Hi people, is there any way to find out which Linux games also work on Arm64 CPUs out of the box? I'm looking for games for my mobile phone, running a Debian distro. If it can't be played with touchscreen only, it's not a big problem (can attach input devices), but a lot of games can't just be installed on Arm64. So any idea to find out before buying games?

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_Linux_ARM_games

I assume ARM64 games need a separate executable on top of the x86 executable, and I don't think GOG provides any such executables with the Linux versions. You could probably just as well ask which GOG games work on PS5 or Nintendo Switch.

Maybe there are emulators or such which let you play some of the games, I dunno. I keep hearing some Android users running e.g. MS-DOS games (even from GOG) through the Andoid version of DOSBox, for example. Or maybe there are working x86 PC emulators for ARM64 too.

EDIT: Found e.g. these two videos which might be of interest to you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBPRre39PtI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGxzZZmupCA

I thought some game studios may provide such by themselves. The difference to PS5 and Nintendo Switch is, that those are totally different operating systems and not "just" another kind of CPU.

However, your answer already helps a lot. Thanks for that (especially the link).

Edit:
Also thanks for the DOS-Box infos. I heard about it before that this should work. I just wanted to look for native support of some games. But I may give a look some time later.

Maybe some GOG Linux gamer can tell if they have ever seen any GOG Linux version containing also an ARM executable. I don't think GOG officially supports that though, but who knows if some publishers are providing such extra executable anyway.

I haven't checked because i normally try to play the Windows version(s) on Linux, using WINE etc.

Totally understandable. It's also something new to me and I want to look what's possible and what is not. It would be just nice to have some good games for train travels and GoG has a lot of point and click games (or similar), so I was looking for.

If you want out of the box, I'm guessing the answer is zero. GOG does not provide binaries for ARM.

Some interpreted/emulated games might possibly work with some effort, like Java games, dosbox games, or scummvm games? Not sure.

Your best bet otherwise is cross-platform open-source engine remakes of old games. But you might have to compile yourself, and if the engine requires a lot of libraries it might lead you down a rabbit hole. Something like Julius/Augustus for Caesar 3, VCMI for Heroes 3, or 7kfans engine for Seven Kingdoms might be doable, but I have never tried so not sure. Some other examples of engine remakes in the following threads:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/diving_head_first_into_native_linux_gaming_wish_me_luck
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/list_of_free_modern_remakes
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/windowsonly_games_running_natively_on_linux
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/gog_games_that_have_alternative_engines_andor_game_data

Also thanks to you. I will give a look.

There is this project:
https://box86.org/
The Box64 version is supposed to allow you to run x86_64 binaries on ARM64. I've never tried it though so I can't say how easy it is to get working.

As it stands, console emulation and DOS are the only viable things you will get. Everything else is like expecting a mansion, but finding only a few frames of what could eventuqlly become a house.

I suppose a few unique projects may work though. Cataclysm dda is on arm machines. But you have to find what works for you. If it works, come tell us. Kind of curious.

I already installed SuperTuxKart, Neverball and such FLOSS games before with native ARM64 support. That works just fine. Mouse, Keyboard and PS4-Controller (with cable, not bluetooth) working out of the box as for any other Linux machine.

If I don't forget, I also will share experience with Box64 or whatever I will try out. But don't expect an answer soon. My time is currently limited for such experiments, because I also need the time to fix my system if I break something. It's still my phone that should work at the end of the day.

Look for games that will run on a Raspberry Pi, as that SBC is also an arm64 device (as long as it's 3 or later).

If a game will run on a Raspberry Pi, especially one with a 64-bit OS, there's a good chance it will run on your phone.

In addition to dosbox, you can use scummvm and probably a number of source ports. Helium Rain for example might work, and it's free. Plus of course the usual suspects, like Jagged Alliance 2 (ja2-stracciatella), Freespace 2 (fs2_open), Morrowind (openmw), Ultima 4 (xu4) and 7 (exult), Arx Fatalis (arx-liberatis), Diablo (devilution). Of course if your distro doesn't supply these, you'll have to build them yourself. There are also a few vendor-supplied sources, such as Star Ruler 2 and Helium Rain. If you want even more pain, you can probably use qemu-user plus wine to run some Windows games.

Note that I use all of these source solutions myself, but on amd64 with AMD graphics/Mesa. I have not heard great things about the graphics support for ARM systems, so that may end up being an issue.

Probably have to assume only Snapdragon chips, using 865 or higher. 8 gen1 or higher should be enough to be comparable to any amd with graphics options like vega.