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What are some good ultra-low-spec computer games?
So my TV is broken (so no Xbox) and my laptop is a potato. Well, not a total potato, it has an i54210 1.7ghz CPU with integrated Intel HD 4400 graphics. It's a Linux machine, but since Proton I fully expect to be able to play many low spec games.
I'm looking into some low spec games. I got Papers Please and liked it a lot. For something meatier I was thinking Baldurs Gate Enhanced, but I fear that I might have a hard time with the outdated mechanics. I had a hard with the original Fallout for that reason... I loved it back in the day, but it was just too clunky for my current tastes.
Ultra low spec, you say?
I've enjoyed what little I've played of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup and hear Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is damn good.
If you're a fiend for complexity there's always Dwarf Fortress.
And for something a bit less ASCII, I really enjoyed playing VVVVVV.
Roguelikes in general is fantastic for low-spec computers. Brogue is very good entry-level roguelike!
Another hidden gem is Warsim: The Realm of Aslona (5€ on Steam). Think of it as a text-based city/empire management.
Also nethack! Nethack is great and free!
Dicey Dungeons and FTL should run on just about anything. They’re also both excellent.
For something a little different, check out OpenTyrian. It’s a source port that lets you play the cult classic scrolling shooter Tyrian. It was a game that was ahead of its time and has still held up well. I go back and replay it every couple of years.
I'd just like to second the motion for FTL.
I bought it the day it came out (in 2012), and I still play it almost every day.
I played this game before, but I never gave it the attention it deserves. It is on my list!
Rollercoaster Tycoon is a great one to revisit, and OpenRCT2 extends it without making things difficult to use.
Factorio is CPU heavy, rather than graphics heavy, and optimized to shit so it won't kill your computer.
I'm not far, but I've found Fallout on Steam to run pretty well, somehow better than the GOG version. It's even better via Proton, as Wine seems to be better with old software than even Windows.
Celeste as well.
Depending on your distro you can also get recent versions of many open source games, or even via Flatpak like 0AD, Red Alert, Warzone 2100, Doom (the base wads are easy to find if you don't want to pay, or just FreeDoom), Heretic, Hexen, Quake, Duke Nuk'em, etc are all available via flatpak and either for sale from your marketplace of choice (usually) or with ISOs available on Archive.org. If RTSes are your thing beyond Warzone 2100, there's also OpenRA which provides support for Red Alert, Tiberian Dawn, and Dune 2000, as well as setting up the files for you to play these games.
Warning: Factorio is a huge, lovely time sink. My partner and I played co-op at the beginning of the pandemic and sank a good 100 hours into it. I did nothing else during my free time, haha.
Definitely. When it gets me, I'm stuck playing for hours.
The game is running quite well so far! I feel that it needs more dedication than I was willing to have, but it's certainly something I could lose myself in!
I looked it up. Seems like a game for engineers? :P
Also OpenTTD
Celeste is the best platformer I've ever played. Fantastic level design, tight mechanics, phenomenal music, great story (and it looks like there's a native linux version).
Stardew Valley :)
Also, this: https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/index2.html
Got it! I like the chill vibe, but it seems it can get quite complex as well. Reserved for when I'm feeling mellow ;)
I've got to throw in my voice to Universal paperclips. It sounds odd but it's an awesome game that is really fun.
I don't know if you could really say that it has a "story" strictly speaking, but it does have a direction that's interesting and thought provoking.
It takes under 3 (possibly 2) hours to play and is worth it :)
You know, one thing I don't like about games like Minecraft or Stardew Valley is that lots of things require visits to a wiki to figure out. I rarely enjoy games that require me to "study". But I do wish to enjoy them.
Minecraft doesn't really require visiting the wiki anymore, since it has a pretty comprehensive recipe guide in crafting menu now.
You could play with a friend that already knows everything.
Oh it's so nice of you to think I have friends :P
But yeah, I do, but they don't play these kinds of games :P
While I can't speak to how well they all work on Linux, here are some titles that should play well, hardware wise, that I love:
Do you play Discovery?
I did for some time, but not currently no.
I haven't played Discovery in a very long time, was just curious how it was doing.
It’s doesn’t take that long to learn to beat it, but Compact Conflict is a Risk-like game that I like because you can play a game in a few minutes.
So here's what I thought of some of the games suggested here:
I also tried some other games:
By the way, I'm using bottles to create and manage the wineprefixes, and lutris to launch the games. I had to learn a thing or two, but right now it is working like a charm. Thanks, @knocklessmonster!
Thanks for the list! I'll have to check out FTL!
Really hoping you fall in love with Rimworld eventually!
For Starcraft you could try to get Stargus working. I've never played on this engine, but Stargus is a plugin that imports Starcraft to the Wargus RTS engine.
Awesome!
I'm sure Rimworld would run pretty well on that. Warning the game is dangerously addictive. I have to fully uninstall it every time I finish playing so that I don't spend months hyperfocusd on it.
I ran it on a low-end now 12+ year old X220 years ago so I would imagine it would still run well on yours.
Rimworld is having some issues with Linux, but I had a look and seems really great!
Strange I have had no problems running on Linux throughout the years. Seems to run the same on Linux and Windows from what I could tell (I can't remember if I ran it through Proton/WINE at any time either).
There was an issue with the font used in the UI. It's resolved now.
I imagine that would handle The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and there's a number of ways to get it running on Linux. Easy to throw 100+ hours into it if you can overlook the dated graphics.
I'll throw my hat in here and say OpenMW may be the best Linux experience, but there's also an argument that it's a different game because of the changes and improvements. I've been playing OpenMW since 0.46, and currently run 0.48's RC, and haven't noticed anything huge except for a spawn bug that was fixed in 0.48.
Also, same year, you can get Arx Fatalis, and the FOSS Arx Libertalis engine.
If you like Super Monkey Ball-style games, Neverball (and its golf-themed spinoff, Neverputt) runs great on older systems. Popcap games (Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies, etc.) are also great picks, and as others have said, Source-engine titles (Half-Life, Portal, etc.) are very well optimized for older hardware.
Source: Ran all of these on my old i5-3210M (Intel HD 4000 iGPU) laptop from 2012-2016 on Ubuntu (back when you had to run Steam under Wine).
Some free/FLOSS games:
Somewhat tangential question, since I believe I still have both WoW and Starcraft 2 on CD, among others: if I get a Windows game from a source other than Steam, is it possible for me to add such a game to Steam and play it on Linux using Proton?
I will toss out there that Lutris is probably a better path to running non-steam Windows games on a laptop/desktop. Their scripts iron can out a lot of problems that even Proton can have.
proton-caller that'll do it.
You can also use something like Bottles which only officially supports being installed via Flatpak, but works by configuring wine environments.
I'm now using bottle to install the games and Lutris to launch them. It's nice!
Yes, just add it like you would any other non-Steam game. Then make sure to tick the box that forces the use of a compatibility layer and choose the version of proton you want.
If I goes on sale I could not recommend the Valve Complete Pack enough.
I would also recommend Duck Game.