If you want to play Android games on your PC, you have the option of using popular emulators such as Bluestacks or NoxPlayer. There is also the option of using the Windows subsystem for Android, although this is only reserved for Windows 11 users.
Winlator 4.0 recently released
Things get more interesting if you want to emulate PC games on your own Android smartphone – is that even possible? Yes, with the “Winlator”. Of course, emulating PC games on the Android platform is much more complicated and you won’t be able to emulate the latest AAA titles on your smartphone, but some well-known titles can be emulated well with it.
The app allows you to emulate Windows games on Android via Wine or Box86/Box64. The developers recently updated the Android app “Winlator” to version 4.0, improved compatibility and performance, and fixed some problems.
How to install Winlator 4.0:
- Download and install Winlator_4.0.apk from the current GitHub page.
- Download the OBB file (main.3.com.winlator.obb) and save it in the /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/com.winlator directory. If this directory does not yet exist, you will have to create it yourself.
- Start the app and wait for the installation process to complete.
Of course, you have to own the games that you want to use via the emulator and store them on the Android system – nothing is included. By default, the app saves to the “Downloads” folder. Save games you want to try out there too.
Of course, you shouldn’t expect miracles from the emulator. Many games won’t start at all, while others will require you to fiddle with the emulator’s many settings.
However, some Windows games are known to run relatively well. These include: Quake 4, Metro 2033 Redux, Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin, Warlords Battlecry 3, Call of Juarez Gunslinger, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Mass Effect 2 and Oblivion.
