There are a few reasons you might want a compact gaming keyboard. The obvious one being they’re far, far smaller than a full-size keyboard and therefore don’t take up as much space on a smaller desktop. That leaves you with more space to throw your mouse around at a lower CPI. You might also find you simply don’t need a numpad for your day-to-day; lopping it off entirely will save you space and often even money.
The main reason for these tenkeyless and smaller keyboards, however, is they’re straight up adorable. There’s no doubt about that. The main issue being that most keyboard manufacturers have a compact keyboard or five that they hope will convince you to part with your money, ranging from miniature macro machines to optical gaming-first options. We’ve tested six of these to help narrow down your options.
1 ROG Azoth
ASUS £250
Tiny keyboard, massive price
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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