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We all want to have the best gaming setup, but not everybody can afford to pay thousand-dollar premiums for GPUs. But that’s fine, because there are a ton of great laptop and low-end games available. If you’re looking for something that’ll run without much fuss, here’s a massive list to try.
This post has been updated since its original publication, with new games added and old ones removed.
A clever deckbuilder where the goal isn’t necessarily to overpower your opponents with the best cards, but to play the right cards to work through various conversations.
Unlike Slay the Spire or other modern deckbuilders, Signs of the Sojourner is more story-driven. Your home town is at risk of losing relevance, so you’re tasked with collecting more goods to make it a more trade-friendly destination.
That involves travelling and talking to various characters, playing cards in a quest to make a connection. You play cards in turn, and each card has a coloured shape on either side. The idea is to match cards up in a ongoing chain, mirroring the flow of a natural, happy chat. As you travel further, however, you’ll pick up fatigue cards that can’t be matched with any symbol. Break the chain of conversation too much and you’ll have a disagreement — too many of those and the conversation ends, with the character remembering that in the future.
It’s a really clever take on deckbuilding that’s vastly more interesting that a lot of other models I’ve seen lately. And, because it’s a cute indie game, it’ll naturally run on just about any PC under the sun. More info here on Steam.
Before Shadow of War, Monolith Productions had a history making some very old-school classic shooters. One of those was the original Blood games, which funnily enough would inspire its own South Korean comic, Priest.
Remaster house Night Dive Studios recently brought Blood back to life, adding Vulkan support, a co-op mode, better graphics, support for modern system and full 3D look, making it a much more playable game by today’s standards. It’ll still run on an absolute potato, however, so if you want a dose of nostalgia, Blood: Fresh Supply will get you there on the cheap.
A game with strong Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories vibes, the Indonesian-made Coffee Talk is all about running your own cafe. Creatures of various species come into your bar, all with their own stories and preferences for what they want in their drink.
While you prepare their drink, they’ll chat to you, other diners, and just generally unwind from their day. If you loved visual novels like VA-11 Hall-A, then Coffee Talk will absolutely be your jam. The aesthetic is fantastic, the background music is effortlessly chill in almost like a lo-fi beats vibe, and as you’d expect, it’s a game that will run on practically anything. There’s a free demo here, and the whole game is available for just under $13 at the time of writing.
Any of the old Fallout games will happily run on games with integrated graphics. But if you had to pick one, and you haven’t played it already, Fallout: New Vegas has a very special charm to it. There’s a reason it’s the most beloved Fallout on Steam despite the notorious jank, occasional crashes and bugs that occasionally break quests.
New Vegas has also been the beneficiary of some outstanding mods — including ones to reduce how much the game crashes — and if you’ve got an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate/Game Pass for PC subscription, then you’ll already have access to New Vegas along with it.
You can’t go wrong with any of the Shadowrun games. Hong Kong is probably the best of the lot, although I still thoroughly enjoyed the original Shadowrun Returns.
All three games are available now for $26, and if you’re after something that runs natively on Macs, the Shadowrun games work on those too. (They’ll fly on M1 laptops, if you’re sporting one of those.)
Another Mac-supported game, XCOM 2 has been a benchmark for turn-based tactics since its original reboot in 2012. Both XCOM games are playable on mobiles and tablets, too, although I’ve always found the most stable experience is on a proper desktop or laptop.
If you’ve got a really old system, you might have better luck with the original XCOM. Either game is well worth playing at least once, if only so you have the experience of knowing where so many other games drew their foundations from. But if you want a more punishing experience that’s more like the original X-COM PC games from the ’90s, Xenonauts is the way to go.
A lot of games hark back to the polygonal PS1/early 3D-accelerated era of PC gaming, but not all of them do so well. Anodyne is one series that does, and Anodyne 2 is especially clever about it.
The sequel blends that early era of open-world adventures like Spyro and Little Big Adventure 2 with top-down dungeons evoking Zelda and the Game Boy Color era. Heather said it best when she played Anodyne 2 here:
Anodyne 2 feels like the product of several lessons coming home to roost, both in terms of how confidently it weaves together different gameplay styles and how much it nails old school Playstation visuals … even the few moments I’ve spent with it have been inspiring. If you like good games or want to slide into a truly nostalgic and kind-hearted experience, keep your eyes on Anodyne 2.
Both Anodyne games are playable on Macs too, if you’re after something for that platform. More info’s available on the Steam page.
Apart from being the kind of RPG that doesn’t require much dexterity, making it playable with just a touchpad, Disco Elysium also rolled up an update to make it playable on the lowest-end possible machines. “With this latest update, Disco Elysium’s minimum specs have been dropped down to Mariana Trench levels,” the devs announced in mid-2020.
But how low, you might ask? Low enough that mid-2012 Macbook Airs, or any PC/laptop with a Core 2 Duo (that’s a CPU from 2006) is capable of playing ZA/UM drunken adventure.
Also, Disco Elysium happens to be one of the best RPGs released in the last few years. So if you can, play it for that.
One of the best indie games of the last five years that knows how not to overstay its welcome. Surprisingly well optimised, too, and it’ll also run natively on Macs (although not natively on new M1 laptops, mind you).
Persona 4 was built to run on the PS2 and the Vita, so there should be no surprise that it runs just fine on today’s potato rigs and laptops. The JRPG is one of the best in the long-running series, and its PC release is probably the best indicator that, finally, Atlus might actually port Persona 5 to PC. (Or the Switch.)
The Persona series was always perfect as a second-screen adventure, and you can absolutely enjoy Persona 4 if you’re completely new to the franchise. (Persona games are standalone anthologies, much like the Final Fantasy titles.) It’s a cracking adventure, it was brilliant when it first launched, and it’s still brilliant today. Have at it.
Part auto-battler, part RPG, part settlement builder, part resource management and part deckbuilding, Loop Hero is one of the most creative indies of the last couple of years. A supremely clever game, and the auto-battling element makes it a breeze to play on a laptop too.
Imagine you’re a bunch of modders, and then you get hired by Valve. And just for kicks, you decide to make a top-down take on Aliens. Complete with unique classes, characters, over 40 weapons, loadouts, a level editor and mod tools, and then you release the entire thing for free.
That’s Alien Swarm. It’s the best co-op game available for nothing these days. Oh and just for fun? The game’s AI Director is the same one that’s in Left 4 Dead. And if 4 players isn’t enough co-op action for you, Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop supports up to 8 players … and it’s also completely free.
This is technically a massive love letter to Thief: The Dark Project, so you really should play that first if you can. Practically every modern stealth game owes something to Looking Glass’s iconic design, and The Dark Mod is the ultimate love letter to that.
It’s a standalone open source game, so you don’t have to buy Thief beforehand. Updates over the years have made it easier to maintain, install, while also improving performance on a wide range of systems.
Imagine Fire Emblem as a strategy game but with hexes, more like the classic PC turn-based games of the ’90s. That’s kind of what Battle for Wesnoth, a free open source title on Steam, provides.
There’s plenty of content to enjoy: the game was first released in 2003 and has been updated with 17 separate solo campaigns over the time. Obviously it’ll run on just about any PC that boots these days, although the developers have done well to maintain a very clean aesthetic.
While not available on Steam yet (although it’s coming), OpenTTD is the open source fan-remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe. There’s not much to say beyond that: it’s a huge fan project that has been running for ages, and is really the ultimate version of one of the best early-era simulator games. Check it out on the official site here.
A one-button game about healing patients by activating the defibrillator in time with each patient’s heartbeat, each of which is unique. A deeply clever spin on the genre, Rhythm Doctor is one of the highest rated games on Steam this year and a very cheeky way to learn music without realising it. There is a level editor too, and there’s local multiplayer support (or online play via Steam’s Remote Play Together feature) for the whole campaign. Check it out here.
To say much about lisa would be to completely spoil the experience, so I’m just going to leave you with this from the official description.
Players will learn what kind of person they are by being FORCED to make choices. These choices permanently effect the game play. If you want to save a party member from death, you will have to sacrifice the strength of your character. Whether it’s taking a beating for them, or chopping off limbs, or some other inhuman way.
Lisa is weird, fucked up, and utterly astonishing. One of the most underrated stories in video games, hands down, and it’ll run on just about everything under the sun. Get it here, and there’s a fan game to check out once you’re done.
One of the great visual novel series, Danganronpa pits you in a life-or-death situation. You’re a high schooler with a serious problem: people are dying, and the only way to graduate is to kill someone without others finding out. The only way out is to solve the murder Ace Attorney-style, although there’s a lot of mini games sprinkled throughout.
The game also has one of the better villains in a visual novel series. Here’s the sadistic teddy bear Monokuma creepily laughing while a teenager cries in horror.
Just standard visual novel things. Head here if you’re into that stuff.
https://gfycat.com/deafeningmistyfieldmouse
Devil May Cry meets Quake. Do I need to sell it any more than that? I shouldn’t, but just in case, here’s everything you need to know. Alternatively, just head straight to Steam.
Imagine Slay the Spire roguelike deckbuilding, but you’re a dice. Literally. And you’re fighting vacuum cleaners, snowmen, dragons, cute space marines with hilariously oversized guns and more. It’s got a banging soundtrack too, courtesy of the same composer from Super Hexagon.
But really, it’s best to understand Dicey Dungeons by watching some gameplay. It’s cute, a great twist on some classic mechanics and plenty of laughs, as you’d expect from a Terry Cavanagh game. More info is available here.
Still one of the best RTS co-op experiences, and one of the best strategy games to share with a friend. Dawn of War 2 broke a lot of ground by focusing on tactics rather than traditional base and resource management, but over a decade later the game and its excellent expansions still holds up today. DoW 2 often goes on sale for a few dollars, so you and a mate can grab it for the cost of a large pizza if you’re patient.
Imagine a John Woo movie crossed with a deckbuilder, and you’re halfway to understanding Fights in Tight Spaces. An early access game that’s a couple of months out, the game is all about managing your positioning, movement and the balance of your cards to navigate any given situation. It’s a deeply clever little tactics game with a simple hook and a brilliant aesthetic. Definitely check it out.
Umurangi Generation has a ton of different things going for it. For one, it’s one of those rare games based around the idea of photography, with each level being a different part of a dystopian future city that you’re chronicling through your lens.
The game’s also steeped in Māori culture, courtesy of Ngai Te Rangi designer Naphtali Faulkner. Faulkner’s living in Australia right now, and the game’s heavily influenced by the recent Australian bushfires, which you can see throughout Umurangi as the city hangs on the precipice of disaster.
Umurangi Generation is a low-key, chill game that moves at its own pace. That’s a great fit if you’re looking for something to play on a laptop or low-end rig.
You know, $7.50 is great value if you wanna immolate every shred of trust between your friends and family. The year’s best version of Werewolf or Secret Hitler, Among Us has absolutely exploded in popularity this year. Great with friends and for helping reconnect with friends when you’re not able to meet in person, although if you can get together in a group, the mobile version works great too.
One of the best indies of the current generation and absolutely worth a few hours time replaying. Apart from being relaxed enough to be easily playable on a laptop or low-end rig, Firewatch also had the remarkable effect of inspiring fans to take up firewatching for real, which is always a wonderful legacy for a game to leave.
One of the great stealth PC indies, Gunpoint is all about dodging alarms, sight cones and crafting clever plans to confound enemies. Sometimes it’ll all work perfectly, and other times you’ll completely screw it up. A great, short title with tight mechanics that’s often available on sale for a few dollars.
One of the most well-crafted — and most enormous — JRPGs ever made, Trails in the Sky is an excellent adventure that you can comfortably get lost in for weeks. It’ll run on literally everything: the minimum requirements are a Pentium 3 550Mhz CPU, which was released all the way back in 1999. Your laptop can handle this one easy.
If you’ve got some patience, then one of the most difficult platformers awaits. La Mulana is one of the original Metroidvanias that delighted in brutalising players, far more than Castlevania or its ilk ever did. A complex dungeon and some truly brutal puzzles, but if you like a challenge, La Mulana will keep you busy.
Look. I personally wouldn’t play The Witness on a laptop of any description, but that’s because The Witness would be liable to make me throw said laptop across the room. The game has an astonishing ability to make you feel real dumb. Hell, some people started drawing on their TVs just to work out some of the puzzles.
But in all seriousness, it’s an extraordinary game. Great on the eyes, too, if you’re playing on a newer laptop with a HDR-capable screen.
Age of Empires meets Star Wars. Do you really need more than that?
A blast from the past courtesy of remaster legends Night Dive Studios. Strife was a shooter first released in 1996, built on the principle that DOOM-esque games were capable of incorporating deeper stories and RPG elements.
The re-released version plays much more nicely on modern screens and operating systems. The low-end requirements mean you won’t have to tank every detail into oblivion either. A great nostalgic trip and a wonderful window into a great era of PC games to boot.
Still the best and greatest of the HoMM high fantasy series. Don’t get the HD edition that’s floating around on Steam: make sure you grab the better version from GOG instead.
A harder version of X-COM, styled much more like the original MicroProse game, for those who hate themselves. I’m warning you: Xenonauts is damn hard.
Retro City Rampage DX already runs on low-end systems, but if you really want, the game comes with an extra that’s designed to run on a 486 DX PC. There’s even a prototype Windows 3.1 version.
That aside, Retro City is great for scratching that 8-bit, early GTA vibe. It’s also a great call back to the late ’80s and early ’90s, for those that love exploring that world.
Love the original Fallout games? Then UnderRail might be up your alley. Humanity has retreated to a series of underground train stations, fleeing from the radiation on the surface. It’s fairly challenging, offers a deep character creation system, and has some savage difficulty spikes to boot. But if you love that era of isometric, hardcore RPGs, there’s something in UnderRail for you.
One of Klei’s best adventures and a great roguelite adventure. Klei’s art chops are world class, as always, but what really makes Invisible Inc is its deep customisation. The soundtrack and characters are excellent too, and there’s the Contingency Plan DLC for extra starting characters and a longer campaign.
Want that classic RTS feeling with a modern touch? C&C Remastered is a great choice, running just fine on modern integrated graphics. It’s not on Macs, though.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/06/command-conquer-remastered-collection-is-just-excellent/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/06/cc-remaster-gameplay-5-410×231.jpg” title=”The Command & Conquer Remaster Is Just Excellent” excerpt=”It’s 2020 and I’m writing about a) EA re-releasing Command & Conquer and b) absolutely recommending everyone buy it. What a strange timeline we live in.”]
One of the greatest indies ever released on Steam, and also one of the most popular PC games on the platform. If you want something that’s great solo, shared with friends, or just a giant sandbox with more defined progression than Minecraft, Terraria is it.
Traditionally only available on PS3 and the PS4, Journey has since made the leap over to PC by way of the Epic Games Store. Like some of the indies on this list, Journey is one of those seminal, unmissable titles. It’s also got relatively low PC requirements, only needing a Nvidia GTS 450 which any modern integrated GPU will be able to match.
An intriguing indie where you’re stuck in the world of Hamlet, with a twist: everyone you know will die, and the world continually repeats itself until Ophelia can figure everything out. Elsinore‘s dynamic story engine means Ophelia learns from every time loop, and the game immediately reacts to your decisions in the beginning and every future loop.
It’s a narrative adventure that really flew under the radar last year, and it’s great to dive into if you need a gripping story when you’re on the road. A minimum GPU requirement of a HD 4000 means most modern laptops will run the game with no issue, too.
It’s like oldschool Heretic, but in a modern wrapping with a totally different context. If you want more retro shooters, DUSK is also another banger of a title that runs on low end PCs, but as is customary, they’re both better with a mouse (wired or wireless).
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/01/amid-evil-is-basically-a-modern-heretic/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/01/amid-evil-410×231.gif” title=”Amid Evil Is Basically A Modern Heretic” excerpt=”Just before the end of the year, Tegan and I played through a bunch of indies from PAX Australia on the Kotaku Twitch channel. One of those games was a New Zealand-developed shooter called Amid Evil, which looked like a fun bit of nostalgia. And that’s pretty much what it is: a modern indie retake on Heretic, complete with giant blocky pixels to remind you of the ’90s.”]
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/01/kotaku-australia-best-games-of-2019-pc-ps4-xbox-one-switch-android-ios/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/kotaku-australia-editor-favourite-games-of-2019-1-410×231.jpg” title=”My Favourite Games Of 2019: Kotaku Australia’s Editor” excerpt=”Everyone else has had their say, but it’d be a bit weird if the editor of a gaming site didn’t weigh in, too.”]
Less of a traditional game and more a wholesome experience, Kind Words is all about writing anonymous letters – and responses – to people in need. Some of those questions might be fairly low-key things, like whether you like the rain. But many of them are personal, asking for a bit of guidance, career advice, help on dealing with a problematic friend, and the kind of issues that anyone can relate to.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/kind-words-lo-fi-chill-beats-pc-basically-wholesome-twitter/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/07/kind-words-1-410×231.jpg” title=”Kind Words Is Basically Wholesome Twitter With A Cute Deer” excerpt=”If Twitter was less of a hellscape and had lo-fi beats playing in the background whenever you scrolled through your feed, the experience of it might be a little like Kind Words.”]
Baba is you is 2019’s The Witness: the puzzler that makes you feel stupid until that shining moment where everything clicks. Originally borne from a game jam, Baba is you is one of those rare titles that upends and confounds your expectations and understanding with every level. A brilliant, brilliant game, and one you can play on anything.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/03/baba-is-youis-a-brilliant-puzzle-game/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/v4fuhoqf8pbnwjufllau.jpg” title=”Baba Is You Is A Brilliant Puzzle Game” excerpt=”There’s a certain trick that smart game designers use to mess with their players. You’ll finish a level, all satisfied and cocky about it, and then the next stage will look exactly the same, with a twist. Maybe it’s missing the crate that was the lynchpin of your first strategy, or maybe there’s an extra enemy blocking the path. “Ha, you thought you were better than me,” declares the game. “You are not.” Baba Is You is the master of this design trick.”]
Sometimes you need a game that’s constant stress so you don’t have time to stress. That’s a little what Cook, Serve, Delicious! is like to play. The latest iteration, CSD 3, is out now and can run on practically anything. I prefer to play it with the keyboard, but a controller works well too. Alternatively, the first and second game are fully fleshed out, and are fairly cheap on Steam.
Difficult, full of secrets to discover and with basically no requirements that would challenge any PC in the last seven or eight years, Nuclear Throne is a cracking roguelike shooter. It’s fast-paced, has plenty of clever ways to teach you how to move forward, has tons of weapons and characters to unlock. Best of all for low-end PCs and laptops: the game is locked to 30fps, so you won’t even feel like you’re missing out on anything. The game’s best played with controller or a wireless mouse though, for those on a laptop.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/12/nuclear-throne-one-of-steams-highest-rated-games-leaves-early-access/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/12/nuclear-throne-410×231.jpg” title=”Nuclear Throne, One Of Steam’s Highest Rated Games, Leaves Early Access” excerpt=”It’s been a bit of an indie darling since launching on Steam back in 2013. The roguelike top-down 8-bit shooter finally left Early Access this week, and it does so with one of the most impressive Steam records to boot.”]
Take the spirit of GTA, mix it with Nuclear Throne, and then add a dose of emergent RPG gameplay. That’s basically Streets of Rogue, so you can see why it’s one of the highest rated games on Steam. And just like Nuclear Throne, its pixel-art style is compatible with practically any PC imaginable.
A great deckbuilder that will not only run on anything – all you need is 2GB RAM and basically any GPU in the last decade that still functions – but it’s also available through Xbox Game Pass on PC. You can buy the game outright for about $35 right now, but you could also pay $3 and play it for three months instead. Just make sure you’ve updated Windows and downloaded the beta Xbox app.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/01/tips-for-playing-slay-the-spire/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/xe5hcjuhe3jppraoawjp.png” title=”Tips For Playing Slay The Spire” excerpt=”After over a year in Early Access, the challenging deck-building roguelike Slay the Spire is officially out on Steam today with a Switch port to following later in 2019. The game was really good when I played the hell out of it back in early 2018, and though the finished version is mostly the same, it still bears the marks of nearly 14 months of updates, balance improvements, and overall polish.”]
Want the enjoyment of a card game but don’t have a consistent internet connection, or you just want something with more of a story? Thronebreaker is a retooling of CD Projekt Red’s Gwent that provides a surprisingly deep RPG experience, with the cards used not only as a foil for 1-on-1 matches but some puzzle solving. And with a measly i3 being the recommended requirement – not minimum, recommended – it’ll run on basically anything. Thronebreaker also fills in the gaps before the Witcher games well, so it’s definitely worth checking out for Geralt fans.
One of the biggest indies from the last decade and one of the few games that everyone should check out without reservation.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/01/undertale-as-told-by-steam-reviews/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/ikccptfldxtwecdh0baf.jpg” title=”Undertale, As Told By Steam Reviews” excerpt=”Undertale came out of nowhere and turned RPGs upside-down with its deft mix of emotions, dogs, emotions and more dogs. It’s become one of the biggest games on Steam.”]
The League of Legends CCG is coming to mobiles later this year, but for now its only PC players that can jump into the open beta. Gracefully, the game has wonderfully low requirements that will work on practically any modern laptop and integrated GPU. The CCG itself is halfway between Hearthstone and Magic: Arena – both great games run on low-end laptops themselves – and it’s a perfect extension of Riot’s universe for League‘s fans.
The Witcher 3 might be Geralt’s magnum opus, but the GOTY edition of The Witcher 2 is still a superb adventure in its own right. The combat takes some getting used to, but you’ll have more leeway over the direction of the story, and it’s a great way to scratch any itches left over from the Netflix series.
Best of all: The Witcher 2 can run rather smoothly on low-end games and integrated laptops, particularly laptops over the last few years. YouTuber LowSpecGamer found a way to maintain a minimum of 30fps back in 2015 by messing around with the options in the Witcher 2 launcher, and you’ll get more leeway from any laptop with integrated graphics in the last three years. If your laptop is one of the ones with the low-end Nvidia discrete MX150 GPUs, you can go even further – hell, people have found ways to capably play Apex Legends and The Witcher 3 on those, provided you don’t mind playing on the lowest possible resolutions.
Part of the problem with gaming on the laptop, however, is that sometimes that’s all you have. No mouse, no separate controller, and sometimes no room for either anyway.
Risk of Rain is perfect in those scenarios, since it’s purely a keyboard-only game. An action platformer that gets harder every 5 minutes, Risk of Rain is all about balancing the risk/reward mechanic of hanging around a level long enough to gain XP and money before the crazier enemies show up. The 8-bit graphics are designed to run on just about anything too, so you won’t feel handicapped by your choice of hardware.
As long as you have an Intel Core i3 or better CPU, you’ll have enough grunt in your low-end laptop to run Civilization 5. And if you’re looking for a game that you can carry on your hard drive until the day it dies, it’s hard to ignore Civ 5.
There’s plenty of depth with the expansions and the mods available in the Steam Workshop, although chances are the Complete Edition will have enough content to keep you going through those lonely nights in hotels. It also plays just fine with the touchpad, which can be a lifesaver sometimes if you don’t have a spare mouse aroun
But if you’re after something a little more vibrant, a little faster and something a tad fresher, the side-scrolling platformer Owlboy will be right up your alley. Apart from the fact that Nathan found it was a surprisingly clever and quite modern despite the look, the game will basically run on anything. There’s no requirement for a discrete GPU and you only need 600MB of space, which is always a plus if you’re gaming on your work laptop.
Unsurprisingly, if you were busy farming up a storm at home you can do it on the road as well. Stardew Valley has bugger all hardware requirements save for 2GB of RAM and a GPU with 256mb of video memory, which pretty much any laptop from the last few years will be able to manage with no problems at all. You can also play quite happily using the keyboard, although taking a controller with you isn’t a bad idea.
Another game that runs on a potato, The Binding of Isaac deserves a special mention here because it’s perfectly playable with keyboard controls. The arrow keys determine the direction you shoot and you just rely on SPACE for items, WASD for movement and SHIFT (or E) to place bombs. Easy.
Oh and there’s the small part that The Binding of Isaac is an excellent game with loads of depth. There’s a reason it has a competitive scene.
If you like the idea of playing a thoughtful 4X on the go, but want more of a fantasy bent to the experience, Amplitude’s Endless Legend is an excellent alternative. You’ll want to turn the graphics down all the way, but the game will run. Which is nice, since it gives you a reason to discover why Junglist thought Endless Legend was a better game than Civilization 5.
But if you need some strategy with a sick sense of humour to keep you distracted while you’re away from home, there’s perhaps nothing better than Bullfrog’s bizarre classic, Dungeon Keeper 2. The original is arguably a purer experience – well, as pure as commanding a bunch of minions from Hell trying to belt the snot out of wandering adventurers – but the sequel stands up a lot better in this day and age.
It’s something I would recommend having a separate mouse for, however, although you can control the first-person elements with the keyboard easily enough. And don’t worry about the system requirements – DK2 released in 1999, although the Good Old Games version plays nicely with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
Released in 2012 and one of the most successful early uses of the Kickstarter platform, Faster Than Light should be on most people’s PCs already (if not their tablets). There’s plenty of content and difficulty thanks to the expansion and the modding scene, and FTL also has a small footprint on your hard drive (which is a lifesaver if you’re running off a 128GB SSD).
Another recent game with bugger all hardware requirements is the grim world of Darkest Dungeon. A RPG with roguelike elements, Darkest Dungeon needs nothing more than a few GBs of RAM and an OpenGL 3.2+ compliant GPU – which is basically everything from the last five years.
On the practical side of things, the game’s turn-based nature means you won’t have any issues just playing it with the trackpad if that’s the only option available to you. The developers do recommend having a 1080p screen as a minimum, but with 1440p and even 4K laptop screens increasingly becoming standard that shouldn’t be much of a stumbling block.
Oh and just in case you needed it: Darkest Dungeon is pretty damn good, if a tad punishing.
Sometimes you just want to lose yourself in an open world. And what better world to explore than the brutal streets of Hong Kong. Sleeping Dogs was already incredibly well optimised on PC, but it runs just fine on laptops as well. I’d recommend packing a controller in your travel case for this, and it’s not the kind of game you want to download on airport Wi-Fi.
But any integrated graphics from the HD 2500 series and up can run Sleeping Dogs, albeit at reduced settings. And besides, sometimes when you’re miles away from home it’s just good to grab a bike and punch a few blokes in the face. (The story is also uncannily good, if you like the undercover cop shtick.)
You might miss having your full trucking rig from home, but any laptop with an Intel HD 4000 or better GPU will be able to run SLS’s cathartic trucking simulation. Euro Truck Simulator 2’s relaxing nature already makes it a strong candidate for being on your laptop, but the added benefit is that the game has a full suite of keyboard controls. You’ll still have to use the trackpad to turn the game’s camera around, but since left and right is mapped to A/D you can manage that on a laptop pretty easily.
So those are some games you can play on your laptop or potato PC, from action platformers to addictive CCGs to good old farming simulators. What are your favourites?
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surprised to see something like Space Marine in a list like this instead of one of the Torchlight games
Spelunky also tends to perform more consistently than Risk of Rain due to how crazy RoR gets in late-game. For fans of both I would also recommend Caveblazers (currently following a similarly successful early access process to RoR)
Aye the lack of Torchlight is surprising given the fact they don’t need much to run, are cheap and are great games.
I’m pretty sure they were designed explicitly to run on low-end hardware in the first place – it’s why they stylised the characters akin to WoW insteading of trying for realism like their contemporaries.
undertale?
glad to see dungeon keeper up there.
Hearth Stone would be another option in stead of duelyst too.
Hearthstone is a bit of a given, so I wanted to go with something else. You can play Hearthstone just as effectively on your phone too, so might as well make use of the laptop screen for something a bit prettier. Undertale’s a good choice, although I don’t think it’s as replayable as most of the list above.
It’s always nice to see Risk of Rain get some love – I’ve played about 60 hours and still go back to it regularly for bit of a distraction – the game nails pretty much everything, from the retro aesthetic to the excellent soundtrack. The artifacts also give the game great replayability, as each one/combination alters the gameplay significantly.
Deadbolt is another game by the same company – similar aesthetic to RoR. I haven’t played it yet, but the reviews are also great – the hardware requirements are also low end, so should run fine on a laptop, but looks like it probably needs a mouse moreso than RoR.
I’d also add basically any game released more than 10 years ago to this list – any half-decent laptop or low-end PC should be able to handle SW:KOTOR or Half Life 2
With these things I like doing games that people might not expect. KOTOR is a given, especially since it’s on phones and tablets now. Same deal with XCOM.
I was thinking of including Nuclear Throne as well, but that game needs a mouse sadly. You could pack a controller, but I didn’t want to fill the list with too many games that needed extra equipment. That defeats the purpose a bit.
Fair point. However, I will always encourage people to play HL2. Always.
Also, out of curiosity, where are you guys based in the city? We moved offices a while back to the Circular Quay end of Phillip St, which I’m pretty sure is close to you?
Sorry, missed this one before. We’re just opposite Circular Quay these days, so very close indeed.
I’ve played Civ 5, Endless Space and a bunch of other empire sims on my MacBook air.
Have you tried throwing the new Civ6 at it?
On another note, all of the Total War games before Shogun 2 works pretty well on low end machines
Terraria.
I have an old Asus Eeebook 1.8g Atom. 1gb ram and Intel onboard graphics when I don’t want to take the big bulky gaming laptop on a plane. Surprisingly I get away with playing GTA Vice City, the Mount & Blade series and Battlefield 1942. Sure they are old games but they handle pretty well especially for casual play.
Morrowind
Exactly the sort of post I was hoping for!
New territory for me, but have ended up with a Lenovo i5-7200U with GeForce 920MX GPU. The only game I’m so far game to try on it from that list has been FTL. Will Civ 5 really manage?
Other games I will be trying/want to actually properly play some time this year on it:
Overwatch
Diablo 3 (finally)
Starcraft 2 (need to finish the second expansion, and then onto the last)
Stanley Parable
Beginner’s Guide
Monaco
Black Mesa and the Half-Lifes (sounds like a band)
Dishonored 1 vanilla
Then the Mass Effects, Shadowruns, and possibly XCOM 2Dishonored 1 vanilla
No. Doesn’t run well on low end machines.
I went on a little binge on GOG recently… aside from Stardew Valley, I have the first Crusader Kings game (I’m a bit of a recovering CK2 addict prone to relapses), SimCity 4, the first two Tropico games (they come as a bundle on GOG), and all the Cultures games (Cultures, Cultures 2, Northland & 8th Wonder of the World) installed on my new-ish Atom x5-Z8350-powered laptop with a 128GB eMMC drive and 4GB RAM. I know Terraria works as well. Have yet to install Steam on here but would like to see how Mount & Blade and Banished run when I do. Also I’ve seen the first Far Cry game run on a x5-Z8300-powered tablet, so I’ll probably give that a whirl too at some point, though I expect significant FPS drops in jungle areas. It’s just kind of fun throwing these old games on this little Atom and seeing how she fares. I’ll also mention here that from what I can recall The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection ran more than a little laggy on my old Dell Inspiron 11 3000 with the Celeron N2830 – on a laptop I’d suggest it probably needs an i3 at the very least. Also note that I take a mouse literally everywhere my laptop goes because while some games might play well with the touchpad, I sure don’t lol.
As an old AMD laptop gamer I can add the following:
Binding of Isaac – the original game was not so good. Being run within Flash, it really suffered on my system. The new remake was quite good.
Any game with “nvidia” on startup would suck, no matter the detail level or resolution. I played Witcher 2 at 640×480 barely.
Most Unreal titles worked really well, in particular Borderlands 1 and 2. Native res, decent detail level ran pretty well.
Anything Source ran like a dream. Half Life and Left 4 Dead ran flawlessly which really highlighted just how badly “nvidia” titles were crippled on the old system. I know the nvidia toolset makes pretty graphics easy but is it so hard to put in a check… If nvidia then geralt gets beautiful white flowing hair, else flat.
HuniePop is also dreamy 😉
Just thought I’d add in the original Dishonored ran great on a 400 laptop when I played it a few yrs ago, oh and Hyper Light Drifter too. Though you’ll need k and m and game pad respectively.
I’d add, along with the caveat that a gamepad would be very useful:
Eldritch
La Mulana
Spelunky
Cave Story
Teleglitch
Legend of Grimrock
Got to disagree on the Binding of Isaac. My lappy is not a potato but heating problems have aged it beyond the already respectable 2 years it is pushing and in order to run tBoI without lag, I need to close most other programs. After a few hours of playing it starts lagging anyway and a restart is necessary. Civ 5 on the other hand does indeed run fine. Don’t Starve runs perfect the first few hours. With Guacamelee I experienced much less lag than with Isaac.
Great list! That pretty much sets you up for years of gaming lol. Didn’t realize Civ and endless legend didn’t need much grunt, would’ve expected them to need a ton of resources.
My first instinct was Undertale, and though I saw you mentioned in another comment that it’s not very replayable, I guess it depends on who you are. That’s turned in to a “play every year” kind of game for me, even though it’s the same every time, just to go through the story with those characters. Eachto their own I guess 🙂
Also, hell yes on Stardew Valley. That will most definitely keep you entertained for many hours ;D
Oh man I remember trying to run The Witcher 2 on my potato PC back when it launched. At 720p low I was hitting 15 fps max. Thankfully a year later it eventually came out on the 360 & I grabbed that version immediately.
Factorio
Seems to run on low end machines quite well. (According to users on Reddit)
I know this list is three years old but I’m nonetheless surprised you managed to not put HoMM3 on it.
Updating from my post above, 3 years later, I have a new laptop that now is two years old and indeed BoI is already pushing it. You wouldn’t expect it but that game can get quite imposing on your PC. Another game that I was also quite surprised to find so demanding is Hollow Knight. My PC can take much better quite a long session of Path of Exile with all its crazy effects and gigantic packs of monsters than 15 minutes of Hollow Knight.
Minecraft doesn’t qualify? At the very least, Java version?
I got Strife and Strafe mixed up and was going to disagree!
Great call on Gunpoint, a modern classic.
Disco Elysium is reputedly an incredible & innovative RPG – it’s had a ‘Working Class’ patch that’s supposed to make it run happily on low spec PCs. Anyone tried?
Yup, works well. I gave it a go on some laptops with integrated graphics. Not amazing, but totally playable.
Honestly “Hamlet timeless where you play as ophelia” has me sold. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of that one before
The Curse of Monkey Island and Escape From Monkey Island
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