11 classic Raspberry Pi games run without emulators

Raspberry Pi is not just for DIY projects. You can use it as a desktop or send it to space. It can be configured as an inspiring digital frame, or even a smart mirror.

But do you know that this credit card size computer can also run games? We don't mention emulators here, but about actual games that can be installed on Raspberry Pi.

Install game on Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is extremely useful and flexible. It can even run retro games in the emulator for many classic platforms. But if you don't want to touch retro emulators and games on Raspberry Pi, that's entirely possible.

Developers of the following games have released them for the community to use. Some are originals, others are copies, but you can run all these games on Raspberry Pi. It's best to use Raspberry Pi 3 or higher, although some games can run on Pi 2.

11 classic Raspberry Pi games run without emulators

1. Doom

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You can install Doom 1993 on Raspberry Pi. It can run on Raspberry Pi 2 mounted on the official 7-inch Raspberry Pi touch screen.

Doom is one of many games that have a publicly available source for fans to reuse. The source code has also been ported (software changed to fit the new environment, different from its original design) to ARM and Linux devices since its release in 1997.

You can enjoy one-player and Deathmatch games, just like the old days. However, this may vary depending on the version of Doom you install. Some versions are available for Raspberry Pi.

2. Duke Nukem 3D

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Duke Nukem 3D is a slightly adult-oriented game that brought us back to 1996. The release of source code for this game in the late 1990s allowed Duke Nukem 3D to run on non-Windows platforms, including AmigaOS. as well as Linux.

Although you can play Duke Nukem 3D in the emulator, this is not necessary. Just get EDUKE_32 software (released as a semi-official branch of the game in 2000) and follow the full steps to install it here.

3. Beneath a Steel Sky

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Set in Australia's dark future (like Mad Max but instead of cities), Beneath a Steel Sky is a point-and-click adventure (pointing and clicking). Although these games are now very rare, in the 1990s, this was a popular approach to the story-focused adventure game.

Beneath a Steel Sky is a result of a collaboration between video game designer Charles Cecil and British comic legend Dave Gibbon. The game's serious content (protecting Union City and overcoming ecological disasters) is mixed with a bit of humor to add fun to Beneath a Steel Sky.

Installing Beneath a Steel Sky on Raspberry Pi is very simple. However, you should run this game from the desktop, instead of the command line. Errors in some versions prevent you from restarting your computer.

Beneath a Steel Sky runs on modern computers thanks to ScummVM. You can install it on your Pi with the command:

 sudo apt install beneath-a-steel-sky 

Note that this will also include the ScummVM game engine (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine). Fortunately, other ScummVM games will also run on Raspberry Pi, such as Flight of the Amazon Queen. Look for them at ScummVM's website.

4. Wolfenstein 3D

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In the days before Doom appeared, id Software released Wolfenstein 3D, a shooting game on the theme of Nazi Germany / World War II. You may have played one of the sequels of this game, Return to Castle Wolfenstein or Wolfenstein: The New Order.

After launching in 1992, the game's source code was released in 1995. Finally, Wolf4SDL was developed and now you can install it on Raspberry Pi. Like some of the other games on this list, Wolfenstein 3D will run in the RetroPie game emulator. But why do you have to pay the emulator additional cost, while you can only install it directly?

Like any software you need to compile, Wolfenstein 3D will take you some time to prepare the Raspberry Pi before installing. However, once done, you will be ready to start exploding the Nazis and discover the terrible secrets in the maze-like castle.

5. Quake III

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The third part of the Quake series is the most interesting part and it can run on your Raspberry Pi!

Using the ioquake3 source code, this game runs better on Raspberry Pi 3 than the previous model. However, you can even run this game on the Raspberry Pi Zero, although the installation will be slow, so be patient.

Like previous games, id Software released the source code for the Quake III Arena in 2005.

6. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

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One of the best Star Wars games of all time is Jedi Outcast, in which you guide the Jedi Kyle Katarn through a series of missions. First released in 2002, the source code for this game was released briefly in 2013. During this time, OpenJK has launched and ported to Linux, as well as macOS.

Running this game on Raspberry Pi is quite simple and only takes a few minutes.

If you want, you can also play the sequel, Jedi Academy, on Pi!

7. Hurrican

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Maybe you are a faithful fan of the original Turrican, first released in 1990, on the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers. Although both machines can be emulated on the Raspberry Pi, you can try the free copy of the Hurrican.

With the beautiful new graphics, Hurrican is a copy made by the most successful production fans of this game, ranking second in Indie Game Showcase (Indie Game Exhibition) 2008. The source code for the Hurrican was released in 2012. , help this game get ported to other platforms. You can find instructions and download links at MisApuntesDe.

8. PiFox

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It's Star Fox - one of the best space adventure games of all time - and now you can install on Pi, at least a copy of it.

Developed by first-year students at Imperial College, London, this entertaining game even has 3D polygonal graphics, like the original SNES 1993 game. PiFox is written with the 5900 lines of Assembly programming language and you will find data available for download at GitHub.

9. Overlord

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Another compatible Raspberry Pi game to consider is Overlord. Overlord is inspired by classic space shooter games. It was originally released on Acorn Archimedes in the 1990s. To run Overlord on Raspberry Pi, you will need RISC OS instead of Raspbian.

Learn more about this topic on the Raspberry Pi forum for more information regarding buying and installing Overlord here.

Download Overlord for RISC OS:

 http://www.amcog-games.co.uk/overlord.htm 

10. FreeCiv

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Although it looks different from the latest Civilization game, FreeCiv is an open-source copy compatible with the Raspberry Pi of this game.

Just use this command to install it:

 sudo apt install freeciv-client-sdl 

First released in 1996, FreeCiv is available on every desktop operating system you can think of. This game is the latest version of Civilization II. While the original is considered a symbol, FreeCiv tends to develop some powerful variations from source code over the years.

11. Micropolis

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Originally designed by the legendary Will Wright, SimCity first appeared in 1989 and has no version for Linux. However, thanks to SimHacker, this game has been cloned for Linux, including ARM devices like Raspberry Pi.

As you can see, Micropolis is difficult to distinguish from the first SimCity version.

You should find Micropolis in the default packages. Install it with the command:

 sudo apt install micropolis 

For more details, go to the Micropolis project page on GitHub. Note that it is also a browser-based version of Micropolis and the game is available on macOS, as well as Windows.

These 11 Raspberry Pi games (and their other sequels) are just the tip of the iceberg. More importantly, they prove that you can really play retro games on Raspberry Pi properly. You can completely play games on Raspberry Pi without adding emulators.

But that's just the beginning! You can also play full PC games on Raspberry Pi. Check out TipsMake.com 's tutorial on how to stream PC games to the Raspberry Pi for more details.