Chromebooks are wonderful machines for anyone who wants a PC with a light OS, great portability, and a low price. Chromebooks, however, have never been known for being great gaming machines.

While things are changing and current Chromebooks do much better in that category, you still have to know that they are limited when it comes to gaming options. It’s not the machine’s fault either since many Chromebooks have specs strong enough to handle most games. It’s the fact that all games have to be compatible and optimized for ChromeOS which complicates things for developers. But there are ways that you can work around that. So, can you do some good gaming on a Chromebook?

You Won’t Be Able to Enjoy All Platforms or Games

You cannot install physical games on a Chromebook or use services like Steam to install digital versions of them. One thing you can do, however, is install and play Android games on your machine. There are so many great ports of PC games on Android that you could play games on your Chromebook like Fortnite or Call of Duty, for instance. PUBG Mobile is another great game you could play.

One category of players who will love Chromebooks for gaming is racing game fans. There are so many high-quality racing games on the Google Play store and many of them offer much better gameplay than some PC and console games. We can think of games like Need For Speed: No Limits, Asphalt 9: Legends, and Hill Climb Racing 2, just to name a few. You’ll also find a few awesome platformers and adventure games on Android. And the best part is that a large portion of them are free.

Cloud Gaming Could Change Everything

One thing you should know, however, is that you can access most cloud gaming services with your Chromebook since the games don’t have to be installed on your machine. Stadia is still in its infancy, but Chromebooks are optimized for the service and if it improves in the future, then you’ll have the chance to enjoy most of today’s top titles on any recent Chromebook. You can also access services like Nvidia’s GeForce NOW cloud gaming platform.

Google offers a free three-month Stadia Pro membership to all new Chromebook owners. All you need is the recommended 10mpbs of minimum internet speed. You’ll then have the chance to try the service and see if the gaming experience is good enough for you.

Choose the Right Chromebook

The Chromebook you choose will make a huge difference when it comes to gaming. You can’t expect to get a Radeon RX 6500 XT card on a $500 Chromebook, but you could find something with a decent HD integrated chip or the option to upgrade to something like a mid-tier or entry-level GPU. If you’re looking for a great brand for gaming Chromebooks, Lenovo gaming Chromebooks would be a great option since Lenovo makes very powerful machines overall and they’re very open with customization options, so you could find a way to build a decent machine for yourself.

Conclusion

Chromebooks are not the absolute best machines for gaming, but if you need something for work first and want to be able to have some fun from time to time, you will find something that works in that category. Just have realistic expectations and understand Chromebooks’ limitations before you start shopping.