Most people who get into PC gaming start with a much lower end PC. I myself started with a complete potato and slowly upgraded over time, but there were always a bunch of great games to play when I was bored.
Whether you’re on a hand-me-down laptop or using a desktop running integrated graphics, these games will most likely run pretty well for you.
Some people complained in the last list that the games weren’t low spec enough, so for this one I made sure that these games could run on a toaster.
Realm of the Mad God
Starting off this list is a game that we’ve covered many times in other videos. Realm of the Mad God is a very popular 8-bit roguelike MMO. This top down game is a lot different from other MMOs mainly because of the permadeath feature.
For a lot of people, permadeath seems like a really annoying aspect, but this game makes it addicting to try to get to the highest level possible. Realm of the Mad God has an impressive amount of content, featuring 17 different classes and massive amounts of gear to find.
The bullet-hell style gameplay also causes lots of chaos to happen during every playthrough. If you find that one area is too easy for your character, all you have to do is keep walking until you find more difficult enemies. Periodically, bounties will appear that you can attack for extra rewards, and other players can team up with you to help you on your journey.
The worlds are also much larger than I thought, since after walking for a long time I couldn’t even find an edge of the world.
For a game that came out so long ago, Realm of the Mad God is constantly receiving content updates, as well as seasonal updates.
I wasn’t always a fan of games with permadeath, but overtime they’ve grown on me, and this game is one of the reasons they have.
If you want a great low spec game to play with you friends, Realm of the Mad God is an amazing option.
Steam Link: Realm of the Mad God Exalt
Spelunky
The Spelunky series is one I’ve been a huge fan of for a long time. This Spelunky in particular is the original game, which is much older and much easier to run than the newer ones.
One important thing I need to mention is that this Spelunky is not on Steam, but I did leave the link in the description.
The original game is almost identical to Spelunky HD in a lot of different ways, minus graphical improvements and a lower quality game engine. For those who aren’t familiar with this game, it’s a roguelike game where you explore caves in search of buried treasure.
You progress through the levels using a variety of tools, bombs, ropes, and other equipment. Spelunky has a really cool method of procedural generation where it always makes sure that there’s a set path to the exit, along with a few extra areas to explore.
It’s a very difficult game that takes a while to get into, but once you start to get the hang of things it becomes much more fun.
Even though there are better versions of this game available, Spelunky Classic still has a community of die hard fans. If you played the sequels then you’ll immediately know how to play this game.
If you can’t even run the HD version or the sequel, this version can run on most systems, if not all of them.
Game Link (Non-Steam): Spelunky
The Expendabros
The Expendabros is another favorite free game of mine that will always be a great option. Pixel destruction games are some of my favorites, and this is one of the games that got me into the genre.
The Expendabros is a ridiculous parody of The Expendables movies, with every character being massive and muscular dudes who just want to destroy things. The world is made up of destructible pixels that are affected by gravity. You can dig under certain portions of the map and cause things to collapse, or tunnel into enemy territory to sneak attack them.
Explosives are randomly laid out around the map, causing chaos wherever you go. You can approach each mission with elements of stealth, or blast your way to the exit. There aren’t any real consequences for destruction, expect you might accidentally destroy yourself in the process.
The Expendabros is simply mindless fun, which can make for many hours of enjoyment. It’s not a game that’s meant to be taken seriously, but it definitely can hold your attention for a long time.
The game even has local co-op built in, and I’ve played this game a lot with other people before. That does make it a bit harder, but it’s always more fun to share experiences like that with a friend.
If you enjoy games like this, The Expendabros is a perfect option.
Steam Link: The Expendabros
Cave Story
Cave Story is a free to play Metroidvania game that’s been around for a long time. It’s since been redone as Cave Story+, which is the paid version, but the free version is still available to download online.
The story of this game is pretty simple, but still somewhat interesting to play. The gameplay is a side scrolling shooter platformer where you find lots of small enemies and periodic bosses.
Shortly after you start, you receive your first weapon. You can upgrade that weapon by defeating enemies and gaining XP, making your weapon more powerful. If you happen to get hit by an enemy, the weapon will drop some XP and it will lose a level.
One thing that’s great about Cave Story is that the soundtrack is really good. All the music in the game is super catchy and can be considered a classic game soundtrack. If you’re someone like me that loves good soundtracks, then the Cave Story OST is one you’re really going to enjoy.
The world environments are also really fun to play in as well. The developer did a good job with creating a world that is both interesting to learn about and explore, all within the 2D realm. Cave Story can be easily installed on any old computer, and it’ll run with relative ease.
It is a bit buggy on on higher resolution monitors, but on older systems it should work just fine.
If you’ve never played it before, I highly recommend checking it out.
Game Link (Non-Steam): Cave Story
Micro Platformer
Micro Platformer is both incredibly simplistic and complicated at the same time. The game doesn’t even have audio, and the graphics are simply a bunch of small shapes put together.
Despite it being so simple, it has a level of polish that makes it feel like a paid game. It seems to be partially inspired by the platformer game Celeste, which is another game I’m a huge fan of.
Right now, Micro Platformer has 3 main worlds and one tutorial world. The worlds start off incredibly easy, but then become much harder as you get to each new world. It also includes a speedrunner mode for the people who enjoy completing levels quickly.
There isn’t a whole lot to talk about since the footage kind of speaks for itself. Platformers like this don’t have any story to worry about, and it’s all focused on the gameplay.
Micro Platformer doesn’t have any enemies, but rather just pure platforming elements that really makes the game worth downloading.
Even if you aren’t a fan of platformers, I definitely recommend you give it a shot.
Steam Link: Micro Platformer
