I do have a recent recommendations that should run on your machine.
Its called "Tooth and Tail." Its a small RTS with SNES like graphics. You control a commander with a flag. You build farms and buildings and command troops to kill your opponents farms and army.
Its also on sale on steam right now.
I might well give this one a go, thanks!
Longform RPGs that run on integrated graphics might be a little hard to find, but you could always go with the acclaimed classics like Planescape: Torment, or Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines; I played those because of all the glowing praise they get, they're really very good. I also hear many people speaking fondly of the Baldur's Gate series and early Elder Scrolls games, but I've not played those myself.
I've never played any of those. Planescape looks like exactly what I'm looking for and seems like my PC will run it too. Vampire isn't the perspective I'm after (I play first person games on console). Baldur's Gate also looks like a goer.
My personal RPG of obsession as a kid was Dungeon Siege, which I still highly recommend. It's good and simple party-based monster-bashing, you level up, you loot cool gear, you visit beautiful places, the works. There's also Deus Ex, which is a more complex FPS-RPG hybrid, but it's rightfully considered one of the best games of all time even if it hasn't aged well aesthetically. If you want a game that explores the intersection between transhumanism, government conspiracies, world politics, and the AI singularity, you owe it to yourself to give Deus Ex a chance.
Dungeon Siege also looks perfect. That, Baldur's Gate and Planescape all look very Diablo-ish, and I do love Diablo III, which I've played front to back more than once with my buddies.
Deus Ex I played when I was a kid and quite frankly I think most people (not you) only have good memories of the first few hours of the game. Again it's first person so not really what I'm after, but it is an astonishingly good game.
You mentioned Theme Hospital, so I assume you're aware of Dungeon Keeper? Both the first and second games are still a blast after all these years. Age of Empires 2 as well, I loved that as a kid. I'm rubbish at real-time strategy but fortunately I could cheat my way through it. Back when games still had cheat codes, those were the days.
Age of Empires 2 I don't like very much, although I did like the first one a whole lot until I ran out of campaign missions I could actually complete without cheating. Dungeon Keeper also looks like a great shout, so thanks for that suggestion, although of the ones I'm considering so far it's the one I'm least interested in.
More on the action side, there is Cave Story+, a classic run-and-gun platformer with few equals; Shovel Knight, the greatest 8-bit platformer of the 21st century; Luftrausers, an exhilirating 2D dogfighting game set in an alternate universe WWII; One Finger Death Punch, a game that lets you feel like a badass kung fu action hero just by hammering two buttons; VVVVVV, the quintessential gravity-flipping platformer... those should all work wonderfully on integrated graphics.
Platformers I cannot fucking stand, honestly, they're really just not for me. Shovel Knight I've seen Game Grumps play all the way through and looks fun but it's so iconic and magnificent that I just don't really see myself playing it by myself soon, because it's too fresh in the mind. Pretty much everything in this list isn't really what I'm interested in but I may come back to Luftrausers or One Finger Death Punch once I've sated my RPG desire.
What are your feelings on roguelikes like The Binding of Isaac? Or puzzle games like Mini Metro? I might have a dozen more recommendations if you're into those.
Looking at Binding of Isaac I don't think I like the art style. It looks a lot like Super Meat Boy, which I tired of aesthetically quite early on, and puzzle games aren't generally my thing. Thanks so much for all of these suggestions! I think one of the four I highlighted above in my replies will be the winner here if I can get them for cheap, and get them to run...
Have you played Portal/Portal 2?
It's not 90s but you might get away with it...
Portal would likely run on this machine but I have completed it a bunch of times, I got it back when it was free and played it on my old PC. Portal 2 I have also finished the single player, but would definitely kill my laptop, it's way too recent.
[Rimworld](https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/) is a good one.
The various Shadowrun games.
[Stardew Valley](https://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/Stardew_Valley/) will eat all of your time, if that's the sort of game you're into. All of your time.
[Zachtronics](http://www.zachtronics.com/) games are good if you like crazy-hard puzzles.
[Transistor](https://store.steampowered.com/app/237930/Transistor/) and [Bastion](https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/)
And did you know there's a remake of Theme Hospital scheduled for sometime this year?
https://www.twopointhospital.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZExZagBc-ss
Stardew Valley looks really gorgeous but doesn't look like it has a plot or an end point, and I'm after something that I can just... finish if I want to, although I don't mind a GTA scenario where the main campaign finishes and I can keep playing if I want. Thanks for pointing out the Theme Hospital remake, I'll definitely tell my family and one of my partners, but having played that game to death for the better part of two decades is exactly why I'm trying to find something else! I'm going to assume LeeC is right about the graphics on the other ones because I have no idea; I've already covered puzzles in the reply. Thanks for all the suggestions nonetheless!
The "Command and Conquer" series, maybe?
I always liked Privateer 2: The Darkening
I
love the Command and Conquer games with a hundred throbbing boners, at least prior to them going 3D. Red Alert is one of my favourite games ever made, as a matter of fact. I used to have the first decade collection on CD, but I couldn't get it to run post Windows Vista or so, and I can't seem to find versions of it that will work on this OS. If anyone knows where I can find 'em please do let me know, because Tiberiun Sun, Red Alert and Red Alert 2 are fucking masterpieces. Privateer actually looks pretty good too, and nice and cheap, so I might get to that one but low on the list like I said for a few others.
The Humble Store is a good place as well. Good discounts, a good catalogue, gives 5% to charity (you pick which one) and 5% back as store credit on everything you buy there. The bundles are pretty cool too.
Galactic Civilizations II is free for ~21 hours from posting.
Thanks for this suggestion, great stuff. I got a copy of Galactic Civilisations II because, fuck it, it's free, and the Humble Store looks like an excellent choice.
Thanks everybody for all of your suggestions!
