I’ve been writing these roundups for seven years running and in that time integrated graphics have gotten a lot more powerful. Just look at the Steam Deck and its many imitators: it’s the most popular gaming PC on the market by far, and it’s running off a laptop chip from several years ago. The upshot is you’ve got more choices than ever for games on a low-power PC.
Even so, I’ve picked ten fantastic new PC games that’ll run on a toaster, so long as you can find a toaster that’ll run Windows (or SteamOS). And it sure doesn’t hurt that they’re a lot cheaper than AAA games, too — the better to make the most out of any Steam gift cards you have laying around.
Here are my picks, in no particular order. If you’re looking for even more low-power games that’ll run on laptops, mini PCs, or older desktops, check out the same roundup from 2023, 2022, and 2021. Game on!
Balatro is where an embarrassing amount of my time went this year. It’s a roguelike deck builder that’s based on poker, so you’re probably already familiar with the basics. But there are no other players to beat or bluff, just a score target to hit. But with every round passed, you can augment your deck with new cards or joker modifiers. So it’s possible to, say, create a run where straights score on just four cards, then power it up further by letting those straights hit with one card gaps, too. It’s hard to visualize, but the way the game makes you cheat in new and interesting was is incredibly deep and addictive.
Balatro costs $15 on Steam. It’s also available on all consoles, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
This game has been described as a point-and-click adventure, but I don’t think that’s quite right. It’s more of an interactive cartoon, boiled down to the most essential of interactive elements. The real draw in Thank Goodness You’re Here is exploring the sleepy and extremely silly British village, filled with wonderfully voice-acted characters. It’s short and sweet, but if you’re looking for a quick injection of charming Saturday morning comedy, it hits the spot.
Thank Goodness You’re Here is $20 on Steam. It’s also available on Epic, PlayStation, Switch, and the MacOS store.
Selaco is that most evergreen of low-power game types, a Doom mod. But that description sells it short. It’s a Doom mod that incorporates about thirty years of innovation in first-person shooters, in both visuals and minute-to-minute gameplay. So you get plenty of pomp and circumstance to flesh out its sci-fi story and far more complex combat with improved AI, but it won’t melt your lack-of-graphics card since it’s all built on 2.5-D graphics. It’s an episodic game that isn’t finished yet, which might feel a little anticlimactic, but there’s plenty of boomer shooter to enjoy in the meantime.
Selaco is $25 on Steam.
If Harry Dresden had become a SWAT officer instead of a private detective, he might have ended up on the same squad as the Tactical Breach Wizards. Blending turn-based tactics with urban fantasy, this game gives you tons of different options for handling each situation, with a door kick and a fireball being equally valid. The story-focused primary campaign is a weird blend of genres, but the game’s forgiving setup gives you near-infinite tools for tackling each situation. If you wished X-Com had a little more Tolkien, you’ll feel right at home.
Tactical Breach Wizards is $20 on Steam.
What if you could fuse the top-down chaos of an early Grand Theft Auto or Postal with the “die, die again” roguelike progression of a modern, um, roguelike? That’s Maniac, baby, which perforce comes with the “no kids allowed” warning even if it doesn’t actually have an ESRB rating. This completely off-the-walls action title is basically a GTA “rampage” mission extended into a full game, where the only goal is to destroy as much stuff (and people) as possible before the cops inevitably bust you. Dig those low-poly graphics and splatter effects, too.
Maniac is $5 on Steam and Fanatical.
Green-capped Link tends to start every game with a stick, or if he’s lucky, a rusty sword. What if he got full-on spaceship instead? That’s the premise behind Minishoot Adventures, a game that transposes the ship from Asteroids into a 2D Zelda-style adventure game. Simple but colorful graphics and some twin-stick shooter mechanics fill in the gaps of an admittedly goofy premise, but before long you’ll get the hand of this genre fusion, especially after a few upgrades. It’s a premise that works far better than you think it will.
Minishot Adventures is $15 on Steam.
I’d be lying if I said that Nine Sols was the first soulslike to use a 2D graphics setup, or a cartoon animal aesthetic, or a focus on counter-based combat. But it nails pretty much all of them, and does it without resorting to pixel graphics, which is a huge plus in my book. If you loved Sekiro‘s combat and deep lore but want something a little less all-over-the-place visually, this is it. Just don’t expect it to go easy on you, you’ll need help from a lot of NPCs you discover along the way to augment your basic skills.
Nine Sols is $30 on Steam. It’s also available as a DRM-free purchase, and it’s also on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Ask any Animorphs fan, and they’ll tell you that an ant battle is filled with enough drama and intrigue to make Ken Burns weep. That’s the idea behind Empires of the Undergrowth, a real-time strategy that has you building, expanding, and defending an ant colony. Imagine it as SimAnt if Alexander the Great had been a game programmer. You’ll expand and direct your insect army through battles or the full campaign using different pheromones as commands. This one uses full 3D graphics, but its requirements are low enough that you should be able to run it on just about anything.
Empires of the Undergrowth is $29.99 on Steam. It’s also available on Epic and GoG.
Arco is an 18th century story told with 1980s graphics and 2020s sensibilities. Though it looks simple, the story of indigenous Mesoamericans fighting through a fantasy world is unique and fascinating, and the mix of turn-based combat and tactical positioning should feel “crunchy” to anyone who’s been looking for a new twist on RPGs. Despite the apparently limited setup, the scope is huge and grandiose — it shows exactly how indie games can compete with the big boys in terms of both story and game design.
Arco is $20 on Steam. It’s also available on Epic, MacOS, and Switch.
Imagine an old-school point-and-click adventure game, pushed through the filter of a whodunnit murder mystery. Now imagine that game, pushed through a second filter from a Calarts cartoon, and then throw in a dash of Psychonauts and Persona. In Mindcop you have to find a small town killer by exploring the minds of their potential victims, with a huge amount of goofy atmosphere and inventive puzzles thrown in to keep the formula fresh. Solve the murder, catch the killer, and don’t disappoint your fan club.
Mindcop is $15 on Steam. It’s also available on PlayStation and Switch.
If you’ve ever seen a beautiful, immaculate house filled with valuables and designer furniture, and then felt the desire to go nuts on it with a paint bucket, I have the perfect game for you. In Doronko Wanko (literally “muddy dog”) you’re a tiny, un-kickable puppy whose only desire is to spread as much mud around a pristine house as possible. It’s kind of like the exact opposite of Super Mario Sunshine, and your score is calculated in a dollar amount of damages. It’s short, it’s free, and it’s amazingly cute and cathartic at the same time.
Doronko Wanko is free on Steam. It’s also available on Softonic (also free).
