How to play Raft on Linux

Raft is a first-person survival video game developed by Redbeet Interactive and published by Axolot Games. The game was released in 2018 for Microsoft Windows. Raft does not have a native Linux version, and currently, there are no plans to release one. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up Raft on Linux.

Raft on Linux

Raft can only work on the Linux platform with Steam Play, a feature that comes with the Linux release of Steam. As a result, we must demonstrate how to install the official Steam for Linux client.

Install Steam

To start installing Steam on your Linux PC, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or, search for “Terminal” in the app menu. Once the terminal window is open, follow along with the installation instructions outlined below that corresponds with the Linux OS you currently use.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu Linux, you will install the latest version of Steam by making use of the following Apt command.

sudo apt install steam

Debian

To get Steam working on Debian, you will need to manually download the latest installable DEB package from the Steam official website. You must download Steam because the version of Steam included in Debian is rather tedious to install.

To download the latest Steam DEB package from the internet, use the following wget command below. This command will download the file directly to your home directory.

wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb

When the download of the Steam DEB package is complete, the installation can begin. Using the dpkg command, install the latest Steam DEB package on your Debian Linux PC.

sudo dpkg -i steam.deb

When the installation of the Steam DEB package is complete, you must correct any dependency issues that may have arisen during the installation. To fix these errors, execute the following command.

sudo apt install -f

Arch Linux

On Arch Linux, it is straightforward to get the Steam app up and running. If you’re an Arch Linux user, you will be able to install Steam (provided you have the “multilib” repo enabled) by executing the Pacman command below.

sudo pacman -S steam

Fedora/OpenSUSE

On both Fedora Linux and OpenSUSE, installing Steam can be a pain, especially if you are new to the Linux ecosystem. If you are using either of these two operating systems, we highly suggest following the Flatpak installation instructions instead, as they are more straightforward.

Flatpak

To install the Steam app on Linux as a Flatpak, you’ll first need to enable the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC. To enable the Flatpak runtime, please follow along with our Flatpak installation guide.

Once you’ve finished setting up the Flatpak runtime, the next step in installing Steam for Flatpak is to enable the Flathub app store on your computer. To do that, execute the following flatpak remote-add command below.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

After setting up the Flathub app store, the installation of Steam can begin by executing the command below.

flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam

Install Raft on Linux

Now that Steam is installed launch it on the Linux desktop and log in via your user credentials. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to get Raft working.

Step 1: Open up the “Steam” menu and look for the “Settings” button. Then, once you’ve opened up the Steam settings area, find the “Steam Play” option, and click on it with the mouse.

In the Steam Play area, two boxes must be checked. These boxes are “Enable Steam Play for supported titles” and “Enable Steam Play for all other titles.” Once these boxes are checked, click the “OK” button to continue.

When you select “OK,” your Steam client will restart.

Step 2: Find the “STORE” button at the top of the page and click on it with the mouse. After clicking on “STORE,” you will be at the Steam Storefront. On the Storefront, find the “Search” box and click on it with the mouse.

In the search box, type in “Raft” and press the Enter key to view the results. Sort through the list of search results for Raft.

Step 3: Click on “Raft” to go to the Raft Steam Storefront page in the search results. Then, locate the green “Add to cart” button and click on it to purchase the game for your Steam account.

Step 4: Upon purchasing the game, click on the “LIBRARY” button at the top of Steam to go to your Steam library. Then, search through it for “Raft” and click on it.