This is our gathering of the best games for laptops and low-spec rigs—games that can grab your attention without burning up your system. We've rummaged through all sorts of genres, so you'll find quick pick-up-and-play games alongside deep RPGs that you can get lost in. There are choices you can latch onto all by themselves, and others that you can use to fill time between meetings.
These are mostly newer games with accessible system requirements, but of course there are tons of classic PC games, from Doom to Half-Life 2, that will run smooth as silk on any modern laptop. Looking for a new laptop to game on the go? Here's our guide to the best gaming laptops. If you're up for a bit of subterfuge with friends, Among Us is one you can be sure they'll be able to play almost no matter how old their machine is.
It even has cross-play between PCs and phones if that's all they have handy. Among Us is a familiar format to anyone who's played Werewolf or other similar group tabletop games. A crew of brightly-colored space engineers are stuck trying to repair a ship while discovering who among them get it? The fun is in how well you and your friends can fool one another more than fancy lighting effects, so it's an easy one to pick up and play on a low-spec machine.
Release date: Developer: Jagex Link: Steam. This oldie hails from the era when today's low end PCs were hot stuff. Runescape has been around for a long time and there's definitely a reason why. This MMO hails from the days when online games didn't always guide you down a paved path of quests and leveling opportunities. The Old School version of Runescape takes you back to those early days of its online world.
You may struggle to get started in this one without the wiki handy, but at least it won't put your PC to the test. The not titled goose game is plenty short and so are its required system specs. If you somehow went dark on the internet in the weeks following the Goose Game's launch, you may have missed how many goose memes it birthed into the unsuspecting mainstream social media sphere.
The Goose Game is a charming little stealth puzzler about being a terribly foul goose on the loose in a quaint little British village. Release date: Developer: Valve Link: Steam page. We could have included pretty much any Source engine game here, such is the impressive way it scales to lower-spec hardware. Admittedly, that might be because it's getting on a bit. While Half-Life 2 shines these days with visual mods and at higher resolutions, Portal 2 remains one of the funniest, smartest puzzle games around, even if you had cause to play it at x with all the settings turned to 'Low'.
You're not playing this one to be wowed by fancy graphical effects—you're playing for Stephen Merchant's, J. Simmons', and Ellen McLain's terrific voice acting, and of course for that bit with the potato. Release date: Developer: Mojang Link: Official site. Mojang's infinite block-'em-up isn't terribly demanding specs-wise, and it's the perfect game to mess around with on a laptop when you're supposed to be writing features for PC Gamer about low-spec games.
While it's often played on a tablet, phone or console these days, you're getting the latest updates and mod support if you choose to build stuff with your PC. Here's our frequently updated list of the best Minecraft mods. An indie sensation that brought the idyllic farm life of Harvest Moon to PC.
Build your farm into a vegetable empire, go exploring, learn about the lives of your neighbors, fall in love and settle down. Simple graphics ensure this one will run like a dream on your laptop, and it'll make long flights pass by in a snap. Stardew Valley has officially supported co-op farming for a couple years now, which is undoubtedly a great way to go back to Pelican Town. This tiny strategy game was one of our early favorites in Most importantly, all that classically-inspired goodness comes in a tiny installation that shouldn't challenge your PC nearly as much as your strategy skills.
An instantly addictive card combat roguelike, which takes the strategic fun of deckbuilding board games and marries it with the sensibilities of games like The Binding of Isaac and Risk of Rain, where finding random "relics" can change how you play. Or, if you get a lucky combination, turn you into a murderous card god. Like the best roguelikes and deckbuilders, Slay the Spire feeds you that immense satisfaction when you find a combo that absolutely wrecks.
Enemies that were once intimidating fall before you like flies. It's a fun one to replay again and again, thanks to unlockables like more powerful cards for each deck type, and protagonists that play wholly differently from one another.
A phenomenal, bite-sized turn-based strategy game from the makers of FTL, and easily one of PC Gamer's favorite games of It's incredibly replayable, with different mech squads and tactics to master.
As we said in our Into The Breach review : "Exacting, agonising, challenging, and intensely rewarding, Into the Breach delivers in the tiniest package the most perfectly formed tactics around. Civ is usually a safe bet when it comes to low-end machines, and you won't need too beefy a PC in order to play the second newest entry in the series.
The real question is, can you game on your laptop? The good news is that in a world of next-gen graphics and ray-tracing, there are still publishers producing games that can run on a laptop without a good graphics card.
Here is a nice variety of games you can play on old hardware, without feeling like your gaming in If you are worried about overburdening your teeny little laptop with oodles worth of application memory, any game that can alternatively be played on mobile is always a safe bet.
Among Us has won itself a spot as king among fun multiplayer games. It can even be played cross-platform, so your friend can plot your demise from behind their iPhone screen. A clever take on old favorites like Wolf or Town of Salem , you and up to 15 friends are crewing a spaceship.
The catch? One of you is "The Imposter", possessed by an alien entity with a bloodlust. Crew can save the day by completing all their ship tasks or catching the killer in the act. The result is cartoonish finger-pointing madness with friends, making Among Us a great pick for laptop users.
Just because you are playing on a laptop does not mean you are stuck playing Solitaire or Minesweeper. For those searching for a massively online game with a taste for high stakes and adventure, Fortnite is a great pick. Its unique, slightly cartoonish style makes it more compatible with PCs with lower graphic capabilities. Anyone who plays the game more competitively would argue that playing on the lowest graphic settings is less than ideal, but for the casual gamer, it neither makes nor breaks the experience.
Fortnite Battle Royale is free-to-play and cross-platform, perfect for the occasional late-night gaming session with your pals.
You might be thinking to yourself, why would anyone want to play a game published in ? Few games have aged as well as The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim , in all of its often-times glitched and ragdoll glory.
It might seem counterintuitive, but despite the limits of its original time, Skyrim is still a very well-rounded open-world adventure. If your aim is to disappear inside a vast and boundless fantasy world, with a deeply customizable personal experience, then there is no reason not to love Skyrim.
Slay dragons, pick fights with NPCs, or become an infamous chicken murderer. For testing I tried them all on my wife's three year old laptop that only has Intel integrated graphics.
This may still be more modern than your average old laptop, but it's not a gaming machine by any means. If you're still unsure, you can download demos of many of the games, and Can You Run It is also a good place to check to see if your gear is up to snuff. Oxenfree from Night School Studio is a must-have on any system, and thanks to its minimalistic, yet very stunning graphics and animation designed by Disney alumni, it is ideal for your older laptop.
You play as the protagonist Alex, a teenage girl on an overnight excursion with friends to a mysterious island that used to be a World War II military base. The kids accidentally open a spirit gate and encounter ghosts and discover otherworldly messages from the past. The real draw of the game is the conversation system, as every conversation can change the course of the narrative.
You will spend the majority of the time exploring the island and trying to find a way to close the ghostly rift. The puzzle elements are challenging but not too hard. The gameplay might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the story is what really drives the game.
As its name implies, FTL puts you at the helm of your own faster-than-light starship. The game plays from a top-down perspective showing your craft's various compartments or rooms. Each of your ships five systems, Sheilds, Engines, Medbay, Oxygen, and Weapons, are housed in these rooms and are run by your crew. Your overarching mission is to deliver "data" to the Federation, but you will have many encounters along the way, some friendly and most not so friendly.
To make matters worse, as you jump at light speed from system to system, you will have a Rebel fleet dogging your trail. If it catches up to you, your ship will be destroyed. FTL battles take place in real-time, but you can pause to strategize and give your crew commands. You will always have something to do, whether it be managing your ship's systems or commanding your crew to make repairs or fight boarding parties.
The game is very challenging even on easy difficulty because every game is randomly generated. We played for 27 hours and were never able to reach the Federation, but every playthrough was unique and fun.
Although the game is still in early access, Factorio is a well-functioning game worth your time. In a way, it is similar to SimCity, except instead of building streets and buildings, you create conveyor belts and factories. You will collect resources and construct everything by hand at first, but as you progress, your factories will become more and more complex and automated.
However, building a massive manufacturing empire while raping the world of resources makes enemies with the alien populous — "Spitters," "Biters," and "Worms. Developer Wube Software has the official release slated for September 25, , but don't let that stop you from buying the very stable and virtually complete build right now.
When first-person shooter Borderlands launched in , developer Gearbox marketed it as having "87 bazillion" different guns. In actuality, the game's "Procedural Content Creation System" is capable of randomly generating over 3. It also provides each weapon with a slightly unique look.
While primarily a shooter, the game has a rich RPG-like character development system allowing players to customize one of four classes, each with unique abilities and skill trees. These elements combined with vehicular combat, open-world environment, a multitude of side quests, and an adaptive four-player multiplayer cooperative mode makes Borderlands a title that you can revisit multiple times with each new playthrough seeming fresh.
Untitled Goose Game from indy publisher Panic Inc is a more recent title. Players assume the role of a pesky town goose. The town is split up into sections with each having a set of missions or tasks to complete, like stealing items or tricking villagers into doing something. The game combines stealth and puzzle elements and oddly enough developer House House said it drew inspiration from Mario 64 and the Hitman series.
With its simplistic graphics, it is easy to let this game fly under your radar, but its gameplay is fun and silly enough to make it a good pick for lower-end systems. Its only real flaw is that it is too short. Most players can complete it in a couple of hours. Hotline Miami is a top-down shooter initially launched by Devolver Digital in You play as an unnamed protagonist fans refer to as "Jacket" in Miami. The game is divided into Chapters, with each having several stages. Missions begin with a phone message that ultimately has Jacket facing off with a Russian Mafia operation.
The goal is always to gruesomely eliminate all the bad guys in that location. Starting each stage unarmed, Jacket must use stealth, at least until he finds a gun or melee weapon.
He also has access to masks, which can be found on bodies. Each disguise comes with unique buffs to help get through the stage. While it is an action game, it is also somewhat puzzle-oriented in that players must figure out how to complete areas without being killed, which is not easy. If you can't get the jump on an enemy, you will likely perish and have to start the level again.
Its structure makes it great for playing in short bursts, like while you are waiting to board at the airport. Despite its cartoonish, beautiful graphics, Cuphead is one of the more taxing games on the list, both on your hardware and your sanity. Studio MDHR's bullet-hell is one that many have found frustratingly difficult, so it's not for everyone. However, once you get the hang of its levels after dying many, many times , it becomes addicting.
The sense of relief and satisfaction after completing a stage is a suitable payoff. You play as either Cuphead or his brother Mugman. The style is reminiscent of the old "visit-the-snackbar" animations with their anthropomorphic popcorn and sodas dancing around. Coupled with its cool soundtrack, the game makes for a fun experience whether you are watching someone else die or you are playing yourself.
Perhaps one of the more underrated titles on the list, the Hack series consists of three hacker simulators from developer i — Hack Run, Hack Run Zero, and Hack Time. They harken back to the days of text adventures, so you can literally run them on anything.
The games put players in the shoes of a hacker who receives an "offer' from a strange "employer" that seems to know more than it should about his or her skills. The story plays out from a command line prompt as you infiltrate a mysterious corporation snooping on emails, running scripts, and uncovering clues to delve deeper and deeper.
The puzzles can be quite challenging at times, requiring a very keen attention to detail. It is easy to miss clues as the text scrolls off the screen, but diligence pays off, and it is quite satisfying when you crack some of the more security-hardened systems. If all else fails, i added a hint system in the most recent updates for those who get stuck. Honorable Mention: Uplink Buy it from: Steam. Released in , Half-Life remains a classic that has been updated and remade on multiple platforms.
The first-person shooter puts you in the shoes of Gordon Freeman, a scientist at a research facility known as Black Mesa. Thanks to an experiment gone wrong, Freeman finds himself battling creatures from another dimension. The dystopian sequel, Half-Life 2, is set six years after the dimensional rift caused by the Black Mesa Incident.
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