There are hundreds of games that still run well even on weak computers. You can go back to the beginning of the 3D era, and even weak GPUs will cope with Quake II or The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. In recent years, even regular desktop PCs and laptops have become much more powerful than their predecessors. There is no need to send your old computer to the dump. It can still become a good gaming platform. Steam has many of the titles described here - from big-budget AAA to indie projects and from shooters to RPGs.
Below is a selection of popular games that aren't too demanding on your computer's power. While their system requirements vary, they all run on a system with at least a dual-core processor, a dedicated graphics card, and several gigabytes of RAM.
Assassin's Creed
- Processor: Intel Pentium D Dual Core @ 2.6 GHz
- Video card: nVidia GeForce 6800 / ATI Radeon X1600
- RAM (GB): 1.0
This is a historical adventure stealth game. The plot of the series mainly revolves around the rivalry between two ancient secret societies: the Assassins and the Templars. Centuries and even millennia pass, but the feud does not stop.
In Assassin's Creed, the player finds himself in the Middle East during the Crusades. The main character is Desmond Miles, who, with the help of a special device, can relive long-past events and control his ancestor. The player will face many stealth missions, assassination missions, and an intriguing plot.
Counter Strike Source
- Processor: 1.7 GHz Processor
- Video Card: Video card with DirectX® 8.1 support
- RAM (GB): 1.0
The first game in the series was developed by Valve Corporation and was released in 1999. It was released on the Windows platform in 2000. Counter-Strike Source was released in 2004. It is one of the most successful games of all time. Estimated sales are around 35 million copies (for all games in the series).
The concept is simple – counter-terrorists and terrorists fight in separate rounds. The winning team gets money to buy weapons before the next battle. The game has proven phenomenally popular in local networks. Online shootouts with friends can take many hours.
Battlefield 2
- Processor: Pentium 4/Athlon XP 1.7 GHz
- RAM: 512 MB
- Video card: 128 MB
Although the game is old, it has good graphics even by today's standards. It runs easily on most PCs or laptops with a Core i3 or Core 2 Duo. It's a great first-person shooter with a little strategy thrown in. Battlefield 2 is a sequel to the original Battlefield 1942 and offers many improvements in terms of gameplay and graphics.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: 256 MB
Any laptop with an Intel HD 4000 or higher graphics card will handle this truck driver simulator without any problems. The relaxing gameplay of Euro Truck Simulator 2 already makes the game worth installing. Thanks to the efforts of the developers, the road conditions are as close to real as possible. Transport behaves unpredictably, the traffic density changes depending on the time of day.
An added benefit is that the game has a full set of keyboard controls without the need for a mouse. The trackpad is only needed to rotate the game camera. But the vehicle can only be controlled using the keys.
Stardew Valley
- Processor: 2 GHz
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: 256 MB
This game should appeal to fans of farming simulators. Such projects are in great demand, as evidenced by the success of Farming Simulator and Harvest Moon. Stardew Valley allows you to fully enjoy rural life, creating a successful farm and gradually becoming richer.
At first glance, the concept is rather dull. What could be interesting in daily tending of fields, fishing and driving a tractor? But that is the whole charm of the game. The world of Stardew Valley is a quiet life. Here you can develop a farm, fish and find new friends. You can even build your own village on the road. Stardew Valley has rather low requirements for a laptop or netbook.
Half-Life 2
- Processor: 1.7 GHz
- RAM: 512 MB
- Video Card: DX 8.1 Compatible
When people think of games that run on a weak computer, they often picture ancient 2D titles. However, some incredibly popular (at the time) 3D games are very well suited for mid-priced laptops. Valve's Source engine is especially good at working with older graphics processors. Thanks to this, the classic Half-Life 2 runs smoothly on laptops with integrated graphics cards.
For those gamers who didn't like Half-Life 2, we can recommend Portal 2. This game is also created on the Source engine. In it, the player gets a portal gun, which Gordon Freeman used in Half-Life. With this gun, you can make holes for teleportation anywhere - in the walls, ceiling, on the floor. The task is to teleport in such a way as to solve puzzles and bypass numerous obstacles.
Civilization V
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: Intel HD
Many people have spent days and nights playing the famous "Civilization". The fifth part of this series is also quite old - it was released in 2010. Civilization V received a number of significant changes compared to previous versions. For example, a hexagonal map, city-states and much more appeared. The gameplay has become much simpler. And this is good if you plan to spend 30 minutes on entertainment, not 3 hours.
There are plenty of new features to play with in the expansions and mods available on Steam Workshop, but the standard Civilization V Complete Edition should still have enough content to keep you entertained.
Civilization V will run on almost any Intel Core laptop released in the last 5 years. But if it turns out that your computer is not powerful enough, you can always run Civilization IV. Released in 2005, this game is very easy on your computer's resources.
GTA Vice City
- Processor: 800 MHz Intel Pentium III or 800 MHz AMD Athlon
- Memory: 128 MB
- Video card: 32 MB
The game GTA Vice City was released on October 27, 2002, and it was so exciting that people could not tear themselves away from it for days and nights. It was the first project with such a large open world. Here you could do anything. In fact, it turned out to be a whole simulator of gangster life in a big city.
The game turned out to be quite undemanding to the hardware characteristics of the computer. Therefore, it can be launched even on laptops with a modest processor and video card. It can be downloaded quite quickly, since its size is only about 1.5 GB. The screen resolution supported is 800*600.
MAX Payne
- Processor: Pentium II 400 MHz
- RAM: 96 MB
- Video card: 16 MB
Great background music, one of the best stories, unrivaled graphics. All this was inherent in MAX Payne in 2001, when the game was released. It had many new features, such as dynamic shadows and a high level of detail. The game was a huge success in the gaming community at that time. The story deserves a special mention. Even today, few games can boast such a well-thought-out plot.
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- Processor: Dual-core 2 GHz
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: with DirectX 9 support
Skyrim is a massive open-world RPG that has won a number of awards. Although it was released in 2011, it is still played by people all over the world. It is an incredibly exciting adventure that is hard to put down.
Few old games remain as relevant today as The Elder Scrolls series. Although the first game was released in 1994, it continues to attract fans to this day. Its respectable age also means fairly lenient hardware requirements.
The game runs quite well on Intel Core processors released in the last 2-3 years. It can even run on Atom/Pentium, but at low settings. There is also a mod called Ultra Low Graphics Mod, which allows you to make the minimum requirements even lower.
Need for Speed Underground
- Processor: Pentium III or AMD Athlon 700 MHz or higher
- Video card: 32 MB
- RAM (GB): 1.0.
This game was released on November 17, 2003 and was revolutionary for its time. It was not the first part of the famous Need for Speed series about street racing. Blurred and bright visual effects clearly distinguished Underground from other racing games. One of the key features was high-quality music, created with the help of composer Jim Latham. The graphics were also noticeably improved compared to previous Electronics Arts games.
The game was the first to implement the concept of racing against racers to gradually increase your reputation. The opponents became more and more difficult until it came to racing against the final boss. Unfortunately, the Need for Speed series, with the exception of 1 or 2 parts, did not create anything new in terms of the plot. Even Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012 had the same story that began in Underground.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- Processor: Intel Core i3-2100T @ 2.50 GHz / AMD Phenom II X3 B73
- RAM: 4 GB
- Video card: ATI Radeon HD 4850 or NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Although this game was released in 2018 and has good graphics, mid-range graphics cards can handle it just fine. Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire has almost the same system requirements as the first part of the game (and it was released back in 2014). For fans of the series, this is a real gift.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire takes the player to the world of Eora, where they must find a rogue god. Like the previous part, there is a deeply thought-out gameplay, complex relationships between characters and unexpected plot twists. The creators of the game clearly drew inspiration from Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.
Although all the backgrounds are made in 2D, they are pleasant to look at. The graphics are reminiscent of classic RPGs, and countless spells and dynamic battles make the gameplay truly exciting. The developer of the game is the Obsidian studio, known for many successful projects. This alone allows us to be sure that the adventure will be incredibly exciting.
Fallout Shelter
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 (2.83 GHz)
- Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (1 GB) or AMD Radeon HD 6970 (1 GB)
- RAM: 2 GB
In this game, you can build the perfect underground shelter to enjoy life in a post-apocalyptic future. The Lone Wanderer, the Courier, and the Sole Survivor were well known to gamers from previous games in the series.
In Fallout Shelter, you will take control of a caretaker who monitors the order in the shelter. Ensuring the survival of all the inhabitants of a giant bunker is not an easy task. You can equip the inhabitants of the shelter for long sorties to complete quests and obtain valuable resources.
Fifa 14
- Processor: Intel Celeron E1200 Dual-Core 1.6 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- Video card: 256 MB
FIFA 14 takes the concept of artificial intelligence to a new level. Players can control the power and angle of their shots to make sure the ball hits the target more accurately. The game is more realistic than some previous FIFA versions.
The players perform more actions, making the action on the screen closer to real life. The physics of the ball have also been greatly improved. The player can create his own teams and invite FIFA superstars to them. Among them: Maradona Pele and David Beckham. You can play against each other, or team up against a common opponent (2 on 2).
Minecraft
- Processor: Intel Pentium D
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: Intel HD
At first glance, this game may seem very old, but don’t let the pixelated graphics fool you. Minecraft is much more innovative than its critics give it credit for. And it’s not just for kids. Many adults are surprised to discover that it’s a very well-thought-out project.
Minecraft is stylized as an old game, so you can't expect Crysis-style graphics. The task is quite simple - travel around the world and build, build, build... You can create all sorts of objects, erect buildings, even change the landscape. There is a switch between first-person and third-person view. In fact, there are no specific tasks. The player needs to constantly improvise. Minecraft is well suited for laptops, since it does not require significant cursor precision. This is especially convenient when using a trackpad rather than a mouse.
Mafia – The City of Lost Heavens
- Processor: Pentium 3 @ 500 MHz
- Video card: 32 Mb
- RAM (GB): 1.0
The game takes place in the early 1900s. Slow life, old cars and buildings allow you to feel the atmosphere of that time. The player may feel like he is really transported to that world. City of Lost Heavens has a unique story, an open world and numerous missions. Despite the high-quality graphics, old PCs and laptops will cope with the game.
Mafia was released on August 28, 2002. Its creator is the studio 2K Czech. In 2010, another game in the series was released called Mafia 2, which is more like a remake of the old version. If someone wants to become a real gangster, it is worth trying both parts of this story.
Age of Empires 3
- Processor: Pentium 4/Athlon XP 1.4 GHz
- RAM: 256 MB
- Video card: 64 MB
Age of Empires is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios on October 18, 2005. It is a sequel to Age of Empires 2 and the third title in the series.
At first, players need to develop the city, extract resources and build buildings. To strengthen and expand the territory of the state, you need to constantly fight with neighbors and win. The gameplay turned out to be truly exciting. Many people did not sleep at night, developing the kingdom and trying to expand its borders as much as possible.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
- Processor: Intel Pentium 3 1 GHz or AMD Athlon 1 GHz
- RAM: 256 MB
- Video card: 32 MB
Do you really need to convince anyone to buy Knights Of The Old Republic? The title speaks for itself. It is probably the most successful project in the entire Star Wars gaming universe. Of course, fans of Dark Forces II and Rogue Squadron may argue with this. In any case, KOTOR proved that an old story can be new and exciting outside the movie screen.
KOTOR, created by Canadian studio Bioware, offers interesting characters, intense combat, inventive tactics, and a deep galactic history. The same developers who created Dragon Age and Mass Effect are already a solid recommendation.
Endless Legend
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 Ghz
- RAM: 4 Gb
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460
This game should appeal to fans of leisurely, thoughtful 4X strategies. Amplitude Studio has created an amazing fantasy world on a distant planet, where representatives of many races live. The player must manage cities, conquer new territories, strengthen the economy and achieve superiority over other factions. Diplomacy is of great importance. Relying only on money and brute force in Endless Legend will not work.
Rogue Legacy
- Processor: 1.6 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- Video card: x1950 Pro, 7900 GT
The style of a classic 90s platformer, unexpected plot twists and a modern random level generator - that's what Rogue Legacy is. Add RPG elements and bright, juicy graphics to this and you have one of the most exciting indie games of the last decade.
The player takes on the role of a knight who finds himself in a castle filled with enemies. In the best traditions of roguelike, sooner or later the character inevitably dies. Then the knight's heir gets into the castle, who continues the journey. The castle will be different, as will the character's class. Although each time you have to start over, you can accumulate gold and unlock various bonuses.
The money collected by the deceased hero is spent on improving the characteristics of his heirs. For example, armor improves defense, and mana enhances the magical abilities of the character.
Project IGI – I am Going In
- Processor: Pentium II 266 MHz
- RAM: 64 MB
- Video card: 8 MB
Project IGI was released on December 15, 2000. It was developed by Innerloop and published by Eidos Interactive. It is one of the most complex stealth games ever made. The game became a hit worldwide as it had some of the most realistic graphics of its time.
The main character is David Jones, an officer of the I.G.I. (Geo-Tactical Intelligence Institute) and a former SAS officer. Jones just walks around like Rambo and kills all the bad guys. But if you need to use brute force, the main character has no problem with that either. It all depends on what works best in a particular situation.
F1 2010
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHz or Athlon X2
- RAM: 1 GB
- Video card: GeForce 7800
When it comes to professional racing, there's nothing better than Formula 1. Speeds over 300 km/h are considered normal here, and the slightest mistake can lead to defeat. Codemasters' F1 2010 was released in September 2010 and has sold 2.3 million copies.
Thimbleweed Park
- Processor: 2 GHz
- RAM: 4 GB
- Video card: Intel HD 3000 or higher
An interesting adventure game from a true veteran of game design Ron Gilbert. Gilbert's tradition of impeccable results continues in this project. Pixelated graphics together with the point-and-click format will definitely appeal to fans of old-school games.
The plot follows FBI agents Reyes and Ray as they solve a mysterious murder. The main characters resemble another famous pair of fictional FBI members who study paranormal phenomena. Reyes and Ray arrive in a quiet provincial town to find the perpetrators of a terrible crime.
The Sims 4
- Processor: Core 2 Duo
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: Intel HD 3000
Electronic Arts is a legend in the gaming world. It has been voted “the worst company in America” twice. However, it knows how to appeal to a large audience. In other words, The Sims 4 will run well on almost any laptop.
The well-known life simulator even has a "Laptop" mode, designed specifically for less-than-high-performance systems. The game itself, as usual, is very businesslike. You need to earn money, take care of your family, build houses, and do many other things typical of the average person. You need to do everything possible to make virtual people feel happy. And this, as in real life, is not very easy.
Chronicle: RuneScape Legends
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64X2
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video Card: 512 MB Series
When it comes to CCGs (collectible card games), Hearthstone is a great choice. In this Warcraft-based game, you can have heated battles, destroy enemies, and become the strongest hero. But what if you want something calmer and more harmless? Then there is a solution - Chronicle: RuneScape Legends.
Based on the classic MMORPG Runescape, Chronicle combines card dealing with classic RPG elements in a 3D setting. The cards represent various characters and enemies. In this game, you don't just put cards on the table and compare them, but fight with a whole deck.
If you manage to reach a certain level, players can clash with each other. Five basic rounds allow you to level up your character and prepare for battle. There is also a single-player mode, which is well suited for beginners.
Kentucky Route Zero
- Processor: Intel Pentium 3 @ 1.0 GHz
- RAM: 512 Mb
- Video card: 32 Mb
Kentucky Route Zero is similar in design to Telltale's Walking Dead. The game consists of five acts, two of which are available at the time of writing. All acts can be purchased separately or in a single edition.
Reviews compare Kentucky Route Zero to classic adventure games. But it is more of an interactive story than a game. Here you need to follow a traveler who must explore secret paths in the caves of Kentucky. The mysterious atmosphere and dark colors give the game a special charm.
Gunpoint
- Processor: Pentium Dual Core E2180 2.0GHz
- RAM: 2 GB
- Video card: GeForce 8600 GS
An adventure game based on solving puzzles. The basis of the mechanics of 2D levels is that the character can jump long distances, move along walls and ceilings. He can also turn off various devices, such as lamps, door locks and even enemy weapons. All this is necessary to stealthily get to the target. The character can even change the principle of the device. For example, pressing the light switch will open a locked door. Or you can use the guard's gun to turn off the light.
This mechanic encourages players to experiment and find new ways to overcome obstacles. Gunpoint has a story centered on espionage, murder, and mystery. Add to this the noir setting, rainy city, jazz music, and stylish spy trench coats.
Mount and Blade
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz
Video card: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro/NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600
RAM (GB): 1.0
A medieval mercenary simulator is something unusual. The player needs to create armies, alliances and win numerous conflicts. Battles take place in real time. Dozens of characters can participate in a fight at the same time. The player does not have any specific goal. All his actions are aimed at obtaining resources, increasing the army and strengthening power.
Mount and Blade has received several expansions, adding new features, building appearances, weapons and even landscapes. However, the game is better known for its numerous mods, which sometimes add unusual features. There is even a Star Wars mod. A combination of medieval battles and battles in the distant future - isn't that worth trying?