How to play Android games on PC

You have finally discovered an Android game that you can love and, as soon as you can, you like to spend your free time with it. Tired of the small screen of the smartphone or tablet, however, you wondered if it was possible to run the game also on the computer, where the monitor is much more generous in size.

Well, know that the answer is yes and, in the course of this guide, I have every intention of helping you reach your goal! In fact, below I will take care to show you how to play Android games on a PC by putting into practice a series of simple procedures that do not require special computer skills, nor do they involve “profound” changes to the computer operating system.

So, without waiting an extra second, make yourself comfortable and read everything I have to explain on the subject: I’m sure that, at the end of reading this guide, you will have acquired the necessary skills to obtain the result you want. Having said that, there is nothing left for me to do, except wish you good reading and have fun!

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to play Android games on PC
  • BlueStacks
  • NoxPlayer
  • Other useful solutions

Preliminary information

Without a doubt, the easiest way to play Android games on a PC is to use an Android emulator . If you had never heard of it, it is a software that can perfectly reproduce the Android environment inside a virtual machine running on computers running other operating systems, such as Windows or macOS.

The main advantage of using an Android emulator is complete independence from the underlying operating system : in fact, the installation of the Google operating system on a “physical” machine is not required and this effectively eliminates the problems due to dual boot and any influence on disks and files. The virtual environment, which can be configured in an extremely simple way, is in fact protected and the changes made within it are not reflected on the resident operating systems.

Probably, the negative aspect of Android emulators lies in the final yield, in terms of performance: software of this type needs very specific technical requirements which, if not respected, could lead to an emulation experience that is not exactly appreciable, especially if we talk about games (which, in turn, need a fair amount of hardware resources).

However, if you have a relatively new computer with good hardware, you should have no problem playing your favorite titles on the computer as well. In the following chapters of this guide, I will therefore tell you about some famous easy-to-use emulators for Android.

How to play Android games on PC

Having made the necessary clarifications of the case, it is time to get to the heart of this guide and to explain how to play Android games on PC using some well-known emulators dedicated to the “Big G” operating system, optimized for games.

BlueStacks

The first emulator I want to tell you about is BlueStacks , a free software that allows you to download and install Android apps on your PC, both through the Google Play Store and through APK files .

To download it, connected to its official website , press the Download BlueStacks button and wait for the program installation package to be downloaded to your computer. Subsequently, start the file obtained (eg BlueStacksInstaller_XXXX.exe ) and, if you use Windows , click on the Yes and Install buttons and wait for the software setup to be completed.

If, on the other hand, you are using a Mac , after opening the .dmg file obtained, double-click on the BlueStacks icon located in the window that appears on the Desktop, then click on the Open and Install Now buttons , enter the Mac administration password and start the software setup by clicking on the Install assistant button .

At this point, you need to enable the program’s system extensions: to be able to do this, click on the Open Security / Open Security & Privacy preferences button , press the closed padlock symbol in the lower left corner of the window that opens , enter the password of the Mac, press enter , and finally click on the button Allow placed next to the words You have been blocked from loading the system software by the developer Bluestack Systems Inc .

If all went well, the emulator should start automatically; if not, you can start it by using the icon that, in the meantime, has been created in the Windows Start menu or in the MacOS LaunchPad .

At the first start, you will be asked to log in to your Google account , so that you can configure the Play Store and Play Services: therefore, click on the Register and Log in buttons , enter your Gmail account credentials and, to accept the terms of use of Google services, press the Next and Accept buttons (if you do not want to use your main one, you can create a special one ).

Finally, indicate whether or not to activate data backup on Google and press the Accept button again . If you don’t want to log into Google because, for example, you want to install games from APK files , click the I’ll do it later button instead .

At this point, you can download your favorite titles on the emulator, exactly as you would on any Android smartphone or tablet , through the Play Store: start the latter by recalling it from the BlueStacks Home screen and, after accepting the terms of service, download the apps you prefer in the usual way provided by Android.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to install a game starting from an APK file downloaded on your computer, reach the BlueStacks Home screen , brought to the My games section , click on the regulator- shaped icon next to the wording Customize and select the Install APK item from the menu that appears.

BlueStacks also includes a large library of games for Android, which can be downloaded by accessing the Game Center section of the emulator. In any case, the installed titles can be recalled using the icons added to the Home, or from the Library section .

Please note that the right sidebar of BlueStacks contains a series of buttons that allow you to alter the display and control modes of the emulator: switch to full screen (F11 key on the keyboard), increase / decrease volume , lock / unlock the cursor , edit controls and show / hide game controls .

By clicking on the […] button, you can access additional features, such as macro recording , screenshot capture , shake emulation , screen rotation , localization and much more.

Finally, the gear- shaped button allows you to access the BlueStacks settings, through which you can change parameters such as the resolution and density of the screen, the graphics engine , notifications , the Android profile and much more.

NoxPlayer

Another excellent Android emulator for Windows and macOS is NoxPlayer , a free and extremely simple to use program. Among its features, the ability to install games both from the Play Store and from APK files and to obtain root permissions in a single click stand out.

To get it, connected to its home page and click on the Download Version XX button , located in the center of the page. Once you have obtained the program installation file, start it and, if you are using Windows , click on the Yes and Install buttons , then wait patiently for the software installation procedure to be completed. When this happens, click on the Start button to launch the program.

If, on the other hand, yours is a Mac , start the previously downloaded .dmg file , double-click the NoxPlayerInstaller icon , press the Open button and click the Install and Start buttons , to complete the software installation. When prompted, enter your Mac password and press the OK button to grant the necessary permissions and start NoxPlayer.

The game is practically done! At the first start of the program, you should automatically display the Play Store screen: to log in immediately, click on the Register and Login buttons and, when prompted, enter your Google account credentials in the appropriate fields (or create a new one ) and click on the Accept button to accept the terms of use of the service. Finally, define the backup settings and click Accept again .

If you don’t see the Play Store right away, you can call it from the Tools folder , located on the Android Home screen. If, on the other hand, you are not interested in accessing the Google market, click on the Later / Not Now item , located at the bottom.

After this step too, you can install the games you prefer from the Play Store, exactly as you would on any Android terminal . If, on the other hand, you want to add a game from an APK file, click on the icon depicting a square with the word “APK” located in the sidebar of the program and, using the window displayed on the screen, select the file to install. The new program icons will automatically be added to the NoxPlayer Home screen.

Please note that, using the buttons located in the sidebar of the program (located on the right on Windows and on the left on macOS), you can change some behaviors of the emulator: enable / disable the full-screen view , change commands and controls , increase / decrease volume , quickly access shared folders , upload an APK file , access multi-instance options and close all open applications .

Finally, by clicking on the […] button , a further toolbar with additional functions will be displayed (shake, position, screenshot, screen recording, macro, rotation and so on). By clicking on the gear symbol located at the top, it is possible to access the emulator settings: through this window it is possible to define the behavior at start-up, the presence or absence of the root, the screen, interface and performance settings, the settings game and much more.

Other useful solutions

If you feel that the programs I have told you about so far are not satisfactory for you, you can take a look at some other useful solutions, which allow you to run Android games directly on your PC.

• LDPlayer( Windows ) – this emulator, updated practically monthly, allows you to play a wide range of Android games on your computer – including Clash of Clans – and is optimized for shooter mode. It’s free.
• GameLoop( Windows ) – this is the official emulator dedicated to Tencent titles, such as CoD: Mobile and PUBG: Mobile. GameLoop is compatible, as well as with the titles from the aforementioned software house, also with a decent collection of games from different developers. I explained how to use it in my guide to using CoD: Mobile on PC .
• Android-x86( Windows / macOS ) – this is a version of Android adapted for use by the PC, which can be installed directly on the computer, run from a USB key or emulated through a virtual machine manager such as VirtualBox . It is free and open source.