Install and manage games with Lutris Play Time

Games and Linux are normally not a good match. Often a troublesome configuration or Wine issues make the setup a slow and time-consuming process. With Lutris [1], an open gaming platform, you just need a few mouse clicks to set up a new game on Linux.

When it comes to commercial software, Lutris will only install games that you have purchased in advance. However, Lutris usually automatically accesses free and open source games from online stores, such as Steam [2] and GOG.com [3]. All the games you install are stored in an integrated library; from there, the games can be started (or easily removed) at the push of a button.

Helpers

Lutris uses Wine to launch numerous Windows games on Linux and takes care of the required Wine configuration independently. The program also cooperates with many other emulators, which you can use to launch countless classics, from the original Space Invaders to the Colonization strategy game for DOS.

Lutris uses runners, which are programs that run the games. For example, the Overwatch action game launches with the Wine runner, while Colonization, the legacy strategy game, is driven by the DOSBox runner with a DOS emulator of the same name (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Clicking on a game in the Games tab on the Lutris website provides you with details about the game, including known issues. You can also purchase the game directly from GOG or Steam by clicking on the corresponding link.

Native Linux programs have their own runner – unsurprisingly named Linux. The Lutris website [4] lists the currently supported runners, which include not only Wine and DOSBox, but also FS-UAE for Amiga and PCSX2 for Playstation 2 emulators, plus many more.

Lutris does not actually install games itself. Instead, it uses community-maintained installation scripts. A list of all currently supported games can be found on the Lutris website under the Games tab (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Lutris only installs games that is supports; you can find a current list on the Lutris website.

Installation

Some distributions, including openSUSE v15.1 and later, offer Lutris via their software package management. However, there are plenty of community packages available for older releases. The Lutris developers provide their own Ubuntu Personal Package Archives (PPA) repository. Listing 1 shows the three commands that add the repository and install the current Lutris version.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lutris-team/lutris
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install lutris

If the distribution you are using does not provide a Lutris package, download the tar.gz archive from the Download section of the Lutris website and extract it to disk; installing is not required.

Before you install Lutris, you need to make sure that you have Wine and all other required dependencies installed on your system (see the "Requirements" box). You can find these dependencies via the software package administration. On Ubuntu, the command from Listing 2 installs all necessary dependencies. You can then launch Lutris by calling ./bin/lutris from the program's directory.

$ sudo apt install python3-yaml python3-requests python3-pil python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0 gir1.2-webkit2-4.0 gir1.2-notify-0.7 psmisc cabextract unzip p7zip curl fluid-soundfont-gs x11-xserver-utils python3-evdev libc6-i386 lib32gcc1 libgirepository1.0-dev

Some games use the Vulkan graphics interface. If Lutris complains about missing Vulkan libraries at startup, you need to install these libraries manually. The procedure depends on which graphics card and distribution you use. (Describing this process is beyond this article's scope; for detailed instructions, see the Lutris Wiki [5]).

Runners

In the initially empty main window, Lutris displays all the currently active runners in the left sidebar (similar to the sidebar in Figure 3). At first, only the Browser and Linux runners should appear. These allow Lutris to install native Linux programs and run browser games. To add more runners, click the gear icon to the right of Runners and select the desired runners from the list (Figure 4).

Figure 3: Runners for Linux, Windows, and browser games are available here. In the center pane, Lutris lists all the known games that include the Super string in their title.

Figure 4: Lutris mainly has runners for emulators.

If you want Lutris to start and manage Windows games, you need the Wine runner (located at the bottom of the list). Click on the adjacent green installation button. With Wine, you can even select specific versions. Unless you have a reason, you should always select the highest version number without the tkg prefix.

Lutris stores the downloaded runners in the home directory below .local/share/lutris/runners/, smuggling them past the distribution's package manager. Install all the other required runners in the same manner. The DOSBox runner for DOS classic games is especially useful.

If you want to play games from Steam, then you also need the Steam and Wine Steam runners. Steam is responsible for native Linux games on Steam, while Wine Steam launches Windows games offered on Steam. When setting up Wine Steam, your system may complain about missing Wine-Mono and Wine-Gecko packages; install them if necessary.

Incidentally, the runners are the Steam client for Linux or Windows, which Lutris uses for its own purposes. On our test system, Lutris did not want to install the Steam runner. In this case, you need to manually install the Steam client for Linux, and Lutris will automatically detect it the next time it starts.

To delete a runner, click on the red trash icon next to the runner in the Manage Runners window.

Changing Paths

In the main window, you will find a gear symbol at the top of the sidebar on the right (above Support Lutris!). Clicking on it opens the basic settings. You don't have to change anything, unless you want to change the default installation directory. When setting up a game, Lutris automatically suggests an installation directory based on the game's name and locates it under the ~/Games/ folder by default. To change this directory, in the System options tab, specify your own Default installation folder, overwriting the runner's default (Figure 5). In the example shown in Figure 5, games powered by Wine would all end up in a separate folder. This is only recommended if you are installing a large number of games.

Figure 5: In the settings for a game or a runner, you can see additional options by checking the Show advanced options box (bottom left corner). These options are helpful if a game fails to start.

In the left sidebar of Lutris's main window, a gear icon again appears when you mouse over a runner entry. Clicking on the gear icon reveals the settings for the respective runner. In the case of Wine, you have the option of changing the Wine version.

Installing Games

To install a game, click on the magnifying glass icon, then on the Search Lutris.net button, and type the name of the game in the input field. Lutris searches its games database and displays all matches in the middle pane (Figure 3).

Even with a fast Internet connection, the search can sometimes take a few seconds. Once you have found the game you desire, click on the corresponding icon image. Pressing Install in the right column sets up the game.

Sometimes Lutris will offer several versions of a game, such as the open source SuperTuxKart game (Figure 6). Click the Install button next to your chosen version. For commercial games, Lutris offers you the choice of downloading the game from various online stores.

Figure 6: The SuperTuxKart Itchio version is downloaded from itch.io instead of the Lutris website.

After selecting the desired game, follow the instructions on the screen. The game may require additional software or a specific runner, which you can launch by clicking Install. If there are several runners to choose from, the first matching suggestion is usually found at the top of the list.

If you do not want to change this, simply accept the suggested installation directory by pressing Install. A separate window shows the progress of the game setup. If this bothers you, just drag the window to another place on the desktop, and you can continue working with Lutris. When the installation is complete, Launch Game starts the game.

Librarian

If you hide the search function by clicking on the magnifying glass icon, Lutris will show you all the currently installed games. A click on one of the runners limits the display to all games belonging to that runner. If you use games for different platforms, such as Windows or DOS, select the appropriate option bottom left.

If you select All in the Runners sidebar, Lutris will display all the games again. To search locally for a specific game, open the search function with the magnifying glass, click the Search Lutris.net button again, and enter the name of the game.

The icon to the right of the magnifying glass switches to the list display and back again if required. You can use the hamburger icon to change the software's display options (Figure 7). The slider at the top of the hamburger pop-up menu changes the size of the icons, and the checkboxes in the middle part of the menu specify the sort order. In the default setting, the program lists all games alphabetically in ascending order by name.

Figure 7: A list display and a dark theme (enabled by checking the Use Dark Theme box) were chosen here.

As soon as you click on a game, further actions appear on the right side. Play starts the game; clicking on the trash can uninstalls it. Using the appropriate links, you can create an icon on the desktop and an entry in the start menu if required. A click on the folder icon opens the game's installation directory in a file manager, for example, to let you save high scores.

The gear symbol takes you to various settings. In the Game options tab, you can enter arguments for the game in the Arguments field. Click on Game info to exchange the button label image.

If the game fails to launch, switch to System options and enable Disable Lutris Runtime, which means that the software won't load various libraries before the game starts. If this is not enough, disable Prefer system libraries. The game then uses its own libraries instead of those belonging to the system.

Adding Games

If you want to add manually installed games to your collection, click on the plus icon in the upper left corner, select Import games, and make sure that you are in the Desktop games tab with the penguin icon. Lutris will shows you all the games it found here (Figure 8). To introduce Lutris to one of the games, check the box in front of the game name, then press Import games, and close the window.

Figure 8: The games listed in the Desktop games window were probably installed via the system's software manager.

If you have previously installed games via the Steam client, switch to one of the tabs with the Steam icon instead. Select all the games installed with the Steam client that you want to manage with Lutris, and then click Import games.

To import games purchased from GOG, go to the GOG.com tab and click Connect your account. Log in to GOG.com as usual. It then takes a moment for Lutris to read your library. Then follow the steps described for the Steam games above. In the main window, you will now find all the games that you set up in the usual way using Install.

Sharing

If you play on multiple computers, you can synchronize your game list between Lutris installations via a free account at Lutris.net. Click on the Register button located top right on the website, and then follow the instructions on the screen. After doing this, log in via Sign-in.

Go to the Games tab, and click on a game to add it to your list (Add to my library). You can view the list by clicking on the Lutris logo top right and selecting Show library. In the main Lutris window, click on the Lutris logo top left and log in with Login. Now use the Lutris icon to synchronize the current status via Synchronize Library.

Conclusions

We tested Lutris v0.5.2, which was a little shaky on our Ubuntu system from time to time. Games did not always start at the first attempt. Nevertheless, Lutris helps you to get an overview of your game collection and also considerably simplifies the process of setting up games.