This selection highlights top PC games released or updated in 2025 that operate efficiently on systems without a dedicated graphics card. The compilation has been assembled annually for the past seven years to assist users with aging desktops or portable devices. Due to the abundance of suitable titles, the feature has expanded to twice-yearly updates, providing 20 recommendations for the full year. Previous editions from 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 offer additional options for interested readers.
These selections perform well on basic hardware capable of running Windows, including devices like the Steam Deck and other portable PCs. Each game is priced below $20 at standard retail, with several offering free demos. Frequent discounts, such as those during the upcoming Steam Winter Sale, make them even more accessible. Prices listed here reflect current retail values for reference.
The following 20 games are presented without a specific ranking. 9 Kings delivers a compelling base-building experience on a compact grid, where players construct facilities and deploy forces while adapting to random adversary patterns and enhancement cards obtained from foes. This setup echoes the procedural runs found in titles like Balatro, emphasizing strategic synergies among collected elements from various kings to escalate from minimal output to massive scales, resulting in concise yet rewarding tactical gameplay.
Currently in early access, 9 Kings is available for $15 on Steam.
Drawing inspiration from Game Boy Advance classics, Pipstrello and the Cursed Yoyo presents a vibrant top-down adventure reminiscent of early Zelda games, centered on yoyo-based combat and exploration mechanics. The lively environments and soundtrack by renowned composer Yoko Shimomura evoke nostalgic animated series vibes.
The title fully embraces its yoyo theme with inventive charm, featuring real-time battles and puzzles that test player timing, alongside a wry narrative tone and mobster-like antagonists. Explorers will appreciate the expansive world filled with collectibles and depth.
Pipstrello and the Cursed Yoyo retails for $20 on Steam and is also accessible on Epic, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.
While terms like 'edu-tainment' may evoke outdated software, modern language-learning games provide effective alternatives to immersion. So to Speak introduces Japanese vocabulary through engaging puzzles that surpass basic apps like Duolingo, particularly aiding those struggling with kanji.
Advancement unlocks progression from simple terms to complete sentences, themed around travel and visitors, while incorporating cultural insights. The intuitive design holds promise for future expansions to additional languages.
Following the precedent set by Papers, Please, narrative-driven administrative titles continue to emerge. The Roottrees are Dead casts players as an investigator reconstructing events from a private jet accident involving a wealthy family, sifting through extensive documentation and a simulated 1990s web environment to uncover concealed family scandals.
This genealogical mystery combines dramatic reveals akin to daytime TV twists. Upgraded from its original browser version, the release includes enhanced graphics, sound, full voiceovers for key discoveries, and supplementary cases.
Cast N Chill combines straightforward 2D angling mechanics suitable for retro hardware with immersive ambiance. Players catalog 50 fish species, including 13 rare variants, though the core loop may appeal more to upgrade enthusiasts than pure fishing fans; a companion canine adds observational charm.
Wizordum reimagines classic first-person shooter action with magic-based weaponry, leveraging advancements in retro-style boomer shooters. Its 2.5D visuals showcase detailed pixel elements amid swift encounters with fantasy enemies, complemented by stirring orchestral tracks.
Designed primarily for solo play, it includes online leaderboards for speed challenges and a robust level creation tool for community-shared content, ideal for those seeking direct magical confrontations over turn-based systems.
This physics-oriented puzzle-action hybrid interprets the 'glass cannon' concept directly, blending strategic shooting with roguelike elements to eliminate threats using limited ammunition on procedurally generated stages.
Success relies on precise trajectory planning for ricochet effects and upgrade selections for potency and dispersion. Though enemy diversity is modest, synergistic enhancements encourage repeated attempts for perfected clears.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center blends 1980s aesthetics with Japanese horror influences, placing players as a novice psychic operative resolving supernatural incidents through clue-gathering and character interactions in a conspiracy-laden setting.
The atmosphere leans unsettling, attracting retro gaming and anime enthusiasts, with layered storytelling and visuals reminiscent of meta-narratives like Doki Doki Literature Club, though its hallucinatory sequences may challenge some viewers.
Priced at $18 on Steam, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is also on PlayStation and Switch.
Chronicles of the Wolf channels Castlevania-style platforming into a werewolf-themed pursuit amid the historical Beast of Gévaudan incidents in 1700s France, complete with genre nods including castle settings and iconic elements.
It openly draws from Symphony of the Night, delivering refined visuals, audio narration, and memorable music that harkens to PlayStation era adventures.
Available for $20 on Steam, Chronicles of the Wolf extends to PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.
Inspired by Vampire Survivors' auto-shooter formula, this variant rethemes the survival-upgrade loop around the iconic Microsoft Clippy assistant, set against familiar outdated software interfaces like green pastures and dialog boxes.
Beyond nostalgia, integrations with classic Windows features introduce unexpected humorous mechanics, appealing to those fond of interface personalization.
Absolum enhances traditional beat-'em-up action with roguelike variability, allowing strategic build customization across diverse runs, elevated by meticulous hand-drawn visuals and dynamic character animations.
Co-op online play supports varied partners, with recruitable allies and mounts adding tactical layers; the narrative is unremarkable, but its blend of brawling and procedural elements stands out. It retails for $25 on Steam and is on PlayStation and Switch.
The Seance of Blake Manor immerses players in a Victorian-era investigation as a sleuth searching for a vanished individual, employing point-and-click exploration and deductive reasoning in a 3D environment evoking classic adventure titles from the 1980s and 1990s.
Engaging conversations and a timed structure allow unhurried manor navigation and resident interrogations, though the plot veers into eerie territory.
Priced at $20 on Steam, The Seance of Blake Manor focuses on mystery with supernatural undertones.
Ratatan innovates rhythm gameplay by incorporating side-scrolling progression and roguelike features, presented in an adorable yet vibrant art style that recalls Patapon for group or solo sessions up to four players online.
Trailer previews are recommended, as the soundtrack's appeal varies by preference. Currently in early access for $25 on Steam.
Drop Duchy fuses block-matching puzzles with card acquisition and territorial strategy in a kingdom-building context, yielding surprising depth reminiscent of board games like Catan and tactical RPGs such as Fire Emblem.
Players balance armed forces, landscapes, and deck composition across three factions to achieve conquest. Retailing for $15 on Steam, it's also on Switch, Android, and iOS.
Time Flies offers a minimalist environmental challenge as a fly navigating a monochrome drawing-tool landscape, completing minor disruptions in a style blending subtle mischief like Untitled Goose Game with PS2-era oddities such as Mister Mosquito.
The core involves clever task resolution, mindful of the protagonist's fragility.
Available for $15 on Steam, Time Flies is on Epic, Switch, PlayStation, and Mac App Store.
Tiny Bookshop captures cozy simulation vibes in a mobile roadside literature outlet amid a coastal community, emphasizing personalization of a compact space with one display case.
Light storytelling emerges through patron and local interactions, enhanced by serene tunes and fulfilling relaxation, often likened to a stress-relief aid in user feedback.
Kaizen: A Factory Story simulates overseeing a 1980s electronics firm akin to vintage audio giants, merging production optimization like Factorio with puzzle-solving centered on automated gadget assembly lines and era-specific nostalgia, while avoiding addictive side pursuits like arcade gambling.
It costs $20 on Steam.
Sektori revives twin-stick shooting in the vein of Geometry Wars, with intense particle effects and pulsating electronic scores across compact, evolving arenas that deliver quick arcade bursts.
Epic boss encounters demand skillful maneuvering and power-up choices against overwhelming displays. At $15 on Steam, it's available on PlayStation and Xbox, though its bold aesthetics may saturate some players.
Kingdoms of the Dump crafts an SNES-inspired RPG where a refuse bin protagonist engages turn-based fights against urban waste in a visually striking junkyard realm, blending 2D and pixel techniques.
It appeals to fans of classic Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger seeking unconventional narratives over standard tropes, highlighted by inventive designs and abundant wordplay.
Forestrike distills kung-fu cinema into rapid, lethal skirmishes emphasizing swift resolutions with minimal harm, facilitated by foresight abilities for trial-and-error in roguelike scenarios akin to Katana Zero.
Players refine sequences through previews, with final executions unforgiving upon errors.
Michael, a decade-long technology journalist, reports on topics from Apple products to ZTE devices. At PCWorld, he specializes in input peripherals, frequently testing novel keyboards and assembling custom mechanical setups or enhancing his workstation. His work has appeared in Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, including on-site coverage of CES and Mobile World Congress. Based in Pennsylvania, he anticipates his next water paddling excursion.