It becomes abundantly clear from playing PC games that graphics aren’t everything. Many of the most streamed games on Twitch have low PC requirements, which isn’t a coincidence. Sometimes developers sacrifice gameplay quality for graphics. It’s an unfair tradeoff, but it’s a stark reality.
You can pour hundreds of hours into these games until your laptop or desktop computer overheats. With a quality PC build, you can play most of these games on maximum settings, or increase the frame rate on lower settings. Note that many of these games are also playable on macOS. These are amazing PC games with low requirements.
Updated December 12th, 2020 by Tanner Kinney: PC Gaming is often celebrated as a space that, at its peak, is capable of the best gaming can offer. However, by the same token, a lot of casual PC game players don’t have the best rigs to play the latest and greatest games. Alternatively, they’re stuck with laptops that are great for schooling and not much else. In those situations, there are still plenty of incredible options, particularly in the indie scene. We’ve included a few more smaller titles that can play on most low-end systems.
15 Game Dev Tycoon
Tycoon games are both bigger than ever and also a lost genre. There are plenty of titles, particularly in the mobile space, that attempt to replicate the experience without much of the charm. One of the best options is Game Dev Tycoon, a game about developing video games and becoming a major developing in historical replica of the game’s industry (at least, in the PAL Regions).
Game Dev Tycoon doesn’t offer a lot of complexity in creating literal video games, but in terms of a business simulator it’s incredibly solid. While definitely challenging at first, after a few attempts the game is easy to navigate. The best part is that it can run not just on low-end PC’s, but also cheaper Chromebooks through the Google Play Store. It’s addictive and fun and able to be played on just about any device.
14 Monster Train
Monster Train is one of the best deckbuilding roguelites on the market, only subjectively beaten out by Slay the Spire. The game, in terms of intensive visuals, is about as simple to run as any other card game on the market. Most devices should be able to run the game and have it look about as good as the highest end rigs.
The game is endlessly addictive, fusing traditional deckbuilding with a tower defense element of sorts. It offers dozens of combinations in what kinds of decks can be drafted during a run. It’s also a lot easier to get successful runs compared to other games, with the challenge coming in the higher difficulties the game has to offer. The end goal of clearing every combination at the highest difficulty level is a challenge both daunting and enticing. The Monster Train is definitely a good ride.
13 Stardew Valley
Farming games, like tycoon games, are typically great for low-end devices. The goals of the game are simple on the surface, but with layers and layers of depth to keep players engaged. And, of course, it’s hard to mention the genre without bringing up the best there is: Stardew Valley. This game wears a lot of different hats over the core farming gameplay loop, and it executes on everything it tries to do with ease.
In terms of running on low-end devices, the minimum requirements for Stardew Valley include Windows Vista as the operating system, among other quaint settings. If that doesn’t indicate the fact this game can run on anything, I don’t know what else will. It’s frequently on sale, so PC game players both hardcore and casual have no excuse to not pick up Stardew Valley.
12 Slay The Spire
Of course Slay the Spire is on this list; it’s one of the best roguelites of all time and basically shaped what became the deckbuilding subgenre. The game is simple and easy to learn, but with so much depth in building decks that each character can play radically different between each attempt. For example, the mage analogue in The Defect can use its elemental orbs to succeed, or can pick up a bunch of Claws and rip enemies apart. It’s so much fun to experiment, and getting an overpowered run is an amazing dopamine hit.
For low PC’s, the game’s style is what carries it over the edge. It doesn’t look like a typical card game, but it certainly runs like one. Even the slowest of PC’s can get the game going without too much effort. For fans of any of the genres Slay the Spire flirts with, it’s definitely worth it to check out.
11 Spelunky
Spelunky is one of the definitely indie titles on both PC and console. In terms of influence, the game should be considered in the same league as The Binding of Isaac, Cave Story, and Super Meat Boy. It’s a game designed with infinite ways to make the player struggle, but just as many ways to help the player succeed. Sometimes the chips don’t fall in favor of Spelunky Guy, but when they do it’s so worth it.
The sequel, Spelunky 2, is even more of the classic goodness of the game, but may require a somewhat more modern system to get running smoothly. Spelunky‘s HD port on Steam, on the other hand, can still run on Windows XP. The game runs smoothly and still holds up incredibly well. It’s a title worth checking out, or just buying the sequel for those with devices that can smoothly run it. You’re gonna want to see every frame of spectacular self-destruction.
10 Celeste
Celeste was regarded as the leading indie game in the year of its release. In 2018, it received numerous awards for its phenomenal platforming. In Celeste, players control Madeline as she attempts to scale a mountain while avoiding obstacles. The artwork is gorgeous, and the gameplay is almost flawless. Celeste requires an Intel HD 4000 video card or better to run smoothly. You’ll only need 400 MB of hard drive space to run this PC sensation.
9 Team Fortress 2
Now that Team Fortress 2 is free-to-play on the Steam Store, there is no excuse for not playing this game. It’s a multiplayer first-person shooter from the Valve, the famed developers that brought us Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Half-Life, and Portal.
Even if you have a basic integrated graphics card like the Intel HD Graphics 630, you’ll probably meet the minimum and recommended requirements. Your dated Windows 7 PC will work with this game. Games like Overwatch might not exist if it weren’t for TF2. Although it’s aged since its release in 2007, the gameplay holds up well.
8 Terraria
Indie game Terraria is like Minecraft in two-dimensions. The game’s vibrant 2D pixel artwork blends well with its themes. You can dig and build almost anywhere you choose. You’ll need 256 megabytes of dedicated video RAM to meet the recommended requirements for Terraria, but you can get away with a low-end 128-megabyte card. Surprisingly, it’s a game that released in 2011, yet it can run on dated OSs like Windows XP and Windows Vista.
7 World Of Warcraft Classic
If you want to play the original World of Warcraft in its vanilla state, World of Warcraft Classic is very appealing. Take a journey back to World of Warcraft when there weren’t numerous expansions convoluting the plot and creating player imbalances. Back in its heyday, World of Warcraft had lower PC requirements. Low-end desktop or laptop owners will love this game. World of Warcraft Classic only needs 2 gigabytes of RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4000.
6 Warframe
With 4 gigabytes of RAM needed for this game, Warframe’s requirements are higher than other games on this list. However, it has relatively low requirements in comparison to other action role-playing games.
The incentive to play Warframe is high since it is a free-to-play game without a pay-to-win formula. You can grow your character without falling into the game’s microtransactions, yet it offers in-game currency for purchase to skip the grind.
5 Minecraft
Many of the most popular video games have low PC requirements. It’s not always about frame rate or graphics, which is why a game like Minecraft is widespread. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past decade, you’ve probably heard of Minecraft’s block-building phenomenon. It’s been ported more times than we can count, yet it started on the PC. If your cell phone can run the game, your PC probably can as well.
4 PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Lite
The developers of PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) introduced PUBG Lite to compete with Fortnite. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a more graphically demanding game than Fortnite, so it was ingenious to integrate this light version. In a move to keep up with the Joneses, PUBG Lite is a downgrade that hardly sacrifices gameplay for lower requirements. It’s somewhere in the middle of PUBG and PUBG Mobile, with minor changes to the original game.
3 1982
Steam has its fair share of indie developed games, but 1982 seems to stand out. It’s a retro-inspired game that pays homage to arcade classics like Galaga, Pacman, Galaxian, and Space Invaders.
Using AppGameKit, this game has basic coding to create a fun experience. Most importantly, the PC requirements for 1982 are exceedingly low. If you can’t meet the minimum and recommended requirements of this game, you might need to update your gaming rig.
2 League Of Legends
Whether you are a League of Legends or a Dota 2 player, you can’t deny their low PC requirements. League of Legends is an online battle arena game that is fun played solo or with friends. Rise your way through the ranks as you strategize in this free-to-play game. That fact that it’s not pay-to-win and is free-to-play is conducive to fun gameplay. It’s no wonder why League of Legends is so prevalent with millennials.
1 VALORANT
Although VALORANT released in 2020, the game has surprisingly low PC requirements. This low-end favorite is jumping on the scene as one of Twitch’s most streamed games. Its mass appeal is likely because of its low PC requirements and because it’s free-to-play. It uses the basic features of the Unreal Engine. By using the Unreal Engine, developer RIOT Games could focus on improving gameplay instead of building on the game’s graphics.
It goes to show that better graphical fidelity doesn’t trump all. VALORANT has addictive gameplay, and RIOT is continually adding new content. Your budget laptop likely has the necessary hardware to run this explosively popular game.
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