# Lutris Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/lutris/ 28 people recommended Lutris in Hacker News comments, 5 had mixed feelings and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 22 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Free Linux launcher for Windows and GOG games with community install scripts, though critics say some setups still need tinkering or fail. Summary written by Claude from 46 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 44 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Works well with GOG and other stores (5 comments in the sample): "people should definitely try Lutris. It's nearly as painless as Steam now for GOG and many other stores." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47718540)) "GOG bought games handled by Lutris/Heroic/Mini Galaxy trump Steam in convenience almost every time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823089)) "I'm using it with already downloaded GOG installers, and Lutris' crowd-sourced install scripts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46627723)) - Runs old Windows games well (5 comments in the sample): "I get better compatibility for really old stuff through lutris than I ever did on windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45792997)) "I use crossover and/or Lutris on Linux in order to run most of my 90s Windows games" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45962856)) "PlayOnLinux and Lutris have good support for games you install from CD" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46575108)) - Easy to use with little tinkering (3 comments in the sample): "And with something like Lutris, it's not a lot of tinkering." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49777264)) "Lutris makes this somewhat straightforward." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568800)) "With Lutris it just worked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46435575)) - Community install scripts often work (1 comment in the sample): "Lutris recipes often work out of the box as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717875)) ## What people warn about - Setups often fail or need tinkering (4 comments in the sample): "the hours required to brute force the right Wine/Proton setup for every game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46428318)) "I couldn't get it to work consistently under Lutris." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797763)) "I couldn't get it to work via wine/lutris." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568771)) - Battle.net and some recipes break (2 comments in the sample): "The only issue I've run into is getting battle.net working through Lutris" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46167455)) "One recipe at the time was broken, the other didn't work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46440032)) ## Other game launchers people recommend - [Heroic Games Launcher](https://hackerapproved.com/p/heroic-games-launcher/): 40 recommend, 8 mixed, 8 criticize - [Battle.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/battle-net/): 9 recommend, 3 mixed, 8 criticize - [GOG Galaxy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gog-galaxy/): 7 recommend, 9 mixed, 22 criticize - [GameNative](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gamenative/): 5 recommend, 2 mixed, 0 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Lutris", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lutris/ (28 recommend, 5 mixed, 10 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.