Gaming on Linux? I found a distro that makes it pain-free

ZDNET Highlights

• pikaOS is a gaming-focused Linux distribution.
• PikaOS is based on Debian and offers various editions.
• You can install and use PikaOS for free.

There are now many Linux distributions that offer excellent gaming experiences. These distros not only include the necessary software to play games from services like Steam, but the setup process is also made quite simple, so you can start playing your favorite games after just a few clicks.

With a user-friendly installer, you won’t even need to touch the command line.

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Sounds too good to be true, right? In the case of PikaOS, this is not the case.

I tried this Debian-based distribution to see how it works, here’s how it went.

easy installation

The first thing that impressed me was the installation process. After the simplified OS installer completed, I rebooted the system and was immediately greeted by the standard user-creator screen.

After that, the on-boarding tool helped me install the necessary drivers and codecs that will be required to play games and multimedia. Next, the installation process prompted me to install the PikaOS Gaming Meta package. Why, yes, thank you very much.

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I proceeded with the installation of the meta package, and when it completed, I was prompted for another reboot.

After logging in, I was greeted by a Welcome app that offered further setup steps (like adding printer support), setting up the look and feel, troubleshooting tips, and more.

Finally, I arrived at the PikaOS desktop and found it to be extremely attractive. Upon opening the application overlay (this is a GNOME desktop, after all), I found the following game-focused apps installed:

• PikaOS Kernel Manager
• protonplus
• Steam
• wine control panel
• wine prefix configuration
• wine windows runtime
• winetrix
• Lutris
• heroic game

So yes, PikaOS succeeds in its claim of “out of the box”. I clicked on Steam, and it went through its usual automatic updates and then prompted me to log into my account. I decided to continue testing this claim with Steam, since it’s the biggest player on the block (plus, it’s really easy to use). After adding a game to my account (from within the Steam app), I launched the game.

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Keep in mind that some downloads of these games can be massive, so allow time for them to finish. Actually, I’m not sure if it was the Steam servers or my ISP, but the processing of the Vulkan shaders for the game alone kept going on until it felt like it was going to take forever. Maybe it’s the post-Christmas crunch on the Steam servers.

Either way, I found PikaOS to perform just as well as any gaming-focused Linux distribution I’ve tested. I launched my usual test game, Albion Online, and there was some lag, but I connected it to PicaOS running as a virtual machine with only 5GB of RAM, 2 CPU cores, and no physical GPU.

Of course, I was able to get this far in that game because of the anti-cheating issues. Still, in the few minutes I was able to run tests, PikaOS performed well.

To create a user-friendly UI, PikaOS uses the GNOME desktop environment with the Dash to Dock extension. I can’t imagine that anyone would have problems running this desktop distribution. If you open the Extension Manager, you’ll find that other extensions are installed but not enabled.

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For example, many extensions are installed but not enabled by default: Apps Menu, Arc Menu, Dash to Panel, Launch New Instance, etc. If you want to enable any of them, click the On/Off slider for the one you want to use until it is in the On position.

One thing to keep in mind is that since PikaOS is a gaming-focused distribution, you won’t get much in the way of productivity apps pre-installed. That’s okay, because you can launch GNOME Software and install everything you need. And because PikaOS includes Flatpak support, there’s a huge range of installable apps (even proprietary tools like Slack and Spotify).

Overall, I found PikaOS a pleasure to use. As long as you’re running it on a spare machine (and not a virtual machine), you’ll find the gaming aspect to be a great point-and-click affair.

Just remember, when you’re searching for Steam games, make sure not to try to play the ones that are designated as Windows only, as anti-cheat issues will lock you out of the game.

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If you’re interested in this gaming-specific Linux distribution, visit here download page And get the right ISO for your system. If you have an NVIDIA GPU, make sure to download the file labeled NVIDIA ISO.