The Different Ways To Game On The Go

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Gaming is a very versatile hobby. While you might think about playing games on a pc or using a console, you can also play games while you travel. This has the obvious benefit of allowing you to keep up with your games even if you’re staying somewhere away from home or while you’re traveling on long journeys.

Laptop Gaming

Laptops are designed with portability in mind. People often use them for work for this exact reason, especially if you can work from home and in the office. But as well as working, you can also use a laptop to play video games.

A laptop is essentially a portable computer, meaning that you can do everything you can do on a pc on a laptop. This includes playing games, but this does come with some caveats.

An ordinary laptop isn’t appropriate for video games. This is because games require a lot of processing power and a graphics card, and a typical office simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the requirements of video games. This is especially true of modern video games.

A gaming laptop, on the other hand, is designed with gaming in mind. Most of these laptops are larger and have high quality screens that can make games look better. They also need to be larger to accommodate a graphics card, a more powerful processor, more memory (both active and stored memory), and cooling fans to stop the laptop from turning into a mini oven.

As you can expect, all of this functionality compressed into a portable laptop shell does come at an additional cost. So it’s important to decide early on whether a gaming laptop is the best option. If you want to be able to play games in different places or you don’t have the space for a desk, then it’s a good investment. If you mostly play games in one place, consider a pc because you can get the same specs for less money.

Handheld Consoles

While laptops are great for when you’re in different areas, they do have one downside. When you play games on a laptop, the battery life suffers. It can also be hard to play games if you don’t have the space to sit comfortably or use a mouse. You certainly can’t game while standing.

Thankfully, we have other options. Handheld consoles are designed with travel in mind, so you can play games on buses, trains, or even out in the wilderness.

Handheld consoles have been around for decades. You can play games designed for these consoles or games designed to be ported, or changed to allow for the different controls and specs of these consoles.

Much like any other console, handheld devices have been subject to technology rather than imagination. As you can imagine, you could once only play relatively simple games with even simpler graphics.

However, in recent years, new handheld consoles have revolutionized the gaming industry. Rather than having to compromise usability with portability, these consoles are powerful machines in their own right, with great graphics that allow you to play some fantastic games and storage that lets you collect a larger library of games without having a pile of cartridges or minidisks.

Mobile Gaming

Speaking of portability, it seems silly not to discuss the most portable gaming option out there. Most people carry around their mobile phones everywhere they go. Modern smartphones are amazing devices. As well as functioning as phones, you can use them to tell the time, use social media, take photographs, and browse the internet.

In short, smartphones are like carrying around a computer in your pocket. This means that you can also play games on your phone.

Again, people have been able to play games on their phones for years. Snake was a classic mobile phone game that had simple graphics, simple gameplay, and could happily help you kill some time.

However, modern smartphones are capable of a lot more than a few pixels.

Phones and tablets can play much more complex and interesting games that can keep you entertained for ages. These include free games that can be great, even if you have to put up with adverts and potentially some pay to win strategies. Look for games that aren’t designed to be only playable if you pay money, but that use other methods to make money.

Another option is to buy mobile games. Most paid-for mobile games are still very cheap compared to other video games and they are surprisingly fun to play.

Puzzle games work very well on mobile phones, but you can also enjoy different types and genres of games. You can play alone or with other people, just like any other game, and you often don’t even need an internet connection to enjoy downloaded games.

Card and Board Games

After all this talk about technology, it’s best to bring it back to the original portable gaming system. While some board games are fairly portable, especially if you get travel versions, you often still have to set them up. They’re still great if you’re going on vacation and want a way to entertain your family.

However, the king (and queen and so on) of portable low-tech gaming has to be card games.

A deck of cards is the same size as a wallet and, with a little know-how, you can use these humble pieces of cardboard to play a massive variety of games. You can even play card games like freecell online, so you technically don’t even need the deck of cards to play.

The best thing about card games is that you can play them alone or with other people. A game like poker is great with multiple players, while something like solitaire is a lot of fun alone.

As well as a classic deck of cards, you can also play different types of card games like Pokemon or Magic the Gathering that can be a lot of fun for a little bit of space.