Gaming on a laptop or PC is easier today than it’s ever been, thanks to years of hardware improvements and a steady stream of digital games.
While that’s great news for anyone running a formidable GPU like the RTX 3080, many of us have to operate on a more restricted budget.
Thankfully, there are plenty of fantastic games that are capable of running on the most “potato” PCs and laptops out there.
In this game list, we’ll highlight the premier games for low spec PCs that will keep you entertained without overloading your system.
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West of Loathing
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 DuornGPU: 512 MBrnMemory: 2 GB RAM
To get us started, West of Loathing is a comical RPG about stick figure cowboys trying to navigate a peculiar Wild West.
The game is set in a monochromatic, hand-drawn open world occupied by eccentric characters with questionable moral compasses offering equally peculiar quests.
Combat follows a turn-based structure with plenty of entertaining gags peppered in, though the authentic enjoyment comes from interacting with NPCs.
It’s suggested for anyone who loves games about cowboys or just wants an entertaining PC game that’s not too demanding on low-spec machines.
Civilization VI
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core i3 2.5 Ghz, AMD Phenom II 2.6 GhzrnGPU: 1 GB AMD 5570, NVidia 450, Intel Integrated Graphics 530rnMemory: 4 GB RAM
The Sid Meier series has been around for what feels like forever and still manages to introduce small innovations and quality of life improvements with each new installment.
We’ve chosen to highlight the most recent entry, Civilization VI, which features a novel “religion” condition that lets you win the game by converting the entire world to a single faith.
Like most 4X titles, gameplay revolves around turn-based actions that influence your position with neighboring nations over the course of hundreds to thousands of years.
Like its predecessors, Civ 6 can be played offline and has low enough spec requirements that allow it to run on just about any PC or laptop.
Loop Hero
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E4500, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3600+rnGPU: GeForce 7300 GT, Radeon X1300 PrornMemory: 2GB RAM
Combining deckbuilding gameplay with roguelike mechanics, Loop Hero is a unique tactics game with an auto battler feel that runs smoothly on most machines.
In it, you’re tasked with arming a hero with formidable loot before sending them on along a randomly generated loop path filled with diverse enemies and other obstacles.
As you complete loops, your deck expands, granting you novel enemy, building, and terrain cards that can be placed in crucial points to farm for resources used to upgrade your camp.
The game offers endless loop path variations along with an array of unlockable character classes that will have you switching up your approach every run.
Among Us
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: SSE2 instruction set supportrnGPU: AnyrnMemory: 1GB RAM
Among Us is an online social deduction multiplayer game in which players try to complete tasks while hidden Imposters impede their efforts at every turn.
If you’re given the Imposter role, your objective is to turn the other players against each other as you take them out one by one.
Alternatively, the Crew’s job is to work together until they can sleuth out the traitors or complete their tasks and escape.
It’s not a complicated game by any means and can run on just about any device, including less-powerful laptops and PCs.
Welcome to Elk
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel i5 Quad-CorernGPU: Intel HD 4000rnMemory: 4GB RAM
If you’re more of an aficionado of single-player affairs, then a game like Welcome to Elk may be more your speed.
Categorized as an Adventure game, it sees you playing as Frigg, a young carpenter from a big city who arrives in Elk, a remote island inhabited by an eccentric cast of townsfolk.
Frigg soon finds herself entangled in the lives of the locals, who each have a distinctive tale to offer based on real firsthand accounts.
On the gameplay side of things, Welcome to Elk uses captivating mini-games to represent the various tasks you’ll be completing.
Disco Elysium
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core 2 DuornGPU: Integrated or dedicated card with at least 512MB video memoryrnMemory: 2GB RAM
Disco Elysium is a narrative-driven RPG that sees you playing as a detective sent to investigate the murder of a man found hanging from a tree.
Previously, the game was only playable on mid to high-end machines, however, developer ZA/UM has done us all a service by patching the game to support a broader range of hardware.
It takes place in a fictional city called Revachol where a failed communist revolution has left the community in political upheaval.
Hunting down clues and potential leads give you plenty of opportunities to poke and prod around NPCs’ personal beliefs and biases while dealing with your own doubts.
A Monster’s Expedition
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: SSE2 instruction set supportrnGPU: 256 MB NVidia or ATI graphics card, Intel HD Graphics 3000rnMemory: 2GB RAM
A Monster’s Expedition is the newest entry in a series of loosely connected puzzle games published by Draknek & Friends.
Just like previous outings, the game features some of the most incredible puzzle designs we’ve seen in recent years.
Its premise is fairly simple: you play as a backpack-wearing monster on a quest to learn as much as you can about human culture.
Your journey will take you across a vibrant and open world comprised of different interconnected islands with devilishly uncomplicated puzzles.
Untitled Goose Game
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400rnGPU: NVIDIA GeForce 510rnMemory: 4GB RAM
Aside from generating some of the finest fowl-related memes to date, Untitled Goose Game offers a humorous, albeit simplified stealth experience centered on one mischievous fowl.
In this game, you lead a mischievous goose who enjoys bothering people as it explores open-world settings filled with objects to interact with and amusing tricks.
While UGG may not offer the most extensive or robust stealth gameplay, it’s good for a few laughs.
The game also benefits from the addition of a co-op mode that sees a friend controlling a second goose.
Slay the Spire
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 2 GHzrnGPU: 1GB video memory, OpenGL 3.0rnMemory: 2GB RAM
Slay the Spire is a card-strategy game modeled after 2D roguelites, in which each playthrough is distinctive.
Each run has you selecting from multiple characters with unique starting conditions that affect how the game plays out.
The goal is to ascend a series of levels within a spire while encountering numerous enemies and rewards depending on the path taken.
Along the way, you’ll be able to rest at campfires, expand your deck with new cards from shopkeepers, and trigger unique encounters.
Amid Evil
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 2.5 GHzrnGPU: Intel HD 4400rnMemory: 4GB RAM
Amid Evil is a vintage first-person shooter created in the same spirit as classics like Unreal Tournament, Doom, Quake, and Heretic.
In it, you take on the role of “The Champion,” a proficient warrior chosen by the gods to wield a sacred battle-ax and use it to defeat bad guys across multiple realms.
This ax can do a ton of cool things such as fire elemental projectiles, cast spells, and even deliver a nice blow to an enemy’s head.
It’s a somewhat challenging game that relies on quick reflexes and constant movement but runs buttery smooth on low-end PCs.
Minecraft
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core i3 3210, AMD A8 7600 APUrnGPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000, AMD Radeon R5/HD 7000, NVIDIA GeForce 400rnMemory: 4GB RAM
Probably the most recognizable game on this list, Minecraft is a must-play for anyone who enjoys open-world survival or building anything you can imagine.
By now, most will be familiar with the formula: you break blocks for resources and use them to construct various tools, weapons, furniture, etc.
A considerable part of the game’s popularity stems from its minimal hardware requirements which allow Minecraft to run fine on just about any laptop or PC.
Additionally, you can install certain Minecraft mods that make the game less taxing on older machines.
Celeste
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core i3 M380rnGPU: Intel HD 4000rnMemory: 2GB RAM
The universally lauded 2D action-platformer Celeste manages to strike the perfect balance between gameplay and story, despite its grueling default difficulty.
In it, you play as Madeline, a girl looking to escape the struggles of everyday life by climbing a mysterious mountain.
Players advance the story by completing a series of hand-crafted platforming levels that revolve around precise jumping and dashing.
For those who love a good challenge, Celeste features concealed collectibles scattered throughout levels along with remixed ‘B-Side’ stages that boost replayability.
Into the Breach
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 1.7 GHzrnGPU: Intel HD 3000rnMemory: 1GB RAM
Into the Breach is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by Subset Games, best known for their successful hit FTL: Faster Than Light.
The game takes place in a distant future where humanity must fight against an army of creatures known collectively as the Vek.
Gameplay has you engaging in turn-based battles using soldier-operated mechs that can be equipped with a diverse array of weapons and armor.
Similar to FTL, the game is broken up into a series of missions with randomly generated scenarios and procedurally created environments.
Opus Magnum
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 2 GHzrnGPU: 1366 x 768, OpenGL 3.0rnMemory: 4GB RAM
Opus Magnum is a puzzle-based coding game that has you taking on the role of an alchemist.
You’ll create potions, poisons, and more using a transmutation engine that allows you to manipulate and reorganize the atoms of various elements.
Each challenge presents you with multiple components, represented by robotic arms and tracks, which can be combined in order to create a distinctive structure for specific tasks.
The game starts relatively uncomplicated, assigning you to make basic concoctions that require minimal brainpower until eventually ramping up.
Cuphead
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 3 GHz, Intel Core2 Duo E8400, AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000rnGPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT, AMD HD 3870 512MBrnMemory: 3GB RAM
Cuphead draws inspiration from challenging run-and-gun titles where memorizing enemy attack patterns was less of a strategy and more of a necessity for survival.
The game does an excellent job of luring you into a false sense of security with its charming hand-drawn characters and environments before revealing its sinister nature.
In this, you assume the role of the main character Cuphead as he battles different foes to settle an unpaid obligation with the Devil.
These lengthy battles put your platforming skills through the wringer and test your endurance, but are worth it for the visuals alone.
Darkest Dungeon
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: NonernGPU: Open GL 3.2+ CompliantrnMemory: 2GB
Not many games manage to blend Lovecraftian horror with dungeon crawling as adeptly as Darkest Dungeon.
Billed as a turn-based RPG, gameplay revolves around recruiting, training, and guiding a team of heroes through hellish 2D environments swarming with danger.
Each of the 16+ character classes included comes equipped with distinctive skills and flaws that can be combined in thrilling ways and often lead to devastating outcomes.
It all made even more intense due to features like permadeath and mental afflictions that cause your characters to feel paranoia, masochism, fear, irrationality, and more.
Stardew Valley
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: 2 GHzrnGPU: 256MB video memoryrnMemory: 2GB RAM
Inspired by the beloved Harvest Moon games, Stardew Valley is a 2D farming sim with light RPG mechanics and vibrant pixel art graphics.
In it, you create your own character and set out to bring your grandfather’s old farm back to life by gathering seeds, planting crops, and selling them for a profit.
A day/night cycle encourages you to plan out activities in advance, which includes exploring mines, talking to NPCs, tending to crops, or just hanging out at the local tavern.
The citizens of Stardew have distinct personalities that really make them come to life, allowing you to make friends, rivals, and even get married.
Dead Cells
Minimum Requirements:
CPU: Intel i5rnGPU: NVIDIA 450 GTS, Radeon HD 5750rnMemory: 2GB RAM
Categorized as a 2D roguelike, Dead Cells focuses on combat and exploration across randomly-generated dungeons.
Each run sees you gathering materials to craft better gear as you hunt down formidable bosses and minions throughout a sprawling 2D labyrinth.
Upon passing away, players are returned to the original region with slightly more resources than their previous attempt.
This is at the heart of Dead Cells’ gameplay loop, encouraging you to push yourself further at the risk of dying.