Super late to this article, but this is exciting! The performance ceiling for ARM-based Linux handhelds has largely been stuck at much lower end chipsets (Rockchip RK3566 / Allwinner H700) for the past year or two, so this is a huge step forward for the retro emulation handheld community.

Hopefully Linux support will also mean support for Portmaster games and native PICO-8 on these devices. :happy:

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Quoting: redneckdrowI'll stick with these.

1. Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup [External Link]

2. ADoM [External Link], but seriously, stick with the Steam/GoG version, the randomizer stinks. I hate the background corruption mechanic, but the rest of the game is gold.

3. ToME [External Link] The game/engine is open source, with the DLC/cosmetics being donationware. Buying on Steam/GoG is the same as donating.

4. Dungeons of Dredmor [External Link] It hasn't been updated in a long while, but the game's got a few good mods. Also, if I recall correctly, icculus did the Linux port. It's hilarious.

5. Dwarf Fortress Adventure mode. I can't wait until the new version! There are so [External Link] many [External Link] role-playing [External Link] opportunities. (Though, admittedly, that last one is presumably using arena mode.)

6. My latest addiction, Elona [External Link]. Specifically, the Elona+ Custom-GX [External Link] variantvariant [sic]. The previous maintainer [External Link] is currently in the process of creating OpenNefia [External Link] which is a version that can (hopefully one day) be run natively on Linux.

If you've never played Elona, It's like ADoM and ToME (in that it has a story and an overworld) mixed with an even more madcap Dwarf Fortress adventure mode. Unlike ADoM, Elona doesn't have a time limit. The one thing I would change: the "tweaks" menu seems to be per character in the variants, instead of persistent.

Great traditional roguelikes, but none of them have the DOOM-like sci-fi theme/setting of Jupiter Hell.

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Quoting: whizseThe future:
• Flying car

Oh speaking of, really like the wallpaper for Plasma 6! :happy: Reminds me of the fantastic art by Amanda Cha, made for the Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 3 album [External Link].

(EDIT: Here's the original 3000x3000 album art, with text [External Link] )

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Quoting: GuestIt seems only the 16" Framework and maybe the StarLabs Starfighter are serving us numpad haters.

😔 Yeah, I wish more laptops opted to omit the numpad and use the space for two top-firing speakers beside the keyboard, 15" MBP style.

(Maybe there's potential for Framework 16 to implement that option in the future? 😅)

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Quoting: EhvisHad the flu, so finished Cassette Beasts on Steam Deck.

Hope you're feeling better now, if not soon! As someone who's played Pokemon up to Gen 6, I've been tentatively curious about Cassette Beasts, any specific thoughts you have on it?

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What have you been playing lately? Drop your latest recommendations in the comments.

Not much, just my comfort game Crypt of the NecroDancer [External Link] (Native Linux)...just realised I've been playing it over the last 8 years and counting, time flies! I have the upcoming SYNCHRONY DLC [External Link], but I'm waiting for the 1.0 release to take a proper dive in. Just finished clearing all 4 characters introduced in the AMPLIFIED DLC [External Link] last night -- now I've got only the 2 hardest (IMHO) base characters to go!

Aside from that, been itching to continue my playthrough of CrossCode [External Link] (Native Linux), maybe add Dicey Dungeons [External Link] (Native Linux) and Tangledeep [External Link] (Native Linux) to my play-list, if I've got the time!

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Relevant review video by Nick @ the Linux Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYahh12bO7U [External Link]

mini-DP on a laptop, in 2024? Strange, but I suppose it's better than no DP. :huh:

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Quoting: Liam DaweLet me know your best picks in the comments!

OK, here's some more I've found over the years, all great local MP experiences now on sale:

• Death Road to Canada [External Link] - 75% off - Deck Verified / Native Linux (4-player co-op!)


• River City Girls [External Link] - 50% off - Deck Verified / ProtonDB Gold (switch to v6.3-8; note the newer RCG games are on sale too!)


• Wand Wars [External Link] - 50% off - Deck Verified / Native Linux (magical lethal league, has 'Quidditch' and roguelike modes! Story is SP sadly)


• Cook, Serve Delicious! games: 1 [External Link], 2!! [External Link] and 3?! [External Link] - ALL 75% off - ALL Deck Verified / 1 & 2 are Native Linux, 3 has ProtonDB Gold (frantic but fantastic food prep, 2-player co-op. Each game places you in a different setting, no need to play them sequentially. Remake of 1 is in development!)

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Quoting: Pengling

Quoting: CyborgZetaPlus, unless I'm mistaken, this is the first Deck clone I've seen to actually have trackpads. It baffles me why this isn't more common.

All of the pre-Steam Deck handheld PCs lacked it, so I guess that various vendors have just continued on with that? :huh: It's such a great feature, though - I wouldn't want to be without them now, and I wouldn't consider an x86 handheld that lacks them!

FWIW, there are more recent handheld PCs that do have trackpads -- the AYANEO KUN for instance: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Ayaneo-Kun-gaming-handheld-in-review-Performance-beast-for-individualists.797526.0.html [External Link]

Whether they are as useful or well integrated into the UX as the Deck's trackpads (especially outside of playing games with Steam Input) is another story.

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Quoting: melkemindSo, Asus and Lenovo are both Chinese as well. Is their customer service also bad, or is it only worth mentioning it's Chinese if it's bad?

Right, we should use something like "small handheld manufacturers/companies" when referring to the likes of AYANEO, OneXPlayer, etc.

Let's not foster the subtly racist idea that "Chinese made/managed = inherently bad".

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