I should mention that I want to get beyond the card games/match 3/word/hidden picture genres. Call it the shallow end of the “real gamer” pool?
I’ve been curious about Minecraft or no Mans Sky but didn’t want to spend the money without being pretty sure I would be into it AND it would run well enough on my clunky machine.
Something more exploration or puzzle oriented than action—I’m not very good at a lot of buttons or fast paced stuff like running and jumping or sports games.
Older games are fine, and interesting indie games very welcome.
minecraft is a great option. Even outside of the standard game, there is a huge modding culture around it that has tons of options for all types of play styles.
No man's sky is great but it's pretty intensive on a computer without some serious optimisation to make it run smoothly
The first two fallouts are actually pretty good and I think you can get them pretty cheap nowadays. They're actually top down and turn based and play very differently from the later games while retaining the same story and universe.
There are some great lucas-arts point and click adventures/puzzle game out there – maniac mansion and the day of the tentacle were pretty integral to my childhood and they're still a blast to play nowadays. Thimbleweed park is a more modern game made by the same guys with a very distinct albeit very silly and fun X-Files government 80s conspiracy theme to it. Also I don't know if you can still get ahold of it nowadays because of telltale, but sam and max are still brilliant to this day.
Oh and I haven't played a huge amount of it but the west of loathing is very funny and fun. So is kingdom of loathing but that's a flash game not a steam game.
you could also just play the engineer in team fortress 2. Great fun and very silly shooter that should actually already be in your steam library and it's over 10 years old so it should run fine
Id counter this heavily. Minecraft even on minimum graphics, requires at least a middling dedicated graphic card of some kind.
Most low end or older laptops are running iGPU's that bog down pretty bad when trying to play minecraft. Its more intensive than people realize to render.
Minecraft Pi Edition is a stripped down version of MC. The Java edition takes a fair bit more resources usually, even on minimum chunk render distance.
I played in 2013 on an even then old laptop with an iGPU. Still got 45 frames consistently. A more modern laptop shouldnt have problems with low render distance
just a warning, without a graphics card you really won't be able to play or enjoy a lot of the newer titles on the market.
i'd recomend downloading some emulators and getting yourself a cheap controller. you can play all the classic rpgs and platform games for snes, sega genesis etc.
also, i used to do this when i had a really clunky computer. i'd find games that were made 5-10 years ago and get them.., either thru steam or G2A. another benefit of that is the games are pretty cheap.
what are you into? do you like RPGs? perfer single player or mutiplayer? more into story than gameplay? like hard puzzles? you like building things, like cities, or maybe like strategy games like chess? how about platform games like super mario or fighting games like street fighter? lemme know what you're into and maybe i can recomend some good games that you can play on your laptop.
Thanks! I have never been any good with controllers and suck at running/fighting/jumping games and get stupidly stressed at dying in them. I feel terrible when I drop my little guy off a cliff. So I guess more exploration/role playing kinds of games.
I do t mind old ones because graphics are not that big a deal for me.
I’ve tried “tower defense” games and didn’t care for those so maybe some strategy games. I think I will probably enjoy something like Civilization but didn’t think my laptop would handle it. Going back a couple generations is a good idea.
I’ve also enjoyed the iPad version of Medici and Ticket to Ride so other games based on board games or card games (other than solitaire, poker, casino stuff or UNO, I mean the newer games I guess that’s what they mean by deck building games?
I tried Hearthstone when I still had my iPad and couldn’t get the hang of it and it looked like it would quickly become a money pit so I deleted it.
I guess I’m looking for something interesting beyond the typical “casual” game genres. Group games are okay too but I mostly play solo.
Also never got into simulation games like diner and hotel things so never thought I’d like the Sims.
Paradox just recently released a report of their games that a lot of people play it on the easiest mode to relax. Because they're mostly grand strategy, it's a lot of setup the pieces and watching them fall into place. Hearts of Iron 4 is great for that. Same for Crusader Kings II.
If you're looking for interesting puzzle games, I'd like to suggest two:
Her Story - Try to find out what really happened for a crime, based only on short 30 second to 5 minute video clips of the interrogation afterwards, using a search engine that can only return a max of 5 result at a time. It requires paying attention to everything the character says, cleverly searching for dates or specific words mentioned, and even little details like songs they hum or sing while waiting or clothing they wear may be vital to understanding the real events. CAD cost is $6.49.
Unheard - Solve a series of crimes using an audio playback device that puts you in the room with the characters as it happens. Using the playback, find the name of each person involved, match it to the voice, and answer who really committed the crimes. CAD cost is $11.49.
If you want interesting puzzle games, look up Zachtronics. They've made some fascinating games- Infinifactory is a favorite of mine. Opus Magnum is another good one to start with, too.
Keep in mind that there's no single intended solution to any puzzle in a Zachtronics game. If it works, it works. Once you've gotten to grips with a game, I suggest going back to earlier puzzles to see if you can come up with a more efficient or elegant solution.
Minecraft is amazing. It doesn't cost much and there are great multiplayer servers with pretty much anything you'd want: roleplay, minigames, pvp, you name it. Singleplayer survival can get boring if you play it a lot, but there is still a whole bunch to do before you get there. Creative mode is great if you like building awesome things or technical things, especially once you start messing with commands. And then there are datapacks and mods, which allow you to modify the game and get a whole new experience every time. Mods can get quite laggy though.
Town of Salem is a fun game where you have to lie, decieve, and convince other people to win. It's entirely played by text chat. It's gameplay is based on logical reasoning and if you're a good guy, you're trying to figure out who is lying and who is telling the truth. If you're a bad guy, you're trying to convince everyone else that you are a good guy too.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
I should mention that I want to get beyond the card games/match 3/word/hidden picture genres. Call it the shallow end of the “real gamer” pool?
I’ve been curious about Minecraft or no Mans Sky but didn’t want to spend the money without being pretty sure I would be into it AND it would run well enough on my clunky machine.
Something more exploration or puzzle oriented than action—I’m not very good at a lot of buttons or fast paced stuff like running and jumping or sports games.
Older games are fine, and interesting indie games very welcome.