Hey there! I would like to hear your opinion for some of the better games that can be run on weaker and older PCs / laptops.

Although I have a powerful PC I also have a weak laptop i like to carry around when traveling and such. Of course, I do like to play a game from time to time as you'd expect. Now, I wanted to make a list of games I can and other people could play with something they have, because, as we all know. Not everyone can afford a high-end PC or an upgrade.

Feel free to comment all the games you find are good and capable of running on older computers.

Here is the list of the specs on my PC in case you're uncertain what weak means by todays standards :/
Of course the games don't have to like run at 60 FPS on these specs, as this is just an estimate, I can't know what other people have, can I? :)

Processor: Single core 3.00 GHz
RAM: 2 GBs
GPU: 1 GB

Here is the list of games I or other people like to play that don't require anything powerful.

  1. Terraria

    • A pretty well known game so I wouldn't go over it that much. Dig, fight, explore, build! It will bring you an immense amount of joy especially if played with friends.
  2. Don't Starve Together

    • Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style. If you do decide to get this game, buy the Together version as it is basically the same game as vanilla except with multiplayer!
  3. Counter-Strike or Counter-Strike: Source

    • Don't have to explain anything here, do I? One of the most well-known FPS shooter games ever.
  4. Iron Snout

    • Really fun game great for killing a few minutes or hours of your time. A ton of fun and the best thing is, it's free to play and can be run on almost everything as the game was designed for phones originally.
  5. Bastion

    • Discover the secrets of the Calamity, a surreal catastrophe that shattered the world to pieces.
  6. Sproggiwood

    • Another game that can be run on a potato, this game was also designed for phones. A great turn-based roguelike that's certain to bring a lot of fun, at least it did for me. :) I've actually made an in-depth guide on this game too and if you wanna check it out click here
  7. Party Hard

    • t's 3am. Your neighbors are having a loud party. Stop them. Party Hard is tinyBuild's award-winning stealth strategy game about stopping the party by any means. PS. AMAAAZING SOUNDTRACK!
  8. Stronghold Crusader

    • Old but truly gold. One of the best strategy games ever made and one that paved the way for the rest. To me, one of the best games ever.
  9. GTA: San Andreas

    • One of the best games ever, the game that truly changed the gaming industry.
View attached image.
7 years ago*

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I am sure many others but the first that come to mind are the Spiderweb CRPG's (Geneforge, Avernum, Avadon)

7 years ago
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I have never played any of them, I'll check them out. Thanks :)

7 years ago
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Party Harddddddddd
Thomas Was Alone
The Floor Is Jelly
Luckslinger
Broforce
Big Pharma

7 years ago
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Thanks, not sure how I could've forgotten some of them.

7 years ago
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Last summer I had to live in a hotel for a couple months for work. These were my go-to laptop games! Always remembered to bring my HDMI cable and xbox controller as well ^__^

7 years ago
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Stronghold Crusader, Sacred 2, Spellforce 2

7 years ago
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+1 for Sacred 2, I'll add Sacred Gold and Divine Divinity as well.

7 years ago
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i forgot Half-Life

7 years ago
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Thanks. Amazing profile picture and name btw. Huge fan of House MD.

7 years ago
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Haha, thanks. I watch it way too much. I wish I had his wit.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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Added Stronghold, thanks for reminding me. Gonna check the other two aswell.

7 years ago
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Terraria is all you need, really. Solo or with friends xD

7 years ago
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Totally agree. Almost 300 hours in it!

7 years ago
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Darkest Dungeon. It ran flawlessly at my potato laptop and can provide you with many many many hours of tears and frustration.

100% Orange Juice. Potatoes can run it.

7 years ago
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I've had 100% Orange Juice and Darkest Dungeon for months on my watch/wish list. Definitely gonna look into getting them soon, hopefully this sale. Thanks!

7 years ago
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Sid Meier's Civilization ;)

7 years ago
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GTA Vice City - the best GTA ever made!

7 years ago
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can i get an AMEN

7 years ago
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AMEN! Though I like San Andreas more! :)

7 years ago
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Many old classic games like Psychonauts or Fallout New Vegas run fairly well on my potato, there also many newer game with pixel graphic that doesn't require much to run: Papers Please, Wadjet Eye's games, Hyper Light Drifter, Titan Souls, most visual novel games if it's your thing, RPG Maker games like Ib or Lieat etc.

7 years ago
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That's true. Thanks for reminding me of some of those games bud!

7 years ago
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Age of Empires II

7 years ago
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I've never actually played it as I've always been busy with Stronghold Crusader. Maybe that should change. Thanks.

7 years ago
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Age of Empires and Stronghold Crusader are my go to games on a weak laptop, and the latter was already mentioned ;-) AoE is old but this definitely a very good RTS.

7 years ago
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I've sent you a friend request man! Maybe we can play SCH together! :)

7 years ago
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Sure but I don't want to disappoint you - I play those games only when I'm on a business trip or in my mothers home for holidays, and cannot play more demanding games (I finished original crusader and AoE years ago) ;-)

7 years ago
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It's a very nice game. Also not to mention Age of Mythology
Personally I would like to nominate c&c red alert 2: yuris revenge. Although it is kinda old, it is probably the best rts ever made.

7 years ago
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Rogue Legacy and FTL spring to mind. Not that anyone really needs anything beyond Bastion ♥

7 years ago
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FTL seems to be everyone's recommendation so I've just got it. Thanks!
Gonna wait for Rogue Legacy to get on sale first though, i've had it on my watch list for a while now.

7 years ago
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Stardew Valley
Hyperlight Drifter
Shrouded in Sanity
UnEpic
Rain World
Refunct
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1-3
Shadowrun games
REED
FEZ
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
The Stanley Parable
Stories of Bethem: Full Moon
Final Fantasy 7
Sunless Sea
The Final Station
Crawl

didn't check your game list but these are a few good ones i remember for low specs... :)

7 years ago*
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+1 to stardew valley. A must get game!

7 years ago
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Great list, I'm going to get like 4-5 games at least from that list! Thanks.
Ps. First few games need a bit stronger rig ( Dual Cored processor at least )

7 years ago
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Hi! :) I can't think of other games right now, and you probably heard of them:
Hotline Miami
Alien/Zombie Shooter
Max Payne
Worms Armageddon

7 years ago
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+1 for Worms Armageddon
best Worms game ever

7 years ago
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7 years ago*
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Thanks, that's such a brilliant list. Already got a few games from there! :)

7 years ago
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I used to run games on a potato computer and my friend with a possibly even more potato-y computer ran Dangan Ronpa 2 just fine. I think its really pushing it since a few scenes could get a little laggy, though.

Other games that seemed to have run alright on my potato:
Downfall
The Last Door
Papers, Please
Please, Don't Touch Anything
Sonic Adventure DX
The Stanley Parable
Why Am I Dead At Sea
Stardew Valley
World's Dawn
RPG Maker games

7 years ago
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I've played some of the games from that list like Papers, Please and World's Dawn, others I intended of grabbing when they get bundled. Thanks for a reminder and a great list.

7 years ago
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Zork of course.

Also, FTL

7 years ago
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stellaris

7 years ago
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Warcraft III Reign of chaos and Frozen Throne. Will always be one of my first choices, I wonder why nobody commented them. It's one of my 3 favorite games of all times.

7 years ago
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HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC 3

7 years ago
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Mount and blade
Any RpgMaker game
Awesomenauts
Hotline miami

7 years ago
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My suggestions is:
1) System Shock 1-2 - plays great even now, awesome games.
2) Gothic 1-2 - one of the best games Ive ever played. Detailed plot, relatively good graphics, awesome replayability, neat gameplay....I love this games. And Gothic 3...It worse than 1-st and 2-nd, but not a bad game overall.
3) Star Wars: KotOR 1-2 - do I really should explain why it is great?
4) Devil May Cry 3 and 4 - I passed DMC3 maybe 13-15 times. You should at least try it (only with gamepad, if you don`t want to break your fingers :D)
5) To the Moon - despite simple graphics it felt like I was watching a movie....awesome movie.
6) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - dunno if your CPU would run it, but you should try.
Have a great time playing these gems, if you will play them :)

7 years ago*
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Never played the first 4 games, however I've finished To The Moon. One of the best games story-wise but the gameplay is kinda painful, but it pays off in the end. I've also finished Brothers on my main PC. Great game too but it wouldn't run on my laptop.
Thanks for the list, gonna check System Shocks out.

7 years ago
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Think GOG has your back on for games to get for it.

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 / 2

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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  • SHOVEL KNIGHT
  • DESKTOP DUNGEONS
  • ZIGGURAT
  • BROFORCE
  • FREEDOM PLANET
  • STEAMWORLD DIG
  • STEAMWORLS HEIST
  • DOWNWELL
  • OUTLAND
  • RETRO CITY RAMPAGE DX
  • RISK OF RAIN
  • SUNLESS SEA
  • PIX the CAT
  • ROGUE LEGACY
  • SINGULARITY
  • TOWERFALL ASCENSION
  • OWLBOY
  • KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO
  • TORCHLIGHT 1 and 2

All tested and (mostly) finished on my potato netbook.

7 years ago
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