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  • Definitely depends on the game.

    A controller with two analog sticks and two analog triggers has six analog axes of input. A keyboard and mouse has two. There are definitely games that can benefit from more analog axes -- think twin-stick shooters. You can use digital inputs for movement, but it's also less-precise.

    On the other hand, a mouse can provide both rapid and precise movement, more-so than an analog stick. And a keyboard has a lot more keys, which is important for some games. And a keyboard is going to be a lot better for text input.

    Controllers have output to players, in the form of rumble motors (and with some controllers on some platforms, more-exotic options). There's no widespread support for any kind of output from the mouse or keyboard. Use of rumble motors can add immersion.

    While I've used a mouse as a flight input in Freespace 2, generally-speaking, I think that a controller's analog sticks are better for flight sims (though if you're playing an old-timey WW2 flight sim, probably getting a full-size stick with all the extra controls is worthwhile).

    On the other hand, it's very hard for a controller to compete with the keyboard and mouse for first-person shooters. I've used one for some games that were designed for consoles and aren't very demanding in response and often have vehicles that are better-controlled with a controller -- I'm playing Starfield with a controller. But one is simply going to do much better with a keyboard and a mouse, if one practices with both. Playing an FPS with a controller feels like driving a truck.

    Some games, like a number of strategy games, are going to be much-better played with a mouse. I have a hard time seeing Paradox's grand strategy games being played with a controller, even with a lot of work on the control scheme.

    Ditto for RTSes. I've tried a few with controllers, like Supreme Commander, and it definitely benefits from a mouse.

    Playing interactive fiction of the classic sort, where one types in commands, really, really needs a keyboard. There are ways you can mitigate a bit of the pain, and some point-and-click adventure games have tried to do this, provide a limited set of preset commands, but it's just not great.

    Playing pretty much any game designed for a D-pad, I'd rather play on a controller. Yeah, you can get okay with a keyboard, but it just doesn't feel the same, not nearly as fluid.

    And there are a few other input options that aren't seen much any more:

    • Full-size flightstick, maybe with throttle and pedals. Some had force feedback. I haven't seen many new releases; in the 1980s and 1990s, though, these were common for PCs.
    • Steering wheel
    • Arcade stick
    • Light guns
    • Dance pad

    • And there are a few other input options that aren’t seen much any more:

      I raise the bar. Using a DIY 5.- EUR head tracker in NMS mapped to a virtual gamepad and my X52 Pro joystick mapped to another virtual gamepad and some keyboard keys just because (Why waste a perfectly fine HOTAS system just because the game is too stupid to support this?) :D

      …and also KBM because this is simply more comfortable on foot.

      Yes, it's complicated and it absolutely depends on the game and even… location? Like, on the couch I prefer some sort of gamepad controller too.

  • I prefer controller for basically everything except fps games. I don't really play more keyboard designed games though, like civ, very often. If I do I'll def use keyboard though

    • So no keyboard for Hollow Knight (nice avatar, btw)? I couldn't imagine how horrible I'd be at a game like that on a keyboard!

      • Haha yeah no that would not be enjoyable for me. But, at the same time, the world record for smb1 is by a player on keyboard, so different strokes!

        Also thanks!

  • Depends on how much shooting is involved.

    Mouse aim trumps controller aim after all. But for games that aren't shooting-focussed I favour controllers because I can flop back.

  • I grew up on consoles, mostly Playstations, so I can use controllers a lot better then some people. I prefer to use them in FPS', movement and melee feels a lot more natural with a controller then with a keyboard. Aiming is, I dare say, an art-form with a controller and it can get really difficult when the sticks are old and losing their sensitivity (*or it's just a crap controller).

    Not to mention how comfortable it is not having to have your fingers splayed across a flat surface for the whole game.

    • Same here, I grew up with consoles (Xbox mostly). I’m not used to keyboard so I don’t play that well on keyboard than I do on controller for most games. The only times I do use keyboard is for point and click or strategy games.

  • Honestly, after years of gaming I would have to say controller. I grew up on consoles and didn’t start playing on the pc until my late teens. I can manage on MnK but after a while my wrists get sore even with wrists rests and I tend to forget where the keys are on the keyboard. Where as on controller I can comfortably play in any position and very seldomly my fingers may get sore but not as bad as my wrists. Plus, I like playing on a big TV depending on the game lol

  • For platformers it's controllers. Type varies from game to game.

    For almost everything else, Keyboard & Mouse.

    And lastly, the Joystick for those very singular free-flight games i might posses.

  • For games where you need to drive some sort of vehicle I do prefer a controller for the joystick and analog triggers, but anywhere you need to aim at something I prefer a KB+M.

    I'd like to try some kind of hybrid setup to have the best of both. I stumbled upon the Hex Evo some time ago, but it's still in preorder phase and I don't want to buy into something cheap or that's going to get abandoned, and maybe the final product will look more polished but the footage I could find of it, it looked like a cheaply 3D-printed device which doesn't look that great, but it's probably just a prototype.

  • It really depends on where I play. Behind the PC it's definitely mouse and keyboard, it just doesn't feel comfortable to play with a controller while sitting in my office chair.
    Everything else is controller, but it's not like you have much choice in those situations :)

  • I was KBM untill i said fuck it, im not following with rising pc prices for components, so i have a potato for everything else and a console for play. Got old too, so i dont give it so much time anymore

  • I play a lot of FPS games and I've always been a PC player come up playing with keyboard and mouse. However, I tend to find controllers to just be more ergonomic and more comfortable. To me, the best way to play is simply controller with gyro aim.

    I love my Steam Deck for this and I also love my Steam Controller, however I find it to be a bit too big for my small hands, which is a big problem that I have with it, because this thing is so innovative, it's just so good!

    I played Battlefield 1 on my Xbox today. And aiming with just a joystick is horrendous. God I miss the gyroscope every time I can't have it.

  • This is actually a good question. I hope you get some replies from serious gamers.

    I am not a serious gamer, but I've always preferred keyboards for FPS and RTS games. Years ago when I tried an FPS game for the first time on a console using a controller it was a disaster and took weeks to get used to.

    • That being said, normally console FPSes are designed to be much more-forgiving as to response time to account for the controller, and there's typically some level of auto-aim. If you're playing against other players, they're going to be using analog sticks too.

      I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm with you on this, would rather have the mouse, just that I dunno if I'd call it a disaster. It'd be a disaster if people using mice/keyboards were competitively playing against people with analog sticks in an FPS.

  • KBM EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately I'm starting to feel the dreaded wrist pain because of that, so I may need to diversify myself with a controller.

  • Steam deck user here. I've done with it what I couldn't achieve with even the Steam controller: preference for trackpads + gyro for pretty much everything (FPS included) except for hotkey heavy action RPG's (Dragon Age, Witcher 2, etc).

    I don't play RTS anymore. I had a falling out with them around Supreme Commander days.

    • I want Total Annihilation 2. I enjoyed Total Annihilation, but Supreme Commander never really clicked. Just didn't feel like a sequel.

    • I honestly wish we had a steam controller that was more like the deck. I could never really get used to the Steam controller while I love using the deck. Can't really put my finger on what it is about it though.

      • As do I. I'd chalk it up to the asymmetry of the Steam controller. Lack of a D-pad, lack of a right analogue stick. The Steam Deck back buttons are also far better, and 4 is twice as good as 2.

  • Increasingly I find it depending mostly on what the game was built for... I was raised, if you will, on PC point and shoots, and so my preference is for mouse and keyboard. But even a lot of AAA games these days that are console ports have noticeable pointer lag and aggressive reticule gravity or other aids. I find these really frustrating since they interfere with the 1:1 sense you get with motion on a mouse, so I'll switch to a controller instead.

    Hogwarts Legacy is an example of a recent AAA release that has such heavy reticule gravity that sometimes the best strategy is to just hold an analog stick forward and not move it (e.g. in the broom races)... I hate this kind of thing but I feel like it's something you put up with as a PC gamer due to the popularity edge the consoles have. At least it tends to be games where fast aiming isn't a huge factor.

  • I prefer controller on all games aside from top-down games and competitive games. Even faster games that I treat more casually, like destiny or overwatch, I use a controller.

  • Playing something like UT or Quake, and so many more FPS benefit from the rapidity of the mouse, but timesplitters there's no other controller than the PS or Logitech dual joystick controller (which controlled that sub that imploded recently).

  • Really depends on the game. I usually get a lot faster and more precise adjustments using KBM, so I prefer that for games like shooters and anything where precise 3d movement or fast reactions is an issue.

    Basically the only games I play with controller are the ones that are really well optimised for controller and kind of meh for KBM and the ones on my Switch.

  • Keyboard and mouse for literally everything except things where using a wheel makes sense (ETS2 and ATS).

    I can not use controllers at all. I can't wrap my head around using them properly and pretty much all except one (ps3) hurt my hands after 15 mins.

  • First person or shooter games I use mouse and keyboard for better control. I couch PC game so it's actually a wireless trackball and keyboard I use. For anything else it's controller.

  • as a kid i played keyboard and mouse for all the games i played at the time (backyard sports franchise and other humongous games like freddi fish, putt putt etc.) then i moved to ps2 and then later 360 so now i am much more inclined to use a controller

55 comments