Moonlight: Let your phone play PC games

Nowadays, mobile games are becoming more and more popular. It is not uncommon to play Honor of Kings and Chicken Dinner on a computer using an emulator. But have you ever thought about playing PC games on a mobile phone one day? Due to the limitations of mobile phone performance and operating system, this goal cannot be achieved directly at present. Moonlight, which is introduced today, is a game streaming software that can achieve "playing PC games on mobile phones" through another means.

What is game streaming?

Most people are still unfamiliar with this concept. The game streaming function allows device A to access the game screen on high-performance device B through the network, so that a device with lower configuration can smoothly play games with high configuration requirements.

In other words, you only need to install the game on a high-performance PC, and then you can stream the game screen and sound to the MacBook Air, TV, or projector in the living room.

Steam provides such a game streaming function: "Home Streaming", which supports two devices in the same local area network to stream and play each other as long as they log in to the same account. This function also allows Mac and Linux to enjoy many games on Windows.

Moonlight allows mobile phones to stream

Seeing this, some people may ask, "Does it make sense to use two computers to play a game?" Indeed, Steam only supports streaming between computers. For PC players who pursue image quality and gaming experience, streaming does not seem to be a very attractive feature.

Moonlight is an open source PC game streaming software that allows you to play PC games directly on your phone. This way, you can completely get rid of the shackles of cables and enjoy PC games comfortably in bed. Isn't this much more attractive?

How to use Moonlight?

Moonlight is very easy to use. You just need to install it and enable the corresponding functions correctly. The rest of the work will be done automatically for you. It should be noted that since Moonlight uses NVIDIA's game streaming technology: GameStream, it only supports N cards.

PC operation:

First, download the latest version of the driver software and GeForce Experience from the NVIDIA official website.

Enable GameStream in GeForce Experience's settings. When in use, it will emulate your phone as an NVIDIA Shield device.

Mobile phone operation:

Download the Moonlight client and open it.

If GameStream has been enabled on the PC and is in the same LAN as the phone, the PC will automatically appear in Moonlight. Click the PC icon to connect.

A pairing code may appear when you click for the first time. Enter the pairing code displayed on the phone on the PC to connect.

After connecting, the games detected in GeForce Experience will also be displayed in Moonlight synchronously, and you can also access the Steam big screen to easily launch various games. After Moonlight is streamed, a full set of virtual controller buttons are built into the screen, and you can also choose to turn off or use the Simple version of the buttons.

I tried to enter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and there was no problem. However, it is difficult to play FPS games with a controller, not to mention virtual buttons, so I didn't dare to enter the match. (If any warriors have tested it, please discuss it in the comment section.)

Moonlight Simple Test

I tested the game "DmC: Devil May Cry". Action games require "rubbing the handle" the most.

During the game loading and animation process, the game screen is amazing. The 1080P game screen is displayed on the phone without any discount. Moonlight fully supports 4K resolution transmission. When performing a large number of operations, the action is smooth and coherent, and the delay is very low. In addition, the game sound is played from the phone, and the PC side only displays the picture, just like running a PC masterpiece on the phone, the gaming experience is superb.

The disadvantage is that the buttons are too big to affect the picture, and the virtual buttons are not as tactile as the physical buttons. Including when the L and R keys (above the normal handle) are needed in the game, it is difficult to operate. And games that do not support handles are completely unsuitable for playing on mobile phones, such as MOBA and RTS games.

Of course, you can also choose some lighter and easier-to-operate games for streaming, such as MineCraft, ICEY, and NEKOPARA, so that you don't have to rush when playing games. If you really want to play large-scale stand-alone games more smoothly on mobile devices, it is recommended to use iPad streaming, or buy a game controller for mobile phones to achieve a better gaming experience.

All of the above can be achieved with just enough network bandwidth, a PC with an N card, and a mobile phone. Why not try it now?

Summarize

Compared to other remote control software, Moonlight is an app that focuses on game streaming, which allows PC masterpieces to run on mobile phones in a different way. As long as your Internet speed is fast enough and your computer configuration is high enough, you can easily enjoy the fun of PC games on your mobile phone.