So my gaming PC is out of commission at the moment and money is tight right now so I'm stuck on a netbook for the time being. This got me thinking about what games the thing might be able to run somewhat decently. Obviously a lot of GOG's catalog will probably work, but I'm curious more about Steam games or non-ancient titles. I saw that there were a few related thread on here, but nothing recent. Any suggestions are welcome! Additionally, if anyone knows of a good resource that has a list of games that will run on a netbook that would be awesome.

See comment here for my taste in games.

A few games I tested briefly that seem to run okay:

  • Kingdom Rush (oddly enough there is an error when trying to launch the sequel Frontiers despite the same listed requirements - must be a change in the engine or something)
  • Torchlight (feels surprising smooth despite the in-game FPS counter reporting a low framerate)
  • Plants vs Zombies (duh, this will run on a toaster)
  • Bejeweled 3
  • Cubetractor
  • NEO Scavenger
  • Braid (requires some tweaking and capping the FPS at like 20 in the game, but seems to run somewhat okay)
  • Snakebird
  • Machinarium

System hardware specs in case anyone was wondering:

Intel Atom N450 (single core 1.66Ghz)
Intel GMA 3150 graphics
1366x768 display
2GB RAM
Windows 7 32-bit


Some gibs:
Lichdom: Battlemage (2 copies)
Rise: Battle Lines
Pinball FX2 - Star Wars™ Pinball: Balance of the Force Pack (2 copies)
Pinball FX2 - Civil War Table

7 years ago*

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a lot of smaller indies should. super meat boy, color syndrome, hell really any of those types at all either.. any smaller platformer or simple puzzle games. xD
as for 3d gaming, it can probably handle older unreal1 engine games and possibly a few unity engine games as well.
thanks 4 gibs ^^

7 years ago
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Most any 2D games. Most casual 3D indie games not using Unity. Pretty much any game made before ~2006–2007.
If it was a newer nettop with maybe an N3150 chip in it, you could run even a few AAA games of the past years. The low-end segment improved a lot in performance in the past years.

7 years ago
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Most of the games released until 2005. And these games aren't ancient-crap.

What games do you prefer?

7 years ago
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I have a fairly diverse taste. Puzzle games (generally ones that don't involve time limits), puzzle platformers, 3D platformers, ARPGs, CRPGs (but not really JRPGs or RPG maker games), turn-based strategy games (combat/warfare), first & third person shooters, hack & slash, survival & rogue-lite, twin-stick shooters (but not schmups so much). What I'm not really into are simulator games or 2D retro platformers (although there are exceptions like Goat Simulator or Shovel Knight), HOGs, most point & click adventures, sports games, fighting games (though beat 'em ups are okay).

7 years ago
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Text-based games, maybe?

7 years ago
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Check my thread, I have a similar problem, and made a similar post :)

Lot of great recommendations there
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/TpRDr/modern-games-that-run-on-a-potato-machine

7 years ago
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Thanks, I will scan through it later. That looks to be more powerful than this netbook though.

7 years ago*
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Also this:

SHOVEL KNIGHT
DESKTOP DUNGEONS
ZIGGURAT
ROCKET LEAGUE
BROFORCE
FREEDOM PLANET
STEAMWORLD DIG
DOWNWELL
OUTLAND
RETRO CITY RAMPAGE DX
RISK OF RAIN
SUNLESS SEA
PIX the CAT
ROGUE LEGACY
TORCHLIGHT II
TOWERFALL ASCENSION
HARD RESET (Barely runs on my netbook, but you can try the demo)

7 years ago
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Binding of Isaac + Reburth

7 years ago
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I played there Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Wizardry 8 and Heroes of Might and Magic 4

7 years ago
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bump~

7 years ago
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I have the same netbook.

The Binding Of Isaac

Risk Of Rain

Duck Game

FTL

Stardew Valley

Terraria

Teleglitch

Super Meat Boy

and the best (my actual favorite for my netbook): Darkest Dungeon :3

7 years ago
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These all seem reasonable. I loved Teleglitch when I played it before! I think I I got as far as level 8 or 9 in my last run so almost near the end. May have to pick it up again :)

7 years ago*
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it's lovelly when you are reaching the end of the game, and you die from a stupid reason right?

7 years ago
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I didn't really see it that way. I played the game a bunch and there is not a single death I had that I would have considered cheap or unfair. To me it always came down to skill, awareness, and keeping cool under fire and not panicking. The possibility of things going south in a hurry and ending abruptly is the nature of a difficult rogue-like game. Which also makes it the more rewarding when you take that next step in the learning experience and become a better player. I suppose it's not for everyone though.

7 years ago*
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Yeah, i know, i see Teleglitch and Darkest Dungeon, isn't a hard game, is a fair game, you dont have advantage over the enemy, and the enemy over you. What i mean, that feeling when you die from something stupid, that you did, like throwing a bomb in a really small area and you remember when you played bomberman as a kid and you get between a wall and your own bomb

7 years ago
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Ah okay, it seems I misunderstood. I actually managed to mostly avoid sabotaging myself in Teleglitch, whether with explosives or by accidentally walking into one of those insta-kill spacial anomalies (which I have read stories about but I don't think I have ever done).

So true about Bomberman haha. There were many awkward moments like that ;)

7 years ago
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GTA San Andreas
Trackmania Nations
Super Crate Box
Realm of The Mad God
VVVVVV
8BitMMO
Counter Strike 1.6
DLC Quest
Half-Life
Portal
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Super Hexagon
World of Goo
Pixel Piracy
Far Cry
Deus Ex GOTY
Halo: Combat Evolved
Surgeon Simulator 2013
Turbo Dismount
Worms Armageddon
Team Fortress 2
Garry's Mod
Half-Life 2

also, read this https://techlegend.wordpress.com/tag/intel-display-adapter-management-tool/

7 years ago*
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Thanks for the info & suggestions. I also found a third-party graphics driver that is said to improve performance a little that I may give a try.

7 years ago
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These game books should work (Excluding The Warlock of Firetop Mountain): http://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Tin%20Man%20Games

7 years ago
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Aye, I'm somewhat familiar with them. They are neat but I almost tempted to say that it is the sort of thing that I'd rather play on a tablet, and there are Android versions from what I saw.

7 years ago
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Candy crush lol

7 years ago
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Well I'd play through the first two Fallout games if I were you.

7 years ago
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Good suggestion, I've played them before. There is a mod to enable higher resolutions too.

7 years ago
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The GOG versions work flawlessly. Also you could try Don't Starve too.

7 years ago
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Seriously doubt Don't Starve would work =P

7 years ago
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Well it could =)

7 years ago
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I might give it a try but the graphics card requirements in particular look to be significantly above its capability.

7 years ago
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Prison Architect it is then!

7 years ago
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This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

7 years ago
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Europa Universalis 3/4
Civilization 5

7 years ago
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Mhh, I have one of those, and even tho I haven't used it for gaming much this is a list of things I remember being able to run in it:
Aaa... for the awesome
VVVVVV
Super Hexagon
Braid
Super Meat Boy
Anodyne
EDGE
Most of the popcap games

Actually, as a general rule: if it runs on a mid-range android phone it probably also runs in a netbook since they're somewhat similar in power.

7 years ago
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TF2
Civ iv (maybe 5 work on low settings)

7 years ago
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I'd highly recommend Mini Metro. I love it.
I've also heard good things about FTL
And maybe for something different SpeedRunners or Shadow Warrior Classic

I liked those games too, but it looks like you need at least a dual core processor:
Big Pharma
Awesomenauts

7 years ago
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Since you like RPG I see you have unplayed Spiderweb Software in your Steam account e.g.:

Avadon: The Black Fortress

7 years ago
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