How to install GOG on Linux and play your games without complications

If you use GNU/Linux and enjoy gaming, sooner or later you'll want to know how to easily install GOG games on Linux , without struggling with countless commands or complicated configurations. The good news is that nowadays there are several highly polished tools that allow you to enjoy your GOG library (and games from other stores) almost as if you were using Windows.

In the following lines, you'll find a comprehensive guide designed to help you install and launch GOG games on Linux using Heroic Games Launcher, Lutris, Steam+Proton, and Wine . You'll see what you need, how these platforms integrate, the advantages of each, and important details such as achievement management, cloud saves, DLCs, and performance on desktop computers and Steam Deck.

What is GOG and why is it such a good fit with Linux?

GOG (Good Old Games) is a digital store where you buy games and download DRM-free installers that are yours to keep forever . You don't depend on a background client or a company "lending" you a license to play, which fits perfectly with the GNU/Linux philosophy of control over your software and data . If you're unsure which store to choose, you can check out our Steam vs. GOG comparison.

Many Linux users believe that GOG and GNU/Linux are the perfect combination : the operating system gives you control over your machine, and GOG gives you control over your games. Unlike more closed systems, where you're only allowed to play as long as the platform allows, here you can download installers, save them, and run them with your preferred tools (Heroic, Lutris, Wine, etc.).

Furthermore, GOG's catalog includes both classic and modern games, many with native Linux versions or installers compatible with Wine . While GOG doesn't always provide the best support for Linux, the community has developed workarounds that make playing games on our system quite simple.

Main options for using GOG on Linux

Today, if you want to enjoy GOG games on Linux , there are several main tools available to you, and ideally you should know them all to choose the one that best suits you.

On one hand, there's Heroic Games Launcher , probably the most polished solution for managing GOG, Epic, and Amazon games on Linux, with built-in achievement support and cloud saves. On the other, Lutris functions as a great game organizer: it unifies native titles, games from GOG, Steam, Humble Bundle, and other sources, and automatically creates optimized Wine environments.

It's worth noting that Steam with Proton can also run many GOG installers as if they were Windows games, taking advantage of Valve's compatibility layer. And, if you want to keep it simple, you can always use Wine directly to launch the GOG installer and configure the game manually.

This diversity can be overwhelming at first, but in practice it boils down to having no shortage of options or flexibility : you can use Heroic as your main GOG and Epic client, Lutris as the command center for your entire library, and Steam+Proton to integrate some games into your Steam collection or to use Valve's excellent controller and gamepad system.

Heroic Games Launcher: the GOG “client” for Linux

Heroic Games Launcher has earned its reputation as an "unofficial client" for GOG, Epic, and Amazon Prime Gaming on Linux . Its interface is modern, intuitive, and designed to eliminate the need to grapple with Wine or Proton's internal configurations unless you choose to.

This launcher lets you log in directly with your GOG account , view your entire digital library (purchases and claimed free games), and download, install, and launch games with a single click. It can also add shortcuts to your desktop, applications menu, or directly to Steam, which is especially useful if you use a Steam Deck.

One of Heroic's biggest advantages is its integration of advanced features such as GOG achievements, cloud saves for both GOG and Epic , and a system for automatically applying known bug fixes. All of this is based on technologies like Wine, Proton-GE, and the new unified runtime UMU, but you'll barely need to touch anything in the interface other than choosing the recommended version.

Installing Heroic on Linux

To install Heroic on most distributions, the easiest way is to use its Flatpak package or an AppImage . On many distributions (such as openSUSE, Fedora, Ubuntu, or SteamOS on Steam Deck), it appears directly in the graphics software store, so you just need to search for "Heroic Games Launcher" and click install. If you prefer a step-by-step guide, here's an article on how to install and configure Heroic Games Launcher.

If you prefer more control over the process, you can go to the official Heroic download page and choose the format that best suits your system. Both Flatpak and AppImage are easy to use and don't require configuring any unusual repositories. On Steam Deck, for example, it's recommended to enter desktop mode and download Heroic from Discover, the KDE graphics store.

Recommended initial configuration in Heroic

Before you start installing your first game, it's a good idea to spend a couple of minutes configuring two or three key settings , especially if you're short on internal disk space or using a microSD card (typical case of the Steam Deck).

Within Heroic, go to Settings → General and define an alternative "Default Installation Path" : for example, a "Heroic" folder on your second hard drive or in the root directory of your microSD card. This prevents filling up your system drive. Right below, in the "Set Folder for new Wine Prefixes" field , create another folder (or folder structure) on the same drive to store the Wine/Proton prefixes for each game.

Heroic creates a separate prefix for each game , so if you break something while tinkering with mods or settings, it won't affect the rest of your games. It's a very safe way to experiment. While you're at it, also check that your Steam path is correctly detected if you want Heroic to automatically add games to your Steam library.

Further down in the same menu are several integration options: you can enable or disable the automatic creation of shortcuts on the desktop, in the Start menu, or in Steam. On a desktop PC, many people prefer to run everything from Heroic, but in Steam Deck, it's often very practical to check "Add games to Steam automatically" to take advantage of the controller management layer and the Game Mode interface.

Download Wine, Proton-GE and activate UMU

To run GOG (and Epic) games on Linux, Heroic uses Wine and Proton-GE , which are compatibility layers that translate Windows APIs (including DirectX) to OpenGL and Vulkan on GNU/Linux. Proton-GE is a customized version, with improvements and extra codecs not always present in Valve's official Proton.

Within the Heroic interface itself, in the tools section, you can easily download Wine-GE-Latest and Proton-GE-Latest with a single click, without leaving the program. The general recommendation is to have at least the latest version of Proton-GE and, if you play older titles, a recent version of Wine-GE as well, in case it provides better performance.

Going back to Settings → Advanced , there's an experimental features section worth checking out. It's recommended to enable "Comet" support so GOG can track achievements and stats , the option to automatically apply known bug fixes, and the use of UMU as the Proton runtime , which is the unified system that projects like Heroic, Lutris, and Bottles are converging towards. If you encounter graphical errors, troubleshooting with Vulkan can often improve compatibility.

Note that UMU runs on Proton, not Wine . Therefore, in Settings → Game Defaults , you should change the default Wine version to Proton-GE-latest. On laptops with a dedicated GPU, you can also select the "Use Dedicated Graphics Card" option to ensure the game uses the powerful graphics card and not the integrated one.

Log in to GOG and manage your library

Once everything is set up, the next step is to log in to your GOG, Epic, and Amazon accounts from the Heroic home screen. As soon as you log in, your library will appear with the games you've purchased or claimed for free.

In the case of Epic, it's normal for your session to expire occasionally, so if you log into Heroic one day and don't see your Epic games, simply log in again. There are two authentication methods, so you can try the standard one first and, if that fails, the alternative. With GOG, sessions are generally more stable and don't usually cause as many problems.

In the library interface, you can use filters to hide or show games from each store , so if one day you only want to see what you have on GOG, simply uncheck the other sources. Installed games appear highlighted and first, while uninstalled games are shown in gray.

Install and launch GOG games with Heroic

Installing a GOG game with Heroic is as simple as opening the game's page and clicking the download button . On that same page, you can see the approximate installation size, the installation path, and, if available, the ProtonDB compatibility tier.

During the first launch of a game, it's normal for it to take a little longer than usual to start , because dependencies, Wine/Proton components, and sometimes Microsoft redistributables are being installed in the background. If you think nothing is wrong, return to the library view and you'll see the progress bar.

Once installed, simply click "Play" to start playing . There's an important rule for Steam Deck: Epic games (and, as a precaution, GOG games as well) should be run at least once in desktop mode before launching them from Steam's Game Mode, to ensure the initial configuration is generated correctly.

DLCs, cloud saves, and advanced options

When you purchase DLC on GOG, Heroic lets you manage it from the game's actions submenu, under "Modify Installation ." There you can usually select the language, beta channel, and available DLC. This integration generally works very well on GOG; however, with Epic, it sometimes waits for a response and occasionally fails to recognize the DLC, forcing you to reinstall the game with all the included content.

In each game's individual settings (options icon), you'll find several tabs: Wine/Proton, graphics options, launch parameters, and "Cloud Saves ." If the GOG game supports cloud saves, you'll see the corresponding tab, where you can manually manage which saves are uploaded or downloaded, or enable automatic synchronization (which is still considered beta).

To download previously saved games from the cloud, it's important to open the game once so it creates its local folder structure . Then, from the Cloud Saves tab, you can adjust the save path if Heroic doesn't detect it correctly (a common issue with some Epic titles) and choose the synchronization method. Be careful with the "Force Upload" and "Force Download" options to avoid accidentally overwriting important progress.

Heroic also allows you to run additional .exe files using the game's wineprefix . This is very useful for installing mods, external patches, or utilities that expect the game to run in a Windows environment. Simply drag the .exe file to the corresponding box in the advanced options and follow the wizard as you would on a Microsoft system.

Install GOG games on Linux with Lutris

Lutris is another important pillar of the Linux gaming ecosystem: it's a launcher that centralizes all your games, regardless of their source . It can manage native titles, games from Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, emulators, and virtually anything you can run on your computer, with or without Wine.

Its philosophy differs somewhat from Heroic's: Lutris functions as an "orchestrator" of Wine installers and environments , relying heavily on the community. For hundreds of games, there are predefined installers (YAML) that automate dependency downloads, create the prefix, configure Wine, and get the game up and running with just a few clicks.

Before installing anything from GOG in Lutris, make sure you have Lutris properly installed on your distribution and a GOG account with purchased games. Many titles are very cheap or even free in promotions, so it's easy to build a library without breaking the bank.

Using Lutris Community Installers for GOG

A very convenient way to install GOG games in Lutris is to go to the "Sources" section and search for the game in the "Community Installers" tab . There you will see a list of scripts contributed by other users; choose the one you want and click the "Install" button.

When you start the installer, Lutris will ask you which source you want to install the game from . If you have the title on GOG, select that option and confirm again with "Install". Next, it will ask for the directory where you want to install it; choose the path (for example, a secondary drive) and continue with the wizard.

In many cases, a screen will appear with additional dependencies or optional local files . Some installers allow you to specify a GOG installer already downloaded and stored on your computer; others will download it directly. If you don't need to add anything, click "Continue" and let Lutris download everything required, including any Wine components or Redistributables that will open their own windows.

Once the preliminary process is complete, the GOG installer window will usually appear , where you accept the EULA, choose the internal installation path, and complete the wizard just as you would in Windows. When finished, you'll have the option to launch the game or close it to return to Lutris.

Practical example: Carmageddon TDR 2000

A typical example of using Lutris with GOG is Carmageddon TDR 2000 , a classic violent driving game from 2000. Through a community installer, Lutris downloads the necessary components, launches the GOG installer, and performs some auto-configuration to detect available screen resolutions.

During the first run, the game may display additional configuration windows (such as Carmageddon's own resolution selector). Accept these, complete the wizard, and then you can click "Play TDR2000" to verify that everything is working correctly under Wine.

When you close the game, you might see another "Installation Completed!" window. From there, you can click "Launch" to run the game again or "Close" to return to Lutris. In the Lutris library, the game's control button will change to "Play" so you can launch it whenever you want.

To uninstall, simply click the arrow next to the control button and select "Remove" . And one important detail: to completely close the game, simply exiting from within the game itself isn't enough; sometimes you need to press "Stop" on the Lutris control button, or the Wine process may get stuck running in the background.

Installers that request a local GOG file

There are Lutris installers, especially for Linux versions of GOG (such as certain remasters, for example "Full Throttle Remastered"), that explicitly request a "local installer from GOG.com for Linux". The YAML file usually hints that this installer is a ZIP file or a specific package.

In these cases, you need to download the installer from your GOG account, in the clientless downloads section . Instead of using Galaxy or another frontend, go to your library on the GOG website, locate the game, and download the Linux installer (usually a .sh, .tar.gz, or .zip file). This is the file you then specify to Lutris when prompted.

If you can't find the Linux installer on the GOG website, the Lutris script might be designed for an older or specific package that is no longer distributed. In that case, you should check the game's page on Lutris, read the comments, and, if necessary, ask the community or look for a more recent alternative installer that works with the current version of GOG.

What to do if your GOG game doesn't have an installer on Lutris

Sometimes a GOG game, such as The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd , doesn't have an installer available in the Lutris database. On Pop!_OS or other modern distributions, even if you have Steam, Proton, Wine, Protontricks, and Lutris installed, Lutris might tell you that no installers have been written for that title.

In that case, you have several options. One is to create your own entry in Lutris using the GOG installer under Wine : download the .exe file from your account, create a new game in Lutris, select Wine as the runner, and point it to the installer. This way, you manually control the process, as if you were in Windows, but with Wine managed by Lutris.

Another option is to use Steam with Proton as your runtime environment : add the GOG installer as a "non-Steam" game, force a specific version of Proton in its properties, and run the .exe file from Steam. With a bit of luck, the game will install to the Proton prefix, and you can then launch it like any other title in your library.

Finally, you can always use Wine directly , creating your own wineprefix, installing the necessary dependencies with tools like winetricks or protontricks, and running the installer from the terminal or a file explorer. It's the most manual option, but it also gives you complete control when there's no pre-configured support.

Steam, Proton and the gaming ecosystem on GNU/Linux

For years it was said that you couldn't play the same games on GNU/Linux as on Windows , but that statement is now outdated. The official Steam client for Linux and Proton technology have made it possible to enjoy most of the Steam catalog with near-native performance.

Valve has invested heavily in Linux, even launching the Steam Deck with a GNU/Linux-based operating system . This same effort has benefited the entire ecosystem: thanks to Proton and the work of the community (Proton-GE, DXVK, VKD3D…), many games designed for DirectX are translated to Vulkan and OpenGL on Linux almost seamlessly; if you're interested in the context, you can read about the importance of Linux in the world.

This is complemented by excellent support for AMD and Intel graphics drivers , based on open-source code and integrated into the Linux kernel, which reduces compatibility issues. Games that use DirectX on Windows run on Linux by translating those calls to compatible APIs, with performance that in many cases is barely distinguishable from Microsoft's system.

The other side of the coin is anti-cheat systems and some very aggressive DRM , which can still consider Linux an "unsupported" environment and block the game. Even so, the number of problematic titles is decreasing, and more and more developers are adapting their solutions to also work through Proton.

Recommended hardware for playing GOG on Linux

To get the most out of your GOG library and other stores, you need a computer with decent graphics power , especially for modern and AAA games. The CPU is important, but the GPU makes all the difference when it comes to running demanding titles with good quality and frame rates.

On Linux, the simplest approach is usually to opt for AMD or Intel graphics cards , whose drivers are open source and integrate well with current kernels. Most distributions don't require installing additional proprietary drivers: a relatively recent kernel and an updated graphics stack are sufficient. There are also gaming distributions like PikaOS geared towards gamers.

In the case of NVIDIA, the drivers are proprietary and, although they work, they may require extra installation steps and cause more problems with certain kernel or graphics server versions. That's why many people recommend avoiding NVIDIA in GNU/Linux environments, unless you already own a graphics card and want to get the most out of it.

For desktop computers, Linux specialists and some system integrators offer powerful and fully compatible systems with dedicated AMD or Intel Arc graphics . If you prefer compact form factors, Intel NUC-type mini PCs with dedicated GPUs (like the "Serpent Canyon" with Intel Arc A770) or similar AMD-based systems offer an interesting balance between small size and gaming capabilities.

And if you don't need to run the latest AAA games, a modern integrated graphics card from AMD or Intel might be sufficient for many GOG games, especially classics, indies, or less demanding titles. In those cases, tools like Heroic, Lutris, and Steam will still give you access to a huge catalog, without the need for a monstrous GPU.

This entire ecosystem is complemented by other possibilities such as retro emulators (MAME, RetroArch), classic point-and-click graphic adventures , and countless free or low-cost games, from titles like Transport Tycoon to small pastimes included in the desktop environments themselves.

With all these pieces—GOG, Heroic, Lutris, Steam+Proton and reasonably well-supported hardware—playing on GNU/Linux ceases to be a rarity and becomes a perfectly viable option, with ample freedom of choice, control over your games and a system that, when properly configured, can give you many hours of fun without missing practically anything from the Windows world.