Playing games on your PC doesn’t have to mean investing in a high-end machine. Plenty of lightweight games are perfect for low-end PCs, offering hours of entertainment without the hefty hardware requirements. Read on to find out which ones we recommend for maximum fun!
Our list combines 30 very light games that run on almost any computer. They require 2GB of RAM and some free space on your machine. There are shooting games, RPGs, strategy, survival, and more. Check out!
Best Lightweight Games for Low-End PC
1. Among Us
The story of the survival game Among Us takes place on a space mission in which one of the astronauts was exchanged for an alien. As a crew member, your duty will be to discover the imposter and meet with the other players to make a decision. In addition, he must continue fulfilling all the tasks required on the ship.
If you act as the imposter, your objective will be to kill all the participants while accusing the innocent. It is possible to play online with up to 10 people, with the option to create private rooms for games between friends.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 or higher
- Processor: Support for the SSE2 instruction set
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Storage: 250 MB of free space
2. Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is an open-world roleplaying game where your main objective is to recover a farm inherited from your grandfather. You must learn to care for animals and crops and handle agricultural machinery.
The game brings together five maps and numerous possibilities. If the rural style doesn’t suit you, you can take your farmer to the city to socialize with more than 30 residents, meet the love of his life, and, who knows, start a family.
Stardew Valley: Windows
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows Vista or higher
- Processor: 2Ghz
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Storage: 500 MB of available space
- Video Card: 256 MB of memory
3. Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is a disturbing top-down action game that takes a toll on players. Set in Miami in 1989, your mission is to eliminate enemies in the most brutal way possible.
Whether it’s a straight shot, a hot oil bath, or smashing your head in with a baseball bat, 35 weapons are available.
But it’s not just. You’ll have to return to the site to count the damage when the slaughter is over. All are accompanied by a praised soundtrack, which makes the atmosphere even tenser and more hallucinating.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processador: 1.2GHz
- Memory: 512MB of RAM
- Storage: 250 MB of free space
- Video Card: DirectX 8 compatible with at least 32 MB of memory
4. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a card game where your goal is to build the best deck possible. For that, you must cast spells, participate in disputes with opponents, and, who knows, become a master in 10 hero classes.
The game brings together nine different game modes. Depending on your choice, you can play in player versus player, player versus machine, or co-op styles.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: Intel Pentium D, AMD Athlon 64 X2 or equivalent
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Video Card: GeForce 6800 (256 MB) or ATI Radeon X1600 Pro
- Storage: 3 GB of free space
5. Cuphead
Cuphead is a run-and-gun-style action game in which the characters face a series of challenges not to lose their souls to the devil. In this 2D game with horizontal orientation, you must pass the bosses to move on.
The game stands out for its classic look, which refers to the cartoons of the 1930s. The watch was recreated using the same past techniques, with hand-drawn strokes and colored with watercolor.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7 or higher
- Processador: Intel Core2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz ou AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz
- Memory: 3 GB of RAM
- Video Card: Geforce 9600 GT or AMD HD 3870 512MB
- Storage: 4 GB of available space
6. Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction is an addictive online game where your only mission is to cause chain reactions. You will need to reach a certain number of circles in each round, but you will only have one chance.
Therefore, you should think carefully about where to click and position the circle, which resembles a magnetic field and starts the sequence of reactions. The smaller spheres that touch it expand, creating new fields. You move on to the next round if you get the indicated amount.
7. RimWorld
RimWorld is a base-building game that lets you create complex stories that yield hours of gameplay. It all starts with the arrival of colonists on an alien planet. Every action or decision you make can completely change the fate of your colony.
Each character has strengths and weaknesses, and their leadership can also define a lot in the game. It would help if you still dealt with external factors like pirate attacks, storms, disease, etc.
The variants are huge and can lead them to create a colony of cannibals, religious fanatics, or nomads. Or fight to survive while developing a means of transport to escape the scene.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7 or higher
- Processor: Core 2 Duo
- Memory: 4GB RAM
- Storage: 500 MB free space
- Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 4000 or other Pixel Shader 4.0 compatible model
8. Into the Breach
Into the Breach is a turn-based strategy game in which your objective is to save humans from an alien attack. These gigantic outsiders breed underground. To fight them, players take control of powerful mechs from the future.
On 8×8 grid maps, you must devise the right strategies, anticipate enemy attacks, and protect cities. Be aware: losing is not an option!
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7 or higher
- Processor: 1.7 GHz
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Video Card: Must support OpenGL 2.1 or higher, Intel HD 3000 or higher.
- Storage: 400 MB of available space
9. Papers, Please
In Paper, Please, you take on the role of an admissions inspector from the fictional country of Arstotzka. When working on the frontier of this communist nation that has just emerged from the war, you must know who enters and who leaves.
To do so, it will only have citizens’ passports and an ineffective investigation system at hand. This means that it will also depend on your intuition to decide the destinations of potential visitors and immigrants.
Among good people, terrorists, smugglers, and spies may be hiding. It’s up to you to admit them, refuse them, or arrest them. Do your job well. Otherwise, your family will be in serious need.
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processador: 1.5 GHz Core2Duo
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Storage: 100MB of free space
- Video Card: OpenGL 1.4 or higher
10. EGGNOGG +
Another option for those who enjoy games with a retro look, EGGNOGG+ is a free parody of the game NIDHOGG. In this 8-Bits style arcade, players must face sword duels or run away to achieve their goals.
Stab your rival, exchange punches and kicks, and throw your sword in style to hit where you want. But you’ll also have to face other challenges, like jumping over spike-filled holes and fighting monsters to get your way.
EGGNOGG+ (free, but users can donate whatever amount they want): Windows
Minimum requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Storage: 700 KB of free space
11. Brawlhalla
Brawlhalla is a 2D multiplayer fighting game that supports up to 8 people simultaneously, locally or online. Your mission is to help the greatest history warriors prove they are the best.
The player has 50 legends available, with unique moves and powerful weapons. There are options for 1v1, 2v2, four deathmatch style combat, and much more. Not to mention the 20 game modes available.
Minimum Requirements:
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Storage: 800 MB of available space
12. Pandemic 2
In Pandemic 2, your mission is to destroy humanity by spreading a virus, bacteria, or parasite worldwide. Choosing the transmitter’s forms, symptoms, and characteristics is possible. With a map in his hands, he can observe the spread of the disease across the planet.
It should also prevent scientists from creating a cure while trying to release more resistant vector versions. There are two game options: the realistic one, with a more prolonged and intense campaign, and the relaxed one, with a shorter and less in-depth game.
13. Don’t Starve
With an original and dark aesthetic, Don’t Starve tells the story of a scientist trapped in a mysterious world. Like every good survival game, his mission is to help you face the dangers of the place.
In addition, you will need to explore the place in search of food and other supplies to survive and, who knows, find your way home. Without any help or instruction, your goal is to try not to die.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.7 GHz
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 500 MB free space
- Video Card: Radeon HD5450 or better with 256 MB of memory or more
14. Portal 2
Portal 2 is a puzzle game that must be solved by portals that defy the laws of physics. Your mission is to traverse rooms using an experimental portal creation device.
To make your life even more complicated, your character is led by a mad and power-hungry artificial intelligence system. The game offers a single-player campaign and a two-player multiplayer mode, online or local, with a shared screen.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processador: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 ou AMD64X2
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Video Card: Must be 128MB or more and support Pixel Shader 2.0b
- Storage: 8 GB of available space
15. Running with Rifles
Running with Rifles is an open-world shooter with RPG elements. Ally with one of the armies and take up arms to face battles in cities, trenches, and forests. You must choose the right tactics to help frontline soldiers stay in combat.
The top-down shutter-style game offers single-player or online multiplayer game mode with support for up to 40 players. In the beginning, you can only control one character. But as it evolves, it gains control of more men and access to new weapons.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.6 GHz Dual Core or better
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Video Card: NVidia Geforce 6600, ATI x800, Intel HD3000 or equivalent with 256 MB
- Storage: 2 GB of available space
16. Quick Draw with Google
The game Quick Draw with Google is called Quick Draw. You have just 20 seconds to draw in it while the company’s artificial intelligence technology tries to guess what it is.
The game uses scribbles from other users as a basis to understand yours. Despite being fun, the game is taken seriously by the company. Each new content teaches the neural network and contributes to the design database.
17. Euro Truck Simulator
Euro Truck Simulator lets you know what being a truck driver across Europe is like. To make the experience as realistic as possible, the truck models and the roads, maps, and environments were faithfully reproduced.
The game makes you feel right inside a vehicle. You can turn on the headlights and windshield wipers, check the fuel level, and more.
Enjoy the trip, but not too much. After all, it is necessary to deliver the goods on time.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 2.4 GHz
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Video Card: Must be 256MB or more
- Storage: 2 GB of available space
18. Mirror Isles
Mirror Isles is an online logical thinking game with a retro look that looks simple but isn’t. In this inverted puzzle game, the user must move from one island to another to reach point X.
You’ll have to use magic mirrors and switch places with your reflection to reach the objective. The title offers 22 levels of difficulty, which can be pretty challenging.
19. Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 is a first-person shooter set in World War II. You will play a soldier on the Russian Front, and you will be able to act in hand-to-hand combat or war vehicles. There are more than 30 real infantry weapons, from bayonets to cannons, and 16 armored cars.
The title was developed with the proposal to be as close to reality as possible. Therefore, it includes realistic projectile ballistics and the sights and sound system based on the opponent’s distance.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.2 GHz
- Memory: 512MB of RAM
- Video Card: Must be 64MB or more
- Storage: 2 GB of available space
20. 8BitMMO
8BitMMO is a sandbox-style game with a universe entirely made by the players. It is possible to build houses, buildings, or simply an entire city, of which you can be the mayor.
But this game with a retro 8-bit look doesn’t just live from constructions. Fighting enemies and winning battles against other players are also part of the game. If you want, you can customize your character with clothes and accessories and change the skin tone, among other features.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 200 MB of available space
21. FTL: Faster than Light
FTL: Faster than Light is a simulator in which the player takes command of a spaceship on a mission to save the galaxy. More than hitting the target, choosing the right strategy is important.
Coordinate the crew, direct the weapons, and improve the vehicle using alien technologies. In addition to armed clashes, there are text conflicts in which you must make the best decision in the heat of emotion.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 2Ghz
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Video Card: Must be 128 MB
- Storage: 175 MB of available space
22. 1982
1982 is a retro game that brings together the best of arcade style. In all, there are 50 levels of progressive difficulty, in which you need to be agile to eliminate threats and not be defeated.
Each enemy eliminated earns one point. Depending on the opponent, you can earn additional coins and bonuses. If you prefer, you can choose the game modes Survivor (and see how many points you get in life) or Time Attack (in which you must score as many points in 3 minutes).
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processador: 1GHz
- Memory: 512 MB
- Video Card: Pixel Shader 2.0 and Vertex Shader 2.0
- Storage: 15 MB of free space
23. Door Kickers
Door Kickers is a real-time strategy game in which the player takes on the role of commander of an elite counter-terrorist squad. With an aerial view of the operating sites, you’ll have to protect yourself and your team, define routes, choose equipment, and coordinate your soldiers.
In this game, you must be ready to improvise because surprises appear along the way. More than 100 missions take place in 7 scenarios that promise a lot of emotion, in single-player mode and online cooperative multiplayer with two players.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP SP3
- Processor: Intel Pentium IV 2.6 GHz or equivalent
- Memory: 2 GB of RAM
- Video card: any with OpenGL 2.0 support
- Storage: 2 GB of available space
24. Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 is an award-winning first-person shooter whose mission is to save the world. The not optimistic scenario is an Earth invaded by aliens, with scarce resources and the human population being annihilated.
As scientist Gordon Freeman, you start the adventure with just a crowbar. But along the way, you’ll be able to acquire powerful weapons, ranging from pistols to grenades.
In addition to the graphics, the game stands out for its realistic physics, quality sound, and artificial intelligence system that influences strategy.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.7Ghz
- Memory: 512MB of RAM
- Video card: DirectX 8.1 level
- Storage: 6.5GB of available space
- StopotS
StopotS is the online version of the game known as stop or addenda. The user needs to find words that start with the letter selected by the system as quickly as possible.
Playing anonymously or setting up private rooms for fun with friends is possible. In this case, you can define the rules, letters that shouldn’t be drawn, numbers of rounds, word categories, and much more.
25. Doom 3
Doom 3 is a first-person shooter in the survival horror genre. The game’s story takes place in the future of 2145 when a Mars Research Facility discovers that Martians have been able to develop teleportation technology.
The scientific experiment opens a portal to hell; out of it, terrifying monsters and aliens emerge, which must be eliminated. You have weapons, invisibility power, armor, and more to survive in this inhospitable environment.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4, Athlon XP 1600 or equivalent
- Memory: 384MB of RAM
- Video Card: GeForce FX 5200 Radeon 7000 or equivalent with 64 GB
- Storage: 2.2 GB of available space
26. Rogue Legacy
As its title implies, Rogue Legacy is a rogue-like game. Every time your character dies, it is replaced by a child. The offspring are even stronger and have unique characteristics and abilities.
You aim to explore a dungeon and defeat the bosses using swords or magic. While checking the location, characters can collect gold. The riches are passed on to subsequent generations and can be used to improve the castle.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.6 GHz
- Memory: 1 GB of RAM
- Video Card: X1950 Pro, 7900 GT
- Storage: 400 MB of available space
27. Braid
Braid is a platform game where the main character must rescue a kidnapped princess. The game offers an unusual chronology in each of the worlds.
It is possible to go back in time and escape death, live parallel realities, and change the rhythm. With a “different” look, the title promises to please fans of retro-style games.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: 1.4 GHz
- Memory: 768 MB of RAM
- Video Card: Compatible with Pixel Shader 2.0
- Storage: 200 MB of available space
28. Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game is a fun game where the player takes on the role of a terrible goose lost in the city. The bird hates everyone and causes chaos wherever it arrives, whether in the backyards of houses or in the local stores.
You can steal items, prank, croak (there’s a button just for that), and do whatever it takes to end the villagers’ day. The title can be individual or local cooperative play with two players.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit) or higher
- Storage: 8 GB of available space
- Video Card: DX10 Video Card (Shader Model 4)
29. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
In this action game, you aim to steal cars to participate in missions. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth title in the GTA franchise and brings the story of CJ, who, after five years, returns to the region that gives the game its name.
His mother was murdered, and his friends aren’t going in the right direction. To make matters worse, two police officers set up your character to be accused of a crime he didn’t commit. You’ll need to try to help him keep his family safe and regain control of the situation.
Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows XP or higher
- Processador: 1Ghz Pentium III ou AMD Athlon
- Memory: 256MB of RAM
- Video Card: Must be 64 MB or more (equivalent to Geforce 3 or higher)
- Storage: 3.6 GB of available space
30. Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III shattered notions of what was possible in immersive games when it launched on PC in 2001. Developed to run on a wide range of hardware, the open-world title brought cinematic action to low-powered machines with its compact size yet expansive scope.
Setting players loose in the sprawling metropolis of Liberty City, GTA 3 leverages its urban playground to stage gripping stories from the street level. The city comes alive as gang wars, police shootouts, and illicit deals play out block by block.
While keeping technical requirements in check, the game realizes unprecedented freedom and consequences. As protagonist Claude, players shape their path through a manifold narrative web that reacts realistically to their choices.
GTA 3 proved games could drive compelling player-driven stories on common hardware, from revolutionary technical craft to its cinema-inspired gameplay. Its efficient design translated action-packed content to PCs worldwide while previewing the rich experiences to come.
Minimum Requirements:
- Processor: Intel Pentium III 450 MHz or AMD Athlon XP 500+
- Memory: 96 MB of RAM
- Graphics: 16 MB Direct3D Video Card (NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX or better recommended)
- DirectX Version: Microsoft DirectX® 8.1
- Hard Drive: 500 MB of free space
Two decades later, GTA 3 remains the quintessential open-world title that ran anywhere and pushed boundaries everywhere thanks to thoughtful technical direction. It set the bar for integrating compact, meaningful stories into dynamic urban landscapes.
These are some of the Best options for Lightweight Games for Low-End PCs. If you know any more, let us know.
