Background
I use Mac as my daily driver for my work and personal machines, but for gaming I use my Playstation 5 for online or supposedly AAA games (think Call of Duty or Helldivers 2) and I use my Steam Deck for more indie titles. I've got some Linux experience, primarily via my old Mac Mini running Proxmox with mostly Debian VMs and messing around briefly with NixOS.
I love our Steam Deck, but it does feel a little underpowered, the battery isn't as strong as it once was and I don't love the docking experience with the official dock.
My wife is really into Civilization and similar games and I'd love to setup a desktop connected to our TV to use with a keyboard and mouse on our LG CX. Although I'm tech savvy, I'm not great with knowing what hardware/software to get. It's especially more complicated with the looming tariffs and trying to make sure I don't overspend on something I don't need.
Question
Looking for some guidance on hardware and software to setup for this living room gaming desktop. It's only purpose is to play games, primarily from Steam and it should have hardware which would benefit speed and performance for the type of games I'm going to list. Obviously we want the graphics to be good, but I don't need a beast RTX 5090.
What are some hardware and software recommendations in today's financial climate for playing these games on Linux?
What other accessories would you recommend for couch based keyboard and mouse gaming?
Honestly the game I'm most eager to get into is Dwarf Fortress, but for my wife it's having a smooth experience with Civ6 (she was playing the Switch version for far too long!)
Games
- Civilization games
- My wife loves 6 and I'm a fan of 5, but we do want to eventually try 7, hoping it'll improve with DLC updates
- Dwarf Fortress
- Rimworld
- Battletech
- Into the Breach
- Brotato
- Vampire Survivors
- Balatro
- FTL
- Caves of Qud
- Persona 5 Royal (although I'm struggling to get into it, pushing through)
- Blue Prince
- ANIMAL WELL
- Factorio
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Anno 1800
- Project Zomboid
This is a partial list of some of our libraries and wishlists. As you can see, some of them are more graphically, memory and processor intensive, but a lot of them are low performance indies.
I highly recommend getting a gaming laptop. You can buy a 4070 lenovo laptop at Walmart for $1k (at least in the US.)
Otherwise, check out https://old.reddit.com/r/LaptopDeals/ until you find something that fits your needs and budget. (sorry for linking to the other site)
You should use bluetooth controllers instead of ones that take a dongle simply because the dongle is unnecessary. Playstation controllers work well, but they're expensive and I haven't been able to find a 3rd party variant that works properly.
I also recommend getting a wireless keyboard + mouse combo.
Just out of curiosity, why would you recommend a gaming laptop instead of a desktop?
Portability is a much bigger benefit than people realize.
Right now I'm typing this lying down comfortably in my bed, for example.
I think being tied to a desk to use our computers is unnecessary and reinforces a culture where people stay in their rooms and don't connect with others in person as much as they otherwise would.
My computer is like my 2nd brain, so being able to have it with me just about anywhere I go is important.
I used to have a desktop mostly for gaming and a laptop for work, but managing 2 computers is more hassle than it's worth so I decided to downsize to only 1 gaming laptop. "One machine to rule them all," as I say.
My only regret is not making the decision way sooner. I genuinely believe my life would have been better off for it.
I think I understand your point. Personally, I use a desktop for gaming and a laptop for a most other things, like you used to. I use tiling WMs, so not having a real mouse is not so bad, but I prefer real keyboards.
I don't think you need to move a gaming machine around that often and desktops have better thermals, are a lot more upgradeable and are easier to fix than laptops.
But sometimes portable gaming can be nice. For example, I play Mario Kart (Double Dash, of course) with my father every now and then, which wouldn't really work with a desktop. It's nice to be able to take a laptop and a few bluetooth controllers with me and be able to set up a portable retro gaming station literally anywhere.
I guess it's just up to individual preference.
Yep. I'm a much bigger fan of co-op games these days, so I have controllers and emulators at the ready to turn my laptop in a play station.
Bingo.
How's couch co-op these days? From what I remember, it's more common in older console games.
Do you have any recommendations, retro or otherwise?
It's in a great state if you look back and play old games.
I recommend getting comfortable with emulators. Using them isn't immediately straightforward, but with a bit of experience they become easier.
Some games I'd recommend just off the top of my head are:
Star Wars Jedi Power Battles
Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga
Resident Evil 5 & 6
Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2 (1 goes up to 2 players, 2 goes up to 4)
A Way Out
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (short, but fun)
Legend of Mana is absolutely spectacular and any gaming duo would be delighted to play it.
Dynasty Warriors is good for some mindless fun, but don't be fooled by how many games they have; they're all pretty much the same thing.
I think Super Mario Wonder is actually 2-player, but I haven't tried it yet. I plan too, though.
Super Mario Bros U goes up to 4 players and you can play with the Cemu, the Wii U emulator.
Cuphead
You're right that couch co-op games are mostly on consoles. Thankfully we can play console games on PC for free.
I'm very comfortable with emulators.
A way out & Cuphead were great. Would be nice to go back to get the remaining achievements. Who won when you played A Way Out?