Gaming

Game launchers

Games can be run by different applications. Some are able to include libraries from different platforms.

Application	Platform	Remarks
Steam	Steam	Stable support for Windows games. Linux games often incompatible due to interoperating differences.
Lutris	Epic Games, EA App, Flatpak, GOG, Humble Bundle, Steam, Ubisoft Connect, Wine
Heroic	Epic Games, GOG, Prime Gaming, Wine	Supports gamepad navigation. Unlike Lutris, uses open-source Legendary for Epic Games.
PPSSPP	PSP emulation
PCSX2	PS2 emulation
RPCS3	PS3 emulation	Contains unfree blobs (PS3 firmware).
RetroArch	Retro games emulation
Wine	Windows emulation	often easier to use Lutris install scripts for wine applications/games
Dosbox	DOS emulation
nixpgs	Linux games

List of NixOS supported games

Name	Category	nixpkg status	Short Description
The Dark Mod	Stealth, FPS	pending pull request	Stealth game inspired by the Thief series.
Endless Sky	Space simulation, RPG	In nixpkgs	Explore a universe with different factions and ships.
Veloren	RPG, Sandbox	In nixpkgs	Multiplayer voxel RPG set in a procedurally generated world.
Armagetron Advanced	Arcade, Racing	In nixpkgs	A multiplayer Tron-like lightcycle racing game.
0 A.D.	Strategy, Historical	In nixpkgs	Historical real-time strategy game.
SuperTuxKart	Arcade, Racing	In nixpkgs	Kart racing game (like Super Mario Kart) featuring Tux and friends.
OpenRA	Strategy, RTS	In nixpkgs	Open-source implementation of Command & Conquer.
FreeCiv	Strategy, Turn-based	In Nixpkgs	Civilization-building strategy game.
FreeDink	Adventure, RPG	In Nixpkgs	Free, portable and enhanced version of the Dink Smallwood game engine
OpenTTD	Simulation, Management	In nixpkgs	Business simulation game based on Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
Battle for Wesnoth	Strategy, Turn-based	In nixpkgs	Turn-based strategy game with fantasy themes.
FreeDoom	FPS	Not in nixpkgs	Free alternative to the Doom series.
Xonotic	FPS, Arena shooter	In nixpkgs	Fast-paced multiplayer shooter.
LinCity	Simulation, Management	In nixpkgs	City simulation game
LinCity-NG	Simulation, Management	In nixpkgs	City simulation game
Mindustry	Strategy, Sandbox	In nixpkgs	Sandbox tower defense game.
NetHack	Rogue-like, RPG	In nixpkgs	Rogue-like game
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead	Survival, Rogue-like	In nixpkgs	Post-apocalyptic survival game.
Shattered Pixel Dungeon	Rogue-like, RPG	In nixpkgs	Rogue-like dungeon crawler with pixel graphics.
Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection	Puzzle	In nixpkgs	Simon Tatham's portable puzzle collection
Luanti	Sandbox	In nixpkgs	An open source voxel game engine.

Example of games installation

Renowned Explorers: International Society

Tested with version renowned_explorers_international_society_522_26056.sh from gog.com. It can be played with steam-run, but it needs some libraries that are not normally included in Steam's FHS environment. One way to solve this is to add an overlay:

  nixpkgs.overlays = [
    (self: super: {
      steam-run = (super.steam.override {
        extraLibraries = pkgs: with pkgs;
          [
            libxkbcommon
            mesa
            wayland
            (sndio.overrideAttrs (old: {
              postFixup = old.postFixup + ''
                ln -s $out/lib/libsndio.so $out/lib/libsndio.so.6.1
              '';
            }))
          ];
      }).run;
    })
  ];

Adding libxkbcommon, mesa, and wayland is straightforward. The game expects the shared library sdnio.so.6.1 to exist, so we need to create a symbolic link after the installation of sndio.

See also

• List of existing games in nixpkgs
• Open Source Game Clones
• open-source-games list on Github by bobeff
• 100 highest rated (by stars on Github) playable open source games
• List of open-source video games (en.wikipedia)
• Topic "open-source-game" on github
• NixOS Wiki Chess page