Can Linux run video games?

[kogo50]

I have just started to use Linux for two reasons. The first is because I do computer programming and I like how it comes with a lot of the tools I need. Plus I think it is a better OS than Windows and cooler. The second is because I was dual booting with Windows 7 and Linux and when I installed Linux I accidentally had it wipe the hard drive. So now I only have Linux which is fine with me. My question is can Linux run Windows programs and video games? I'm not a hardcore gamer but my PC is powerful enough to play the most demanding games. So I would like to b able to game a little. I do have Wine installed and have some Windows programs but I don't know how to install games on Linux. Can anyone help.

[daark.child]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You can run some Windows applications using WINE. If WINE does not support the games and apps you need, then maybe dual booting Linux and Windows would be a better option.

[Dapper Dan]

Looking at my Games menu, these are all I have time for that work well:
FrozenBuggle
SuperTux
StarCraft (wine)
Half-Life (wine)
Trespasser (wine)
World of Goo
Finding Nemo (for my son) (wine)
Running games under wine is pretty straight forward. Insert the cd and mount it, cd to where the install .exe is and run as regular user. As an example, if "setup.exe" is the executable that installs the game:

wine setup.exe

Games will be installed to a hidden directory in your home directory labled: .wine. After game is installed, cd to the .exe that starts the game which will be inside the "Program Files" directory and run with wine. As an example, when I run StarCraft, I do:

cd .wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/StarCraft/
wine StarCraft.exe

Wine runs some games well, others barely and some not at all. Check out Franks Corner for more on your particular games.