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PayPalLove achievement hunting but play games outside of Steam on Linux? Sounds like Sentinel is an open source tool you'll want to see.
From the GitHub page: "Sentinel monitors your Steam emulator achievement files and sends real-time desktop notifications when achievements are unlocked or progress is updated. It also serves as a library viewer with completion stats, global achievement percentages, and more."
What's the point? For when you download games via the likes of Heroic Games Launcher (for Epic Games and GOG), if those games are also available on Steam you'll be able to track and follow achievements in a similar way to you would on Steam directly. Sounds pretty interesting, although no doubt a quite niche project. But as always, options are great to have right?
Sentinel features:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
- Real-time desktop notifications.
- Progress tracking for multi-step achievements.
- Game library with completion stats and sorting.
- Global achievement percentages from Steam API.
- Custom notification sounds (10 platform-themed options).
- System tray support (runs in background).
- Choice of Steam Web API key or free external data source (SteamHunters).
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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12 comments
Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.
2 Likes
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.it's the gamers's mindset, they always want to achieve something 😄
0 Likes
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.When you play a game for long enough and look for something to do, achievements can be considered as side quests. Achievements for different endings or story choices can motivate you to play a game differently. There are bad achievements, like "kill 50000 wolves", but overall it can be a good tool for powering up replayability.
4 Likes
ItsFunkyCaptain 11 hours ago
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.Why can't you have both?
8 Likes
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.Define your version of "having fun". It bet it doesn't align with mine.
For some people achievements are like stamps. And stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. It may not appeal to you, but achievements are a way of documenting progress in a game and some people like collecting souvenirs from their virtual journeys.
Some people in games want more story, less shooting. some people want more shooting, don't need any story. Everyone is different.
5 Likes
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.They can aid in replayability by encouraging you to play the game in ways you otherwise wouldn't, and its just fun to collect little mementos of some of your favorite games to reminisce about in the future. I still don't get why some people have to be negative towards a feature that harms nobody and enhances the experience for some.
Last edited by PaldinoX on 14 Apr 2026 at 3:31 pm UTC
2 Likes
There is nothing in the entire universe that I care less about than "achievements" for steam, PS or whatever system.
But good for those who do.
But good for those who do.
0 Likes
PlayingOnLinuxphone 6 hours ago
Cool thing, but nothing for me. I want to play the game, not the achievements and I cannot deny that it triggers me when 95% of achievements are collected (through normal gameplay), I look at it and it tells "get your last two achievements by finding 100 randomly placed items in the world. Heck, such an unfunny time waste and I would probably do it just to finish a collection I do not really care about, lol.
But since it is entirely optional, I is fine.
Last edited by PlayingOnLinuxphone on 14 Apr 2026 at 5:09 pm UTC
But since it is entirely optional, I is fine.
Last edited by PlayingOnLinuxphone on 14 Apr 2026 at 5:09 pm UTC
0 Likes
Caldathras 5 hours ago
Quoting: bisbyxFor some people achievements are like stamps. And stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world.True. My father was very passionate about stamp collecting. Didn't interest me in the slightest. Neither did coin collecting, really. Achievements don't mean much to me either -- I can take 'em or leave 'em. But I get how they could have appeal to others.
Does this tool work offline?
0 Likes
mr-victory 5 hours ago
Quoting: Axel Ekholm Cool i guess but i still don't get why you should care about achievements. I care about having fun playing a game, not having achievement.Sometimes you can unlock achievements without knowing, a friend told me a weird thing I bothered doing was an achievement in Outer Wilds but I have no idea because I don't own the game on Steam. If I had an achievement while playing I would be delighted, kind of a seal of approval I did not waste my time doing something stupid. I'm saying "I did not waste my time" because I purchased the game in August or September and still couldn't beat it lol.
If you finished Outer Wilds:
Spoiler, click me
I landed on the Sun Station without knowing what it is, that is an achievement on Steam. I also jetpacked my way to black hole station with some parkour but that isn't an achievement I guess
0 Likes
spacemonkey 2 hours ago
Or this article is incorrect, or I don't understand the technology behind it.
How I understand it: It is for getting Steam achievement offline and without using the Steam API. This is why it requires a "Steam Emulator".
Thus, this will not work with games you buy on Epic or GOG. It still requires a game from Steam.
In my understanding
How I understand it: It is for getting Steam achievement offline and without using the Steam API. This is why it requires a "Steam Emulator".
Thus, this will not work with games you buy on Epic or GOG. It still requires a game from Steam.
In my understanding
0 Likes
Liam Dawe 25 minutes ago
Quoting: spacemonkeyOr this article is incorrect, or I don't understand the technology behind it.The article is correct, the GitHub page explanation just isn't particularly great right now. It works with non-Steam games, that's part of the point of it.
How I understand it: It is for getting Steam achievement offline and without using the Steam API. This is why it requires a "Steam Emulator".
Thus, this will not work with games you buy on Epic or GOG. It still requires a game from Steam.
In my understanding
1 Likes
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