The Best PC Games for 2022

Even with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X offering up next-level visuals, PCs remain home for high-end gaming. Games usually look their best on PC, and there’s a massive selection to choose from. From indie darlings to AAA blockbusters, our roundup of the best PC games has something for everyone.

Before diving in, note that we didn’t repeat games from the same franchise. Civilization V and Civilization VI, for example, are both excellent games. There’s no reason for us to recommend both of them, however.

Further reading

Hades

Hades is one of the best roguelikes of the past few years. Offering slick graphics, an engaging narrative, and fast-paced combat, the game tells the story of young Zagreus as he rebels against his father, Hades. When you die, you’re forced to restart from the very first level — slowly fighting your way out of the Underworld. A few permanent abilities and gear stick with you, however, so you’ll build up a deadly arsenal of weapons that makes your task a bit less daunting each time. Some of the bosses are a bit intimidating, but there’s a deep well of content here for anyone that doesn’t mind a challenge.

Elden Ring

If you’ve long been a fan of FromSoftware’s creation, you’ll instantly fall in love with the brooding atmosphere of Elden Ring. It takes the standard Soulsborne formula and mixes it in with a handcrafted, open-world environment. Combat and boss fights are just as challenging as you’d expect, but the option to tackle side quests and level up in different locations means you never feel trapped. It also employs a useful fast track system and the option to ride on horseback, making it easy to navigate its gigantic map. When you’re ready, you can take the action online for some competitive PvP — or to help a friend through a particularly challenging boss.

Read our Elden Ring review.

God of War

God of War finally made its way to PC, and the results didn’t disappoint. It offers the same emotional narrative seen on PlayStation, along with improved visuals to go along with its visceral combat. When you’re not hacking Norse mythology-inspired enemies to bits, you’ll solve a multitude of puzzles, interact with a memorable cast of characters, and shout “Boy!” as often as humanly possible. From its combat to its surprisingly poignant narrative, God of War isn’t a game you’ll want to miss.

Monster Hunter Rise

Originally a Switch exclusive, Monster Hunter Rise managed to get a PC launch in 2022. Fans on the platform will benefit from 4K and HDR support — making this one of the best ways to experience the monster-slaying action. Aside from a few minor changes, Monster Hunter Rise remains largely intact. You’ll still be swinging around maps and tying down foes with your Wirebug, then jumping on your Palico to speed across the map while chasing a fleeing monster. It doesn’t offer crossplay support, but at least you’ll be able to team up with other hunters on PC to track and slay Rise’s most devastating bosses.

Read our Monster Hunter Rise review.

Tunic

Part Dark Souls, part Zelda, Tunic is an isometric adventure game that isn’t afraid to throw you into the deep end. The game starts abruptly, with the main character stranded in a mysterious new location — and with no weapon to fend off enemies. That lack of direction pervades the entire journey, as it’ll largely be up to you to unravel its stories, complete objectives, and take down surprisingly difficult enemies. You’ll be able to upgrade your skills and unlock new weapons, however, and doing so is the key to making it all the way to Tunic‘s end credits.

Read our Tunic review.

Guild Wars 2

Having launched End of Dragons in February 2022, Guild Wars 2 is seeing something of a revival. The expansion brought players to the land of Cantha, which offered new places to explore, quests to complete, and abilities to unlock. As far as MMORPGs are concerned Guild Wars 2 is one of the better-looking titles — its fantastical, colorful art style has aged incredibly well over the years. Best of all, the base game is available for free, giving you hundreds of hours of content without ever touching your wallet.

Lost Ark

Lost Ark is a loot-lovers dream. Like Diablo and Torchlight, Lost Ark is an ARPG that puts you up against hundreds of enemies. Thankfully, you’ll have plenty of other players by your side, as the game merges common ARPG tropes with the massively multiplayer worlds of an MMO. When you’re not slaying demons, you’ll be able to set sail in search of new lands, piece together a home base (known as a Stronghold), and make use of an elaborate crafting and upgrade system to personalize your build. Lost Ark is free to play, although plenty of microtransactions are up for grabs.

Read our Lost Ark review.

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy 14 Beginner's Guide — Square Enix

After launching in 2013 to highly unfavorable reviews, the dev team went back to the drawing board and turned Final Fantasy XIV into one of the most popular MMORPGs on the market. Subsequent expansions have only served to make the game more successful, adding engaging new storylines and perfecting its tab-targeting combat system. With more than a dozen classes and hundreds of gear options, there’s no shortage of ways to build out a powerful character. You can then test your mettle in a variety of PvP and PvE modes, including raids with up to 23 other players.

Forza Horizon 5

Offer more than 500 vehicles and miles of sweeping vistas all across Mexico, there’s never been a bigger game in the Forza series. You’ll trek across a wide variety of biomes (including volcanoes, swamps, jungles, and more) as you take on a bunch of unique challenges and unlock new rides. Veterans will love its detailed roster of cars — each one offering a different driving experience — while newcomers will love the constant sense of progression. Whether you’re racing against the clock or running over cacti, Forza Horizon 5 is constantly rewarding you with experience points.

Read our Forza Horizon 5 review.

Psychonauts 2

It took more than a handful of years, but Psychonauts finally got a sequel in the form of Psychonauts 2. Players once again stepped into the shoes of Raz, as he attempts to complete his training and become a sanctioned Psychonaut. Things quickly get out of hand, however, and he’s wrapped up in a bending conspiracy that threatens to bring down the entire organization. Its platforming and combat sequences are as tight as ever, and its quirky graphics look stunning with today’s most powerful graphics cards. And despite all the jokes and quirky characters, there’s a surprisingly nuanced story at the heart of all the action.

Read our Psychonauts 2 review.

It Takes Two

Unlike most games, It Takes Two doesn’t offer a single-player campaign. In fact, the entire journey needs to be experienced with another player — hence, its fitting name. At its core, It Takes Two is a 3D platformer, with you and a friend navigating its varied levels and slaying its quirky bosses. The gameplay isn’t too challenging, although it manages to throw dozens of new mechanics your way at every possible turn, keeping the action just as engaging as its emotional narrative. Even folks who don’t play many games will find a lot to love about this endearing adventure.

Read our It Takes Two review.

Deathloop

Despite taking place over the course of a single day, Deathloop never manages to become stale. Arkane’s iconic gunplay and stealth action are here in spades, although you’ll also find a world bursting at the seams with lore — if you’re willing to go out of your way and look for it. You’ll play as Colt, an assassin that is mysteriously stuck repeating the same day over and over until he manages to kill a few key targets. Along the way you’ll unlock a roster of powerful weapons and abilities (many of which carry over through each run), giving you a fighting chance to break out of your time loop.

Read our Deathloop review.

Halo Infinite

Take the tight gunplay of Halo and throw it into a sprawling open world, and you’ve got Halo Infinite. You’re free to go just about anywhere you’d like on the mysterious Zeta Halo, zooming around on a Mongoose or grappling across its mountainous terrain. The star of the show is still its robust multiplayer mode, however, and you’ll have access to a variety of content across both ranked and casual playlists. There’s also a gigantic battle pass with both premium and free tracks, which offer dozens of unique cosmetic rewards for your Spartan.

Read our Halo Infinite review.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the latest and one of the best entries in the long-running Ubisoft franchise. It takes cues from Odyssey and Origins, meaning it’s a large open-world game stuffed to the brim with loot to discover, quests to complete, and secrets to uncover. Valhalla improves on the combat system of previous Assassin’s Creed games, and focuses its activities, which leads to a game that’s more compelling from moment to moment without losing the scale the franchise has become known for.

Plus, in Valhalla, you play as Eivor, a Viking leader who is driven out of Norway by a tragic event at the hands of a rival clan. From there, you and a small group of others travel to other locations, either winning over the leaders with diplomacy or showing them the bad end of a Viking raid. Valhalla is more Assassin’s Creed, but it’s more refined than the games before it.

Read our Assassin’s Creed Valhalla review

Dota 2

Dota 2 is the second most popular game on Steam, drawing over half a million concurrent players every day. It’s a ruthlessly competitive MOBA, and many players have dumped thousands of hours in. You can start learning the ropes within a few hours, but Dota 2 isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s so competitive because it’s so balanced, focusing on the skill level of the players and the strategy of the team. Dota 2 is free to play, and it’s light on microtransactions, so you may as well download and give it a shot.

Star Wars: Squadrons

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order puts you in the shoes of a Jedi. Star Wars: Squadrons puts you into the cockpit. It’s an intergalactic dogfighting simulator, strapping you into the cockpit to take part in space battles of impossible scale. In the story mode, you bounce back and forth between the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron and the Empire’s Titan Squadron, taking control of iconic ships like the X-Wing and TIE Fighter. Multiplayer sends you into 10-player battles, either in a team deathmatch or in a 5v5 game mode where you need to destroy the other team’s capital ship.

Plus, the game supports cross-platform play, so you can team up with your friends on Xbox One or PS4. Although you can play the entire game normally, it also comes with a VR mode. Playing the game in VR is a sitting experience, allowing you to look around the cockpit without worrying about motion sickness or running into a wall in your real-world home.

Control

Remedy Entertainment has always been known for strange narratives, tight gunplay, and awesome visuals, but the stars have never quite aligned for its games as they did with Control. Aided in no small part by some excellent performances from Courtney Hope and Matthew Porretta, Control spins a story that keeps going deeper, much like The Oldest House where the game is set. It’s not explicitly horror or sci-fi, striking a balance between the two that many games attempt but few achieve.

Even with a solid narrative, Control still stands out because of its gameplay. Taking some notes from 2016’s Doom, the game forces you to stay in the action at all times. Instead of ammo drops, your gun automatically regenerates ammo, and instead of a huge health bar, you’ll constantly recharge with health shards that enemies drop. On top of that, there are also supernatural abilities, which pull from their own resource bar. You have to use every tool at your disposal to get through battle, jumping between throwing rock chunks with your abilities to quickly picking off weak enemies to get some extra health. The result: Fast-paced encounters where you always have the tools to survive. You just have to use them.

Read our Control review

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain caps off the long-running series from Hideo Kojima. Instead of following a certain event at the end of the fourth game, The Phantom Pain goes back in time, set before 1987’s Metal Gear. You’ll want a decent gaming desk to play this one.

You play as Big Boss, who eventually becomes Solid Snake’s commanding officer. Following the events of Ground Zeroes, Big Boss is sent into a nine-year-long coma. You awaken in 1984 to help lead a mercenary group known as the Diamond Dogs. Under the codename “Venom Snake,” you have to infiltrate Soviet-occupied Afghanistan to find those in charge of the destruction at the end of Ground Zeroes.

Read our Metal Gear Solid V impressions

Red Dead Redemption 2

Despite a long list of launch issues on PC, Red Dead Redemption 2 remains Rockstar’s finest adventure game to date. It’s a game of impossible realism and even more impossible scale, with a dynamic open world that has plenty of graphical leg room on PC. Set before the events of Red Dead Redemption — which never saw a PC release — the second entry follows Arthur Morgan, an outlaw of the Van der Linde gang trying to escape his life of crime.

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s grounded story is one for the ages, but in true Rockstar fashion, the game’s open sandbox is what keeps players hooked. Once the game opens up — and it takes a while, unfortunately — it offers a massive open world begging for you to explore it. You can also explore it with friends with Red Dead Online.

Read our Red Dead Redemption 2 review

Rocket League

Rocket League is a simple game: It’s soccer but with cars. Facing off against other drivers, you pilot a tricked-out racing machine pummeling toward a giant ball, with the intent of shooting it across the field and into the opponent’s goal. Although simple in premise, Rocket League is a multiplayer game that keeps you coming back. It’s simple enough that anyone can pick it up while taking serious dedication to master.

What’s so great about Rocket League is that none of its mechanics are based in reality. Your car has a boost, for example, and you can use that boost to shoot off the ground and fly through the air. There’s little in the way of collision mechanics, as well, meaning you can freely throw your vehicle into a wall without fear of it blowing up. Rocket League’s bombastic approach to an otherwise familiar game provides hours of fun, even if the core gameplay stays the same.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the latest in the SoulsBorne games’ lineage from FromSoftware. The tenets of any good Souls-like are present, including open-ended exploration, tough-as-nails combat, and a challenging checkpoint and upgrade system. However, FromSoftware did away with the all-important stamina bar seen in former titles.

Instead, you need to focus on a posture meter. Sekiro, unlike the Dark Souls games, is much more focused on attrition. You’ll be punished for rolling around enemies and trying to get a leg up on them. Rather, Sekiro asks you to pay close attention to swordplay, blocking, and parrying.

Read our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review

Mordhau

Mordhau has a relatively small player base, but those few are wildly committed. Sitting under 10,000 players, Mordhau users have an average playtime of 48 hours, according to SteamSpy. The game is a multiplayer-only medieval combat simulator where you take up swords, bows, and axes to rip your foes to shreds.

Outside of the deeply technical combat that takes hours to master, Mordhau’s community is what stands out most. In some cases, two teams run at each other, but in others, they gather around a bard playing a lute, no matter what team they’re on. Mordhau’s idiosyncrasies aren’t for everyone, but those few that take to it will find it hard to play anything else.

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Dragon Ball FighterZ is one of the best anime-inspired games on PC, and it sits among the best fighting games of all time. The art style sets the tone. Unlike Xenoverse 2, each battle in FighterZ feels like it was ripped straight from the anime. Flashes of color and particles fill the screen with most attacks, leading to a game that feels as bombastic and action-packed as its source material.

This fighting game is more than a looker, though. Developer Arc System Works knows how to make a good fighting game, developing the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue games. FighterZ has tight fighting mechanics, adopting a similar control scheme to Tekken 7. It mixes the formula up, however, with multi-fighter battles. Like Marvel vs. Capcom 3, you can swap out fighters during the match. Because each of the game’s 24 fighters — 43, if you buy all of the DLC — has a unique moveset, building your team is equally as important as learning how to master each of the fighters.

Read our Dragon Ball FighterZ review

Alien: Isolation

Creative Assembly is mostly known for its work on the Total War franchise, and Alien: Isolation couldn’t be more different than a strategy game. Still, the studio did the impossible. Following the disastrous release of Aliens: Colonial Marines, Alien: Isolation promised a break from the shooting action that followed the Alien name in video games for years, and it delivered. Alien: Isolation is a horror game where you play as a helpless survivor fighting against a creature you can’t beat.

That tension of being trapped without the tools to defeat your enemy is what makes Alien: Isolation so intriguing. It’s a proper survival horror game, with equal attention paid to both the “survival” and “horror” parts. Even compared to horror classics like Resident Evil 2, Alien: Isolation manages to make things better. It juggles the occasional jump scare, resource management, and atmosphere, and never drops a single ball. Plus, it’s available on Xbox Game Pass.

Read our Alien: Isolation review

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia is certainly a much less polished experience than Alien: Isolation, but the game still has it where it counts. It’s a co-op horror game where you play as a member of a ghost-hunting team. After accepting a job and arriving at your location, you have to use a range of different tools — like a thermometer, cameras, etc. — to gather evidence of paranormal activity. Although you play as a ghost hunter, your job isn’t actually to defeat the ghost. Rather, the goal is to get in and out as fast as possible while gathering any evidence you can.

In that way, Phasmophobia is similar to Alien: Isolation. The only difference is that Phasmophobia lets your imagination do the work. There isn’t any music, and there’s never an indication that the ghost is near. Phasmophobia lets you connect the dots, and with a group of friends, that’s easy to do. Just be prepared for a jump scare or two.

Undertale

Undertale is a top-down RPG where you control a child that’s fallen into the Underground. Although the game looks like an Earthbound-inspired retro RPG, it’s something all its own.

Choices are a big deal in Undertale. Although there are technically only three endings, there are permutations on some of the endings depending on the choices you make throughout the game. Along your journey, you can choose to fight or befriend foes, leading to an RPG experience unlike any other.

Read our Undertale impressions

Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is a unique concoction of various gameplay mechanics. It’s a roguelike RPG where you take control of a group of warriors, fighting through dungeons, completing quests, and collecting rewards. The turn-based combat is familiar, but in Darkest Dungeon, attacking and defending are the least of your worries.

It introduced something known as the “Affliction System,” which can inflict status effects on party members from the stress of battle. Combined with permadeath, Darkest Dungeon provides one of the most challenging turn-based experiences on PC, all set with a beautiful gothic backdrop. You’ll die a lot, but Darkest Dungeon makes the dark descent worth it.

FTL: Faster Than Light

Before they’d go on to develop Into the Breach, Subset Games made FTL: Faster Than Light, a roguelike, real-time strategy game where you command a spaceship trying to save the galaxy. Because of your confined space and often limited resources, building a larger army usually isn’t the best solution like it is in other RTS games. You instead have to use all of the resources at your disposal to survive each intergalactic encounter.

No two runs are the same, either. The game features permadeath, meaning you’ll constantly need to restart. However, with countless different events, enemies, and decisions, each run feels unique. Outside of enemy encounters, you’ll be faced with text-based encounters that will shape how your run turns out.

Read our FTL: Faster Than Light Advanced Edition review

Braid

Braid became the poster child for indie games for a while thanks to its presence in Indie Game: The Movie. The game was the first major release from indie developer Johnathan Blow, the one-man-band developer that would go on to create the excellent puzzle game The Witness.

His first release is a little different. It’s a puzzle platform game where time manipulation is a core mechanic. Taking inspiration from classic Super Mario titles, you play as Tim, who is searching for a princess that’s been snatched up by an evil monster. The relationship is kept vague at first, however. As you continue, you’ll learn about Tim and the princess through narrative hints that fit together like puzzle pieces.

Dead Cells

Dead Cells is a simple game. It’s a roguelike action platformer that’s inspired by Metroidvania games. Combined, Dead Cells combines the two to create a genre that developer Motion Twin refers to as a “RogueVania,” which is a game that combines the roguelike elements of Rogue Legacy and The Binding of Isaac with Metroidvania games like Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid.

You continually fight through a series of procedurally generated levels with boss battles inserted between. However, you’ll unlock a number of different upgrades along the way that lead to different play styles. Depending on the items you grab during a run, you could rip through levels at breakneck speed or take things slow and explore every nook.

Read our Dead Cells review

Celeste

Celeste is one of the most fulfilling games on PC. It’s a precision 2D platformer where you’re tasked with traversing nearly impossible platforming challenges. However, the game elevates the normal knuckle-busting platformer experience with a meaningful story that talks about anxiety, depression, and overcoming adversity.

You play as Madeline, a young girl riddled with anxiety that wants to climb Celeste mountain. Along the way, she meets her evil counterpart, who chases her as she makes her way to the peak. What’s so brilliant about Celeste is that the narrative fits directly into the mechanics. The game is hard, but given the story that surrounds it, each triumph is all the more satisfying.

Read our Celeste review

Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is the game that kicked off the NES-inspired 2D platformer craze. Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, paid a lot of attention to making an authentic NES experience. Everything down to the audio support on NES cartridges to the number of sprites on screen were considered during development.

It’s not just a single game, though. Since its launch, Yacht Club has continually created new titles in the Shovel Knight world. You can buy all five of the games in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which offers dozens of hours of retro platforming fun.

Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is a Metroidvania set in the ancient kingdom of Hallownest. You play as a silent, bug-like knight wielding a nail. Taking notes from Dark Souls, Hollow Knight provides very little in the way of a direct narrative. Rather, the story is revealed through vague dialogue, optional NPC encounters, and environmental storytelling.

Although the base game is lengthy enough at over 20 hours, Team Cherry has expanded Hollow Knight with a series of free expansions. All done, Team Cherry has nearly doubled the amount of content in the base game while still asking the same low price of $15.

Portal 2

Portal 2 is the perfect sequel to Portal. It builds upon the core mechanics of the original game, expands the story and world, and comes with a lot more content, to boot. After being dragged back into Aperture Science at the end of the first game, you wake up as Chell trapped in a stasis chamber. There, you meet Wheatly, a personality core that guides you through old test chambers to escape.

That is until you fall upon a deactivated GLaDOS, who Wheatly wakes up by accident. With GLaDOS back in control, you must travel through the bowels of Aperture, revisiting old test chambers while hearing hilarious, pre-recorded messages from Cave Johnson, the late head of Aperture Science. Portal 2 is engaging in mechanics, story, and atmosphere, making it a near-perfect PC game.

Read our Portal 2 review

Opus Magnum

Opus Magnum is a puzzle game that focuses less on whether you solve a puzzle and more on how you solve it. You play as an alchemist who must use base elements and other crafting materials to produce a machine with a certain output. Although accomplishing that goal is usually straightforward, Opus Magnum asks you to get creative.

The game comes into its own when you start streamlining your systems. Removing extraneous commands and condensing components leads to a better and faster solution. Endlessly replayable, Opus Magnum is a must-play for any puzzle game fan.

Civilization VI

Civilization VI is one of the best strategy games of all time, and that’s not surprising. The Civilization series has always been the benchmark by which other 4X games are measured, and the sixth entry isn’t any different. It’s “one more turn” The Game, as you watch your civilization grow to occupy new territories and achieve new feats.

The variety in how you go about growing your civilization is what keeps things interesting. With a constantly growing roster of civilizations and leaders, there’s no shortage of unique ways to approach the game. Maybe you play as a warmonger with Suleiman over the Ottoman Empire, or focus on trade with Poundmaker with the Cree Empire. Both are viable options, and that’s what makes Civilization VI so great.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

More popular than even the Super Bowl, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is the poster child for e-sports. A sequel 12 years in the making, Wings of Liberty brought the classic real-time strategy gameplay of Starcraft to a new generation. Building upon the original in graphics, mechanics, and story, Starcraft II is the definitive way to take control of the Terran, Zerg, and Protoss.

Even 10 years later, Blizzard is still supporting the bustling community surrounding Starcraft II. The game is highly competitive, tasking players with learning intricate strategies for each of the races while being able to execute commands at breakneck speed.

Age of Empires II

For many, Age of Empires II is the best RTS ever made. You take control of one of 13 civilizations (35 in the Definitive Edition) over four ages. Spanning a millennium, you see your civilization from the Dark Age to the Renaissance as it struggles for resources, competes for territory, and discovers new technology.

If you’ve never played Age of Empires, it’s a lot like Civilization, but everything happens in real time. Instead of carefully considering your moves each turn, you have to constantly build, gather, and fight to ensure your civilization survives. Even more than 20 years later, Age of Empires II is still popular, with the recently released Definitive Edition adding 4K support, a remastered soundtrack, and three new campaigns.

Crusader Kings III

Crusader Kings III is one of the most interesting strategy games out there. It’s a grand strategy title from Paradox Interactive where you’ll see a Middle Ages dynasty from start to finish. Unlike similar titles, you don’t control a single ruler through each game. Instead, you head up the dynasty, choosing how the current power rules while training up the next generation. It’s that second bit where Crusader Kings III shines.

It’s a grand strategy game about the deeply flawed rulers that lead Europe, Africa, and Asia during the Middle Ages. Where similar games deal in resources and territory, Crusaders Kings III deals in gossip and betrayal. You’ll still manage resources and engage in territorial combat. However, Crusader Kings III contextualizes those moments.

XCOM 2

XCOM 2 builds upon the classic PC titles, as well as Enemy Unknown, in just about every way. If you’re unfamiliar, XCOM is a turn-based tactics game with permadeath being a core mechanic. Before each encounter, you’ll have to outfit your squad, choosing the right soldiers and gear for the mission at hand.

Outside of battle, you can train up new soldiers, research new weapons and technology, and scan the Earth for signs of alien life. Each combat encounter is a challenge, and with the threat of permadeath looming, you’ll constantly have to consider if you’re putting your best soldiers in danger.

Read our tips for getting started with XCOM 2

Fortnite

It’s hard to put into words the impact Fortnite has had on PC gaming. Although it’s easy to write it off now as just another battle royale game, the flocks of gamers that transitioned to PC because of it is staggering. In 2019, for example, Fortnite beat out the most popular PC game in the world, bringing in over $1.9 billion in revenue.

Unlike PUBG and Apex Legends — more on the latter next — Fortnite is accessible. The cartoon graphics, easy-to-understand building mechanics, and lack of blood or gore means that gamers old and new can play together. Although Apex Legends and PUBG have their strengths, Fornite fits a niche that those titles miss out on.

Make sure to check out our archive of Fortnite guides

Apex Legends

Apex Legends takes all of the best elements of PUBG and Fortnite and combines them into a new battle royale game. Everything about Apex Legends feels good, from sliding down hills to ripping through loot boxes. Focusing much more on shooting than building, Apex Legends provides a polished, mature battle royale experience.

The game is currently entering its fourth season, which adds two new legends to the roster. Although expansive in terms of legend choices, Apex Legends only has a couple of game modes. For battle royale, you’re stuck with triples (three-player teams). That said, EA has offered singles in the past, so other team sizes may come in the future.

Read our Apex Legends review

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the latest Counter-Strike title from Valve. Originally starting as a mod for Half-Life, Counter-Strike has grown into a competitive gaming phenomenon. Although Valve has officially released the game in the past with Counter-Strike: Source, Global Offensive feels like the first game built from the ground up for competitive players.

There are a handful of game modes, but for the most part, Counter-Strike pits terrorists and counter-terrorists against each other over a series of rounds. The terrorists are tasked with planting a bomb, while the counter-terrorists must defuse it. Whichever team reaches its goal first or wipes out the other team wins the round, and whichever team wins more rounds takes the whole match. Global Offensive‘s realistic focus on teamwork makes it a compelling and addictive online shooter, and being free-to-play, anyone can get in on the action.

Destiny 2

Destiny 2 only recently went free-to-play, allowing newcomers to download the base game and all of its expansions up to Forsaken, which kicked off the second year of the game. Although Destiny 2 was great as a paid title, it’s even better as a free one. Bungie now starts players at a much higher level, meaning they can jump in and play with veterans that have played the game for hundreds of hours.

Like many free games, Destiny 2 is all about grinding. The fast-paced FPS allows you to tackle quests, gambits, dungeons, and more to earn experience, money, new loot, and new cosmetics. Furthermore, Bungie supports cross-save with Destiny 2. That means no matter if you’re playing on PC, Xbox One, PS4, or Stadia, you can continue playing with your character.

If you’re new, make sure you get up to date on Destiny 2‘s dense story

Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone isn’t the franchise’s first try at the battle royale genre, but it is the best. Featuring the same excellent engine powering 2019’s Modern Warfare, Warzone is a tight, fluid, and massive battle royale. Each match, you’ll drop with 149 other players in a mad dash to gather loot and secure your position. Gunplay and looting are both solid, consistent with the Call of Duty franchise as a whole. Warzone isn’t just another battle royale, though.

The addition of the Gulag keeps players who caught a sudden death engaged in the action, while Plunder — a variation of battle royale where cash is the winning metric — offers a new way to play large-scale multiplayer. Call of Duty: Warzone doesn’t pull too many punches; the few it does all add meaningful additions to the battle royale formula that will likely show up in many games to come.

Read our Call of Duty: Warzone review

Doom Eternal

2016’s Doom revitalized the iconic franchise by getting back to the basics. Doom Eternal keeps those basics intact while forging its own path. It’s a ruthlessly fast and incredibly violent shooter where it’s impossible not to smile and laugh. Doom Eternal is ridiculous, and it doesn’t try to be anything else. It is to the first-person shooter genre what Kingsman is to the James Bond franchise: A love letter that is willing to poke fun at itself.

That doesn’t mean Doom Eternal doesn’t take its gameplay seriously. Like Control, Doom Eternal is as much about shooting as it is about resource management. You never have enough health or ammo to make it through an encounter fully, forcing you to use Glory Kills and your chainsaw to get the resources you need. Because of that, Doom Eternal always keeps players in the action. Quite literally, you need to kill more demons to fuel killing more demons, and if that doesn’t encapsulate Doom as a franchise, we don’t know what does.

Read our Doom Eternal review

Overwatch

Overwatch is a unique, competitive shooter that combines fast-paced, first-person action with a MOBA-like team system. Each match pits two teams of six against each other, with each team receiving two tank, two damage, and two support characters. With your balanced party in tow, you’ll either need to attack or defend an objective, protect a cart in transit, or try to hold an objective for a certain amount of time.

What makes Overwatch so special is that none of its 31 heroes feel quite the same. Wrecking Ball is a tank that can roll around in a ball while wielding dual machine guns, whereas Hanzo focuses on attacking enemies from afar with his bow and arrows. Because of the variety, you’ll quickly learn and grow attached to a certain hero, making the experience feel like your own.

Read our Overwatch review

Rainbow Six: Siege

Rainbow Six: Siege captures what made previous Rainbow Six games so special while creating a unique and compelling multiplayer mode. Like past titles, Siege is a highly tactical game, where you’re encouraged to use careful planning and teamwork to overcome your foes. Combined with enough gadgets to make James Bond blush and enough guns to satisfy Neo, Siege offers a customizable, tactical first-person experience.

The main multiplayer mode takes a lot of notes from Counter-Strike. You play as either terrorists or anti-terrorists over a series of games. At the match point, you’ll switch teams and, in turn, switch your focus. Although the specifics of the scenario change from match to match, your squad will either need to focus on attacking or defending, leading to exciting and dynamic combat encounters.

Read our Rainbow Six: Siege review

Persona 4 Golden

For years, the only way to play Persona 4 Golden was on Sony’s all-but-abandoned PlayStation Vita, but in a surprise mid-2020 announcement, Sega decided to bring the game over to PC. Persona 4 Golden is the only game in the franchise on PC, but thankfully, it’s one of the best. Atlus nailed the combination of dungeon crawling and social simulation with Persona 4 Golden, and although the story doesn’t quite live up to Persona 3, the game still has one of the better narratives you’ll find in any video game.

The port itself is excellent, too. We’ve seen many half-baked PC ports out of Japan — Dark Souls and Metal Gear Solid 2 come to mind — but Persona 4 Golden offers all of the bells and whistles PC players expect. In addition to high-resolution frame-rate support, Persona 4 Golden features render scaling, anti-aliasing, shadow settings, and more. The game never looked bad, even on Sony’s aging handheld, but the experience is still best on PC.

Read our Persona 4 Golden review

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 is a massive RPG game, with the base game providing around 100 hours of gameplay and the two expansions offering around 30 hours each. CD Projekt Red’s epic end to a trilogy eight years in the making provides the first truly open world the series has seen. It’s not a dead world, either. Around every corner in Wild Hunt, there’s something new to do.

Outside its incredible size, the core mechanics of Wild Hunt are solid. Building upon the combat system established in the first two entries, The Witcher 3 features fluid, action-like swordplay. In addition to parrying, rolling, and dodging, Geralt can also cast spells, allowing you to tailor your play style in a few different ways.

Read our thoughts on The Witcher 3 after watching the Netflix show

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim has been released and rereleased for just about every platform, with Bethesda releasing an Amazon Alexa version — called the Very Special Edition — in 2018. It all started on PC, though. Although released on Xbox 360 and PS3 concurrently in November 2011, Skyrim on PC showcased the power of open-ended game design and a dedicated community.

It’s difficult to draw a straight line, but Skyrim’s modding capabilities on PC seemed to drive Sony and Microsoft to include mod support on their respective consoles. Sure, Skyrim is a fantastic RPG, but more than that, it captured an aspect of PC gaming that has otherwise been ignored by the mainstream market: Modding. Now, nine years later, Skyrim still has a bustling community, with mods ranging from new campaigns to graphical overhauls that push even modern systems to the brink.

Read our Skyrim review

Divinity: Original Sin II

Divinity: Original Sin II is the followup to 2014’s Divinity: Original Sin and a continuation of computer role-playing game series (CRPG) dating back to 2002. Original Sin II is actually a sequel to the first game in the series Divine Divinity, whereas the first Original Sin was a prequel.

In it, you play as one of six races, each with its background and unique quests. You can take on the story alone or with up to a party of three other members, with support for split-screen multiplayer. Although the base game has a ton of content — around 100 hours — Original Sin II features a game master mode where you can create and download fan-made campaigns.

Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is an isometric, open-world RPG. The “RPG” moniker shouldn’t be taken lightly, though. Featuring no combat, Disco Elysium is the literal definition of a role-playing game, focusing on skill checks and dialogue trees as the core gameplay mechanics. The game borrows a lot from titles like Planescape: Torment, offering an RPG experience on PC that hasn’t been seen in decades.

The game starts with a Revachol Citizens Militia detective waking up in a motel room after a drug and alcohol binge. With substance-induced amnesia, you’re tasked with solving the murder of a man hanging from a tree in the back of the motel. In addition to finding out who killed the tree-hanging man, you must also discover who you are, with your dialogue choices creating your character as you go.

Diablo III

Despite the controversy surrounding Diablo III’s launch, there’s no denying that it’s the pinnacle of Blizzard’s popular action-RPG series. Although it’s commonplace to force players online nowadays, it was nearly unheard of in 2012. To fight piracy, Blizzard forced users to connect to its servers, no matter if they were playing online or not, which resulted in countless connectivity issues.

Eight years later, it’s easy to look past Diablo III’s tumultuous launch. With seven character classes and hundreds of hours of gameplay, Diablo III is the largest game in the series. Still taking place in Sanctuary, your party joins forces 20 years after the events of Diablo II. No matter if you’re going at it alone or with friends, Diablo III is a great time.

Read our Diablo III: Reaper of Souls review

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is the type of game that really only works on PC. It’s massive — like, the size of the world massive — and beautiful, using map data and weather information to render the digital world as accurately as possible. Calling Flight Simulator a “game” is reductive, though. Like the titles that came before, 2020’s Flight Simulator is a simulator. The planes are accurately modeled down to the aerodynamics, making for an experience that’s not only beautiful but realistic, too.

Minecraft

Few games have been as important to PC gaming as Minecraft. Released 11 years ago, Minecraft has sold nearly 200 million units, becoming one of the bestselling video games of all time. Although building games are commonplace now, Minecraft started the trend back in 2009, with spin-offs like Terraria and Dragon Quest Builders coming shortly after.

Minecraft proved that there was a lot of unexplored creativity in gaming. Instead of sending the player on a journey or asking them to team up with friends in combat, Minecraft lets you play in any way you want.

Read our Minecraft AR impressions

Planet Coaster

Planet Coaster is a modern RollerCoaster Tycoon; there’s no way around it. Building off of the classic 2D simulation games, Planet Coaster offers a fully 3D theme park management experience. The studio behind the game, Frontier Developments, had previously worked on RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville, and Zoo Tycoon.

Like any good simulation game, there’s a long list of DLC to enhance your experience. The list includes packs inspired by Disney’s Hollywood Studios and classic amusement parts, as well as a collaboration with Ghostbusters. If you’ve ever wanted to run your own amusement park, Planet Coaster is the way to go.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a simulation game in the vein of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. The game begins with you inheriting your grandfather’s old farm plot, with only a little money and a handful of basic tools at your disposal. As you grow your farm, you’ll be able to plant new crops, raise animals, craft machines, and start an orchard.

Although the sandbox nature of Stardew Valley stands out most, it’s classified as an RPG. With multiple non-playable characters and various quests, there’s plenty to do outside of growing your farm in your own time. Outside of your crops and livestock, you can make friends, find a spouse, and even have kids. Stardew Valley is a deceptively deep and endlessly charming game that every PC player should own.

Cities: Skylines

Cities: Skylines is a city-building simulation game from Paradox Interactive. Coming off of EA’s reboot of SimCity, Cities: Skylines offered a lot of differences, the most prominent of which was offline play. Six years later, Skylines is the de facto city-building game on PC with numerous DLC and a bustling modding community.

You start with a little over a square mile of land close to a highway. As you build roadways, utility systems, schools, and more, your city will become profitable, which allows you to purchase nearby plots of land. What you create in your expanding city is up to you, be it a small farming community, a lively metropolis, or both.

The Sims 4

The Sims, originally released 20 years ago, was actually a spinoff of SimCity, where players took control of Sims in a suburban area near SimCity. The game was incredibly popular, however, selling over 16 million copies by the time a sequel rolled around. Now, we have The Sims 4, which upon release, became the first PC game to top multi-console charts since 2012.

Although released in 2014, The Sims 4 makes our list now because of the post-launch content. The game continuously offers expansion packs, game packs, and stuff packs, which vary in size and offer cosmetic items for building and creating Sims and, in some cases, new gameplay options. In addition to the official expansions, The Sims 4 has a breadth of community content, allowing you to build a virtual life in any way you want.

Read our The Sims 4 review

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is a free-to-play card game built specifically for a digital context. Rather than relying on opponent interaction during a player’s turn, Hearthstone makes games as fast as possible, with a timer during each player’s turn. Your deck is compromised minions and spells, with the former able to attack and the latter causing different game effects.

Each of your cards has a mana cost. However, the amount of mana you can spend per turn is static. Starting with the first turn, you gain one additional mana to spend each turn with a maximum of 10. With that, Hearthstone creates a natural cadence by which both players must abide, with increasingly powerful cards coming out as the game goes on.

Read our beginner’s Hearthstone strategy guide

World of Warcraft

Although World of Warcraft has fallen from its former glory, there’s no denying the impact it has had on PC gaming as a whole. Kicking off the MMO craze that continues to this day, World of Warcraft established the gameplay, community, and resource systems that can be seen in games like Destiny 2 and Warframe.

From the beginning, the game has developed and widened the gameplay experience in a way that makes gamers feel like they’re playing a completely different game. Once you subscribe to WoW, you can immediately start playing the latest edition, and you’re also welcome to give World of Warcraft Classic a try. Classic is similar to the original WoW from 2004, and we believe it does a decent job at replicating how the initial gameplay was back then.

Read our World of Warcraft Classic review

The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online is essentially Skyrim online but more wide-ranging. ESO takes place in several classic locations, as seen in Elder Scrolls lore. It connects the dots developed in the wake of World of Warcraft Classic while giving gamers a variety of adventurous quests, tons of items, and a substantial amount of random encounters. In our opinion, this game is certainly the MMORPG for 2020.

When it comes to gameplay, ESO is comparable to Skyrim. Players can travel into towns and start trouble by stealing, killing, or exploring dungeons to acquire experience. However, it’s important to note that, unlike Skyrim, ESO gives you the option to group play, allowing users a more socialized game experience.

Read our review of The Elder Scrolls Online