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5 days ago · PC Gamer's annual list of the best PC games you can play is back, and has had a major update for 2024.
- IGN's picks for the 25 best modern PC games to play right now.
- 25. Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
- 24. Sid Meier's Civilization VI
- 23. Dota 2
- 22. Prey (2017)
- 21. Red Dead Redemption 2
- 20. Control
- 19. Stardew Valley
- 18. Genshin Impact
- 17. Grand Theft Auto 5 / GTA Online
By IGN Staff
Updated: Feb 18, 2024 5:22 pm
Posted: Oct 30, 2023 7:00 pm
The PC gaming landscape has shifted in recent years, both in terms of technological advancements in graphics cards and gaming PCs and in the makeup of IGN's PC gaming staff and contributors. As a result, outside of some real stalwarts, our list of the best modern PC games is substantially different compared to years past.
To be clear, this list does not attempt to pick out the “best” or “most influential” PC games ever made. It’s also not a list of the most popular games out there, or a list that seeks to represent the top games of every genre. No, this is a list of 25 games that we, the IGN editors and contributors, collectively recommend the most, based on our tastes, and all from within the past 10 years. Though that doesn't mean we don't still recommend playing Baldur's Gate 3 in 2024.
Most recent game updates were made on July 6, 2022.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is the closest thing we've had to a near-perfect recreation of the real world in the virtual space, and new updates keep inching it even closer. Using real-time Bing data to allow you to fly to and from any place on the entire planet has raised the bar for simulations to heights never seen before.
Accessible to anyone, or as realistic as you want, this is open-world at its most literal. Free-flying around the globe, participating in landing challenges at some of the world's most famously difficult airports, or just sightseeing, Microsoft Flight Simulator is an unparalleled achievement. Don't forget to grab one of the best PC joysticks to make this flight-sim experience that more immersive.
You can’t go too far wrong with any of the main games from Sid Meier’s seminal Civilization series, but after updates and expansions, Civilization VI has taken a seat as one of the finest. Like all five iterations before it, Civ VI lets you pave your people’s way from nomadic tribes to sprawling near-future empire in competition or cooperation with neighbors, this time guided by narration from the undying Sean Bean himself.
But here, a distinctive approach to city building in which major structures like specialized districts and Wonders are placed on their own tiles gives it a fresh flavor, and the climate change mechanics add new long-term environmental considerations throughout and hazards that manifest in the late game. It’s also come as close as any game in the series to giving its AI leaders definitive and interesting personalities (which is not to say they’re perfect!).
Firaxis confirmed that Civilization 7 is in the works. This announcement comes after former head of studio Steve Martin and Marvel’s Midnight Suns and XCOM director Jake Solomon departed the studio, leaving former COO Heather Hazen to lead the company.
Release Date: October 21, 2016 | Developer: Firaxis Games | Last Position: 21!
MOBAs have earned a reputation for being dense and difficult to learn, but immensely strategic for those who put in the time. Spend some quality time with Dota 2 and you’ll understand why. Though all matches take place on one map, and there’s only one objective, its 100+ characters and thousands of item combinations make each round feel unique.
Because every second matters, matches are always exciting even when they seem slow. Are you farming gold? Are you scouting the enemy? Or crossing the map to help out a teammate? Or heading back to base to heal? Its complexity can scare players off, but those who stick through it will be rewarded with some of the most strategic gameplay around.
Few games will make you fear for your life upon encountering the most mundane of inanimate objects the way Prey does – and fewer still will then give you the power to become those objects yourself. It may look like a standard first-person shooter/RPG set aboard a post-disaster space station on the surface, but this immersive sim is one of the strangest of the lot.
To combat the ever-present threat of enemies that can look like anything until it’s too late, Prey fills your toolbox with a wide range of weird, unique, and often exciting tools and then lets you figure out which ones you most want to use. All of that combined with a story that channels the best of both its clear BioShock and Dishonored inspirations makes Prey is a gem of a single-player PC game that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Developer Arkane's co-op vampire shooter Redfall is available now.
Release Date: May 5, 2017 | Developer: Arkane Studios | Last Position: 15!
Arthur Morgan’s sprawling tale of loyalty, conviction, and the price of infamy is only the beginning of Red Dead Redemption 2. The marvelous PC port overhauled and further enhanced the gorgeous wild western atmosphere of Rockstar's most recent open-world adventure and added even more activities, unlockables, and impossibly fine details to its expansive map. It's possibly one of the biggest and best single-player PC games ever and it has an extensive multiplayer mode too.
The potential for hijinks within its enormous sandbox of towns, outlaws, and wildlife was already nearly limitless, but the PC version factors in new missions, treasures, gear, and more layered on top of the already 60+ hours of story content in the base game. That’s not even counting all the multiplayer bells and whistles included in Red Dead Online, to say nothing of the ability to expand and customize with mods. RDR2 on PC is handily a must-play for anyone with a rig beefy enough to run it.
Red Dead 2 cracked the top five on our updated list of the best open-world games. In just five years, it's also earned a spot on the list of best-selling video games of all time.
Release Date: October 26, 2018 | Developer: Rockstar | Last Position: 11!
Control, in many ways, feels like the culmination of Remedy’s design ideas from its past several games distilled down to their best versions and melded together for one trippy, enthralling adventure. Jesse Faden’s story of infiltrating the Federal Bureau of Control’s offices comes complete with a stellar set of abilities befitting any good telepath, a propulsive, strange story with a memorable cast and unexpected twists, and a fascinating location that feels rooted in a sense of history.
Remedy has filled Control’s world with little details that make its stranger ideas really land, giving unexpected life to every corner of its office building veneer. Just like its main location, the Oldest House, much more lies beneath the surface of Control, and its mysteries are worth fully exploring. Also, the PC is currently the only place to play with ray tracing enabled, giving the world a more realistic and yet more otherworldly appearance. Maybe that’s why this fantastic single-player PC game won our 2019 Game of the Year award?
Remedy is officially working on Control 2 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The studio is also developing a Control multiplayer game, a free-to-play co-op shooter codenamed Vanguard, and remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2. Alan Wake 2 is now available to play.
Release Date: August 27, 2019 | Developer: Remedy | Last Position: 24!
Since Stardew Valley launched in 2016, it’s become a mainstay in PC gaming and is perhaps single handedly responsible for reinvigorating the farming sim genre altogether. In that time, no other game has successfully managed to replicate its masterful combination of RPG mechanics, a satisfying gameplay loop, beautifully mellow music, and an ever-growing list of things to do as you while away your time in pastoral paradise.
The latest major update is the game’s biggest yet, adding a completely new area to explore, with new people to meet, tasks to do, and tons more content to experience. It’s basically a full-blown expansion, if not for being a free update to the game. Whether you’re a new player or returning to your 100+ hour farm, Stardew Valley remains one of the best games you can play on PC.
Stardew Valley is now available on Apple Arcade as Stardew Valley+, and is one of the best iPhone games around.
Release Date: February 26, 2016 | Developer: Eric Barone | Last Position: New!
With 48 playable characters (and counting), three massive main areas to explore, and significant events and activities for mid- to late-game players monthly, Genshin Impact is one of the most impressive free-to-play games out there – both in terms of activities and general quality. In addition to its story-based campaign, there are plenty of great side quests, companion character events, and side stories that offer a nice chance to better get to know characters, solve puzzles, hunt down collectibles, and participate in limited-time events.
Even when you've reached the end of what's available of the ever-growing story, there are boss battles and world activities you can play online with friends, stats and weapon optimizations for leveling your acquired playable characters, and plenty more. Though the late-game does tend to be more of a grind due to some of the randomness high-level character builds require and there are other sporadic balance issues, Genshin Impact is generally a joy throughout.
Thankfully, the gatcha (or system by which you randomly draw rewards with premium currency in hopes of getting a better weapon or character) system isn't too invasive and it's not difficult to earn premium currency without paying. Sure, it can take a while to save enough to get a guaranteed 5-star character, but it's absolutely possible to do and you'll likely earn other characters along the way.
Genshin Impact’s Version 4.4 update is available now. You can also check out our list of games like Genshin Impact for more like this.
Grand Theft Auto V’s sprawling, yet meticulously detailed map is still the high bar to which most open-world games aspire. Not only is it huge, it’s incredibly dense with excellent content – not just the driving and shooting and three-protagonist story that make up its campaign, and not limited to the numerous side activities, but all the sights, sounds, and bustling activity you'd expect to find in a city teeming with humans, seedy underbelly included. With so much to do, explore, and play with, both as a single-player PC game and Grand Theft Auto Online, plus great creative tools and mods, it’s truly amazing on multiple levels.
With so much to do, explore, and play with, both as a single-player PC game and Grand Theft Auto Online, plus great creative tools and mods, it’s truly amazing on multiple levels. Plus with the new Cayo Perico update adding a new solo heist and island to the map, not the mention the game coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, there's no sign of GTA V going to pasture anytime soon.
Rockstar has officially confirmed GTA 6 will release in 2025. It will feature a return to Vice City and star the series' first female playable character in a Bonnie & Clyde-inspired adventure — details that were seemingly corroborated by a massive GTA 6 leak. See our guide to the Grand Theft Auto series for more info.
Release Date: April 4, 2015 | Developer: Rockstar Games | Last Position: 6
An ongoing analysis of Steam's player numbers, seeing what's been played the most.
Aug 19, 2024 · Best PC games to play right now. Remedy Entertainment. Alan Wake 2. Single-player or multiplayer: Single-player | Free to play: No. Alan Wake 2 is part gritty cop drama, part paranormal...
Our breakdown of the 25 best PC games covers are top picks across platform stores and genres.
Aug 20, 2024 · From competitive shooters to sprawling MMOs and relaxing puzzle games, here are the best PC games to play right now.
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