The Best Chromebooks for Gaming in 2025

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Chromebooks are popular, affordable, and seemingly everywhere, but are these Google-powered laptops good picks for gaming, too? Some Chromebooks are now specially designed to play games via cloud-based gaming services, and we've tested most of the field. PCMag has been reviewing both gaming laptops and Chromebooks since their creation, evaluating Chromebook performance, battery life, connectivity, display quality, and other features in the course of testing 100-plus laptops every year. Our current top pick for the best gaming Chromebook is the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE, packing a high-refresh-rate display, a fast-polling keyboard, and a speedier Wi-Fi radio—all tuned for cloud gaming. But it's hardly your only option. Here's a rundown of our best-bet Chromebooks for gaming, followed by a detailed guide to all the aspects of gaming on ChromeOS and a spec chart comparing our top picks.

You're probably familiar with Chromebooks, the laptops running ChromeOS, Google's browser-focused operating system that leverages online storage and apps to offer functionality on par with a basic Windows or Mac laptop. As simple, inexpensive machines for everything from checking email and social media to writing papers and joining Zoom calls for classes and work, Chromebooks are well-suited to today's always-online life. But many recent Chromebooks add gaming to the mix. From online games and Android apps to streaming game services, there are more ways than ever before to enjoy your downtime on a Chromebook.

The first few Chromebooks made explicitly for gaming are now a couple of years old. Mind you, no Chromebook then or now qualifies as a traditional gaming laptop with a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU), playing demanding 3D games on the laptop itself. Streaming game screens from powerful servers to your Chromebook's display is the name of the game. But if you want a lightweight machine that's made for cloud gaming services, these low-cost systems are fascinating options. In fact, today you have several distinct approaches to playing games on Chromebooks, and even a couple of ways to enjoy today's most popular games.

How Does Gaming on a Chromebook Work?

While the term "gaming" may call to mind high-powered gaming laptops or Microsoft's and Sony's dedicated family-room consoles, the reality is that the gaming world is much larger than the so-called AAA or big-budget titles that major studios release. From retro games to the casual games that make smartphones so entertaining, plenty of gaming opportunities don't require an expensive GPU or an RGB-backlit keyboard.

At your disposal today are four main ways to game on Chromebooks, each with unique considerations for the type of hardware you have:

• You can rely on browser-based games that need nothing more than visiting a website.

• You can run Android games, giving you access to all the best games in the Google Play store.

• You can stream games through cloud gaming services such as Nvidia's GeForce Now.

• You can install a handful of Linux games directly onto your Chromebook, if you're willing to do some work.

Our How to Play Games on Your Chromebook guide has more detail, but we'll briefly discuss your options here.

Browser-Based Games: Play It Straight in Chrome

The simplest options for Chromebook gaming are browser-based games. These work right in the Chrome browser, without requiring a download or particularly powerful hardware. They range from basic versions of chess and checkers to old-school classics like Pac-Man and Doom, along with a huge number of indie games that are free to play online.

Retro games are freely available for playing in your browser via several legitimate websites, from Classic Games Arcade to the Internet Archive's coin-op arcade. Google even has its own collection of browser-based games, called GameSnacks, that run in HTML 5.

While many of these games can be accessed just by navigating to the right website, you can enable some games for play in the Chrome browser via installing a browser extension. These are the simplest game options on this list, and most game extensions are free. And an important perk: They also have the benefit of letting you play offline.

For these games, you need nothing more than a Chromebook that can go online. The selection is a bit limited, but you might recognize a few titles, like Flappy Bird and Temple Run. Most work with a keyboard and mouse, but they may also offer support for game pads and touch screens.

These games are the perfect option for the average Chromebook, because they don't rely on local processing power, large install files, or special input devices. And since they're browser-based, they'll work on any Chromebook, including school-issued systems.

Android Games: Play Phone Apps on Your Chromebook

Next are Android games, played using the support for Android apps built into all Chromebooks from the last few years to today. (Be sure to check if you have an elderly model.) From simple clickers to complex RPGs and action titles, the Google Play store is chock-full of games that can now be enjoyed on any Chromebook, with a couple of caveats.

Two things are important to note. First, you may not be able to play some Android phone games properly unless your Chromebook has a touch screen. Second, students may be out of luck, since most school districts disable Android support by default. But if you're one of the millions of Chromebook owners who can freely use Android apps, you can enjoy a wealth of gaming options through the Google Play store, from viral hits like Among Us and Wordle to a wealth of games in every genre.

Really, any of the best Android games we recommend for phones will work just as well on ChromeOS—but here's the catch. As noted, with Android games designed for phones and tablets, you'll definitely want to get a Chromebook that offers touch capability.

We'd strongly suggest a 2-in-1 design for anyone who wants to use smartphone-centric Android apps on their Chromebook. Detachable tablet 2-in-1 designs do have an edge over rotating convertible 2-in-1s when it comes to Android gaming. Some of this is due to the form factor—detachable tablets, by their nature, are slimmer and lighter than laptop-size convertibles. If you're playing a game for more than a few minutes, the extra weight of a convertible laptop (with its keyboard) will be a real drag. But it also has to do with the features that a tablet offers, with extras like front and rear cameras and more sensors. These can give you a more phone-like experience than any laptop masquerading as a tablet ever could.

Streaming for Fun: Gaming in the Cloud

If you want to play more mainstream AAA games, you'll need to use a cloud game-streaming service, like Nvidia GeForce Now or Amazon Luna. Many new Chromebooks even offer trial periods for these services, letting you try them out before committing to a paid subscription.

The upside? You can play AAA games (some are even free with your membership) like Saints Row IV, Darksiders III, Control, and Far Cry 6. The downside: You'll either face limitations in in-game visual quality, or need to pay a subscription fee, in addition to the expense of buying games. However, you may not be able to run these services on every Chromebook.

Cloud gaming is available only on models that meet certain hardware parameters. Because gaming requires ample CPU and GPU power, Steam on Chrome requires at least an 11th Generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics and at least 8GB of RAM—and those are relatively high-grade components for a Chromebook. With those limits in mind, we’ve included our favorites in this list. (Note that not all of them meet that set of minimum criteria, though. Check the specs!)

A More DIY Approach: Linux Gaming on ChromeOS

Finally, because ChromeOS is built on the foundations of the Linux kernel, you can try running Linux games on your Chromebook. This opens up a whole range of software, much of it available for free.

Once you shift to storing and running programs locally, however, you need a machine with more processing power and roomier storage than your typical Chromebook. That means something running on an Intel Core or AMD Ryzen chip rather than the low-powered Arm processors common among budget Chromebooks. You'll also want to step up to more memory and larger, faster solid-state drive (SSD) storage instead of the limited eMMC flash memory of economy models.

That settled, you'll find two paths to take on the Linux front: You can go the official, Google-approved route and install Linux apps using Crostini, or you can install a full Linux desktop using Crouton. Both options are explained in our guide How to Install Linux on Your Chromebook, and either will let you access the Linux game catalogs on Steam and GOG.

Gaming on ChromeOS: Still a Stretch, But Plenty of Fun

We've covered a whole bunch of options for enjoying games on a Chromebook: a round of Pac-Man in your browser; popular Android phone games; streaming games through Nvidia or Amazon; even installing the Linux operating system just for games.

But at the end of the day, it's worth pointing out that not even the best Chromebook will match the cheapest of our choices for the best cheap gaming laptops. Instead, ChromeOS gaming is all about giving you some fun ways to leverage what laptop hardware you already own, or need to buy for other, more critical purposes. Still, if you want to go Chrome and play, check out our picks above and our spec breakout of our current gaming Chromebook favorites.