Not everyone can afford a $5,000 liquid cooled PC covered with RPG lighting. Some people only have access to a 5 year old laptop with some not-so-great hardware, but they still want to have an enjoyable gaming experience.
Some of the games on this list are harder to run than others, but you can be sure that they are all low spec games.
10. Don’t Starve
Starting off the list we have a really difficult game called Don’t Starve. There are actually 2 different versions of the game, Don’t Starve, the singleplayer only version and Don’t Starve Together, the multiplayer version.
In both of these games you face off against a world that’s constantly trying to kill you. You’ll gather resources, set up a base, defeat bosses, and just try to survive as long as you possibly can.
The single player Don’t Starve includes several really great DLCs such as Shipwrecked and Hamlet, so there’s more content in that version. Don’t Starve Together has the Reign of Giant DLC already included, but it’s meant to be played with multiple people.
If you have friends who’d play with you then Don’t Starve Together is the better buy, but the single player experience is much much better in Don’t Starve.
9. Among Us
Among Us is a game that most people know about after it’s explosion of popularity. Most people don’t realize that it’s actually been out since 2018, and didn’t become successful until 2020.
The goal of the game is to complete tasks while trying to discover the imposters that are lurking around trying to kill you. Meetings are called whenever dead bodies are spotted and the crew members discuss their findings.
The player playing as imposter needs to kill all the innocent players and lie about their role to survive the meetings. Players vote in the meetings to choose who they want to execute in hopes that they defeat the correct imposter.
Among Us is a lot of fun with friends, but be warned that it’s one of those friendship ruining games like Monopoly. It runs on mobile so most low-end PCs should be able to run it.
8. Bean Battles
Ok this is probably the least serious game on this list but it’s actually a lot of fun. We bought it as a joke one time but found that it’s insanely fun to play with friends.
It’s not super polished and the textures are plain, but that makes it perfect for running on low-spec computers. You can get it for a dollar or less too, making it a really good cheap game to buy.
The basic premise is that you play as beans and face off in battle royale style warfare. You use weapons from katanas to sniper rifles to annihilate your bean enemies and watch their bodies hilariously get destroyed.
The price is so cheap and the system requirements are so low that this is a game worth getting just to mess around with friends.
7. Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is an insanely relaxing farming simulator with lots of ways to play. There’s no defined goal in it, even though there is a story to play through and smaller objectives to complete.
It’s extremely satisfying to create an efficient farm with lots of animals and crops, but most importantly it’s relaxing to play. There’s a mine to explore and fight enemies too if you’re looking for some action.
What’s most impressive about Stardew Valley is that the game was made by a single person. Stardew Valley became even better when they added a multiplayer mode, which lets you farm and become rich with a few friends.
The art style is really good, the game is very polished, and it’ll run on almost every PC, so it’s definitely a game worth playing.
6. Skyrim
Skyrim is one game that nearly everyone has heard of at some point, and being an older game it has pretty low system requirements. It’s considered one of the most influential open world games of all time, and if you’ve never played it before then it’s worth trying out.
The massive number of mods gives you the ability to change the game however you want to play it. There’s so much to do and explore in Skyrim that you could easily play it for hundreds of hours without getting bored.
Even for an older game, the world is beautiful and full of life. If you have an absolute potato of a PC, you can get mods to lower the graphics even more.
It’s an insanely popular game that’ll run on most systems, so it’s a great game to get
5. Terraria
Some viewers probably knew this was coming considering it’s my favorite game. Terraria is so incredibly good and full of content that you can easily get hundreds of hours out of it.
I’ve played it on pretty much every system I’ve owned, and I do a full playthrough of the game probably once per year. You fight monsters, mine for resources, explore caves, and build whatever you want.
It sounds like a 2D Minecraft, and many people compare it to that, but if you play it for more than a few hours you’ll realize that it’s nothing like Minecraft. The sheer amount of content combined with how easy it is to run makes it a perfect addition to anyone’s Steam library.
4. Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is gory, fast paced, and extremely easy to run. The whole idea of the game is to kill rooms of enemies before they kill you, and everyone moves extremely quickly.
One wrong move and you’ll die, and be forced to restart the level. Both Hotline Miami 1 and Hotline Miami 2 are great, so either one are good games to buy. There are some pretty hard levels, and it really pushes your reaction time to the limits, but it’s incredibly satisfying when you complete a level without dying.
The intense retro sounding music playing really hypes you up as you go on a bloody rampage through Miami. Anyone who likes violent 2D games is going to really enjoy this one.
If you think you can handle such a fast paced game, it’s definitely worth buying.
3. VVVVVV
V is a cute pixel platformer that makes use of one interesting mechanic – you flip gravity instead of jumping. All the puzzles in the game are based off this mechanic, and it’s really fun and challenging.
The goal is to locate your 5 little companions that got lost and rescue them back to the spaceship.
It’s not a terribly long game once you’re good at it, but it’s usually really cheap and you can run this game even on a potato computer. V’s music is awesome and really memorable, and it’s a game that I’ve enjoyed playing many times through.
2. Garry’s Mod
Gmod is definitely the most diverse game on this list. Ever since its release in 2006, the game has constantly grown and evolved to have millions of different mods and gamemodes.
Garry’s Mod is a sandbox game that’s focused entirely on downloading mods for new content. Over the years, people have created Gmod gamemodes that are basically brand new games. It’s easy to see why it’s so popular, since buying one single came can give you access to thousands of other amazing games.
It barely takes any processing power to run, and there are so many things to play that it’s mind boggling. Some of the most famous games are Prop Hunt, where you become random objects and hide from people looking for you, or Trouble in Terrorist Town, where 1 or 2 traitors have to defeat the innocent people.
It doesn’t cost a lot of money and it’s still hugely popular, so this is definitely a game worthy of your Steam library.
1. Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is an incredibly underrated 2D platformer. The entire game consists of hand drawn assets, and was created by a small development team. The game is very difficult, almost like a 2D Dark Souls, but the combat is very satisfying.
Hollow Knight has many hours of content with a pretty intriguing story, and the game world is actually huge. There are tons of different combat options, enemies, and areas to explore. It’s a really interesting game that got overwhelmingly positive reviews, so it’s definitely a game that most people would enjoy.
