Sure, it’s just a game– until you get serious about it. What’s the point of playing if you don’t have the right tools at hand to maximize your fun– and connect with the gaming community? You want to be able to reach out to other players, have good graphics, control your play, and maybe gain a following. Below, find 9 of the best apps to enhance your gameplay.
Discord
Discord is an all-in-one voice and text chat that’s free, secure, and simple. It’s the leading app for voice chat for online games for a reason. It’s user-friendly, reliable, and doesn’t require a username or a subscription. It’s easy to use and, best of all, it’s free! You can get it on the desktop or as a mobile app. You can also create a channel and invite people via a link. Recently, they’ve introduced an online game store, which means they may soon rival…
Steam
Steam is the most popular digital gaming library out there and really needs no introduction. It’s the go-to platform for gaming, whether you’re playing or creating them. You can easily access and download free and paid games. It’s also become a social hub that lets you connect with friends and share achievements.
One particularly useful feature is the in-home streaming they provide. That means you can stream games from your main PC to another device, like your Smart TV or laptop. Great if you’re having a gaming party!
KeyTweak
Simple but crucial. KeyTweak is an app that lets you modify the input of your keyboard. You can switch the values of your keyboard buttons and create shortcut combinations. If used right, this can radically boost your abilities as a gamer, though it’ll probably take some trial and error before you find the most effective use for you. Give it a shot and you may find that complicated key combos become a breeze.
OBS Studio
If you want to share your gameplay with others, OBS Studio is the way to go. The software performs well and is easy to navigate for a new user. Using OBS Studio, you can record your screen and audio input while playing a game. That means you can not only record what’s happening in the game but also your commentary if you’re using a microphone or headset.
You can use it to make tutorials on YouTube, for instance, or even live stream directly to an audience. If you decide to stream your sessions live then ideally you’d have the best streaming headset to do this, with a good built-in microphone. This will allow you to focus on playing the game while OBS Studio captures your live commentary in high quality.
OBS Studio is free, cross-platform, and open-source with a clean UI. It even provides an inbuilt audio mixer with per-source filters, hotkeys, plugin support, and more: what’s not to love?
Hootsuite
And if you’re beginning to stream your gameplay, you’re going to want to find a way to build your audience! There are loads of options for social media management tools out there; Hootsuite is a good all-in-one option and very popular. You can use it to post to Twitter, Instagram, your YouTube channel, and more. That means you can post clips of gameplay or schedule posts on social media that encourage your audience to tune in while you’re busy gaming. Less work, more time for play! It even comes with analytics so you can adjust your posting strategy and reach more people.
Twitch
And of course, what you really need to reach an audience is Twitch. Twitch is known for live-streaming games, but the desktop app actually has features that everyone will find useful. It provides game add-ons and overlay management through integration with CurseForge. You can also use its central hub to manage different mods for various games. And it provides a community space that you can use to video chat with friends: the developers keep finding new features to improve it. Playing with an audience is a great new dimension you can add to gamey– and you can even eventually monetize it, if that’s the route you want to take.
CPU-Z
This is a handy little tool that will give you some useful information about your computer. It’ll tell you your processor name, number, codename, process, package, and cache levels. This is more for the technically minded, but if you’re reaching a point where you want to have a more powerful and faster PC, this can be a useful information gathering tool so that you can be on your way to an upgrade.
MSI Afterburner
This is a useful tool for overclocking graphics cards. With MSI Afterburner, you get a detailed overview of the hardware you’re using. This will give you more control over how to boost your computer’s performance as you can easily access your GPU settings. It also includes scanning tools that can help boost your system. The ability to adjust system settings is certainly the program’s major draw: the software will even provide temperature monitoring and custom fan settings. All for free!
FreeSync
FreeSync is a software created for AMD PCs or Graphic Card users. It synchronizes your refresh rate so that the frame will run more smoothly. One of the easiest ways to disrupt your gaming is with screen tearing– when the rendered frames per second of the game you’re playing don’t match your monitor’s refresh rate. Segments of the frame will become temporarily misaligned with the others. FreeSync will enable the monitor to refresh its image in sync with the frame rate of the game being played, adjusting down when necessary, which prevents misaligned visuals.
These apps will allow you to have more immersive gameplay, connect with other players, and even reach an audience so that you can have more fun and more support. The apps will help you to enjoy the ideal gaming experience. Did we miss any? Let us know which apps are your favorite for enhancing your gameplay!
