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Alternatives

There are tons of options and tools to get games running on your Chromebook. Smoke isn't for everyone and if you're not sure about using this option, this section lists out some other solutions that you can explore before digging in.

Tip

You're not stuck using any one solution. You can try a combination of one or many of these alternatives to have the best solution that works for you. All these options below are worth trying out.

Lutris

Lutris has become a very popular option on Linux. It can be installed on Chromebooks through the Linux environment and works very well.

Advantages

  • Community driven installers give multiple options to install games
  • Huge list of supported games means you will probably find an installer regardless of which game you are looking for.
  • Well documented installation process helps users through the majority of problems
  • Integration with GOG and other gaming services means you don't need to manually download games.
  • Install scripts can be modified to suit your liking

Challenges

  • It can be tricky to find the right installation script that will work on Chromebook given that some games have multiple options.
  • Users are required to install dependencies to get the installers to work.
  • Installing a client to manage your libraries may turn some people off the project.

Minigalaxy

Minigalaxy describes itself as a Simple GOG client for Linux. Again, this platform is installed through the Linux environment.

Advantages

  • Automatically download and install games from your GOG library.
  • Appears to work well for most games

Challenges

  • Installing a client to manage your library may turn some people off the project.
  • Project supported through Debian repository means that updates and changes to this project may not make it to your system without some extra work on your part.

Adamhm Scripts

Adamhm is an active user in the GOG.com community who has authored countless install scripts to get Windows based games from GOG.com to run on Linux.

Advantages

  • Tested scripts that setup a Wine Prefix for each game.
  • No knowledge of Wine or ProtonDB required to get these running.
  • Adamhm is an active member of the GOG Forum and will offer assistance of fixes quickly.

Challenges

  • Limited to Windows games. You won't find any scripts from Adamhm for DOSBox or ScummVM games.
  • If you're not comfortable with running commands on the terminal, you might not like this option.

play.it

play.it is another great source of scripts to help you get your GOG.com games installed on Linux based systems. This one works by creating a package installer (.deb) that you can use to install the game through the ChromeOS installer. This project most closely resembles Smoke in terms of goals and approach.

Advantages

  • Scripts create a portable installer; once you have the resulting .deb file, you can install the game onto your system quickly without re-creating the installer.
  • Active development. Changes and fixes are being published on a regular basis.

Challenges

  • ChromeOS not officially supported. Some games may not work without additional modifications.

Gamehub

Gamehub is another launcher / installer combination program. This one also includes support for retro-console emulation. Some forums will report that Gamehub's install scripts don't always work.

Manual Installs

ChromeOS apps to check out

If you're exploring manual installations, it's worth noting that there are some excellent game engine ports on the Google play store that are more than capable of handling some games where you don't even need to turn on Linux on your Chromebook.