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Best Low End PC Games | Check What You’ve Missed Out On!
In the past, laptops or low spec PCs and gaming were two abstract terms. But that’s already history. As we well know, today gaming is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. New games are constantly being developed, so everybody can find something for themselves. Even if you can’t afford a monster PC or a high end laptop.
While having a low spec machine, you can still have a great time. Many excellent games are tailored specifically to low spec PCs. Moreover, people often overestimate the requirements of a given game. In fact, numerous modern titles can run even on a low spec PC or laptop that hasn’t even stood next to a gaming one.
- So what games can I play on budget hardware?
- What kind of PC is a low-end one?
- How much does a low-end PC cost?
- What are the best low end PC games?
You will find answers to these and many other questions in this text.
Table of contents:
How Much Does a Low End PC Cost?
What Should I Play On a Low End PC
What Is a Low End PC?
Basically, it's a PC that is made of cheap components. That results in poorer specifications regarding the video card, RAM, or processor. Typically, such computers are made up for daily activities such as office work or casual web browsing. Still, that doesn't mean they are suitable only for that.
Of course, a low end PC would be insufficient for playing CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077. Still, if assembled from the right, even budgetary parts, it can be used to play many great games.
How Much Does a Low End PC Cost?
If you want to go back to the past and play childhood classics, then you don't need a PC more expensive than $400. However, this may not be the best choice. Due to the low spec of such computers, you won't be able to play the latest games. For comparison, the price of the PS4 currently fluctuates around these limits. And, obviously, the PS4 gives more possibilities.
However, if you are willing to invest a bit more money, then you might build a budget gaming PC for 2021 costing around $700. This will let you keep a reasonable price while not giving up on the best games.
What Should I Play On a Low End PC?
As we’ve already mentioned, low spec PC users can handle many entertaining titles. Thus, we have provided you with a list of video games that are undoubtedly worth checking. All of these enjoyable games don’t require monster graphics or a powerful processor. What’s more, most of this list’s positions are available via Steam.
Valorant
Even though Valorant premiered in 2020, it is one of those games that, despite a short presence in the gaming market, is also available on low end PCs or laptops. To enjoy the smoothness of the game, some changes to the settings may be required. Yet, this shouldn’t significantly affect the fun of the game.
The system specs of Riot Games’ new game are as following:
Minimum Specs:
- CPU: Intel i3-370M
- CPU SPEED: Info
- RAM: 4 GB
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- INTEGRATED GRAPHICS CARD: Intel HD 3000
- PIXEL SHADER: 3.0
- VERTEX SHADER: 3.0
What Are Valorant Best Settings for a Low End PC?
If you experience spikes or FPS drops during your Valorant experience, give these settings a try:
- Resolution: Monitor's Native Resolution
- Display Mode: Fullscreen
- Material Quality: Low
- Texture Quality: Low
- Detail Quality: Low
- Vignette: Off
- V-Sync: Off
- Anti Aliasing: None
- Anisotropic Filtering: 1x
- Improve Clarity: On
- Experimental Sharpening: Off
- Bloom: Off
- Distortion: Off
- Shadows: Off
Half-Life 2
The second position on the list is a 2004 classic. Half-Life 2 is a first-person shooter game developed by Valve, the company also responsible for the development of the well-received Portal 2. Half-Life combines shooting, puzzles, and storytelling, complementing it with vehicles and physics-based gameplay.
Half-Life 2 is a continuation of a game series presenting the story of Gordon Freeman. The scientist is forced to grab weapons and fight for the future of humanity against the army of aliens. He has to travel through many dangerous areas to finally close the huge gates located at the top of the sinister tower.
This first-person shooter takes us to the fictional City 17 and its surroundings. The gameplay features 12 extensive, addictive, and action-packed levels. Each of them has a different style and a different group of opponents at the forefront. However, having a different arsenal of weapons in his inventory including pistols, rifles, and shotguns, Gordon knows how to defend himself. At one point, he also gets a Gravity Gun, a special firearm allowing him to manipulate objects.
System Specifications:
OS: Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista/XP/8.1.
Processor: AMD Athlon 2.4 GHz or Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.80 GHz. Memory: 1GB RAM.
Graphics: DirectX® 8.1 level Graphics Card (Requires support for SSE) DirectX: Version 8.1.
Network: Broadband Internet connection.
Storage: 7GB available space.
Untitled Goose Game
In this humorous stealth game, the gamer is personated as a stubborn and malicious goose that causes problems for the inhabitants of a small village. The authors of the game confirmed their inspiration by the GTA series, thus it’s a sort of follow-up to Rockstar Games production.
The village is divided into several smaller locations. In each of them, you get a set of tasks to be done. They mainly come down to making jokes to the village inhabitants. The tasks include basic challenges, such as stealing a pumpkin that won a competition or scaring people. However, there are also more fanciful guidelines. We have to, for example, manipulate somebody so that they do what we, or rather the goose, wants.
Untitled Goose Game became a hit among streaming platforms, which contributed to the great commercial success of the title. In September 2020, the developers published a large update introducing a multiplayer mode.
Specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
- RAM: 4GB
- HDD: 820MB of storage space
- GPU: Integrated GPU / NVIDIA GeForce 510
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7 Service Pack 1
- DirectX: Version 10 (shader model 4)
- Screen Resolution: 720p
The Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac is yet another production of the independent Team Meat. Fans may know them for the well-received, constantly gaining more and more followers, Super Meat Boy.
The Binding of Isaac belongs to the category of survival games. Isaac is a kid doing his best to survive while hiding from his mother in the basement. Dark humor, appropriate use of colors, and shocking gameplay including fresh ideas create a great game vibe.
The game, produced by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl, was released on September 28, 2011. It is a top-down arcade game made in 2D using Flash technology.
Players move through a randomly generated maze of chambers, ending with a boss fight. During the exploration, we come across various types of items that affect the character's stats. Individual levels may also include shops, rooms with hidden
treasures, and other secret locations. Usually, players have to complete the game multiple times to discover them. Objects used to interact with the setting also play a large role. Use bombs to blow up obstacles or enemies on your way, and keys to open numerous chests and doors to secured chambers. Over time, you will also unlock additional characters, differing in strength and available bonuses.
Specifications:
- OS: Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP.
- Processor: 2.4 GHz Quad-Core 2.0 (or higher)
- Memory: 8GB RAM.
- Graphics: Intel HD video 4000 and higher, ATI Radeon HD-Series 4650 and higher, Nvidia GeForce 2xx-Series and up.
- Storage: 449MB available space.
- Sound Card: Yes.
FTL: Faster Than Light
FTL: Faster Than Light is one of the space strategy games enriched with tactical, RPG, and adventure game elements. It is the debut project of a small Chinese independent studio FTL Team.
The story takes place in a galaxy torn apart by a gigantic military conflict. As a gamer, you become a mercenary who is the captain of his own spaceship. One day, you are hired as a courier with a task to deliver valuable information to one of the Federation's bases. Unfortunately, the rebel command finds out about the contract and sends the entire navy on your trail.
As a ship captain, your job is to chart a star journey and lead the squad. The ship has a lot of subsystems, the failure of which always has specific consequences for its functioning. During the gameplay, the gamer has to face plenty of adventures and puzzles. These include losing weapons or shields while frantically trying to repair the ship before being destroyed by the enemy.
All characters in your crew have their own task and statistics. You will meet many random events on your way, such as abandoned ships. They can be ignored or investigated. But be careful! Yeah, you can discover something valuable on their board. However, you can also become a victim of an infection that murdered the previous companions. Each member of your crew dies forever. It’s highly important because losing just one of your crew characters may be decisive for the success of the mission.
Specifications:
- OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7
- Processor: 2 GHz
- Memory: 1GB
- Video:1280x720 minimum resolution, OpenGL 2.0 Support, and recommended dedicated video card with 128 MB of RAM
- Hard Drive:175MB HD space.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a classic sandbox RPG game. It has been inspired by the highly popular Harvest Moon farming series, known mainly from Nintendo's portable consoles. The production was initially computer-designed. However, its remarkable success prompted the creator to prepare console and mobile versions of the game.
The plot of Stardew Valley tells the story of a young man who leads the standard life as an employee of a large corporation. In the past, he received a mysterious envelope from his grandfather. However, he’s been instructed to open it only when he feels that his life has become monotonous and miserable. Recognizing that this moment has just arrived, the hero opens it. This way, he finds out that he received a small farm as an inheritance. The man abandons his mundane life to face completely new challenges.
The game provides you with a variety of options, offering access to an extraordinary multitude of activities and tasks. Everything depends on your preferences. In addition to farming, you can go fishing, pay a visit to a nearby mine and look for useful resources. Boring? Well, you can also venture into dungeons full of dangerous monsters and valuable treasures, if that’s what you like. All this is complemented by
a typical sandbox advanced crafting module and a character development system. Thanks to this, as the level increases, you can improve hero's various skills.
Game Specifications:
OS: Windows 7 or greater.
Processor: 2 GHz.
Memory: 2GB RAM.
Video: 256MB video memory, shader model 3.0+
DirectX: Version 10.
Storage: 500MB available space.
Civilization V
Civilization V is one of the best games with a strategic background in recent years. Players describe it as beautiful, extensive, and addictive for many long hours. The game is worth exploring and learning on your own. Thus, experiment with various solutions before you finally bring your civilization to prosperity and gain hegemony.
The fifth part of the Civilization series traditionally brings significant changes. They concern both the audiovisual setting and its substantive content. The transparency of
the interface has been improved, making it minimalist and user-friendly. Not all options and functions are available immediately on the screen, but even the hidden ones can be accessed with one mouse click. All these changes, however, only serve to facilitate control. There are no limitations or restrictions concerning the gameplay mechanics.
The single-player mode is complemented by the possibility of playing via multiplayer mode. Civilization V runs on a new graphics engine with DirectX 11 support. Therefore, maps now have a more detailed and natural look. Even geographic diversity has been taken care of, as forests on each continent now look completely different. The diplomacy screen has been realized in full 3D. As a result, each of the leaders has an individual animated background. Much attention was also paid to the audio track, making all the leaders speak in their native language.
Specifications:
- CPU:Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 64 2.0 GHz ● RAM: 2GB
- OS: Windows® XP SP3/ Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7 ● VIDEO CARD: 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better-integrated graphics
- PIXEL SHADER: 3.0
- VERTEX SHADER: 3.0
- SOUND CARD: Yes
- FREE DISK SPACE: 8 GB
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 256 MB
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is an unusual isometric RPG game in the climate of detective games. The game's main feature is an extensive narrative, whereas combat scenes occur occasionally. The game is the debut production of Estonian studio ZA/UM.
The story is a depiction of a gloomy fictional world. It features cultural, technological, and ideological notions characteristic for the first half of the 20th century crossing each other (from the communist revolution to disco music). The protagonist is a penniless policeman with ruinous alcohol addiction. However, having a difficult case to solve, he's soon forced to pull himself together.
At first glance, Disco Elysium resembles a classic RPG with an isometric view. We observe the world through a fixed camera (you can only zoom in and out), with the protagonist in the center. Importantly, Disco Elysium doesn’t involve traditional combat and weapons, which makes the game something special. Dangerous situations are very rare and are resolved through the dialog box.
When it comes to mechanics, the protagonist's abilities are developed in three ways:
- The first one is a standard investment of skill points obtained with gaining experience. You gen them for completing tasks, skillfully using the hero's knowledge, or discovering various sorts of secrets.
- The use of items — there are dozens of clothes in the game, each one providing bonuses (and/or penalties) to specific talents. A separate issue is the consumption of various drugs. It gives you a temporary bonus to the entire group of skills but costs a life point or morale.
- Thought Cabinet — by appropriately conducting conversations and other sorts of interactions, we unlock various concepts resulting from our behavior.
Specifications:
- a 64-bit Processor and OS.
- OS: Windows 7.
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo.
- Memory: 2GB RAM.
- Video: DirectX 11 compatible video card (integrated or dedicated with min 512MB memory).
- DirectX: Version 11.
- Storage: 20 GB available space.
Darkest Dungeon
Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based dark fantasy RPG game developed by debuting studio Red Hook. Its action takes us to a dark world modeled on the medieval era.
The game tells the story of an old mansion that has been taken over by ancient and sinister powers. In the gameplay, players focus on hiring and developing adventurers who come to the city. Then, they are sent on missions to the underground, where they have to face monsters and obtain treasures. You spend obtained gold and resources on the development of the city, which over time leads to increasingly difficult missions and much more powerful enemies.
The gameplay focuses on exploring dungeons full of monsters and traps. However, these expeditions were carried out in a way different from the standards of the RPG genre.
Interestingly, the emotional state of the characters plays an important role. The heart of the game is the system simulating the psyche of the heroes. The team members are not unbreakable as terrifying experiences have an impact on their emotional state.
Combat in Darkest Dungeon is played in a turn-based system. The right choice of formation plays a key role, and each move must be carefully considered because deaths are final. The authors have combined the old-school tactical depth with many more modern solutions, such as, for example, a counter mechanism. The enemies are not the only threat as everything — traps, team disputes, and darkness — can be equally dangerous.
Specifications:
- Memory: 2GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
- File Size: 2GB
- OS: Windows XP
Into The Breach
In this turn-based tactical strategy game, players direct representatives of human forces. They do everything in their power to fight against worms (the Vek) emerging
from the ground. When you start the game, you can choose the difficulty level (easy/medium/hard).
Success in Into the Breach doesn’t depend on the possessed weapons or other equipment (although of course, it is significant). The key factor in the game is thinking because this computer board game can be easily compared to chess. During your turn, every time you should carefully plan the movement and actions of each machine. Try to anticipate the consequences of its operation and make the best use of the available possibilities.
In the game, we will also make crucial decisions for the game outside the battlefield. Upgrade points are extremely valuable, and there are many ways to use them. Therefore, in-game we often have to decide whether we will go for extra health points, attack power, or another skill.
System Requirements:
- Memory: 1GB
- Video Card: Intel HD 3000
- CPU:Intel Pentium 4 2.00 GHz
- File Size: 400 MB
- OS: Windows 10/8/7/Vista
Baba Is You
Baba Is You is a puzzle game produced by the independent studio Hempuli Oy. The main feature of the game is that it allows the gamer to manipulate the rules. The title was released on PCs and Nintendo Switch.
Baba Is You is based on an original idea as we can change the rules governing the game. In practice, the main task is to get to the yellow flag placed somewhere on the screen. Unlike other puzzle games, to do this, we have to manipulate the rules. Here, they come in the form of blocks containing keywords, which apply to all kinds of things: what can be rearranged, where to go, what is dangerous and what is not, etc.
The creators prepared two hundred boards that we can choose from. The easier ones let us get a grasp of the game and don’t pose a particular challenge. Of course, the difficulty increases with time, and the puzzles require much more creativity and thinking.
Requirements:
- Memory: 1GB
- Video Card: AMD Radeon X1300
- CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.00GHz
- File Size: 200MB
- OS: Windows 7
Sunless Skies
Sunless Skies is a part roguelike adventure game, part interactive fiction gothic horror roleplay game with a focus on exploration and exquisite storytelling.
The action takes place in a mysterious outer universe, called "The High Wilderness." As Queen Victoria intends to create a new British Empire among dying stars, you become an outcast who opposes the ruling of Her Majesty.
The locations we visit are randomly generated. Thus, each time you approach the game, you will find a slightly different concept of the world presented. The fights take place in real-time.
The key to success is not only the efficient maneuvering of the vehicle but also the experiences of some crew members. What’s more, you need to properly use the equipment installed onboard. For example, turning off the headlights helps you to
sneak away from enemies, but it also forces you to move in the dark and risk missing interesting things.
Another important issue is the "terror" indicator, which informs us about the crew’s mental state. Getting to know the secrets of the cosmos doesn’t impact our companions positively, so we must take action to prevent them from going crazy.
Requirements:
- Memory: 4GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6200
- CPU:Intel Pentium 4 2.00GHz
- File Size: 4.39 GB
- OS: Windows 7
Minecraft
Minecraft is a survival and exploration game with an open world. We obtain raw materials, take care of our character's survival, explore amazing worlds, fight opponents, create content in a pixel art style, and above all, build a lot.
Minecraft is a huge sandbox full of blocks, which is limited only by the player's imagination. The whole fun is based on the opportunity to explore and fully modify a randomly generated open world.
The possibilities of the game are endless, from creating complex architectural structures, through the production of objects from raw materials, ending with exploring caves or even other dimensions. Online play allows you to have fun with friends. It also develops opportunities for trade, cooperation, or fight and competition.
It's been almost a decade since the premiere of the game. And, despite its age, Minecraft still has a spot among the best-selling games ever. Partly because of the support provided by the producer, but also thanks to the creativity of a huge, passionate community. The game fans build entire classic cities and locations based on a Minecraft map!
Requirements:
- CPU: Intel i3 3210 | AMD A8 7600 APU or equivalent.
- RAM: 4 GB RAM.
- HDD: 180 MB to 1 GB available space.
- GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or AMD Radeon R5 series | NVIDIA GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series.
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or later.
- Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 or better.
Spelunky
Spelunky is a highly addictive platformer, in which the main task is to explore randomly generated dungeons.
In the game, we play the role of a caveman who’s having an adventure while searching for treasures. The hero, equipped with several tools (including bombs and ropes), sets off on a dangerous journey through the dungeons. They are filled not only with gold but also with traps and vicious enemies. The player's goal is to collect as many valuables as possible, discover all secrets and avoid threats.
Incorrect use of available ropes or bombs can, for example, make it impossible to collect expensive items or defeat enemies. Players have to struggle with real (bats, snakes, spiders) and fantastic (yeti, ghosts) enemies. Our equipment consists of bombs, pistols, and even ancient artifacts with special powers.
Requirements
- OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7 / 8.
- Processor: Intel 2 Duo 2.8GHz or equivalent processor.
- Memory: 2 GB RAM.
- video: 3D video card.
- DirectX: Version 9.0c.
- Storage: 200 MB available space.
La Tale
La Tale is a 2D online video game developed by South Korean studio Actoz Soft. We can explore the concept of three continents: Jiendia, Freios, and Eastland. The game was launched in South Korea in February 2006 and received positive feedback.
La Tale is one of the platform MMORPGs. The game shares some similarities with Maple Story. Thus, anyone who’s familiar with it should understand the gameplay quickly. Still, many people consider La Tale as something better in terms of development than the more popular Maple.
The game has an unusual way of presenting the world. It’s a completely two-dimensional side-scrolling production (similar to old-school platformers). While creating their character, gamers can choose from 9 distinct character classes (for example a knight or a wizard). Each one has various weapons and skills. What’s more, the game features over 50 potential job specialties. And that number still increases as the game receives frequent updates.
Requirements:
- CPU: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or higher.
- RAM: 1 GB.
- OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7.
- VIDEO CARD: GeForce4 MX, ATI RADEON 9000 or higher.
- PIXEL SHADER: 2.0.
- VERTEX SHADER: 2.0.
- FREE DISK SPACE: 2 GB.
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 64 MB.
Conclusions
Thanks to the development of the PC gaming industry, even poor hardware shouldn’t be an issue. A gaming fan still can find PC games and laptop games that will work on literally anything. Of course, they will not be the best games, or rather not the newest ones, but there’s no need to worry about that.
The games which are suitable for low spec computers can still provide us with a huge amount of entertainment. We can browse through a wide range of choices, from board games, through a card game, to adventure games. In such titles, we can find pretty much everything we need, depending on our current mood or preferences.
Are you a fan of RPG elements? Try La Tale and have an adventure as a knight or a wizard with unlimited power. Maybe you’re having a bad day and you feel like others should feel you? Get in the role of a goose and ruin somebody's day.
Playing games for laptops and low-end computers can also be a great way of spending time. Gather your friends and reminisce about some titles from childhood as you twist into the past. A good example from my list would be the Star Wars series, which years ago brought much fun for me and my friends.
FAQ
Can Valorant run on low end laptops and low end PC?
Low-end PC users need not worry. Valorant is one of the PC games that can be played with lower settings on low end PCs.
Which is the best game for low end PC?
Check the list in the text. If you need more titles concerning PC games than presented in the article, take a look at Kotaku — it is a site with the idea to gather a collection of thousands of reviews and news concerning pretty much the majority of the newest titles. What’s more, on that web page you can find an example of a game that runs on virtually anything and still looks like a great production.
How can I boost my low end laptop?
Sometimes if you want to play laptop games, you can try to boost your laptop — regularly clean it, update the drivers and DirectX, close background apps and optimize the power settings.
Are gaming laptops worth it 2020?
A good gaming laptop can compete with PCs. While looking for a gaming laptop, check the machines of companies like Asus, Acer, or MSI as they provide gamers with a great experience while having fun playing laptop games.
What is a Steam game?
Steam is an online platform designed by Valve. It offers the option to play, buy, and discuss PC or laptop games.
What does low spec mean?
Low spec means that something has low specification. If it relates to a game, it means that the title doesn’t require powerful hardware. However, if the idea refers to machines like a PC or laptop, it means that it doesn’t have the best quality hardware.
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