The best PC games for 2024
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Even when you compare them to the best PlayStation 5 games and best Xbox Series X games, PCs remain the preferred platform for high-end gaming for many players. 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.
RPGs
Baldur's Gate 3
Metacritic: 88%
Digital Trends: 5/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Google Stadia
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical, Adventure
Developer: Larian Studios
Publisher: Larian Studios
Release: October 06, 2020
The king of CRPGs has returned in all its glory with Baldur’s Gate 3. This game crushed expectations during a year filled with stiff competition despite being a CRPG. The quality, performance, and graphics are one thing, but it’s in the story and level of freedom to actually role play that put this game head and shoulders above the rest. Just about anything you think you should be able to do in a game, you can. Not only that, but the developers somehow seem to have planned for it and made the world and NPCs react realistically. It is as close to playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons around a table with your friends as a video game can get, with all the unpredictable humor and fun that entails.
Read our full Baldur's Gate 3 review
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut
Metacritic: 91%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions, Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release: August 20, 2021
We always have to wait a couple of years for the single-player PlayStation exclusives to hit PC, but when they do, it is always worth the wait. Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut on PC doesn’t feel like a game from 2020. The visuals and art direction on a high-resolution monitor look breathtaking in motion. Every vista and backdrop is screenshot-worthy. The game itself is basically what we all wanted from an Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan, only better since it does away with tons of HUD and UI elements to keep the focus on the world and action.
Dave the Diver
Metacritic: 82%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Adventure
Developer: Mintrocket
Publisher: Mintrocket
Release: October 27, 2022
If you’re looking for a more chilled-out and relaxing way to spend your time, or are even working on less powerful hardware, Dave the Diver is a surprise treat in 2023 that is sure to delight. Playing as the titular Dave, you will spend part of the game diving into the shifting waters to hunt fish, complete quests, and find new items and materials. When the day is done, you shift over to managing your restaurant, where you serve up your catch and make money to buy upgrades to dive even deeper and longer the next day. It boasts a great and rewarding gameplay flow, plus a charming pixelated art style.
Undertale
Metacritic: 86%
Rated: E10
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure, Indie
Developer: tobyfox
Publisher: 8-4, tobyfox
Release: September 15, 2015
Undertale is a top-down RPG where you control a child who’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.
Diablo IV
Metacritic: 87%
Digital Trends: 4/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Release: June 02, 2023
If you can ignore the issues and controversies surrounding the microtransactions and just focus on the game itself, Diablo IV feels like a true return to form for the series. The last entry rubbed some people the wrong way with its art style, but that is completely rectified here. The tone is bleak, the world vast, and the combat crunchy and rewarding. You do have to deal with the new seasonal model and online-only requirements, but if you just stick to doing the main quest and running dungeons with friends, there’s still no game that does mob fights and loot grinds as effectively as Diablo 4.
Read our full Diablo IV review
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Metacritic: 81%
Rated: T
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Adventure
Publisher: Square Enix
Release: August 27, 2013
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. There’s no need to feel intimidated either because the generous free trial lets you get deep into the game before asking for a single cent.
Dota 2
Metacritic: 80%
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac
Genre: Strategy, MOBA
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Release: July 09, 2013
Dota 2 is consistently one of the most popular games 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 into it. 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 it and give it a shot.
Elden Ring
Metacritic: 96%
Digital Trends: 4/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer: FromSoftware
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware
Release: February 25, 2022
If you’ve long been a fan of FromSoftware’s creations, 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 sidequests 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 fight.
Read our full Elden Ring review
Red Dead Redemption 2
Metacritic: 93%
Digital Trends: 5/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia
Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer: Rockstar Games
Publisher: Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games
Release: October 26, 2018
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 full Red Dead Redemption 2 review
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Metacritic: 94%
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: WB Games, Bandai Namco Entertainment, cdp.pl, Spike ChunSoft
Release: May 19, 2015
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. Despite 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 playstyle in a few different ways.
Shooters
Fortnite
Metacritic: 71%
Rated: T
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Adventure
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Epic Games
Release: July 25, 2017
It’s hard to put into words the impact Fortnite has had on the entire games industry. Although it was once easy to write it off as just another battle royale game, the ways the game continues to reinvent itself are impossible to ignore. In 2019, for example, Fortnite beat out the most popular PC game in the world, bringing in over $1.9 billion in revenue. Unlike PlayerUnknown’s Battelgrounds and Apex Legends, Fortnite is accessible. The cartoon graphics, easy-to-understand building mechanics, and lack of blood or gore mean that gamers old and new can play together. Add in the insane number of crossover characters that have been added and it’s highly unlikely that some franchise you love isn’t already in the game.
Helldivers 2
Metacritic: 82%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
Genre: Shooter, Tactical
Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release: February 08, 2024
No one saw Helldivers 2 hitting as hard as it did on PC, but it has become one of the most popular co-op shooters on the platform. That second part is no fluke because the game is pure chaos in all the best ways. You make your loadout, select a mission, and go alone or with a squad down to a planet filled with killer bugs or bots to complete your objectives and try to get out alive. The entire thing is wrapped in a fantastic parody of pro-military propaganda to lend a lighthearted feel to all that death and war.
Counter-Strike 2
Metacritic: 75%
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Genre: Shooter, Tactical
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Release: September 27, 2023
Counter-Strike 2 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 Counter-Strike 2 was built off of, and replaces, Counter-Strike GO, it feels like the first game built from the ground up for competitive players. What makes this still worth jumping into more than a decade later is the continual support from both Valve and the players that keep the game thriving.
Halo Infinite
Metacritic: 82%
Digital Trends: 4/5
Rated: T
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Shooter, Adventure
Developer: 343 Industries
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Release: November 15, 2021
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 that offer dozens of unique cosmetic rewards for your Spartan.
Read our full Halo Infinite review
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Digital Trends: 4/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: CD Projekt RED
Release: September 26, 2023
We can all agree that Cyberpunk 2077 had a … troubled launch. However, just under three years later, the combination of the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty expansion has finally redeemed this open-world RPG to the heights we all knew it was capable of reaching. The entire skill system has been redone, gunplay has been reworked, AI updated, tons of new items added, and there’s the brand new zone and story in the expansion to play through. Factoring in all the patches and tweaks leading up to this point to make the game run far better on all machines, now is the perfect time to experience this excellent sci-fi story if you were holding out.
Read our full Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty review
Deathloop
Metacritic: 84%
Digital Trends: 3.5/5
Rated: M
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Shooter, Adventure
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release: September 14, 2021
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, 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 who 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 full Deathloop review
Once Human
Metacritic: 68%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Android, iOS
Genre: Shooter, Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Adventure
Developer: Starry Studio
Publisher: Starry Studio
Release: July 09, 2024
If there’s one genre that PC players are spoiled for choice on, it’s open-world survival games. While you will do your usual collecting, crafting, shooting, and base building, the threat this time around is alien creatures who are infected by something called Stardust. Once Human is brimming with customization options for your base, essentially allowing you to build your dream home. Or, you can play it as a more traditional RPG where you fight bosses and level up. You can play on PvP or PvE servers depending on whether or not you want to compete against other players as well as the alien monsters.
Puzzle/Platformers
Shovel Knight
Metacritic: 86%
Rated: E
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, Mac, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer: Yacht Club Games
Publisher: Yacht Club Games
Release: June 26, 2014
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 get all five of the games in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which offers dozens of hours of retro platforming fun.
Celeste
Metacritic: 87%
Digital Trends: 5/5
Rated: E10
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia
Genre: Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer: Extremely OK Games
Publisher: Maddy Makes Games
Release: January 25, 2018
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 who 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.
Portal 2
Metacritic: 92%
Rated: E10
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Shooter, Platform, Puzzle, Adventure
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve, Electronic Arts
Release: April 18, 2011
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, prerecorded 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.
1000xResist
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch
Genre: Puzzle, Adventure, Indie
Developer: sunset visitor 斜陽過客
Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Release: May 09, 2024
Don’t let this amazing indie adventure game slip under your radar. 1000xResist is a sci-fi adventure game set, you guessed it, 1,000 years in the future. After an alien virus wipes out nearly every human, you play as a clone of the last human who is somehow immune and immortal. Your job as the Watcher is to relive the memories of this last human to try and discover the truth about what happened for the world to get to the state you find it in.
Roguelikes
Vampire Survivors
Metacritic: 80%
Rated: T
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure, Indie, Arcade
Developer: Poncle
Publisher: Poncle
Release: December 17, 2021
We need to warn you upfront: this game may take over your life. Vampire Survivors looks cheap, and in terms of actual price that’s true, but this game is anything but in terms of content. This is essentially a reverse bullet-hell game where you simply control your character as they auto-attack enemies. As they drop XP and money, you level up and upgrade your character to try and keep up with the ramping difficulty and number of enemies. It sounds basic and boring, but everything about this game is engineered to trigger the dopamine centers in your brain, and we love it. Just give it 30 minutes and you’ll be hooked, especially with all the updates that are still coming out.
Hades II
Metacritic: 80%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows)
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure, Indie
Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Release: May 06, 2024
Hades is one of the best roguelikes of the past few years, but somehow Hades 2 is already better despite being in early access. Your new protagonist Melinoe controls a lot like Zag when you first pick the game up, but has a ton of unique mechanics all her own. The format, again, will feel familiar at first, but the more you play, the more you will realize old tricks no longer work. The art and performances are just as high quality as the original, and the soundtrack is on another level. If you got addicted to Hades then Hades 2 will take over your life.
Balatro
Metacritic: 84%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Strategy, Indie, Card & Board Game
Developer: LocalThunk
Publisher: Playstack
Release: February 20, 2024
A roguelike poker game seems like such a simple idea, and yet no game but Balatro has mixed those two ingredients. Because the rules of poker, or at least the hands, are almost universally known, there’s almost no learning curve to get started playing. Then, as you pick up Jokers that change the rules, things start to get crazy bit by bit. It’s one of the easiest games to just pick up for five minutes, but also robust enough to sink hours into. Whether you like poker or not, this is a masterclass in simple roguelike design.
Other
Minecraft
Metacritic: 79%
Rated: E10
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Fire TV
Genre: Simulator, Adventure
Developer: Mojang Studios
Publisher: Mojang Studios
Release: September 20, 2017
Few games have been as important to PC gaming as Minecraft. Released more than 10 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 spinoffs 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. With incredible mod support, we can easily see ourselves playing it in another 10 years.
Rocket League
Metacritic: 82%
Rated: E
Platforms: Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Racing, Sport, Indie
Developer: Psyonix
Publisher: Psyonix
Release: July 06, 2015
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, but it takes 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.
Tekken 8
Metacritic: 78%
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Fighting
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release: January 26, 2024
PC players now have access to all the best fighting games, but there are a few things that push Tekken 8 to the top of the pile. For one, it is perhaps the most visually stunning fighter ever made from a graphical standpoint. Each character looks and move so well that it is stunning to watch even if you lose a match. Learning to play is tough, but Tekken 8 makes it as easy as possible thanks to some seriously impressive teaching tools that allow you to rewatch matches and get advice on how you could have improved. You can even test out tactics in those situations you missed to get a feel for things.
