The Ultimate Guide: How Game Controllers Elevate Your PC Gaming Experience

Quick Links

• Some Games Are Just Better With a Controller
• After a Long Day at Work, You Can Kick Back on the Couch
• Try Combining a Mouse, Keyboard, and Controller
• Love Emulators? You’ll Need a Controller
• Picking the Right Controller for You

Key Takeaways

• Some games are better with controllers, thanks to their pressure-sensitive joysticks and trigger buttons.
• A controller allows you to relax after work by allowing you to play games on your couch instead of being confined to your desk.
• You can easily switch between a mouse and keyboard and a controller on the fly based on the gaming scenario.

If you’re an average PC gamer like me, you’ve spent most of your time playing games with a mouse and keyboard. While there’s nothing wrong with that, maybe it’s time you gave controllers a chance. I did, and the experience was eye-opening.

Some Games Are Just Better With a Controller

Some games are designed with controllers in mind, they just happen to work on a mouse and keyboard. Racing, fighting, and platform game fans know what I’m talking about. Developers create games that work on all popular platforms, which happens to include both consoles and PCs. It’s worth noting that controllers have significantly fewer buttons, so developers often have to work around that fact to ensure you get the best experience possible, regardless of what platform you play your games on.

What controllers lack in buttons, they make up for with pressure-sensitive inputs. Controllers have joysticks and trigger buttons that respond differently based on how much pressure you apply to them. This gives you a greater amount of control over what you do in-game. For instance, you can modulate the gas, brake, and steering in racing games. While you can do the same on so-called analog keyboards that utilize pressure-sensitive hall effect switches like the Keychron Q1 HE , they’re relatively niche peripherals that most of us don’t use.

Pressure-sensitive inputs aren’t the only reason to pick up a controller. I find that RPGs and action-adventure games often play better on a controller as well. Games like Elden Ring, Monster Hunter: World, Diablo IV, and most console ports practically beg for a controller. Many were designed with a controller in mind, so motions and animations feel much smoother. You also get haptic feedback in the form of vibrations that add a nice immersive touch.

Games that have combat systems where you lock the camera on one enemy by holding a trigger work flawlessly on controllers, whereas they feel awkward on a mouse and keyboard. It’s true that with a single mouse flick you can rotate the camera a full 360 degrees or more. By contrast, a controller thumbstick moves the camera slowly, providing a smoother feel during combat.

This isn’t to say that all RPGs play worse on a mouse and keyboard—World of Warcraft is a PC exclusive, Skyrim benefits from a whole keyboard’s worth of key binds, and the Diablo series is a PC game at its core. Much of the time it depends on whether developers have put time and effort into making a game viable on a mouse and keyboard, which many of them still don’t do.

After a Long Day at Work, You Can Kick Back on the Couch

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I don’t think I’ve spent more than 10 hours gaming with a mouse and keyboard in the past three months. I bought my Xbox One Minecraft Pig Controller so that I could play Rocket League with my friends, but I quickly discovered that I prefer to play most single-player games on a controller as well.

Granted, it could be the novelty factor because it’s a new experience after spending two decades gaming on a mouse and keyboard, but I think that working from home is the straw that broke the camel’s back. I can’t even fathom the idea of sitting at my desk for even a second longer than I need to, especially after work hours.

I’ve talked to a few of my friends about this, and they all agreed that it’s more fun to play on a controller if you’re not playing a competitive multiplayer game. Just grab a wireless controller or an extra-long USB cable , hook up an HDMI cable to your TV, turn on Steam Big Picture mode , and enjoy your time off on a comfy couch or reclining office chair.

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Try Combining a Mouse, Keyboard, and Controller

There’s no arguing the fact that playing in a first-person perspective is better with a mouse and keyboard. A mouse allows you to control your aim quickly and precisely, whereas the right controller thumbstick only allows for slow and inaccurate camera control. That’s the reason why most first-person shooters rely on some form of aim assist. Sometimes the aim assist is so strong that gamers buy controllers just to benefit from it, but that’s a topic for another time.

At the same time, controllers are more suitable for any form of driving and flying, activities you do a lot of in open-world games like Grand Theft Auto V, Cyberpunk: 2077, and even Starfield. So, why not combine the best of both worlds by swapping between the two depending on the scenario?

Personally, I find that driving on a keyboard is incredibly dull, and driving around Night City in Cyberpunk: 2077 is far more satisfying on a controller. It adds a bit of spice to the immersion: as your in-game character enters a car or plane, you reach for your controller. When the action starts, and you need precise aim, you can switch back to your mouse and keyboard instantly.

Love Emulators? You’ll Need a Controller

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Most video game emulators all share one thing in common: the original games were designed to be played with a controller. While the controller layout on a Nintendo 64 isn’t the same as on a modern Xbox controller, it’s close enough, and the emulator takes the discrepancy into account. If you’re serious about emulators, check out our list of the best retro controllers for PC .

In the same vein, most emulators were created for controllers, and some of them don’t even work with a mouse and keyboard. I once tried Diablo on the now-defunct Yuzu Switch emulator using a mouse and keyboard, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Picking the Right Controller for You

A great place to start is with an Xbox controller for gaming on Windows . The Xbox Core Wireless Controller has excellent ergonomics, decent build quality, and at an affordable price. It makes for a solid entry-level controller, pair it with an optional rechargeable battery or plug it indirectly and you’re good to go.

Third-party controllers are a lot better than they used to be , but can be finicky and may require you to jump through a few hoops before they start working correctly. In contrast, first-party Xbox controllers are fully supported by Windows and work flawlessly. If you want a high-end variant, the obvious choice is the Xbox Elite Series 2

Xbox Core Wireless Controller

$52 $65 Save $13

One of the best controllers you can buy, regardless of platform. The Xbox Core controller was designed with the Xbox Series consoles in mind but works great on a Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and more.

$52 at Amazon See at Best Buy See at Target

If Xbox controllers aren’t your style, Sony’s iconic PlayStation DualSense is a solid alternative. Most PC games are compatible with the DualSense, but for those games that don’t work, you can use third-party tools. I used DualSenseX Windows Drivers to play Forza Horizon 5, and once I set it up, it worked flawlessly. There’s also the premium variant called the DualSense Edge .

Sony DualSense Controller

Offering haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone, and ergonomic design, the DualSense Controller is the best PS5 controller available today.

$72 at Amazon

If you’re not afraid to experiment with third-party controllers, I suggest looking for a controller with Hall effect joysticks . Hall effect joysticks are impressively smooth and don’t develop stick drift. A great one for emulators is the 8BitDo Ultimate Wireless Controller . If you want something more retro, 8BitDo has a selection of classic controllers. One of the best is the 8BitDo SN30 Pro because it sports modern Hall effect joysticks in an old package, but you can’t go wrong with any of them.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the best PC gaming controllers . Just avoid buying super cheap controllers because most of them have shoddy build quality. Their thumbsticks and trigger buttons tend to become unresponsive within a few months of use, so it’s best to buy something that lasts.

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