One of the core limitations of having grown up around Windows is that you get used to what’s available on the Platform and at the top of that long list is Games. Yes, very few casual gamers would switch to Linux because:

1. Very few of the popular titles have Linux-Native ports
2. Many Linux newbies are afraid of thinkering with the console
3. Many Linux newbies don’t want to install and configure everything Manually with WINE.

Note: Yes there’s a lot of GOOD Native Linux games but most of the big and popular ones are still on Windows.

WINE?!?

Wine is a command-line interface compatibility layer that allows you run many Windows programs overs Linux by using individual tweaks PER application (well, most of the time, still it’s a lot of work).  A few of the braver souls have probably tried to do things manually but like me, most of them probably gave up half way and kept their Windows installation around for the purpose of gaming. Well, that’s all about the change. PlayOnLinux is an open source Python-based front end that helps you install and play tons of Windows-only games — and more!

Play on Linux?

At first glance, you might say that PlayOnLinux is just Wine with a facelift. It’s not. PlayOnLinux provides a front end for most Wine options to do away with all the headaches.

The minimal installation instructions are in the 491KB tar package and there’s also a 497KB pre-compiled PlayOnLinux binary for Debian-based systems like Ubuntu and it’s derivatives.

PlayOnLinux allows you to:

• Install and manage Games/Applications
• Install Direct X
• Run Expansion packs
• Even install patches

As for compatibility, since PlayOnLinux uses Wine, it’ll run everything that runs with Wine (checkout WineHQ for the full list). PlayOnLinux uses it’s own environment call wineprefix to install each program so you don’t have to worry about anything being overwritten if you’re not familiar with the Linux Filesystem.

The More

PlayOnLinux offers much more than an easy to use GUI for wine. Also included are bash scripts that will create the proper environment to run a particular game as well guide you through its installation. Neat huh? Last I check there was 60+ game scripts but considering it’s popularity, the list might have tripled by now.

Now all that gaming will probably set you back on productivity so PlayOnLinux also adds subset of scripts called WorkOnLinux (simliar to the game scripts) for freely available Windows applications like Google SketchUp, and Winrar.

Can’t find a script for your favorite Windows-based game or application. Don’t worry, it’ll still work as long as it’s supported by Wine and using PlayOnLinux’s LiveInstall script, you can install any game or app as well as use it with all the various PlayOnLinux tools (such as WineBooster, WineMaster, and WineConfig) to make it run like it was installed with an official script.

Casual Linux users aside, PlayOnLinux also gives powerusers their own share of features like (Note it’s a bit geeky from this point forward):

• Wine configuration window (for audio, video, etc)
• Various Wine options to improve performance (DirectDrawRenderer mode, WineBooster)
• Install DirectX and Wine versions for a particular game
• WineGit to compile and install Wine from its Git repository
• Use the Windows Registry Editor
• Simulate a Windows reboot (automatic with most of the tweaks)
• Graphic tests like Glxgears, Glxmulx, and GlxTinou

What’s the catch?

There’s still a lot of quirks going on with PlayOnLinux and the main one is language. Most of it’s developers are from non-English-speaking regions so some error messages and other bits of information haven’t yet been translated.

Some of the scripts are also quirky, it the sense that some features simply don’t work or in worst cases, it keeps on looping endlessly. Not sure which ones are those but given the fact that PlayOnLinux is still relatively young, it’s forgivable. I mean, it’s Gaming on Linux! What more can a Geek ask for?