuntu .deb and Linux .AppImage packages for downloading in its Github releases page.
For Ubuntu/Linux Mint users, the official PPA is a better choice to keep the app up-to-date. Which, so far supports Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, & Ubuntu 23.10 on amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64/armhf (Apple M1/M2, Raspberry Pi) devices.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command to add the PPA:
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, run command to install the chat client:
sudo apt install chatterino
Linux Mint user needs to run sudo apt update first to refresh system package cache.
After installation, you can launch the app from start menu, app grid, or Gnome overview depends on your desktop environment. And, use “Software Updater” (Update Manager) to receive updates.
Then, you can join Twitch channel by their names (the part after www.twitch.tv/ in channel URL). And, see the wiki for more usage.
Uninstall:
To uninstall the Twitch chat app, simply open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove chatterino
Also remove the Ubuntu PPA, either by running command in terminal:
This simple tutorial is going to show beginners how to install the latest stable Battle for Wesnoth (so far 1.16.8) via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20/21.
The Battle for Wesnoth is an open source, turn-based strategy game features both single player and online multiplayer combat.
Ubuntu includes the game package in its system repository but always old. User can choose to install the official Flatpak package, by running 2 commands one by one in a terminal window.
Though, it’s universal Linux package format that runs in sandbox.
For users who prefer the classic .deb package format, The Debian/Ubuntu Games Team maintains an Ubuntu PPA with the latest stable/devel release (1.16.x stable at the moment) of the game packages. Which, so far supports Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, and their derivatives.
1. First, either search for and open a terminal from start menu or press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal.
2. When terminal opens, paste the command below and hit Enter to add the PPA repository.
RetroArch game emulator has reached 1.16.x release series. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04 via PPA.
The new 1.15.0 release feature steam support for macOS user, though macOS 10.13 or later is required. Also, it supports Apple’s native Gamepad protocol MFi, includes Vulkan video driver that is HDR capable for macOS users.
The new release also features Append Preset and Prepend Preset, allows to stack shader presets now on top of each other. Meaning user can mix various shader presets and then save it as a new preset.
Another big change is the alternative system to runahead – preemptive frames. Which, works by rerunning core logic to “rewrite history” before the current frame. Frames are only rerun when the controller state changes. Runahead is still available, and user can choose which one to use.
For the changes in the new RetroArch 1.16.0, see the release note.
How to Install RetroArch 1.16 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint
RetroArch download page offers the downloads for all supported platforms.
For Ubuntu, Linux Mint based systems, the official PPA is a good choice, which so far support for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libretro/stable
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. For Linux Mint, user may need to manually refresh package cache by running command:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, either run command in terminal to install the emulator:
sudo apt install retroarch libretro-*
Or if an old version was installed, use Software Updater to update to v1.16.0.
After installing the software, search for and launch it from start menu or ‘Activities’ overview.
Then, use “Online Updater” menu option to update core libraries, assets, profiles, database, etc. And, use ‘Content Downloader’ option to grab free contents for selected core.
How to Remove RetroArch
To remove the software package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove retroarch libretro-*
Also remove the PPA repository, either by running the command below:
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is building the popular Steam game platform as Snap package!
The Ubuntu developer team is going to improve gaming experience on this popular Linux distribution. The first step is to simplify the process of setting up gaming environment. As the number 1 game platform, Steam to be first one they focus on.
Meaning Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10 can easily search for and install Steam as snap package from Ubuntu Software:
Steam in Ubuntu Software as Snap package
Or, user can press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run the single command to get it:
snap install steam --beta
The command also work in Ubuntu 18.04, though --beta flag is required at the moment, because the package so far is in earlier stage for testing purpose.
After installed the package, just search for and launch it from ‘Activities’ overview screen:
It automatically install updates and setup runtime, and finally launch the client app for you.
Other Choices
As some users do not like Snap package, there are a few other ways to install Steam app in Ubuntu.
Option 1: Steam Installer
By searching in Ubuntu Software, you’ll see a “Steam Installer” package. Which is an empty package that automatically download steam package from its server and set it up in Ubuntu.
Steam Installer in Ubuntu Software
The package however is a 32-bit package which will also install a list of 32-bit libraries as dependencies.
Option 2: Steam’s official .deb package
Steam website offers official .deb package available for Debian/Ubuntu based systems.
Ubuntu starts working on its official Steam package as Snap. Meaning user can now directly search for and install the game platform from Ubuntu Software. Besides that, there are also an installer script in Ubuntu Software, official .deb package from steam website, and Flatpak package available for choices.
The free open-source kart racing game, SuperTuxKart, released the new stable 1.4 version. Here’s the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu Linux.
SuperTuxKart 1.4 fixed a dependency bug for MacOS user, meaning it’s now running again for macOS ranging from 10.9 to 10.14 (Mavericks to Mojave).
The release also introduced experimental support for Vulkan renderer, for low CPU usage and better multi-platform support. User may try it out by either typing “/vulkan” in networking lobby and restart the game, or starting the game with --render-driver=vulkan argument.
A new character Godette, the mascot of the Godot Engine, is introduced in the release. And, the Konqi now has a newer and maturer look.
New Godette character
Other changes include:
Lap trial mode
ARMv7 build for Windows
LOD optimization
Implement HiDPI support in SDL2 properly.
Make sky particle always fall vertically.
Updated Battle Island and Cave X.
New textures in Shifting Sands.
Add track searching to network track screen
Allow using real addon karts
Add left side ghost replay difficulties
How to Install SuperTuxKart 1.4 in Ubuntu
The game is available in Ubuntu Linux via Snap, Deb, and Flatpak package, though they all are not updated at the moment of writing.
Portable Tarball
In case you can’t wait to try it out, download the portable tarball from releases page.
Select download the ‘SuperTuxKart-1.4-linux-x86_64.tar.xz’ for modern 64-bit PC/laptop, and arm64 (or armv7) package for mobile device. Then, just extract and run the executable file to start the game.
Snap package
Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10 user can directly search for and install the game from Ubuntu Software app. Though it’s a Snap package runs in sandbox and still in v1.3 at the moment of writing, it updates automatically once the maintainer publish the new package.
SuperTuxKart in Ubuntu Software
Ubuntu PPA
For those prefer the native .deb package format. The game has an official PPA with all current Ubuntu releases support.
1. First, open terminal either from start menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stk/dev
Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then update and install the game:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install supertuxkart
After that, you can always get the latest game packages by receiving updates via Software Updater (Update Manager).
Uninstall SuperTuxKart
For snap package, simply remove it using Ubuntu Software.
For the PPA package, open terminal and run command:
0 A.D., the free open-source RTS game of ancient warfare, got a new release update a few days ago.
It’s 0 A.D. Alpha 26, code-name ‘Zhuangzi’, features new civilization: The Han, which was the second imperial dynasty of China. It has beautiful new art, unique technologies, buildings, as well as new gameplay strategies to explore.
The release also introduced 2 new map: Tarim basin – an endorheic basin in Northwest China, Xinjiang region; and Yangtze (aka Chang Jiang) the longest river in Asia.
New civilization: The Han with new art, unique technologies, buildings
Other changes in the release include:
Units now have a slight acceleration
26 new music tracks including two themed for the Han
Add player search to the lobby
option to share allies the parts of the map discovered.
For Ubuntu and their based systems, the official PPA repository has been updated with the new packages for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 18.04.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. Then, run the command below to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) for sudo prompt and hit Enter to continue.
2. Old Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint users have to manually refresh the package cache after adding the PPA, though it’s done automatically in Ubuntu 20.04+. And, this can be done by running command:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, either run the command below to install the game:
sudo apt install 0ad
Or launch “Software Updater” and update the game package if an old version was installed.
Uninstall:
To remove the game package, simply open a terminal window and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove 0ad
And, remove the Ubuntu PPA repository using command:
Want to play some games in Ubuntu desktop? Gamebuntu is a new project to make life easier for beginners!
Without searching for how to tutorials and struggling with Linux commands, Gamebuntu is an all-in-one app makes it possible to single click to install Steam, Heroic / Epic Game launcher, Minigalaxy GOG client, and/or Lutris game clients.
Install Game Clients via Single clicks!
The app also offer buttons to easily install other useful apps for setting up Ubuntu for gaming. They include:
OBS Studio for streaming purpose
Discord for chatting
MangoHUD for system details, frame time and FPS counter.
GameMode to optimize game performance,
OpenRGB to configure coolers and RAM modules with RGB.
