---
name: "play.it"
section: "6"
platform: "linux"
package: "play.it"
version: "2.32.4-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/play.it"
---

# play.it(6)

Installer for drm-free commercial games

## NAME

**./play.it** – Installer for drm-free commercial games

## SYNOPSIS

**./play.it** \[**--checksum** **md5** \| **none**\] \[**--collection-path** *path*\] \[**--compression** **none** \| **speed** \| **size** \| **auto**\] \[**--config-file** *path*\] \[**--no-free-space-check**\] \[**--no-icons**\] \[**--no-mtree**\] \[**--output-dir** *path*\] \[**--overwrite**\] \[**--package** **arch** \| **deb** \| **gentoo** \| **egentoo**\] \[**--prefix** *path*\] \[**--tmpdir** *path*\] *archive*

**./play.it** \[**--collection-path** *path*\] \[**--list-packages**\] \[**--list-requirements**\] \[**--show-game-script**\] *archive*

**./play.it** \[**--collection-path** *path*\] \[**--list-available-scripts**\] \[**--list-supported-games**\] \[**--version**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**./play.it** is a free software building native packages from installers for Windows or Linux, mainly those sold by stores focusing on DRM-free games distribution. The goal is that a game installed via **./play.it** is indistinguishable from a game installed via the official repositories of your favorite distribution.

The games are installed globally on multi-user systems, avoiding unnecessary duplication. The locations of save games, settings, mods, temporary files and backups are standardized with XDG Base Directory support.

Packaging the games simplifies future updates, uninstalls and handling of any necessary dependencies, including integrated obsolete dependencies if specific versions are needed.

### Options

- **--checksum** **md5** \| **none**

  Archive integrity verification method selection.

  - **md5**

    md5sum verification

  - **none**

    no verification

- **--compression** **none** \| **speed** \| **size** \| **auto**

  Generated packages compression method selection.

  - **none**

    no compression

  - **speed**

    compression method focusing on compression speed

  - **size**

    compression method focusing on size reduction

  - **auto**

    default compression method on the current system

- **--prefix** *path*

  Game installation *path* setting.

  This option accepts an absolute *path* only.

- **--package** **arch** \| **deb** \| **gentoo** \| **egentoo**

  Generated package type selection.

  - **arch**

    .pkg.tar package (Arch Linux)

  - **deb**

    .deb package (Debian, Ubuntu)

  - **gentoo**

    .tbz2 package (Gentoo)

  - **egentoo**

    .tar package with an associated .ebuild (Gentoo)

- **--no-icons**

  Do not include game icons.

- **--overwrite**

  Replace packages if they already exist.

- **--output-dir** *path*

  Set the output directory for generated packages.

- **--no-mtree**

  Do not create .MTREE files in Arch Linux packages. As these files contain a hash of every file in the package, they may be quite long to create when dealing with big games.

- **--tmpdir** *path*

  Set the directory used for temporary files storage. Default value is:  TMPDIR

- **--no-free-space-check**

  Do not check for free space.

- **--collection-path** *path*

  Limit the search for game scripts to a given path.

- **--show-game-script**

  Only display the name of the game script to use, without running it.

- **--config-file** *path*

  Set the configuration file path. Default path is *$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/play.it/config* or *$HOME/config/play.it/config* if XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME is unset. Configuration file contains list of additional command-line parameters that will be passed to **./play.it** as if they were given on the command-line.

- **--list-packages**

  Print the list of packages to build.

- **--list-requirements**

  Print the list of commands required to build packages from the given archive.

- **--list-available-scripts**

  Print the list of game scripts available on this system.

- **--list-supported-games**

  Print the list of supported games. Warning: this operation can take several minutes.

## ENVIRONMENT

- PLAYIT\_LIB2

  If set, overrides the provided version of *libplayit2.sh* (and its supported games) to a local copy for development. (default: /usr/share/games/play.it/libplayit2.sh)

- TMPDIR

  Default place where temporary files are processed. (default: /tmp)

- XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME

  Used in the configuration file default path.

## FILES

- *$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/play.it/config*

  Default path to the configuration file. This file contains a list of additional command-line parameters that will be passed to **./play.it** as if they were given on the command-line.

## COMPRESSION

### Arch Linux

When building packages for Arch Linux (with --package arch):

- \--compression speed

  Use zstd compression with the flag --fast=1.

- \--compression size

  Use zstd compression with the flag -19.

- \--compression auto

  Unsupported option.

### Debian

When building packages for Debian (with --package deb):

- \--compression speed

  Use gzip compression.

- \--compression size

  Use xz compression.

- \--compression auto

  Rely on the default dpkg-deb behaviour. This behaviour can be controlled using the environment variables DPKG\_DEB\_THREADS\_MAX, DPKG\_DEB\_COMPRESSOR\_TYPE and DPKG\_DEB\_COMPRESSOR\_LEVEL. See [dpkg-deb(1)](/dpkg-deb/1.md) for more details on how these can be used.

### Gentoo

When building packages for Gentoo (with --package gentoo or --package egentoo)

- \--compression speed

  Use gzip compression.

- \--compression size

  Use bzip2 compression.

- \--compression auto

  Rely on the default ebuild behaviour. This behaviour can be controlled using the environment variables BINPKG\_COMPRESS and BINPKG\_COMPRESS\_FLAGS. See [make.conf(5)](/make.conf/5.md) for more details on how these can be used.