About
Super Mario War is a 4-player competitive Mario deathmatch game with a wide variety of game modes including CTF, King of the Hill, Race, and more. Over 1,000 community-made maps are available as a separate download. The game is completely standalone, free, and open source.
The mmatyas fork is the actively maintained version. A prebuilt Linux binary ships in the ..._linux.zip archive on GitHub releases (latest tag 2026-05); the executable inside is named smw. A nightly Flatpak is also available at mmatyas.github.io/supermariowar-flatpak/ for an easier install. A dedicated Steam Deck setup guide covering controller configuration for multiple local players is available at jofroyo.com/smw-deck-guide/. Add the Linux binary as a non-Steam game.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- smw
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Runtime
- Runs as
- Native Linux
- Proton
- not needed
The one thing to know
Standalone: Completely standalone and free — no other game required.
Multiplayer: 4-player local multiplayer is the main draw; multiple controllers are needed for the full experience. The Deck guide at jofroyo.com/smw-deck-guide/ covers multi-controller local setup.
Maps: The community map archive (1,000+ maps) is a separate download from the base binary.
Binary: Native Linux build — download the ..._linux.zip from GitHub releases (github.com/mmatyas/supermariowar/releases) and add the smw executable as a non-Steam game. A nightly Flatpak (mmatyas.github.io/supermariowar-flatpak/) is an easier alternative install.
Build-from-source: The jofroyo Deck guide compiles SMW from source via CMake/make; note that a SteamOS update can wipe the pacman-installed build dependencies, so the prebuilt zip or Flatpak is more durable.
Links: guides link to the jofroyo Deck guide, the GitHub releases page, and the nightly Flatpak.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.