At present, shallow gases have received much attention due to low cost in exploration and production. Low-mature gases, as one significant origin to shallow gas, turns to be an important research topic. The present understanding of low-mature gases is confined within some geological cases, and few laboratory studies have been reported. Therefore, the potential and characters of low-mature gases are not clear up to now. Here, two premature samples (one coal and the other shale) were pyrolyzed in a gold confined system. The gaseous components including hydrocarbon gases and non-hydrocarbon gases were analyzed. Based on kinetic modeling, the formation of low-mature gases was modeled. The results showed that during low mature stage, about 178 mL/gTOC gas was generated from the shale and 100 mL/gTOC from the coal. Two third to three fourth of the generated gases are non-hydrocarbon gases such as H2S and CO2. The total yields of C1–5 for the two samples are almost the same, 30–40 mL/gTOC, but individual gaseous hydrocarbon is different. The shale has much lower C1 but higher C2–5, whereas the coal has higher C1 but lower C2–5. Hydrocarbon gases formed during low-mature stage are very wet. The stable carbon isotope ratios of methane range from ?40‰ to ?50‰ (PDB), in good consistence with empiric criterion for low-mature gases summed up by the previous researchers. The generation characters suggest that the low-mature gases could be accumulated to form an economic gas reservoir, but most of them occur only as associated gases.