The 20 Best PC Games Right Now

CNET's Game of the Year for 2024, Balatro is one of those simple, addictive games that keeps you coming back for more. Inspired by poker, it's a deck-building roguelike that's easy to pick up and play on the Steam Deck. That was actually the key selling point of Balatro for many of my friends, who said that it kept them entertained for hours while waiting in the hospital for their spouse to give birth or watching the kids at home. 

Notably, you don't need to be a poker player to play or understand the game. Balatro essentially teaches itself to you as you play and no two runs are exactly the same. It's really about finding out the card synergies and trying out different combinations, so you can see why it's addictive. 

Best of all, Balatro has no real system requirements, taking up just 150MB of storage. You can play it on just about anything short of a potato.

Release Date: Feb. 20, 2024

Genre: Addictive roguelike poker deck builder

Developer: LocalThunk

- Ajay Kumar

Warframe is a free-to-play MMO in which, as a robot space ninja, you slice, dice and blast your enemies apart as you cut a swath across the solar system. It's also a game where you can kick back and do some fishing.

Yes, over a decade after its launch and many expansions later, Warframe is the video game equivalent of an "everything but the kitchen sink" soup, pulling together dozens of disparate ideas and activities. And against all odds, it's one of the best free-to-play games out there right now.

In my own time with Warframe, I've uncovered the secret origin of the player character, resolved a spacetime paradox, captained my own spaceship and ended a war several millennia in the making. The storylines are fantastic fodder for space opera fans.

I've also scanned plant life, mined for gems and ore, tranquilized and tagged endangered animals, decorated my own living quarters and played space Flappy Bird. Warframe is a power fantasy that lets you cut down dozens of enemies in mere seconds, but you can also pet your dog.

You'll never run out of things to do in Warframe -- and you'll never be forced to spend a single cent to experience all of the content on offer.

Release Date: March 25, 2013

Genre: Robot ninja looter-shooter MMO

Developer: Digital Extremes

- Tyler Graham

It shouldn't surprise you to see the lengthy fantasy RPG Baldur's Gate 3 on this list. CNET loved the game when we reviewed it on the Steam Deck and the game got rave reviews when it was first released. The game's creator Larian Studios was also responsible for PC RPG hits like Divinity Original Sin and its sequel -- award-winning games that paved the way for Larian to tackle the biggest game it's ever made. 

Set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, the party-based RPG takes you across the Forgotten Realms, a diverse world filled with quests, characters and enemies. Combat is similar to other Larian titles, with turn-based team battles and a wide array of skills, powers and fighting abilities. Even if you aren't a D&D veteran, there's plenty to do, see and explore across three massive acts that bring you from the shores of a distant beach to the big bad's tower at the end. 

Combat aside, a huge chunk of your time will be spent on quest and dialogue options and managing your party. Each character has their own moral compass, meaning they're not simply a silent companion that goes along with whatever you as the party leader want -- you'll talk with and learn from everyone you encounter, and if you aren't careful, disagreements can lead maligned allies to abandon you. As with Disco Elysium (below), this is a game where your choices matter and make a difference to the outcome of the story -- but trust us when we say that this is one of the most epic adventures in gaming. 

Release Date: Aug. 3, 2023

Genre: Dungeons & Dragons virtual tabletop RPG

Developer: Larian Studios

- Ajay Kumar

It's been nearly a decade since Overwatch stole our hearts and defined the hero shooter genre. And while the world could always use more heroes, no competitor has firmly stepped up to dethrone Overwatch 2 when it comes to producing inventive character designs, creating satisfying team synergies and priming hectic moment-to-moment gameplay. (Although the new Marvel Rivals is hot on Overwatch 2's heels.)

The sequel's five-versus-five format speeds up games and encourages more aggressive fights, and some of the best new additions to the roster have been designed around the quickened tempo. My personal favorite Overwatch 2 characters include a wasteland warrior who heals herself by slashing enemies and an archaeologist who uses their drill to infiltrate the enemy team from below the battlefield.

There's never a bad time to jump into Overwatch, as every other seasonal content update ships with a new hero. The newest addition to the roster, Hazard, is a tank who can mantle up walls and dive in on his foes.

With over 40 heroes spread across the tank, damage and support roles, you'll certainly find a play style that clicks with you.

Release Date: Aug. 10, 2023

Genre: Team-based hero shooter with a colorful cast of characters

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

- Tyler Graham

If you gravitate toward competitive games, Valorant is one of the most pedigreed esports you could jump into. It's a spiritual successor to tactical shooters like Counter-Strike and hero shooters such as Overwatch and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, a dynamic combination that makes it stand out in the genre, especially with its competitive play.

Like most hero shooters, Valorant has characters that cater to many different styles of play, allowing you to bring your own form of utility to the team. I prefer agents like Sova or Fade who can reveal enemies to the team, but players who enjoy faster-paced competitive games might prefer an agent like Iso, who is able to force one-on-one duels.

There's a lot of planning and strategy that goes into deciding how teams want to play each round, and those plans might have to change on the fly depending on how the previous round played out. Good aim is heavily rewarded, but so is careful positioning and your ability to outthink your opponent.

Valorant is one of the most dynamic shooters out right now, and you can pick up and play the game with any agent you want on PC right now.

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Genre: Tactical hero shooter with an emphasis on competition

Developer: Riot Games

- Tyler Graham

What if you were a cop but also a dumpster-diving hobo? You no longer need to ponder this question with Disco Elysium. This story and dialogue-driven RPG lets you be both. It's probably the hardest I've ever laughed playing a game.

There's no character customization to speak of, but as you go through the game, you can pick skills and "archetypes," like Thinker, Sensitive and Physical, to develop your version of the player character's scumbag cop. There are 24 skills in the game: some fascinating, some plain weird and some hilarious. One of my favorites is Inland Empire, which can make your playthrough wacky, by encouraging you to follow supernatural threads, and Savoir Faire, which makes you a cool, fast-talking super cop. 

Personally, I don't think what you pick really matters and I encourage you to try all three archetypes to get the full range of dialogue options and choices. Disco Elysium is funny, often bizarre, deeply political and intensely philosophical. It's by far one of the best and most memorable games I've played over the past several years.

Release Date: Oct. 15, 2019

Genre: Philosophical, political, irreverently funny point-and-click RPG

Developer: ZA/UM 

- Ajay Kumar

Odds are good that you've gallivanted across the Lands Between at least once before. At least 25 million gamers have. But if you haven't played Elden Ring on PC, you're missing out on the definitive experience (and a completely new way to play the game).

This is FromSoftware's most expansive RPG to date, featuring some of the hardest bosses the studio has ever created. Secrets lurk around nearly every corner, and it feels truly awesome to be whisked away by a mimic chest, to encounter a boss that only strikes at a certain time of day or to find a whole new underground layer to the world. What a world it is, with so many different lands to explore and difficult bosses to tackle, you'll easily put a hundred hours into the game exploring its deep depths and high peaks.

More importantly, it's never been easier to download the Seamless Co-op mod, which makes Elden Ring feel like an entirely different experience. Being able to explore the entirety of the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow with a friend definitely makes the game less difficult, but there's something special about finding new treasures and secret evergaols when you're on an expedition with someone else.

Having played through Elden Ring solo and with my friend, I can tell you that it's like playing two different games. Get Elden Ring on PC, get the Seamless Co-op mod and relive that joy and wonder of discovering the Lands Between for the first time all over again. Then get ready, because the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC offers a whole new world to conquer thereafter. There's even another co-op spinoff, Elden Ring Nightreign, coming in 2025. 

Release Date: Feb. 25, 2022

Genre: Epic open-world soulslike adventure

Developer: FromSoftware

- Tyler Graham

As a lifelong fan of turn-based monster-taming games, there's a looming question any time I try a new one: Is this providing some experience that Pokemon can't? Cassette Beasts' resounding answer is "yes."

The combination of a tight combat system, a colorful cast of anachronistic characters and a compelling mystery narrative is enough to carry players through the base game.

Cassette Beasts also offers a more robust postgame experience than Pokemon has in over a decade -- shiny hunting (or "bootleg hunting") is legitimately engaging, as players need to defeat souped-up fusion monsters to break them down into their base forms.

Rematches with buffed-up base game bosses and a new secret location also ensure that there's a challenging content loop that lasts far beyond the final boss. As a monster-catching aficionado, Cassette Beasts impressed me in a way that Pokemon hasn't been able to in years.

Release Date: April 26, 2023

Genre: Turn-based monster battler with a musical twist

Developer: Bytten Studio

- Tyler Graham

Frequently referred to as a real-time RPG in the spirit of yesteryear's Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Dread Delusion is one of the best fantasy games released in recent years. You play a recently released prisoner -- but your new lease on life hinges on the completion of a dangerous quest for the Apostatic Union, a ruling group of dogmatic rationalists who are trying to stamp out the worship of folk gods once and for all.

To that end, you're sent to an alien-feeling backwater, a floating archipelago rife with cults, monsters and eldritch gods. The Oneiric Isles are a disorienting setting, full of megaflora and broken ruins. Approaching them requires class specialization, but you get to decide what that looks like. I chose to put my skill points into stealth and lockpicking, allowing me to bypass most combat and break into secret areas, but you might choose to brute force your way through encounters or master the arcane arts.

Dread Delusion feels like a true successor to older exploratory RPGs. You're not going to be able to see everything this game has to offer in one play-through, and that's by design -- the way you build your character will largely decide the locations, quests and monsters you'll see. At the same time, much of the baggage from the genre has been left behind, leaving a smooth hack-and-slash (or spell-slinging) gameplay experience.

This is a game that doesn't just pay homage to old RPGs, but recreates the experience in a package that's more palatable for modern audiences.

Release Date: May 14, 2024

Genre: Open-world immersive dark fantasy RPG

Developer: Lovely Hellplace

- Tyler Graham

Every once in a while, when I'm feeling burnt out, I climb Celeste Mountain. A lot of players will connect with Celeste's protagonist, Maddie, who embarks on her journey to conquer her anxiety and discover her own place in the world.

Celeste is a tough but fair platforming game that forces you to hone your skills to make any progress. I've seen it compared to Super Meat Boy in terms of difficulty, which is a pretty fair assessment.

You start with barebones mechanics like jumping, dashing and wall climbing -- your platforming meat and potatoes. As you progress up the mountain, you'll need to learn how to reset your dash in midair or leap from wall to wall, sometimes having to chain these moves together multiple times before touching the ground.

Even when you conquer the mountain, there's a ton of content to double back on and finish up, including hundreds of collectibles and "B-sides" to each level that make them much harder to complete.

Repeating the journey to the top is a challenging task, but mastering the mountain can be quite calming. Celeste is a labor of personal introspection, interweaving precise platforming trials with a story about identity and self-worth. Innovative mechanics and a touching narrative make the game a must-play platformer.

Release Date: Jan. 25, 2018

Genre: Precision platformer with emotional narrative

Developer: Maddy Makes Games

- Tyler Graham

It's been a while since Creative Assembly released a pure historical Total War game. There was Three Kingdoms a few years back, followed by Troy, a Saga game. Both had significant mythological elements with superpowered single-unit generals, fantasy units like tamed tigers and minotaurs, and historical modes that were an afterthought at best. It wasn't much for history fans to chew on. 

That's changed with Total War: Pharaoh. Set during the chaos of the Bronze Age collapse, Pharaoh was released to mixed reviews due to its small scope, with the map featuring just Egypt, Canaan and parts of Anatolia. A massive free update has brought huge improvements to the game. The map is expanded to include all of classical Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Greece, and there are dozens of new factions, including Babylon, Assyria, Elam, Uratu, the Sea People, Troy and more. 

The gameplay mechanics are well refined, with distinct kingship and government mechanics based on the region you're playing in, improved diplomacy and trade resources that really matter. As with other games in the series, Pharaoh is a sandbox, allowing you to build your kingdom as you see fit, whether that means pillaging and burning across the world as the nomadic Sea People or preserving civilization from collapse as Babylon or the Hittites. 

As someone with over 3,000 hours spread across various Total War games, I feel comfortable saying Total War: Pharaoh is not just one of the best Total War games in recent years, it's one of the best strategy games, period.

Release Date: Oct. 11, 2023

Genre: Historical real time strategy

Developer: Creative Assembly

- Ajay Kumar

In many ways, Stardew Valley revitalized public interest in cozy farming sims. It's a spiritual successor to Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, and is in many ways designed to be the same type of "forever game."

There are seemingly endless ways to optimize your farm, fishing and mining strategies -- in fact, the game can be a little bit overwhelming for a beginner. After you get over that initial barrier to entry, time falls away as you meet the townspeople, take part in the town's events and restore the local community center to its former glory.

Stardew Valley becomes a comfortable home-away-from-home; an electronic facsimile of life outside of the suburban humdrum that lets you escape the real world for a while. With co-op, you can even bring your partner or some friends along for the ride -- the quaint coastal town of Stardew Valley is approachable for just about any type of gamer.

Release Date: Feb. 26, 2016

Genre: Cozy Harvest Moon-inspired farming sim

Developer: ConcernedApe

- Tyler Graham

PC players have the unique chance to play one of the greatest love letters to FromSoftware's original game design.

Lunacid adapts many of the gameplay mechanics of King's Field while echoing some of the gothic visuals and Lovecraftian story beats from Bloodborne. Your goal is to venture to the furthest depths of the Great Well and wake the eldritch Sleeper. That doesn't mean the game doesn't have anything new to offer.

You'll constantly be on your toes while exploring the world carved out within the well, finding a dream-like patchwork of dangerous places. Standout locales include a decadent vampire castle perched atop a blood lake, a sprawling library full of sentient tomes and a cultish serpent temple chock-full of lizard men.

There are hidden items around every corner for the most adventurous players to find, and it'll take quite a bit of exploration to put together the pieces to see the four separate endings. If this game sinks its hooks in you, you'll no doubt be attempting to solve the true ending of Lunacid -- and discovering the secret of the Sleeper.

Release Date: Oct. 30, 2023

Genre: King's Field-like dark fantasy adventure

Developer: Kira

- Tyler Graham

The action-adventure game Black Myth: Wukong takes its inspiration from Journey to the West, one of the four famous classic novels of Chinese literature. Journey to the West may not be as well known to Western audiences as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which imprinted itself on my teenage mind with Koei's ROTK series, but it's a famous story in China and features in various manga, games and anime. It's unsurprisingly one of the fastest-selling games of all time, with 20 million copies sold in its first month. 

Wukong puts you in the role of the Destined One (Sun Wukong, also called Monkey King), taking you across a lush open world filled with enemies. Fans of Elden Ring and Dark Souls will find much of the gameplay familiar, with tough bosses and the need to master your various staff techniques and combine different spells, abilities, weapons and equipment. 

With the mix of unique settings, stunning graphics and challenging combat, Black Myth: Wukong should keep you going for hours. It's also set to get an expansion for those who can't get enough of it. Do keep in mind, if you're not a fan of soulslike games, Wukong may not be for you.

Release Date: Aug. 20, 2024

Genre: Boss-rush soulslike based on Chinese literature

Developer: Game Science

- Ajay Kumar

I like fast games. I like games that test my reflexes and my ability to think on the fly. But I never understood the appeal of speedrunning until I picked up Neon White.

This is a game that's as much a first-person shooter as it is a puzzle. Your weapons and your enemies aren't just there to kill or be killed: They serve as different pieces of utility to reach the finish line of each level.

There was never a dull moment as I worked to get the ace medal on every level. The satisfying rhythm to the gameplay is an engagement trap, combining fluid running and gunning with double jumps, rocket jumps, ground pounds, grappling hooks and other complex movement abilities to keep players looping the same levels until they've mastered the perfect loop.

Eventually there comes a point when choosing what demons to pick off first and what weapon cards to burn for extra mobility becomes second nature. Once you enter that zone, you'll understand the appeal of Neon White's endless speedrunning too.

Release Date: June 16, 2022

Genre: FPS puzzle platformer with a focus on speedrunning

Developer: Angel Matrix

- Tyler Graham

Consider this a recruitment rally for the frontlines, soldiers. In Helldivers 2, humanity has unified to wage a galactic war on three fronts against the ravenous Terminids, socialist Automatons and autocratic Illuminate.

The only thing standing between the continuance of Managed Democracy and our enemies is you and your allies, the elite (read: expendable) orbital drop troopers known as Helldivers. With an arsenal of traditional and futuristic guns, a growing list of destructive airstrikes and heavy weapon drops and the righteous aura of vote-protecting mass killers, players hurl themselves into the fray to fight and die (and die again) for liberty. 

While Helldivers 2's moment-to-moment gameplay is chaotic and disorganized frontline fun, the real draw is the meta-narrative, the synthesis of a tug-of-war between the community and game masters (together, they are Joel) at developer Arrowhead Studios.

As players struggle to hold control over certain planets, storylines naturally emerge -- famously, the Helldivers fought tooth and nail through devastating losses to capture the dense jungle planet of Malevelon Creek from the Automatons and were rewarded with a commemorative cape.

These massive events that make Helldivers 2 feel like a living, breathing universe are far from over -- the Illuminate siege of Super Earth was only just repelled by players and their brave compatriots in the Super Earth Armed Forces -- so there's never been a better time to arm your Hellpods and see what's next for this third-person horde shooter.

Release Date: Feb. 8, 2024

Genre: Cooperative tactical third-person horde shooter

Developer: Arrowhead Studios

- Tyler Graham

Hopoo Games could have made Risk of Rain 2 an expanded version of its first roguelike sidescroller, adding new player characters, enemies and items. Instead, the sequel is an entirely different genre of game, marking a wildly successful reinvention of an indie darling as one of the best third-person shooters of all time.

Your journey begins with a crash landing, as the ship carrying the player characters -- the UES Safe Travels -- is shot down while responding to a distress beacon activated by the survivors of the first Risk of Rain game. To escape Petrichor V, the crew must pull together and explore the planet's diverse biomes -- and contend with its dangerous wildlife.

With playable characters ranging from the dual-wielding Commando and the highly accurate Railgunner to the stealthy Bandit and the dexterous Mercenary, there's a play style for every type of gamer in Risk of Rain 2. You'll stumble upon more than 200 pieces of equipment as you battle across the surface of the alien world, creating unique builds every time you complete a run.

Whether you're trying to arcane the secrets of Petrichor V and unlock special artifact powers or you're trying to slay the final boss to escape the planet's orbit, there's always another achievement to hunt in Risk of Rain 2.

Release Date: Aug. 11, 2020

Genre: Sci-fi roguelike third-person shooter

Developer: Hopoo Games

- Tyler Graham

Vampire Survivors may have kickstarted the creation of bullet heaven games (reverse bullet hells, where the player is filling the screen with projectiles rather than the enemies), but it didn't perfect them. That honor belongs to Soulstone Survivors and its absurd amount of unlockable in-game content.

In Soulstone Survivors, you'll largely be creating synergistic builds to mow down hordes of enemies with no real narrative backbone -- but the deep meta-progression and ramping power scaling is more than enough to keep you coming back for more.

There are currently 22 playable characters who can wield over 100 weapons (that change character stats and starting skills) and more than 350 in-game abilities to unlock. These characters can be augmented with dozens of special runic powers and leveled up in order to unlock unique skill trees. If that sounds like a lot of numbers, that's because it really is -- I've put hundreds of hours into Soulstone Survivors, and I'm only just now scratching the surface of Titan Hunt, the new boss raid game mode.

This game is the king of "just one more run" gameplay, and frequently to my detriment. There have been many nights when I boot up Soulstone Survivors and then look at the clock to see that 3 hours have passed and it's somehow 2 a.m. I end up going to bed, closing my eyes and thinking about what builds I want to try next as I drift off to sleep.

Soulstone Survivors is well on its way to leaving early access, with only one major update remaining to round out the full release on June 17. This game will alter your brain chemistry as you chase bigger numbers and quicker ways to wipe the enemies off your screen.

Release Date: Nov. 7, 2022

Genre: Vampire Survivors-like bullet heaven with scaling difficulty and a raid boss mode

Developer: Game Smithing Limited

- Tyler Graham

Re-Logic's hit indie game is much more than a 2D Minecraft clone, contrary to what some folks would have you believe. Terraria is a surprisingly deep RPG that combines resource gathering, base building and multiple flavors of combat in a barely cohesive fantasy world governed by the rule of cool.

The game's sandbox world is full of different biomes that house specialized threats, such as the crimson Brain of Cthulhu and the corrupt Eater of Worlds. To take on these threats above the ground, players will need to head beneath the surface to dig up ore and find secret items in buried treasure chests.

Once you've made enough progress, you can head to the underworld (which is literally the bottom layer of Terraria's map -- you'll find it by digging straight down) and defeat the Wall of Flesh, which ramps the game up into hard mode. From here, there are almost a dozen more bosses to fight, new ores to mine and random events that will change your world.

Terraria might be over a decade old, but it was still getting major content updates until the release of Journey's End in May 2020. This is one of the most feature-rich RPGs on PC, and you can always keep generating new sandboxes to bring your favorite toys into.

Release Date: May 16, 2011

Genre: 2D RPG sandbox with deep progression systems

Developer: Re-Logic

- Tyler Graham

When reality starts folding in on itself, interdimensional delivery girl Zoe can only do what she does best: Outrun the collapse of the universe.

Haste is a speedrunning game with a vague Sonic-the-Hedgehog-meets-Tiny-Wings vibe. Players need to avoid plumes of fire, missiles, lasers and other stage hazards while landing on downwards slopes to build additional speed. If you go too slow, you risk being swallowed up by the void creeping up behind you.

Each shard of reality is a new procedurally generated set of levels with a bullet hell boss at the end. Haste adapts a similar progression system to Slay the Spire -- players choose pathways that will determine if they'll be navigating regular or hard levels, taking on special challenges, buying items from a merchant or resting up by a fire to regain health.

Once you've taken down every boss and completed the final shard, there are still more meta-progression upgrades you can unlock to make Zoe zip around even faster -- those will be useful in the game's endless mode, where players can race to see who can complete the most levels before wiping out on increasingly difficult obstacles.

Release Date: April 1, 2025

Genre: Breakneck speedrunner with roguelike elements

Developer: Landfall

- Tyler Graham