Box86 lets you run x86 Linux programs (such as games) on non-x86 Linux systems, like ARM (the host system needs to be 32bit little-endian).

Because box86 uses the native versions of some “system” libraries, like libc, libm, SDL, and OpenGL, it’s easy to integrate and use with most applications, and performance can be surprisingly high in some cases.

Many games already work without much tweaking, for example: WorldOfGoo, Airline Tycoon Deluxe, and FTL. Many of the GameMaker Linux games also run fine. (There’s a long list, among them are Undertale, A Risk of Rain, or Cook Serve Delicious.)

Box64 is the 64bits version of Box86. It is used to run x86_64 binaries on ARM64 (i.e. aarch64) Linux. It can also run on RiSC-V and Loongarch machine.

There are a some YouTube channel where you can see box86 and box64 in action: MicroLinux, PILabs and The Byteman at least…

To see which games were confirmed to run (or not) on box86 and box64, see also this page (updated live from the list of issues in a dedicated GitHub repo).

Latest posts:

  • How to create a wrapping
    In a previous post, we talked about the mechanism behind library wrapping. In it, I said box86/box64 used some manually written files to correctly call functions. However, there is a big question: how are these files written? To follow this article, you will need at least a basic understanding of function signatures. The basics First,…
  • New version of Box64 v0.2.6 and Box86 v0.3.4
    After sometime debugging some last issues, the new version of box64 and box86 are out. Most of the work has been done on Box64, with lots of improvments again on Emulation and Library wrapping. The CPU emulate up to SSE 4.2 now (it was only SSE 4.1 before), and it also handle the SHA extension.…
  • New version of Box86 v0.3.2 and Box64 v0.2.4
    New releases of both box86 and box64 (with a silent re-release of box86 to include a critical fix for steam). While Box86 have seen little change, and was mostly fixes and some refactor to help load ELF file better, Box64 had major code contribution for this release. Box64 Dynarec now support RISC-V! Thanks to github…
  • Box64 and RISC-V
    Box64 and RISC-V, the challenges of wrtting the Dynarec, and benchmarks
  • Performances 2022
    This article was initially publised for the FOSDEM 2022 virtual event. The host is gone and I’m (quickly) republishing it here. Box86 performances  Like for last year, I will present a series of benchmark to try show the efficiency (or not) of box dynarec. This year, I will benchmark both box86 and box64, to show…