Ultimate List of Eight Awesome Touchpad Gaming Experiences for Your Laptop Without a Mouse

There are many great PC and Mac games, but not all of them work well on the average laptop, and even fewer of them are playable without an external mouse. Here are some great games you can enjoy on a laptop with only a keyboard and touchpad.

This is a list of games I’ve played over the years that work well with just keyboard and touchpad input, for all those times when you can’t bring a mouse or controller with you for on-the-go gaming. Most of these games are available on both Windows and macOS (plus a few on Linux), and many of them have low hardware requirements—perfect for you ultrabook gamers out there.

1 Civilization 6

The Civilization series tasks you with building a civilization from scratch, starting in the ancient era and progressing until you achieve scientific breakthroughs, dominate the world, spread your culture to all other civilizations, or usher in an era of world peace. In your journey through history, you have to manage resources, talk and trade with your fellow civilizations (either human-controlled or AI), and settle in new lands. Civilization VI is the latest entry, and it’s a lot of fun.

2K Games

When you get bored, Civilization VI has many different game modes that change the core mechanics. There are two expansions, Gathering Storm and Rise and Fall, that add even more elements and ways to win. You should definitely get those expansions if you can.

Civilization VI can be controlled entirely with a touchpad, so it’s a great laptop game, though you might need to turn down the graphical options on less-powerful machines (especially in the late game when there’s more going on). It’s a native game on Windows, macOS, and Linux, but online multiplayer usually isn’t cross-platform.

Get Civilization VI: Steam , Epic Games , Humble Store , Mac App Store

2 Two Point Hospital

Two Point Hospital is a silly simulation game, where you have to build and manage hospitals to cure the inhabitants of Two Point County. You’ll need specialized rooms and staff to handle everything from Broken Face to Cubism, and each level has a different set of challenges and goals.

Two Point Hospital is a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital from Bullfrog Productions, and it’s a lot of fun to build and rebuild hospitals to handle the influx of patients and new illnesses. The controls are primarily point-and-click, and it works well with a touchpad. It’s available for Windows, macOS, and even Linux.

If you enjoy Two Point Hospital, you might also like the studio’s more recent game, Two Point University. It’s pretty much the same concept, but you’re building college campuses instead of hospitals.

Get Two Point Hospital: Steam , Humble Store

3 Bloons Tower Defense 6

Bloons Tower Defense 6 is a fantastic tower defense game, where you must stop waves of balloons from reaching the end of a course. You have to use place down specialized monkeys, like the Ninja Monkey, Glue Gunner, or Monkey Ace, to take down balloons. Over time, you’ll have to upgrade and replace them to combat more frequent and more resilient balloons.

Ninja Kiwi

BTD 5 is one of my favorite mobile games of all time, and even though I also prefer BTD 6 on mobile, it works well on laptops with a touchpad too. You can officially play it on Windows and macOS. Now, go pop some balloons.

Get BTD6: Steam , Epic Games , Microsoft Store , Mac App Store

4 Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a farming simulator, RPG, and exploration adventure all rolled into one fantastic experience. You start with a farm to build and expand, set in a town filled with unique inhabitants. If you’ve played Minecraft or Animal Crossing, you might enjoy Stardew Valley.

ConcernedApe

Stardew Valley is on almost every platform imaginable, and it works well on laptops with just a keyboard and trackpad, even low-end or old PCs. It’s available as a native game for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Get Stardew Valley: Steam , GOG , Humble Store

5 Apotris

Do you like Tetris? Then you’ll probably like Apotris, a free block-stacking game inspired by the classic puzzle game, complete with many different game modes and customization options. It started as a homebrew game for the Game Boy Advance, but version 4.0 introduced native ports for Windows, macOS, Linux, web browsers, and the Nintendo Switch.

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Apotris is perfect for wasting long stretches of time, and the PC version works well with just keyboard input. If the PC port doesn’t work well, you can try the Game Boy Advance version in an emulator.

Get Apotris: Official site

6 Lux Deluxe

Lux Deluxe is a strategy game inspired by the classic board game Risk, where your one goal is to conquer the world. There are a bunch of built-in maps to choose, and many more community-made maps available to download. Each AI opponent behaves differently, and the same strategy won’t work in every map.

Sillysoft Games

This is primarily a point-and-click game, and the simple graphics means it will work on any PC out there. It’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Pro tip: try to start building up your defenses at one of the corners of the map and work your way outwards.

Get Lux Deluxe: Steam , Humble Store

7 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

The original Ace Attorney trilogy puts you in the role of Phoenix Wright, an up-and-coming defense attorney, as you investigate crimes and build a court case for your clients. The games are excellent adventure visual novels, with a great chiptune soundtrack.

The Ace Attorney Trilogy has been re-released on many different platforms over the years, and latest 2019 trilogy collection has updated high-definition artwork and some gameplay improvements. It’s great on any platform (I’ve played it the most on 3DS and iPhone), and the PC version works well with just a touchpad. Unfortunately, there’s only an official version for Windows, not Linux or macOS.

Get Ace Attorney Trilogy: Steam

8 Game Dev Tycoon

Game Dev Tycoon starts at the dawn of the video game industry in the early 1980s, tasking you with creating hit games while managing money, publishing contracts, and game features. As time goes on, new game consoles rise and fall, and you can build up your own game studio with additional employees.

Greenheart Games

The main strategy here is trying to develop games that best match each platform, while staying on top of new technology by developing your own game engines. Over time, you figure out which genres fit which consoles, allowing you to create more hit games that build up your game studio.

Game Dev Tycoon works well with touchpads and touch screens, and it’s officially available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are also mobile versions—I play it the most on iPad.

Get Game Dev Tycoon: Steam , Itch.io