Can I Play Games Off a Linux USB Installation?

You'll need to consider storage issues too! A typical live USB doesn't save changes, so for persistent gaming, a full install is necessary. Just remember, you might need to install specific drivers after you boot from the USB, as Live USBs don’t usually load these by default. If your games are on an NTFS formatted drive, that could also complicate things.

Yes, you can run games from a Linux installation on a USB drive, but there are a few caveats. If you're running Linux from a standard USB stick, performance might be quite slow compared to using a solid-state drive. But you'll have a better chance of making it work with a full install rather than a live USB, which usually resets everything after a reboot.

Running a game from a USB flash drive can be challenging due to the slower data transfer speeds. If you're targeting heavier games, make sure your USB drive is fast (like USB 3.0). A live USB is okay for light tasks or testing Linux, but if you want to keep your installations and settings, a full install is the way to go.

In theory, you can definitely install Steam on the Linux USB and access your game library, but bare in mind, the load times will likely be longer and you might experience reduced performance overall compared to playing from an internal drive. If you're up for a bit of tinkering, why not give it a shot and see how it goes?