I recently bought a new 29" ultra-wide monitor to replace my aging 17" 5:4-aspect monitor. You can imagine how much I needed it—it was a 17" monitor and in an almost square aspect ratio of 5:4 at 1280×1024. There's no way I'm making websites on that thing. Many games also refuse to run on it. Maybe if it were in 4:3 aspect, things would go well, but almost all games right now (with some exceptions) just doesn't like running on anything that isn't 16:9 widescreen and will just try to add black borders to the top and bottom of the image.

Of course, I bought this ultra-wide monitor for serious work use. I have more screen real-estate and I can manage lots of open windows all at once. But I also play games from time to time. And I was not exactly right when I assumed that, "Well, all games run on widescreen, so I'm sure they can handle a bit more wideness. If they can't, then black borders on the left and right of the screen won't be an issue."

Most games do run on ultra-wide monitors quite well. Some handled the extra wideness perfectly, while some added borders to either side of the screen. Unfortunately, some old games just refuses to cooperate.

Before I list compatible games...

I just have another problem. My PC is not really for gaming. Sure, it's not a potato either, which would be an insult to the 13^th gen i7 inside this. But I do not have a graphics card, meaning I'm playing all this using the integrated Intel UHD 770 graphics. For comparison, this is my computer's spec:

That's why it's not a potato, but without a graphics card, many games still just doesn't like to run well. But I'm resourceful and I do believe that graphics isn't everything.

On to the list.

Games That Run Well on a Low Spec UWFHD Computer

Factorio

The ultimate time waster. This game runs perfectly on an UW display. No need to mess with anything, it just works. It also has low graphics requirements so the integrated graphics is more than enough.

Minecraft

Runs really well on max settings. Just don't activate the "Use shader for weather effects" option which will start to show the limitations of the integrated Intel graphics. But otherwise, runs perfectly.

Far Cry

Yes, the original. The menus and HUD are scaled incorrectly, but otherwise, runs perfectly, on the highest settings available. Not that it's any benchmark as I used to run it on my Pentium 4 HT with Intel Extreme Graphics 2 integrated graphics, but...

Osu! (Lazer)

Works perfectly without any hiccups.

Hollow Knight

Runs fine! There's black borders on either side of the screen but otherwise, it runs perfectly!

OMORI

The 2× scaling of the screen is enough to fill most of the screen, but you still get black borders on all sides of the screen. But it supports ultrawide screens just fine! As for the framerate. You don't need framerate in this game.

Stardew Valley

Runs perfectly fine! It supports ultrawide monitors perfectly but some places (most notably the footpath that connects the town to your farm) is too narrow to the point that it doesn't scroll while you walk and you get a bit of black bars on the left and right edges. But that's more about game design. The game supports ultrawide just fine.

Terraria

This game is probably made for ultrawide monitors. You see the terrain so well. Terraria runs perfectly fine.

R-Type Final 2

Surprisingly it works at the lowest setting! But the game is fixed at a 16:9 aspect ratio, so you get black bars on either side of the screen. But it works perfectly. There are some stuttering on particularly busy parts of the game but nothing annoying. It's very playable at an almost always 60 FPS.

Unpacking

The game supports ultrawide monitors fine. Some scenes are not meant to be shown on an ultrawide aspect ratio so you get some obvious fillers on the left and right parts of the screen, particularly on the title screen. But besides that, the game uses the extra wideness of ultrawide monitors when it can, so I'd say it works perfectly fine.

Mindustry

Yes, Mindustry runs on an ultrawide low-spec computer perfectly at ultrawide resolutions. With perfect framerates, too.

Monster Hunter Rise

This is an interesting case. The game allows users to choose an ultrawide resolution. I was also able to set it to the lowest graphics settings.However two things stand out:

• Except the title screen, cutscenes are always on 16:9 aspect ratio.
• The title screen and cutscenes aren't exactly in 60 FPS. More like 20~30 FPS.
• In-game scenes render the HUD on the normal 2560×1080 resolution but the scene is rendered at a noticeably lower resolution, like half of the normal. It gets a bit pixellated if you look at it closely but with very busy fights, it's unlikely you'll notice it as the lower resolution gives the in-game scenes a solid 60 FPS. It's a worthy tradeoff.

Games That At Least Run

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

This is the anniversary edition. Surprised to say that it actually works on an ultrawide monitor as well. However, the integrated graphics can't keep up and even at low settings, many scenes show noticeable lag and slowdown. At least it works, though.

Crysis Remastered

Can it run Crysis? Uhm. Yeah, I guess. While the an ultrawide resolution is selectable on screen, even after setting the graphics quality to as low as it can get, the framerate is horrible and the sky is bright red. Note that I didn't say unplayable. It is playable if you're patient enough. But it's not an enjoyable experience.

Octopath Traveller II

It runs fine on an ultrawide monitor but the game is fixed to a 16:9 aspect ratio, so you get black bars. Also, even at the lowest graphics setting, the integrated graphics can't keep up well which results in a not-so-smooth framerate. But it works.

Games That Do Not Work

Fallout 4

I can't make this run! Like, it has no idea what a 21:9 monitor is, and just refuses to run in full-screen. It sometimes runs in fullscreen at an extremely low resolution, or it just sits there at a black screen. Sometimes it runs but it stays at the upper-left corner of the screen.