The PC Gamer Top 100

Every year, the global PC Gamer team gets together to decide the top 100 PC games. The process is simple: we take last year's list, propose a bunch of additions, tweaks and removals, and then hold a series of hours-long discussions going step-by-step through every suggestion.

Here's the result: a list of what we think are the best PC games you can play today. That caveat—play today—is important. These aren't necessarily the most important or most influential games (if you're looking for that, check out the 50 most important PC games of all time). Every entry in the top 100 is something we recommend that PC gamers play in 2020. 

As always, we prefer to celebrate the breadth and variety on the platform, so we've limited ourselves to one entry per game series. We've also included a selection of personal picks—games that didn't make the list, but that individual members of the team still love. Enjoy!

100. Team Fortress 2

Released 2007 | Last position New entry

Phil Savage: It's true: Team Fortress 2 is still good. Sure, it's 13 years old. And yes, it's gone through many changes—from hats to matchmaking. But for all the many hero shooters released in its wake, no other multiplayer FPS offers the same pick-up-and-play hilarity of a good TF2 server. As an experimental sounding board of games-as-a-service ideas, the current TF2 is weird and baggy. As a game about nine idiot characters competing over patches of gravel, TF2 remains a triumph.

Evan Lahti: And playing it today is also a reminder of what we've lost as a result of the genre moving almost entirely to skill-based matchmaking systems. TF2 servers are playful spaces with their own special history. They're self-regulated digital bars with regulars, referees, traditions, and unique preferences. When's the last time you shared a rivalry with another player over a series of weeks?

99. Hearthstone

Released 2014 | Last position 90

Tim Clark: Your view on the current state of Hearthstone depends on how you feel about three things. 1) The release of the game's first ever new class: Demon Hunter. 2) How much you like super high variance cards like Dragonqueen Alexstraza and Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron. 3) Whether you play the Battlegrounds mode. Despite multiple nerfs to its core card pool, I think Demon Hunter has been a success and helped refreshed Standard. I'm less convinced those splashy swing cards are good for the health of the game. And Battlegrounds is an almost unreserved success, providing a welcome distraction when the Standard ladder looks grim. For the first time in its life, Hearthstone also faces very real competition in the form of Runeterra and Magic: The Gathering Arena. Is this the golden age of CCGs on PC?

Robin Valentine: This was the game that sparked the most argument for us on the team this year. I think for such a seemingly inoffensive game, it’s actually become incredibly polarising. Tim’s obviously still all-in, but these days me and Steven find it actively depressing to play. 

For me, that’s down to a combination of issues with the business model around expansions—it just seems absolutely impossible to keep up and maintain a decent card collection—but also the game itself, which I don’t think has ever really found a good groove when it comes to in-game balance. For me, it still has the same problem it’s always had - decks are so swingy that while it can be fun to win, it’s almost always incredibly frustrating to lose. I even had the same issue when I came back to try Battlegrounds.

For me, I’ve moved on to Legends of Runeterra—you’ll find me singing that game’s praises further down the list. 

98. Sayonara Wild Hearts

Released 2019 | Last position New entry

Jacob Ridley: Sayonara Wild Hearts straddles the space between a techno-pop album and rhythm-action videogame. A belter of a soundtrack acts as a heartbeat to the game's meandering levels, and helps to direct you between the many obstacles in your way as you traverse psychedelic forests and high-speed city pursuits—oftentimes following a group of neon-clad bikers or theatre thugs that speak only through the medium of dance.

But beyond its 23 action-packed levels, there's a sense of progression that's far more personal. The game's protagonist starts out her journey by tumbling into an interdimensional highway following a traumatic life event. But it's not long before your masked alter ego is confident, collected, and ready to reshape her world.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is just as much a message of self-love as it is an action-rhythm game with a soundtrack that absolutely slaps. It takes roughly only an hour and a half for a single playthrough, yet like any good playlist you'll be wanting to come back again and again. If not for the achievement of reaching gold rank in every level, just to breathe in the audio-visual experience. There are few others that are so wholly engrossing as Sayonara Wild Hearts with as little screen time, and I wholly recommend you try it out.

97. Metro Exodus

Released 2019 | Last position New entry 

Andy Kelly: It’s an amazing and strange feeling leaving the claustrophobic gloom of Moscow behind and exploring the wider world in a Metro game. Exodus is a post-apocalyptic road trip that massively broadens the scope of the normally tunnel-based series. It’s still the same game deep down, mixing scrappy, violent first-person combat with exploration and light survival elements. But dramatic changes of scenery and bigger, more open maps, including a vast desert region, give the series a new lease of life. It also has a lot of heart; particularly aboard the Aurora, the train that’s ferrying you and your friends across the wasteland. Here things get slower and quieter, letting you get to know your travelling companions, and yourself, as you search for a better life in a shattered world.

96. SuperHot VR

Released 2017 | Last position New entry 

Graeme Meredith: The time-sensitive action-puzzler, Super Hot VR is proof high resolution textures and intricate animation aren't necessary for maximum immersion. For a white void, the sense of presence as your dodge enemies is incredible—it's easy to forget the vague architecture around you doesn't exist. More than I'd like to admit, I've curled into a ball on the floor to avoid attacks, then tried picking myself up by leaning on objects that aren't actually real.

Moving time with your body is a top 'you are the controller' experience, too, showing good VR games aren't just the ones you know but with a thing strapped to your head. And any gaming session leaving you crumpled in a heap on the floor is either very bad... or very good.

95. Sludge Life

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

James Davenport: It's Pokemon Snap by way of Marc Ecko's Getting up. It's a first-person parkour sim full of dejected, piss-poor bottom feeders like me. Every frame is a photo ripped from a zine, every line of dialogue a potent zinger worthy of its own comic panel. Eat banana slugs and trip hard, float into the sky or under the sludge for a peek at reality. Spit into a CEO's food. Trigger a nuke. Walking sims have come a long way. 

Chris Livingston: It's a bizarre world yet an instantly relatable one. The characters you encounter are definitely weird, but there's also something grounded about them. They're all tired, dazed, frustrated, full of opinions, mostly jobless, and hooked on TV and cigs. So many things are wrong with the world but who can summon the energy to fix them? I was so intrigued by the people inhabiting Sludge Life that I wasn't just running around trying to 100% the official activities but also making sure I found, talked to, and photographed every single character. It's a small open world, but the delight of scouring it for every last bit of dialogue makes it feel much bigger than it is. 

94. Valorant

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

Tyler Wilde: In our Top 100 meeting, Emma said that Valorant only made her want to play CS:GO. It's the opposite for me. Whenever I've tried to play CS:GO, it's felt like wandering into someone else's decade-old game of make believe—and no one will explain the unwritten rules. After just a few games of Valorant, I finally understood what my CS:GO friends had been talking about. It might be a watered down CS:GO to veterans like Emma, but for me, the quality of life features and special abilities, which let me at least feel useful while I got used to the weird shooting, were the on-boarding I needed. Now I can finally enjoy a type of FPS that always scared me away, and it rules.

Phil: I've only just started playing Valorant, but like Tyler, it quickly clicked in a way Counter-Strike never did. It smoothes away just enough of CS:GO's deliberately rough edges to feel approachable, while retaining much of the competitive depth. I can already see myself losing hours to this.

93. The Jackbox Party Pack 4 

Released 2017 | Last position 88

Robin: The Jackbox series is pure social lubricant. The right game deployed at the right time can make any party or gathering sing—whether you’re with friends, relatives, or even people you don’t know too well yet. And the simple mobile phone interface—with no app download required—means anyone can get involved. Pack 4 is solid, but I think I’d recommend any of them really. 

I will say, be aware that there are duds in every pack. For some reason none of them are 100% quality games - but the good ones are always so great they make up for it. 

James: I didn't really know my mom until we played some Jackbox together. A preacher's daughter with a pretty clean no-cussing and no-vulgarity record, through the medium of Jackbox I've seen her draw hairy dicks, make jokes about my death, and use words my dad swears he didn't teach her. It's a holiday tradition now, watching the person that raised me transform and distort like this. Thank you, Jackbox. 

92. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age 

Released 2018 | Last position 64

Wes Fenlon: Underappreciated is that FFXII has the best English voice cast in the history of JRPGs. Square skipped the usual LA anime crowd and opted for British theater actors, and their performances still crackle with Shakespearean grandeur.

Andy K: There are so many beautiful, exotic locations in Final Fantasy XII, I’m constantly finding new favourites as I traverse its evocative, connected world. There’s a lot to love about the game, but the gambit system, which lets you tinker with the AI of your party and automate combat, is an easy highlight. And you can fast forward all the dull, low-level battles in the PC version, which is a massive time saver.

91. Deus Ex

Released 2000 | Last position 72

Phil: The Top 100 is a celebration of what's worth playing today, which is why many older favourites struggle to make the cut. It's not enough for a game to be influential if it's no longer much fun to play. The difference with Deus Ex, though, is that so much of what makes it great is tied to its age and antiquated, alienating systems. It's a game that I don't think could be made today, because—as newer Deus Ex games show—the rules for FPS design are too formalised and streamlined. The original Deus Ex feels wild and experimental, the consequence of a development team that had to figure out how to let a player do what they want. Within that folly lies a magic that is yet to be replicated.

Andy K: Yeah, Deus Ex is still great. I’ve played it at least once a year for as long as I can remember, and every time I do, I’m stunned by how fun it still is. A lot of that comes from being familiar with the game, knowing how far I can push its systems. But that’s really the beauty of it. It’s as wide as it is deep, with big, intricate sandbox levels that are ripe for experimentation. Even now I’m finding new ways to play. This year it was the discovery that I could defuse the hostage situation in Battery Park, non-violently and without being detected, with a couple of flares and nothing else. Deus Ex is PC gaming at its best. 

90. C&C Remastered Collection

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

Andy K: Collecting the first Command & Conquer and its beloved sequel, Red Alert, this generously priced package is stuffed with some of the finest real-time strategy on PC. The remaster is great, with crisp new visuals and the option to instantly swap back to the old ones at the push of a button. But the real reason to play is the campaigns. Every mission is a satisfying sandbox puzzle to solve, rewarding creative use of the game’s varied selection of units. And the FMV cutscenes are as deliciously silly as ever.

Phil: Every year we seem to highlight a different Command & Conquer, because all of them are special in a slightly different way. (In 2018, we picked the brilliant standalone mod Twisted Insurrection, which is still absolutely worth checking out.) But the Remastered Collection feels like a definitive love letter to the series' early days, and one I imagine will be worth celebrating for many years to come. It's worth it just for the Jukebox feature—a great way to celebrate Frank Klepacki's iconic industrial tunes.

89. Legend of Grimrock 2 

Released 2014 | Last position New entry 

James: It's not surprising that the most Dark Soulsy game I've played in a while is basically its origin story. First-person dungeon crawlers like FromSoftware's King's Field don't get much play these days because, well, they're a dated pain in the ass to maneuver. Grimrock 2 is a perfect modernization of the genre, a frictionless, massive sprawl of puzzles and demons and dungeons that practically demand a graph paper notebook. But you don't need one because the notebook is baked in.

Robin: James’ arguments for the series during our Top 100 deliberations were so convincing I ended up finally trying the first game, after years of thinking the weird grid-based movement would be too awkward for me. I couldn’t have been more wrong—it ended up being one of the best games I’ve played this year. It’s such a focused creation, sharpening that core concept of the dungeon crawl down to a deadly point and then jabbing you every time you think you’ve mastered it. I’ve not dived into the sequel yet, but hearing that it’s even better has me seriously excited. 

88. Doom 2

Released 1994 | Last position 78

Chris: This isn't just nostalgia talking—yes, Doom 2 is an influential classic, but it's still amazingly challenging and intense to play today, and not just as a history lesson. Plus, new Doom 2 mods are turning up on a weekly basis 25 years later. It's the one game you should never uninstall.

Phil: Is it cheating to highlight Doom II on the strength of its mod scene when many of its mods these days are technically for the GZDoom source port? It doesn't matter: there's so much great stuff out there, catalogued lovingly each year via Doomworld's annual Cacowards. If you're looking for a personal recommendation, check out Blade of Agony, a standalone mod that answers the question: what if Wolfenstein was a Doom game?

87. Fallout: New Vegas

Released 2010 | Last position New entry 

Robin: Sure, in the harsh light of 2020, New Vegas doesn’t look or play great. It kind of didn’t in 2010 either. But even now it’s absolutely unparalleled when it comes to pure RPG freedom. The sheer amount of choice in who you can be and what you can do is intoxicating.

Jody Macgregor: My favorite part of New Vegas is the Old World Blues expansion, which plays up the B-movie side of Fallout with brains in jars and robot scorpions and a cackling mad scientist villain. While the base game focuses on the wasteland cowboy experience, letting you wander Nevada with a lever-action rifle listening to Johnny Guitar, it also nails the 1950s sci-fi side of Fallout.

Emma Matthews: I played Fallout: New Vegas just before The Outer Worlds released and it's fair to say that it spoilt me, a little. The sidequests in New Vegas were exciting, opening up narratives that felt genuinely interesting to uncover, whereas The Outer Worlds' quests felt repetitive after a few hours. I wasn't sure if anything could top Fallout 3, but I'd happily hop in and play New Vegas all over again tomorrow.

86. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun 

Released 2016 | Last position 84 

Fraser Brown: Desperados 3 might be larger and more complex, but Shadow Tactics remains Mimimi's best stealth tactics game and a high point for sneaky, murderous romps. It takes the classic Commandos formula, conjures up even more elegant puzzles, refines everything and gives you an adorable tanuki to help with your assassinations.

Phil: Stealth games are easier now. MGS5 is a big, wondrous playground. Hitman 2 is a murderous sandbox filled with toys. But Shadow Tactics bucks the trend, and returns us to an era that demanded precision and grace. Your tools are limited in scope, forcing you to engineer the situations that will make them useful. And the patrols you're circumnavigating are fiendishly plotted, ensuring any slip up is punished. But with the quicksave key in hand, it's beyond satisfying to conquer this wilfully old-school top down sneak-'em-up.

85. Homeworld Remastered Collection

Released 2015 | Last position 83 

Fraser: No other RTS—heck, few other games—come close to matching Homeworld's incredible style. The art, the soundtrack, the tragic sci-fi yarn—it's so lavish. Even the way the ships move is stirring. It's like watching a cosmic ballet. It's all so impressive that it threatens to overshadow the fact that Homeworld's also a brilliant strategy game with a tricky, persistent campaign and the best space battles around.

Tom Senior: Few studios have tried to make a fully 3D RTS, and with good reason. It's hard enough to manage grouped units on a 2D plane; the extra dimension makes it harder to read the battlefield and command your troops. Homeworld's smart UI gives you the information you need so you can focus on outwitting the enemy fleet. 

84. Legends of Runeterra

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

Robin: I love how much of a step forward for online CCG this feels. That applies to the mechanics—where the best bits of Hearthstone and MTG are combined into a tight, strategic back-and-forth—but also to its business model, that does away with randomised packs and, shock horror, just lets you build the decks you want to build. I’m always finding fun new combos I want to try, and thanks to the game’s generosity, I always can. 

Steven Messner: Agreed. Runeterra is a welcome reprieve from booster pack bullshit. I never thought one of my favorite games of 2020 would be a card game.

83. Elite Dangerous

Released 2014 | Last position 82

Andy K: This recently became my most played game on Steam, overtaking the likes of The Witcher 3 and even my beloved Euro Truck Simulator 2, which should give you an idea of the impact it can have on a person's free time. I don't so much play Elite as exist entirely within it, living another life in space. It's a worryingly immersive game, whether you're hunting bounties, trading, or just freely exploring its scale replica of the Milky Way. It's grindy and slow-paced, but the feeling of being there, of clawing a living out of a vast galaxy alongside thousands of other players, is a sci-fi dream come true. It's fine with a gamepad, but a flight stick really does take it to the next level.

82. Sunless Skies

Released 2019 | Last position 45

Fraser: A very British game about travelling through space on a little locomotive might have been horribly twee in another studio’s hands, but not Failbetter’s. It’s a mad and magical version of Victorian Britain transposed to the cosmos, where Queen Victoria has weird time powers and people live on floating chunks of rock—surprisingly picturesque ones—or massive space plants or steampunk metal behemoths. It makes space properly alien again, filling it with devils who were once bees, plenty of gothic horror and, appropriately, a clockwork sun, all of which could drive your crew insane at any moment—and all these oddities are elevated by some of the best writing around. 

Robin: Sunless Skies is a game that operates entirely by its own logic - making progress sometimes feels like learning a language, a very particular way of talking about objectives and circumstances. It can be awkward, even frustrating, to get to grips with, but it facilitates a world where loot is as likely to be a life-changing experience as a shiny treasure, and dreams can be earned and traded like currency. From its writing, to its art style, to its mechanics, to its sometimes punishing cruelty, it’s a game that 100% knows what it is and refuses to water that down, and I respect the hell out of that. 

81. Crusader Kings 2

Released 2012 | Last position 41

Fraser: There's still nothing else quite like Crusader Kings II. There's more soapy drama than an Eastenders Omnibus, and over the years Paradox has fleshed out its already gargantuan strategy RPG through dozens of expansions with changes both bold and granular. You can even dabble in witchcraft now. Its scope is ridiculous. And since all of those expansions came with even larger free updates, the base game hasn't stopped growing. It's also now entirely free. When we wrote this list, though, Crusader Kings III hadn't yet been released—so I expect it to be supplanted next year. 

Robin: It’s testament to how clever Crusader Kings II is that I love it despite never actually having given much of a hoot about medieval history. On first glance it looks like dry strategy, but it’s anything but—I truly think it does proper role-playing better than any other PC game I’ve played, and I’m a huge RPG nerd. 

And I love that it actually is educational. I don’t mean in the sense of teaching you the names of kings and nations from the time—you could get that from Wikipedia. By putting you in the shoes of these historical figures, it teaches you why they did the things they did. You understand the driving forces behind medieval politics, because you’re forced to navigate them to survive. I find myself oddly empathising with the seemingly cruel and senseless decisions of rules who lived hundreds of years before I was born. I think that’s fascinating.  

80. 80 Days

Released 2015 | Last position 77

Andy K: In terms of writing, very few games come close to 80 Days. It's one of the finest pieces of interactive fiction on PC, because it roots its superb, unpredictable storytelling in a compelling management loop. You're being told a fun, colourful story about a voyage around the world in a vivid steampunk alternate history, but you're also juggling your budget and keeping your stoic master Phileas Fogg happy. Completing the journey in 80 days is genuinely difficult, but if you fail, it doesn't matter. You can try again, and the story will be totally different. I can't think of a game I've replayed more over the years than this.

79. Hades

Released 2018 | Last position New entry 

Jacob: Hades manages to squeeze the fight, rinse, repeat roguelike mechanic into the narrative, and do so in a way that's genuinely entertaining. Each return trip back to Hades' Underworld is a chance to try out a new weapon or upgrade, and that's kept me coming back for more.

Both challenging and rewarding, Hades doesn't demand your finest form on every run—so you needn't be petrified of diving back in for another mad dash attempt at escaping the underworld.

78. Sea of Thieves

Released 2018 | Last position 67

Wes: Chris put my fish on the stove and left it cooking so long it set our ship on fire. On the Sea of Thieves, we make our own fun.

Chris: Well, Wes swung his sword at Tyler who was carrying an explosive barrel, and it killed our entire crew. Still fun!

Fraser: It wasn’t very good and now it is. Sea of Thieves is the heartwarming tale of a piratical sandbox eventually getting its sea legs. Rare’s worked hard to nurture it, and for a long time it served as my go-to co-op game. It’s been a wee while since I hit the high seas, but I’m still incredibly fond of it and will inevitably return. I have a crippling addiction to buying pets.

Phil: Part of the reason we stopped playing, Fraser, is that we're all sick of your mangy cat.

77. Control

Released 2019 | Last position New entry 

Robin: The thing that Control absolutely nails is atmosphere. Its weird, conspiratorial world of supernatural bureaucracy is so wonderfully realised—both visually, with creative, brutalist surrealism, and in its world-building, fleshed out through dialogue and text logs that are equal parts hilarious and sinister. Even its vending machines are memorable.

Andy K: At first I bounced off Control, hard. Which was a shame, because I love Remedy’s storytelling. The combat was the culprit. I found it overly difficult and quite tiring. But at a certain point, after unlocking a few abilities, it suddenly clicked. Where once I felt underpowered, I felt, well, in control. Suddenly I was looking forward to enemies showing up so I could cause telekinetic chaos. And with that problem handled, I was free to enjoy the story and world, which see Remedy and lead writer Sam Lake operating at the peak of their particular brand of weird.

76. Spelunky 

Released 2008 | Last position 37 

Emma: Spelunky offers a simple, yet challenging experience that punishes you for the tiniest mistakes. It's unique in that it offers a different experience depending on how far you're willing to explore. You're free to play through it casually, make your way to Olmec's Lair, and finish the game. While this is perfectly satisfying, there are so many hidden areas and special items that can enrich your journey along the way. It also features the cutest pug in any video game, ever.

75. Factorio

Released 2016 | Last position 74

Chris: Survival and crafting games can quickly become a slog of repetitive tasks, but Factorio's hook involves automating those tasks before you get sick of them. And it's something of a thrill to build the machines to do those tasks… and even more thrilling to realize you can build machines to build those machines. Once you've got a few assembly lines running smoothly it's easy to lose yourself in the glorious (and sometimes very messy) expansion of your busy little factories.

74. Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Released 2018 | Last position 73

Robin: This year’s lockdown has really solidified for me how good this game is. Trapped inside, I’ve had way more time for co-op gaming, and I think Vermintide 2 really is the best of the bunch—a worthy successor to Left 4 Dead. Plus it absolutely nails the Warhammer setting, always riding that line between humour and grimdarkness perfectly.

Jody: I've been enjoying Deep Rock Galactic and I still think Left 4 Dead 2 is fun, but what Vermintide 2 has over other four-player co-op chaos games is its perfect first-person melee combat. It's the perfect quick woosh and slow thunk as big lumps of Renaissance metal bite into fur and skin. You get stuck in and the blood seeps in at the edges of the screen while you block and shove and swing till there's breathing room, then look around to make sure everyone else is standing. Then you do it again 12 more times and it's still enjoyable.

Plus, the weird-voiced space dwarves of Deep Rock Galactic have nothing on Bardin with his dwarfish battlecries and tendency to burst into song mid-battle.

Alan Dexter: Vermintide II is harsh, but in the best possible way. It challenges you, and then rewards your determination with a better understanding of the underlying mechanics. You get slightly further with each run, gear upgrades embolden you, communication with your buddies becomes more nuanced, and before you know it you're facing down the Skittergate like the team of wisecracking baddasses that you are. 

73. What the Golf?

Released 2019 | Last position New entry 

Chris: A great way to make people laugh is to surprise them, and What the Golf? is almost constantly surprising. Golf is almost never just golf: it becomes soccer, driving, bowling, first-person shooting, and archery, just to name a few. And just when you think you've got a handle on things it'll switch it up, so instead of your bow shooting an arrow, it'll shoot 100 arrows. Or it'll launch you through the air instead. Just a great, funny game.

Harry Shepherd: Unlike real-life golf, Triband's experimental curio is wonderfully accessible. Every person I invited to click and drag to hit the ball was immediately entranced, as just a few clicks and drags on the mouse is enough to hook you in.

72. Invisible Inc. 

Released 2015 | Last position 71

Jody: Normally I'm a stickler for first-person stealth. You should be leaning around a corner, holding down Q or E while shifting slightly in your chair for no reason to see if there's a guard lurking there. Invisible Inc. makes you look down from above, pressing the peek icon instead, but it's still every bit as tense. Turn-based isometric stealth just as thrilling as the regular kind. Invisible Inc. understands cyberpunk as well, piling a miracle on top of another miracle.

Phil: Much like Into the Breach—which I'll admit has stolen a bit of Invisible, Inc.'s shine as my go-to meticulous, almost perfectly designed tactics game—the key to what makes this so good is information. You're given loads of it, up front, to the point that essentially nothing is up to chance. That leaves your fate in your own hands, and lets you concentrate on using your wits and your skills to stage a series of elaborate corporate heists. 

Tom: The escalating guard levels over time forces you to take risky manoeuvres with agents that can be all-too fragile. The result is a tense chin-scratcher with a great art style. The procedurally generated levels work as well, which is vital in a game that, as Phil says, gives you almost total information about where enemies can see and what they are likely to do next.

71. EVE Online

Released 2003 | Last position 70 

Steven: EVE Online is frequently joked about as the best game to read about but never play, but that kind of outlook dismisses just what a unique and special game EVE Online is. Sure, it's a very cerebral experience that often boils down to staring at spreadsheets, but that's because EVE Online is so good at creating a virtual life that it successfully recreates even the most boring bits of living. Just don't play it alone—this is one MMO where multiplayer is practically mandatory.

Andy K: I've played about 100 hours of EVE, which is nothing compared to a seasoned player. But whenever I visit New Eden, I fall in love with the game's dreamy, understated atmosphere. Even if you never meet another player and stick to the safe starting regions of space, there's still fun to be had here.

70. World of Warcraft

Released 2004 | Last position 43 

Steven: World of Warcraft's been in a rough spot the last few years, which is why it's slid down a bit on our list. Despite the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, having a lot of issues that get in the way of what WoW does best, this is still a worthwhile and entertaining MMO full of adventure. 

Fraser: I’ve quit yet again. After just coming back, too. But I know it’s going to be temporary, because nothing has ever scratched that MMO itch quite like WoW. 

69. Destiny 2

Released 2017 | Last position 14

Tim: Firstly, nice. Secondly, the reason for Destiny 2's precipitous drop largely stems from how little the team likes the current seasonal model. The return of iconic character Saint-14 made Season of Dawn fun, and it had a decent new activity and weapons, but Trials of Osiris whiffing made Season of the Worthy feel really anemic. This September's big expansion, Beyond Light, looks promising, with a whole new damage type and accompanying subclasses to play with. But the biggest reason to keep Destiny 2 around is that there really isn't a comparable AAA shooter which offers anything like the same amount of free content stuff to explore. New Light's onboarding experience might be a mess, but the quality of the gunplay and art design still absolutely bodies the competition.

Phil: Count me among those campaigning for Destiny 2 to drop down the list this year. And yet, for all of Year 3's problems, I'm probably playing it more than ever right now. That's in large part due to me finally getting a team together to do some raids, which are frankly a brilliant reason to invest in this game and its bullshit. Each is a mechanically fascinating exploration of the things you can do with a) orbs, b) plates and c) orbs and plates, and the sense of achievement when everything comes together for your first completion is palpable. It's just a shame five of them are being removed in November. 

68. Warframe

Released 2013 | Last position 27

Steven: Warframe's last year hasn't exactly been its best. Ambitious updates like the new ship-to-ship combat was dragged down by bugs, poor balancing, and a grind that sometimes feels like a needless distraction. But even in spite of that, Warframe remains one of the best looter shooters you can play. It's just so weird and full of strange ideas that have slowly congealed into a fascinating shooter where one minute you're bullet-time sliding through a group of super mutant soldiers and the next you're dancing with your friends to a crude version of Da Rude's Sandstorm that you hand-programmed on the in-game synthesizer. That unique sense of strange keeps Warframe compelling even when Digital Extremes' unwillingness to play it safe bites it in the ass.

Don't get me wrong, though. Warframe succeeds far more often than it fails. Though it's far more complex than other games, like Destiny 2, that complexity also creates an enormous amount of depth that's kept me playing for hundreds of hours. Though some might lament the lack of a true endgame, I really enjoy Warframe's horizontal progression that encourages me to set my own goals, like crafting new warframes or unlocking new weapons, and experiment with its vast arsenal. Even if you're not a completionist, Warframe is worth playing just for the story, which also packs some crazy, fun twists.

67. Devil May Cry 5

Released 2019 | Last position 46

Jacob: By the end of each Devil May Cry 5 mission you will have shredded and ripped and crushed wave after wave of the Underworld's nastiest hellspawn. While it's firmly rooted in its hack and slash history, a choice of three characters offers new opportunities to nail down precise combos and a varying blend of otherworldly and overly-excessive combat. When you finally mash the buttons just right, you're rewarded with an increasingly edgy soundtrack and a gory crescendo of blood, orbs, and rock organ.

Tom: A fast, fluid, beautifully animated brawler with fantastic weapons and an edgy personality. I wish we had more games like this on PC, but until the next sequel there's plenty to enjoy on higher difficulty levels as you master each character's moveset.

66. Her Story

Released 2015 | Last position 65

Andy K: Her Story is special because it tells a story in a way only a videogame could. It's a subdued police procedural with a distinctly British sensibility, told entirely out of order. You piece a suspect's story together by digging through a fragmented archive of short interrogation clips, tapping keywords into an old PC to uncover clues about what her story actually is. But the order you find the clips in, which is different for every person who plays the game, can distort your perception of the narrative in interesting ways. The detective story is as old as fiction itself, but Her Story is an excitingly fresh take on it. And if you want more, follow-up Telling Lies expands on the concept with a larger cast of characters and higher production values.

65. Ori and the Will of the Wisps 

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

Emma: Easily one of the prettiest games to release in 2020, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a Metroidvania that's truly rewarding to explore. New abilities are frequently introduced, encouraging you to thoroughly comb every inch of its beautiful map. Engaging in combat with enemies is difficult at first, but as you master your skill set, landing the perfect combo on a tough creature feels glorious. Be warned, its heartbreaking story will play on your mind for some time afterwards. 

64. Frostpunk

Released 2018 | Last position 63

Jody: 11 Bit Studios' other game, This War of Mine, is part of the curriculum in Polish schools now. Frostpunk taught me more. For starters, this game about managing a steampunk city through an ice age taught me the value of child labor and religious zealotry. 

I enacted harsh policies to keep citizens from freezing but found myself putting the brakes on as soon as I could. Sure, I passed the law allowing children to work because the engines were on the brink of failing. But when I transitioned them away from picking up coal to light kitchen duty, it felt like I was clawing back a society worth living in, scrambling up the hierarchy of needs. It's powerful stuff.

Chris: It's a challenging survival game and an atmospheric city builder, but at Frostpunk's core is a startlingly believable society simulator. And societies are awful. People are dumb, dishonest, prone to panic, and will accept a ridiculous rumor over a proven fact nine times out of ten. It doesn't matter how well your city is running, your citizens will find some excuse to lose hope, be miserable, and threaten to plunge you into ruin. At times it feels unfair, when everyone is fed and warm and they're still on the brink of revolt, but that's how society works. Humans are always the biggest problem to solve, and Frostpunk gets that.

63. Black Mesa

Released 2020 | Last position New entry 

Andy K: This ambitious fan-made remake is probably the best way to experience the Black Mesa Incident on a modern PC. It differs from the source material in a lot of ways—particularly the greatly expanded (and improved) Xen chapters—so purists might argue otherwise. But with bigger, more dramatic levels, production values approaching Half-Life 2, and new puzzles and set-pieces, Black Mesa breathes new life into Gordon Freeman's debut adventure. It's astonishing that something this confidently made is, essentially, a fan project. And doubly so that Valve allowed them to sell it on its own distribution platform. If you've ever felt the urge to return to the Black Mesa facility, this is the perfect excuse to go and reintroduce your crowbar to some headcrabs.

62. Euro Truck Simulator 2

Released 2012 | Last position 61

Andy K: It might not offer the high-speed thrills of Forza, but ETS2 remains one of the best driving games on PC. Not only do its trucks feel great to drive, with weighty, nuanced handling, but its world is absolutely massive. You can drive from the UK to Russia, stopping at Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and a dozen other countries along the way, which makes it a brilliant road trip simulator. It's also extremely chill, and I always have it installed in case I ever feel the need to hit the motorway and destress.

Phil: American Truck Simulator still slightly edges it out for me, with its focus on sweeping, dusty plains, but whichever flavour you pick, this is a masterful series that understands the simple pleasure of a) driving with purpose, accompanied by nothing but your a radio and your thoughts