The best emulators for gaming on a Chromebook

Chromebooks are fantastic machines with light software that works well under most circumstances. They are great for everyday work, such as sending emails and browsing the web. A good Chrome OS laptop can even handle some photo/video editing. Did you know you can also do some gaming with Chrome OS? Of course, you can enjoy Android games, but a wide variety of emulators are also available. Let’s look at some of the best emulators for Chromebook computers.

How to pick the right Chromebook emulator

There are multiple things to consider when picking the right emulators for Chromebook. Let’s go through some of the main ones.

• Does the emulator support the consoles you want to play?: Some emulators for Chromebook only emulate a single console. Others support a couple or a few. Meanwhile, some options have support for many consoles. It is essential to determine which games you want to play and for which console they are available.
• Where do you want to get the emulator from?: You can get Chromebook emulators from multiple sources. Some of you prefer the safety of the Google Play Store, and there are many options in there. Some emulators run from a browser. If you want something more complete, some emulators come in the form of Linux apps, which you can use if your Chromebook supports Linux apps. Here’s a list of the Chromebooks that support Linux. We also have a guide on installing Linux apps on Chrome OS.
• Controller support: Some emulators have better support for more controllers, while others are limited in these terms. If you’ll be playing with a gamepad, look into support before picking an emulator. And if you don’t have one yet, we have a list of the best controllers. Or, if you prefer, you can also look into our list of the best keyboards, which most emulators support.
• Is it paid or free?: While most emulators are free, some come at a price. This is more often the case if you’re getting one of the best emulators straight from the Google Play Store. However, they tend to compensate for the price with added features and more support.
• Can your Chromebook handle an emulator?: Many Chromebooks are very affordable, which means their specs may not be up to par to run more resource-intensive emulators. You can likely run NES games on any cheap Chromebook, for example, but you’ll need a higher-end or gaming Chromebook to emulate PlayStation 2 games.

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