Altair Play

10+ Low End PC games to play in 2026

21 September 2026•5 min read

During this period of high scarcity of consumer chips and memory, many of us can't afford a high-end gaming laptop or a fairly good PC. Many are moving towards cloud gaming platforms such as Nvidia GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud and Amazon Gaming. But playing on these cloud platforms will cost gamers a lot in the long run. Instead of relying on such services, there are thousands of games you can already play on whatever PC you have.

In this blog, I'll be mentioning more than 10 games that can run on a low-end PC. Most of the games I've mentioned are ones I played on a low-end PC I own, an Intel i3 7th gen processor, Intel integrated graphics, and 4GB of RAM. So if your PC is anywhere near this, you should be able to comfortably run the games I've mentioned here.

One more thing to keep in mind: Some of these games will need some tweaks and tuning in the settings to get the best performance out of them.

1. Call of duty Modern Warfare Trilogy

COD in-game screenshot

As the title mentions, this includes 3 games and around 20 - 22 hours of content which will definitely hook you to your screen. The graphics is okay for the game for its time and these are one of the all time favourite COD games among fans. 
There's currently a reboot version of the Modern Warfare Series, here I'm mentioning the original version.
 
If you like this type of Military/War FPS games then you can also checkout out COD WAW, COD BO1, COD BO2.

2. Far Cry

Far Cry 3 in-game screenshot

Another gem from Ubisoft. I've played Far Cry 3 myself, and the graphics amazed me very much, the reflection of the water and everything, not to mention the story and the villain....absolute cinema. To this day, Far Cry 3 remain one of my all time favorite games.

3. Grand Theft Auto Series

Vice City - screenshots

I think you already know this series without me needing to explain it, but I've got a bit more to say. On my PC, I've played GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and almost GTA 4 ( it ran a bit stuttery).
 
What can make your playthrough special are mods. The modding community around Grand Theft Auto Games is so amazing that if you can dream up a mod, it's probably out there somewhere on the internet. Special mentions goes to the texture modes, which upgrade the visuals without any drop in performance.
 

One more thing, if you are someone who is dreading to play GTA Online then you can checkout SAMP Roleplay servers with GTA San Andreas, it's not on par with GTA Online, but it's better than nothing, right?

4. Euro Truck Simulator 2

ETS2 ingame screenshot

if you're interested in simulator-type games, this one's for you. Drive through the never ending-highways of Europe or the USA with ETS2/ATS. ETS2 is one of the most actively supported games I've ever seen, it was released in 2013 and it still going strong, with a big update around the corner which will bring coaches to ETS2 (fingers crossed).
 
Most probably you wont be able to run the latest versions of Euro Truck Simulator 2, but if you look for versions around 1.31 - 1.39, you should be able to run it easily on your PC.
 
There's also a great modding community around ETS2 where you can download maps and vehicles which are not in the game.

5. Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping dogs ingame screenshot

One of the games I'm currently playing, Here you work as an under cover officer infiltrating the Hong Kong mafia. The story is rated by many as excellent and the combats holds up well too.

6. Batman: Arkham Series

Batman ingame screenshot

To this day, no other super hero games have matched the the level of Batman Arkham series especially Arkham knight. Wonderful stories, combat and you'll enjoy your time as the Batman roaming Gotham city. On specs like these, stick t Arkham Origins, Arkham Asylum, and Arkham City - all three should run comfortably. Arkham Knight is a fantastic game too, but it required considerably more specs.

7. Assassins Creed Trilogy

Assassins Creed Trilogy

Want to spend your time being an Assassin? Then these games are for you. These are among the best games in the Assassins creed series, and sadly, the current Assassin's Creed games are failing to achieve the spirit of the older ones.

8. Need for Speed

MW ingame screenshot

If you are a car guy or want to experience sports cars, these are for you. Here you'll fight the police and other racers to reach the top.

9. Minecraft

mc-ingame

    Does Minecraft need an intro? NO. But you might need to tweak a few settings - Render distance, graphics quality and chunk generation - to get smooth performance.

10. FIFA

fifa

If you're a football fan, FIFA games are for you. You can try any of them between FIFA 08 AND FIFA 18 - Most can be run by tweaking the settings and lowering the resolution
 

Bonus Point

If you want to check whether you can run a game, checkout https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri and enter your device specs

Altair Play

We've covered more than 10 games that you can run across different genres, but now you need something to track them all. A log book for the games you've played and the time you've spent on them, that's where Altair Play comes in: a game launcher and playtime tracker. With Altair Play, you can track all your games without worrying about the app eating up half your available RAM and other resources. Download for free from Microsoft Store.

 

FAQ

Will my computer be able to run these games?

If you computer is anywhere near the specs I've mentioned in this blog. It should fairly run these games comfortably. To be sure, you can check it out systemrequirementslab.com

Does Altair Play slows down the computer?

No, Altair Play only uses a very small amount of RAM to run.

Minimum RAM required for running these games?

I tested everything on a 4GB RAM laptop, but 8GB is recommended for smoother performance.