Ludo is an emulator frontend capable of running retro video games. It does not emulate consoles itself; instead it relies on emulator plugins called libretro cores. Libretro cores are well known emulators (such as Snes9x, Genesis Plus GX or PCSX) with their user interface stripped away, containing only console-specific logic.

Building Ludo from source is intended for developers and contributors.

Prerequisites

  • GLFW 3.3
  • OpenGL >= 2.1
  • OpenAL

Ubuntu and Debian

TEXT
sudo apt install git go libopenal-dev xorg-dev
git clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git
cd ludo
go build
./ludo

Red Hat, CentOS and Fedora

TEXT
sudo yum install golang libopenal-soft-devel libX11-devel
git clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git
cd ludo
go build
./ludo

Windows

Setup Git Bash, then setup Go. When you are done with these, setup MinGW-w64 and add it to your PATH. Download http://static.kivutar.me/openal-soft-1.19.0-bin.zip and extract it, for example in C:. Setup MinGW-w64 and add it to your PATH. Download http://static.kivutar.me/openal-soft-1.19.0-bin.zip and extract it, for example in C:.

TEXT
export CGO_CFLAGS="-I/c/openal-soft-1.19.0-bin/include/"
export CGO_LDFLAGS="-L/c/openal-soft-1.19.0-bin/build/Release/"
TEXT
git clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git
cd ludo
go build
./ludo

Mac OS X

First setup Xcode, then setup Homebrew.

TEXT
brew install go openal-soft
git clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git
cd ludo
go build
./ludo

Reference table · Scroll horizontally to see all columns.

PlatformPackage managerBuild command
Ubuntu/Debianaptgit clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git && cd ludo && go build && ./ludo
Red Hat / CentOS / Fedorayumgit clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git && cd ludo && go build && ./ludo
WindowsGit Bash + Go + MinGW-w64git clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git && cd ludo && go build && ./ludo
macOSHomebrewgit clone --recursive https://github.com/libretro/ludo.git && cd ludo && go build && ./ludo
AI-generated editorial illustration: Building Ludo from Source: Official Build Guide for DevelopersView full image
AI illustration — not a game screenshot
AI-generated editorial illustration; not a game screenshot.
AI-generated illustration
Evidence and publication details

Sources & references

Published .

RetroArch: building ludo — official gaming software documentation https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libretro/docs/master/docs/guides/building-ludo.mdRetrieved Oct 8, 2026

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