The Asus ROG Ally is a handheld Windows gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, a 7-inch 1080p 120 Hz display and full Windows 11. On paper that sounds powerful, but what does it mean in practice?
In other words: what games can the Asus ROG Ally actually play, and how well?
This guide walks through the main categories of games that run well on the ROG Ally — from AAA blockbusters to indie titles and emulators — plus realistic expectations for settings and performance.
1. Big AAA PC Games
Thanks to its Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU and modern RDNA 3 graphics, the ROG Ally can run most modern AAA titles as long as you’re willing to tune resolution, power limit and graphics settings.
Examples of AAA games you can play
- Open-world / action: Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto V, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Starfield
- Story-driven / cinematic: Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War (PC), A Plague Tale: Requiem, Control
- Action RPGs: Elden Ring, Lies of P, Diablo IV, Monster Hunter: World / Rise
- Racing: Forza Horizon 5, Need for Speed titles, F1 series
Typical settings for AAA games
On the Ally, you normally aim for:
- Resolution: 720p (1280×720) to 900p (1600×900) internally, sometimes with FSR upscaling to 1080p
- Preset: Low to Medium, with some demanding options (Ray Tracing, ultra shadows, high distance detail) disabled
- Power mode: Performance or Turbo, usually 15–25 W on battery, up to ~30 W when plugged in
With those settings, many AAA games can run in the 30–60 FPS range, depending on how demanding they are. You won’t get desktop-level ultra settings, but for a handheld, the results are impressive.
2. Competitive & Esports Titles
Fast-paced competitive games are a great fit for the ROG Ally because they tend to be well-optimized and less demanding than heavy AAA single-player titles.
Popular competitive games that run very well
- Hero shooters & tactical: Overwatch 2, Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege
- Battle royale: Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone (with tuned settings)
- MOBA: League of Legends, Dota 2, Smite
- Fighting & sports: Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, FIFA / EA Sports FC (with sensible settings)
Why these games work so well
- Most have built-in resolution scaling and competitive presets.
- They’re designed to run well on a wide range of hardware, including older PCs.
- The Ally’s 120 Hz screen lets you benefit from higher frame rates where possible.
With tuned graphics and a 15–20 W power limit, it’s realistic to target 60 FPS or higher in many esports games, especially at 720p–900p.
3. Indie & 2D Games
This is where the ROG Ally absolutely cruises. Most indie and 2D titles are far less demanding than AAA games, so you can often enjoy:
- 1080p resolution
- High or max settings
- Quiet fan noise and lower power modes
Examples of indie and 2D games that are perfect on the Ally
- Platformers & action: Hollow Knight, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Celeste, Dead Cells
- Roguelikes & metroidvanias: Hades, Vampire Survivors, Slay the Spire, Rogue Legacy 2
- Simulation & management: Stardew Valley, RimWorld, Factorio, Cities: Skylines (watch CPU load)
- Pixel-art classics & remasters: many GOG/Steam classics, HD-2D style JRPGs, etc.
These games often run at 60 FPS+ even in Silent or low TDP modes, which means more battery life and less heat. If your library is heavy on indie titles, the Ally is an excellent portable machine.
4. Emulation – Retro to Modern
As a Windows PC, the ROG Ally supports a wide range of emulators. How far you can go depends on the platform you’re emulating and the quality of the emulator itself, but broadly:
- 8-bit / 16-bit / 32-bit era: NES, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis, PlayStation 1, etc. – basically trivial for the Ally.
- GameCube / Wii / PS2: Very strong performance (Dolphin, PCSX2, etc.) with 2x–3x internal resolution or more in many titles.
- PSP / PS Vita / 3DS / DS: Generally smooth with high internal resolution scaling.
- PS3 / Switch / early PS4-era: Heavily game- and emulator-dependent; some titles are playable, others are too demanding.
Always respect the legal aspects: only emulate games you own and follow local laws and license agreements. But from a pure performance standpoint, the ROG Ally is a very capable emulation device up through about the PS2/GameCube/Wii generation, with selective success beyond that.
5. PC Game Stores & Launchers
Because the ROG Ally runs Windows 11, it can access almost any modern PC game storefront or launcher.
Stores and services you can use on the Ally
- Steam – Your full Steam library, including Proton-based Windows games (they’re just native Windows apps here).
- Epic Games Store – Weekly free games, Fortnite and other exclusives.
- GOG Galaxy – DRM-free classics and modern titles.
- Xbox app & PC Game Pass – A rotating library of games you can install locally.
- EA app, Ubisoft Connect, Battle.net – Launchers for EA, Ubisoft and Blizzard titles.
- Cloud services: GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming (via browser), and others.
If a game is available for Windows and your hardware is up to it, you can install and play it on the ROG Ally. You’re not locked into a single ecosystem like a traditional console.
6. Recommended Game Types vs. Settings
The table below gives a rough guideline for what kinds of games the Ally handles best at different settings targets. It’s not a benchmark, just a practical planning tool:
| Game Type | Recommended Resolution | Typical Preset | Power Mode | Target FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy AAA story games | 720p–900p | Low–Medium | Performance / Turbo | 30–45 FPS |
| Open-world AA / lighter AAA | 900p–1080p | Medium | Performance | 40–60 FPS |
| Esports & competitive shooters | 720p–900p | Low–Medium (competitive) | Performance | 60 FPS+ |
| Indie / 2D titles | 1080p | High / Max | Silent / Balanced | 60 FPS+ |
| Retro emulation (PS2/GC/Wii and below) | Native or 2–3x internal | N/A | Silent / Balanced | 60 FPS+ |
Your exact experience will depend on the specific game, driver version and how aggressively you tweak TDP and settings, but this gives a reasonable picture of what to expect.
7. Limitations: What the Ally Struggles With
While “can it launch?” is almost always “yes” on Windows, there are some practical limits:
- Ultra-demanding, poorly optimized AAA games (especially the latest releases) may only be comfortable at very low settings and 30 FPS targets.
- Some always-online games with aggressive anti-cheat can be fussy about handheld/Windows configurations and controller mapping.
- Very CPU-heavy simulations (grand strategy with huge maps, large city-builders with lots of agents, etc.) can bottleneck on the CPU, not just the GPU.
- Games designed for mouse & keyboard only may require extra tweaking, community layouts or playing docked.
That said, as a general rule: if a game runs decently on a mid-range gaming laptop, you can usually get it playable on the ROG Ally with some compromise on resolution and settings.
8. Conclusion: What Games Can Asus ROG Ally Play?
The honest answer is: almost everything in the modern PC ecosystem — with the right expectations.
- For AAA titles, think 720p–900p, Low/Medium settings and 30–60 FPS depending on the game.
- For esports and competitive games, 60 FPS or higher is realistic with tuned settings.
- For indie, 2D and retro games, the Ally is overkill in a good way: 1080p, high settings and great battery life are common.
- For emulation, it’s excellent up through the PS2/GameCube/Wii era, with selective success on newer systems.
If you’re willing to tweak settings and understand that a handheld won’t match a high-end desktop at 4K Ultra, the Asus ROG Ally opens up an enormous range of PC and retro games in a portable form factor. For many players, that flexibility is exactly what makes it such an attractive device.