Should you play Once Human on Mobile or PC?

Once Human is out on PC, and more recently, on Mobile. This Stranger Things- and Mist-inspired MMO has been shaking things up and has cemented itself in the world of gaming in less than a year. With a 74% rating on Steam (as of July 12, 2025) from 136,000 reviews, and nearly 40,000 players on average, it's safe to say it has a long road ahead. It also had a peak of almost 232,000 on launch day.

Couple these stats with the fact that it's F2P (free-to-play), and you have a winning formula and a reason to play Once Human. However, which platform should you play it on: Mobile or PC? Here's more information on the topic at hand.

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Once Human on Mobile or PC, which one is better?

As someone who's been playing PC games since the late 90s, having the full PC experience (mouse and keyboard, coupled with a huge screen) has been the norm since forever. As such, I (personally) lean towards the PC experience for Once Human. This is not just about performance, as the game has been optimized for Mobile, but rather a preference.

Being a survival MMO with dynamic features and numerous mechanics, having a big screen to view it all makes it easier to grasp. Everything is visible, and you won't have to squint at your screen (unless you're myopic) to see things or spot objects and/or enemies in the distance. If you've been playing on the PC since the beginning, this will feel natural.

I won't go into the game's specifications since it's given that a high-end rig will equate to better performance. But to be fair, having a recommended system requirement of Intel Core i7-7700 and Nvidia GTX 1060 6G / AMD Radeon RX 580 2304SP is truly wild (especially for 2025).

One could argue that the level of optimization is really good, given that the aforementioned hardware is close to a decade old. This, to a large extent, ensures you won't have to upgrade any parts if you plan on playing on PC. Now, if you're running a NVIDIA GeForce GT 620 (like I was back in 2018), well, you may need to upgrade, or you could try out the mobile version of the game.

Much like on PC, the mobile version of the game is rather generous with the system requirements. With a minimum requirement of Snapdragon 845 and a maximum of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 for Android, it's clear to see that mobiles from the last decade could run the game. It's the same with iOS devices, as the minimum requirement is iPhone XS, which, again, is from the last decade.

To ensure a high-quality experience of Once Human on mobile (to stay on par with PC), the developers have implemented a few key features. They are as follows:

• Dynamic Radial Menu: Key features, like Backpack and Build, pop up instantly through a radial menu, reducing interface layers.
• Smart Assist: While gathering, the game auto‑suggests the right tool. Nearby loot is picked up automatically. Combat includes gentle aim‑assist with manual fine‑tune. You can enable Auto-Fire (scope‑only or global) so the weapon shoots as soon as your aim locks onto a target.
• Modular HUD: You can customize the entire layout or hide non‑essential elements to boost immersion.

In addition to everything, Once Human supports cross-play as well. If you have a friend on mobile/PC, you can still play with them seamlessly. There's no controller support for mobile, though, so that's a bit of a letdown, but the developers are actively working on it.

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My verdict

Should you play Once Human on Mobile or PC? For me (and most others), the answer would be PC for several reasons, but mostly because it's what I've been accustomed to for over two decades. Furthermore, a PC churns out more than enough processing power for you to enjoy the game as it was intended. The mobile experience, although great, cannot hold a candle to it, despite burning bright.

On PC, there are more technical options available as well as the ability to have custom private servers, among other things. There's more room to tinker and experiment, which comes courtesy of the hardware that's in place. Given that it's an MMO title, it just feels right to experience it on PC.

But if you'd like to play the game on the go, mobile would be a much better option. As mentioned, with Once Human having cross-play and cross-save, you could pick up where you left off from any supported mobile device. The game is not available in certain regions on mobile, despite being on Steam, but that's something for you to contend with.

On an ending note, with Once Human coming to consoles (Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5) in 2026, players will have more options to choose from. In case you're wondering, yes, cross-play and cross-save will be present here as well. There's no exact release date in sight, but we could see it launch on July 10, 2026, since the title on PC launched on July 10, 2024.

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Read more Once Human articles here:

• Best base locations in Once Human Endless Dream (2.0)
• Once Human: How will Permanent Servers work?

Edited by Adarsh J Kumar