I’m not a gamer, but I like some casul games from time to time, like Timberborn or Shapez. Yesterday I wanted to start a game again, after a period of not gaming since february or so. I’ve been getting used to sitting in my comfy chair in the evening, doing some programming or some online ciurse. I would like to game in my comfy chair as well, instead of sitting behind my desk where I’ve been working all day. But games demand much more intense mouse usage. A mouse does not work very well on an armrest. Have any of you solved that problem?
I’m not much of a power user on the living room PC but I use a handheld keyboard and touchpad mouse combo with rechargeable AAA batteries like this one for regular browsing.
I have a lap desk similar to the one below. Easy to pick up or put aside as needed.
Edit: You should also consider tackball mice. They are great in limited spaces.
Trackball!
OG Steam Controller (I have the new one as well, but I’m not a big fan of the ergonomics).
Lapdesk
Not much of a PC gamer, but I have had a need to use a mouse without a desk. I swear by trackball mice. Personally I’ve been happy with the wireless Logitech trackball offerings, particularly the one with Bluetooth and a dongle you can tuck away into the mouse. Even at a regular desk, doing CAD work all day, it has saved my shoulder and wrist from stress and pain. I can basically sit in a relaxed neutral position and use my mouse wherever my hand falls, like on an arm rest. It may take some adjustment learning to use your thumb to navigate around, but for me it has been worth it.
Regular mouse and keyboard but on a lapboard with powered USB extension back to my PC.
Mine’s an older, RGB-less (thankfully) version similar to this:
https://us.nerdytec.com/collections/couchmaster®/products/couchmaster-lapboard3-gaming-lapdesk
You may find that a different mouse will work better. For instance, I have an MX Master 3 that won’t register movement at all on my couch. Meanwhile a cheap little $15 mouse reads just fine.
Unrelated, I miss my MX Master 2. The wheel was so much better.
You can use a ducky mini 2 (60%) (three levels of keys/macros and mouse function); but really just use a controller. Or just get $1200 Steelcase chair and get the mouse pad addition. Also you can get a laptop stand for like $40 and use that, as in they can slide under your chair and give you platform to put your mouse and drinks on.
There are so very many devices geared towards this issue. I don’t think I have anything to add to comments lready here except that you should try a few of the optuons if possible and see what vibes best with you and your specific setup.
Steam controller.
The trackpads are great and weirdly make a decent keyboard too.
Does it work like the steamdeck?
Yes it’s basically a steam deck minus screen with a few extra bits. But the trackpad and Steam input and on screen keyboard are all the same as Steam deck
I use a large sketchbook as a mousepad. The sketchbook sits on a pillow to lift it to the appropriate height. Works great.
i used to have a lap desk attached to the top of a beanbag-like pillow. same type of thing my mom and grandma would use to do crafts and stuff while they watched their ‘stories’ (soaps).
Trackball mouse, either wired or wireless. No need to move the mouse at all besdes to get it into a comfortable position.
Only thing you really gotta worry about from there is occasionally removing the ball and cleaning where it rests from gunk that builds up and causes friction.
You also have to make sure the cat doesn’t knock it down, sending the loose trackball to the lowest corner of the living room floor.
As someone without cats, or dogs that’ll disturb me too much, I’m grateful I don’t have that problem.
I love trackballs, and I wish there was a bigger market for gaming trackball mice.
I personally wouldn’t have much of a use for gaming trackball mice, but I would absolutely buy one. Imagine a trackball that has a ball that rolls smooth as butter. Pure heaven!
Check out the Elecom Huge! I think there’s a more premium model of it that has extra-smooth rollers, but I’ve got the base version and it’s smooth enough for general use. I can’t really use it for aiming in FPS games because it jitters a bit no matter what DPI setting I use (maybe something else the premium model fixes, as well), but the shape and button positions are spectacular for most other use, IMO.
I’ll keep that in mind. My current Elecom was a good purchase, so it’ll probably be a few years before I switch, but definitely gonna keep it in mind.
- sock off
- mouse on floor
- foot mouse
KDE Connect Remote Input for me, but I mostly play mouse games on my desktop.
