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Choosing the device you will play on
Step two of seven. One account, three quite different experiences. This page sets out what desktop, phone and tablet each do well, how to find out what your own hardware is without guessing, and what to check about storage and connection before a large download starts.
The same game, three different propositions
Because progress lives on the publisher's servers, the device is not a permanent decision — but it is the decision that determines whether the first hour is pleasant or frustrating. The table below compares the three options on the things that actually differ. It describes the general shape of each platform rather than any particular title; specific requirements always come from the vendor.
| Consideration | Desktop or laptop | Phone | Tablet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Download and install a client, which can take a while on a slow connection | Install from the app store, usually quicker | Install from the app store |
| Controls | Keyboard and mouse; precise, and comfortable for long sessions | Touch on a small surface; fingers cover part of the view | Touch on a larger surface; a reasonable middle ground |
| Screen | Largest, and easiest for reading small interface text | Smallest; interface text is the first thing to become tiring | Large enough for most interfaces |
| Storage pressure | Usually the least constrained, though a full drive causes odd failures | Often the most constrained; the system may remove apps when space runs low | Varies widely by model |
| Session length | Limited by time rather than hardware | Limited by battery and by heat | Better than a phone, worse than a mains-powered machine |
| Who handles payment | Usually the publisher, on its own website | Usually the app store account | Usually the app store account |
| Parental controls | Operating system and browser level, set by whoever administers the machine | Device and store level, including purchase approval | Device and store level |
The payment row is the one people overlook. Buying through an app store puts the store between you and the publisher, which affects who to approach first about an incorrect charge and which spending controls are available. Step four follows that thread.
Finding out what you actually have
Minimum requirements are meaningless until you know your own numbers. Each of these takes under a minute, and none of them requires installing anything.
Windows
- Open Settings, then System, then About. The processor, installed memory and system type are listed there.
- For the graphics hardware and driver version, press the Windows key, type dxdiag, open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool and read the Display tab.
- For free space, open File Explorer and look under This PC at the drive you plan to install on.
macOS
- Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac for the chip or processor, the memory and the macOS version.
- Choose Storage, or open System Settings and then General, for free space.
- Note whether the machine has an Apple chip or an Intel processor; software support sometimes differs between the two.
Linux
- In a terminal, lscpu reports the processor and free -h reports memory.
- df -h shows free space per filesystem.
- Check the vendor's own support pages for whether a native build exists and which distributions are tested, since this varies far more than on Windows or macOS.
Android and iOS
- On Android, Settings, then About phone, gives the model and the Android version; Settings, then Storage, gives free space.
- On iPhone and iPad, Settings, then General, then About, gives the model and iOS or iPadOS version; General, then iPhone Storage or iPad Storage, gives free space.
- Compare the operating system version with the minimum the store listing states. An unsupported version is the most common reason an app will not install at all.
A rule of thumb about storage
Whatever the stated install size, leave noticeably more free than that. An installer needs room to unpack, updates arrive over time, and both operating systems and games behave strangely on a drive that is nearly full — failed patches, lost settings and crashes that look like hardware faults. Freeing space is dull work, and it is the cheapest troubleshooting you will ever do.
The connection, and the download
Two separate things get confused here. The download is a one-off transfer of a large file, and it rewards raw speed. Playing is a continuous exchange of small messages, and it rewards consistency: a connection that drops for two seconds every few minutes is more disruptive to an online game than one that is uniformly slower.
If the connection is metered — a mobile hotspot, or a plan with a data allowance — check the download size before starting, and prefer a fixed connection for the initial install and for large updates. On a shared household connection, a multi-gigabyte download in the evening will be noticed by everyone else in the house, so it is worth starting it at a quieter time.
Older hardware is not automatically excluded
A machine several years old is often perfectly serviceable for a game of this kind, particularly on lower graphics settings. Before concluding that hardware is the problem, the cheaper checks are: free disk space, an up-to-date graphics driver on Windows, a restart since the last system update, and whether something else is quietly using the processor in the background. Step seven works through the performance symptoms in order.
Where the hardware genuinely falls short, the honest options are lower settings, a different platform — a tablet often outperforms an ageing laptop — or a different game. Adding memory or replacing a drive helps in some cases and not others, and that judgement needs the actual specifications in front of you.
What to watch out for at this stage
- Install only from the publisher's own site or an official app store. Search results for a game name plus "download" routinely include pages that are not the publisher.
- Be sceptical of third-party "optimiser", "booster" and "FPS fix" tools. They frequently deliver something other than performance, and the Australian Cyber Security Centre has general advice on installing software from unverified sources.
- On a shared or family device, check who administers it before installing anything. A managed school or work machine may prohibit installs outright, and working around that restriction is not worth the consequences.
Before you download anything
- You know the operating system version, the processor, the memory and the free space on the device you have chosen.
- You have read the vendor's stated requirements on the vendor's own site, not a summary elsewhere.
- There is comfortably more free space than the stated install size.
- The download is happening on a connection that will not exhaust someone's data allowance.
- You know whether payments on this platform will run through the publisher or through an app store account.
- You know who administers the device, and that you are allowed to install software on it.
Step two in one line
Match the platform to the way you will actually play, check your own numbers rather than assuming them, and give the install more room than it asks for. Next: step three, where the account gets created.