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While our Game of the Year awards trickle out, we figured it was worth taking a look at all the games that scored at least an 80% or above. Some will be familiar and some utterly foreign, which we hope will shed some light on a few underdog titles, and at the very least, drive home the point that, damn, 2015 was a damn good year for games. Over the years we might see a few of these crop up on our annual 100 best PC games list.
We ordered the list by ascending score, but keep in mind, review scores are an attempt to quantify someone’s distinct, nuanced thoughts on a game. It’s an inherently flawed process. More than anything, they’re there to summarize our overall recommendation of the game, which you can determine from the text itself, or bounce off our review score guide if you want to boil it down further. Leave the number debates outside, because all of these games are worth playing in some capacity. Instead, take the time to review the list to jot what you might have missed—or, just shed a tear for having one of the best problems you can: too many good games to play.
A note on affiliates: some of our stories, like this one, include affiliate links to stores like Amazon. These online stores share a small amount of revenue with us if you buy something through one of these links.
Arma 3: Marksmen
80% | Read the review
Making a major impact to every basic combat operation in Arma 3, Marksmen is a substantial and successful overhaul.
Cities: Skylines: After Dark
80% | Read the review | Amazon
Provides nice visuals, new buildings, and some fun options for crafting and managing your city.
Grim Fandango Remastered
80% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A confident remaster of a true classic. The puzzles have aged badly, but the sparkling humour and world design still shine.
Grow Home
80% | Read the review | Amazon
Phallic imagery and sore wrists don’t stop this from being uniquely charming. Definitely worth a few quid and a few hours of your time.
Invisible Inc.
80% | Read the review
Engrossing tension between empowerment and disempowerment, greed and fear, across an eminently replayable system.
Resident Evil HD Remaster
80% | Read the review
A brilliant, brutal survival horror dripping in atmosphere. It’s from the oldest of schools, but still offers a rewarding challenge.
Satellite Reign
80% | Read the review
Satisfyingly freeform missions and rich systems to play with, set in one of the prettiest cyberpunk cities on PC.
SOMA
80% | Read the review
A masterpiece of audio and visual design, SOMA is atmospheric, cerebral, and occasionally frustrating.
Sunless Sea
80% | Read the review
Wonderful writing resting on top of infirm foundations. Almost a classic, Sunless Sea falls a few leagues short of its final destination.
The Swindle
80% | Read the review
An immensely satisfying mix of platforming, stealth, action, and resource management, with character.
Technobabylon
80% | Read the review
An old school point-and-click adventure with a captivating story, strong characters, and a rich, well-realised sci-fi setting.
World of Warships
80% | Read the review
World of Warships is Wargaming’s finest vehicle combat game, but its free-to-play model is getting prohibitively expensive.
Endless Legend: Guardians
81% | Read the review
A strong if familiar set of additions to a classy 4X game.
Kalimba
81% | Read the review
Kalimba is a beautiful, cheerful platformer that finds a neat middle ground between reflex-oriented running and taxing puzzle solving.
Grey Goo
82% | Read the review
Two very similar factions dull its edge, but Grey Goo’s old-school take on strategy still makes it one of the most interesting new RTS games in
Replay: VHS is not Dead
82% | Read the review
Occasionally punishing, but still a fun, time-bending, mind-rending platformer.
Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
82% | Read the review
Casual and silly yet still tense and exciting. It's a shame there's no online multiplayer.
Tales of Zestiria
82% | Read the review
It’s got nothing on Final Fantasy at its best, but it’s still an excellent example of the genre with some fun twists on RPG traditions.
Victor Vran
82% | Read the review
A limp story and weak jokes are worth putting up with for Victor Vran’s great combat system.
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
82% | Read the review | Amazon
A satisfying, self-contained adventure that plays to the series' strengths, but doesn't add anything novel outside of its storytelling.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A stripped down stealth offering that reinvigorates Assassin's Creed by putting attention back on the sneaky stuff.
Evolve
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A refreshingly asymmetrical FPS with terrific competitive depth, but the thrill of the hunt eventually begins to wane.
Football Manager 2016
83% | Read the review | Amazon
Still untouchable on the footy front—but shelf life and that inconsistent 3D engine chip away at its tender achilles.
Project Cars
83% | Read the review
Beautiful, bold and varied. Slightly Mad are uncompromising in their simulation.
Total War: Atilla
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A barbarous twist on Rome II, with a handful of fixes.
Westerado: Double Barreled
83% | Read the review
Gunfighting can become a key-mashing hassle, but otherwise it's a very enjoyable western adventure.
Heroes of the Storm
84% | Read the review
The most any studio has done to open up a complex genre to a new audience. Inviting, entertaining, and deceptively deep.
Axiom Verge
85% | Read the review
A massive, challenging retro-flavoured shooter that takes the Metroid formula and runs with it. Old school, but with a modern edge.
Mushroom 11
85% | Read the review
Both genuinely original and a smart physics puzzler, but aggravating in places, Mushroom 11 falls a few inches short of a classic.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
85% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A great expansion, and a promising sign of things to come. Issues aside, Heart of Thorns is a clever addition to one of the best MMOs around.
Cities: Skylines
86% | Read the review | Amazon
A handful of flaws, but this fun and addictive city-builder still climbs high.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
86% | Read the review
An exercise in heavenly multitasking that’s exhilarating alone but better with a friend.
Else Heart.Break()
86% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A beautiful adventure with heart, humour, and satisfying hacking puzzles you can enjoy even if you don’t know anything about coding.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
87% | Read the review
A hugely enjoyable addition to the world of Eorzea with plenty of room to spread your wings and explore
Frozen Cortex
87% | Read the review
There’s a lot to parse, but understanding the nuances of Frozen Cortex reveals a deep strategic experience.
Galactic Civilizations 3
87% | Read the review
More of a refresh than expected, but still hands down the best modern way to conquer unknown space.
Titan Souls
87% | Read the review
One singular great idea is the foundation for a smart and occasionally thrilling action puzzler.
Chaos Reborn
87% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A true wizard’s wheeze, and a fine return for one of gaming’s oldest tactical classics.
Crypt of the NecroDancer
87% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A beautifully designed, tough, and cheerful roguelike that rewards perseverance with a singular feeling of finesse.
Ori and the Blind Forest
87% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
Challenging and gorgeous, Ori is a classic platforming genre modernized and done strikingly well. Use a controller and save often.
Prison Architect
87% | Read the review | Chris Livingston’s Personal Pick
A complex, challenging, and grimly satisfying simulator.
Rocket League
87% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Best Multiplayer of 2015
Rocket League is fast, fun and relentlessly enjoyable. The best football game without feet.
Fallout 4
88% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A brilliant, massive sandbox of systems, albeit largely the same one Bethesda has been making for years.
Galak-Z
88% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
Challenging but immaculately calibrated controls power an exciting and enormously rewarding sci-fi roguelike.
Tales from the Borderlands
89% | Read the review | Amazon
Tales from the Borderlands is a big, funny adventure with great characters—worth playing even if you don't like Borderlands.
Her Story
90% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
An atmospheric, captivating crime thriller with an interactive story that unravels differently for every player.
Nuclear Throne
90% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A crowning achievement for Vlambeer, and one of the finest action-roguelikes ever made.
Rainbow Six Siege
90% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
Rainbow Six Siege is an accessible and deeply satisfying shooter that rewards planning and teamwork over a quick trigger finger.
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
90% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
Vermintide is a brilliant twist on the Left 4 Dead formula, and deserves much of the same praise heaped on Valve.
80 Days
91% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
One of the best story-driven games on PC, 80 Days is beautifully written, effortlessly charming, and thrillingly unpredictable.
Out of the Park Baseball 16
91% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
The most comprehensive sports sim going, and one that delivers fresh twists on old school, text-based systems Buy it.
Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void
91% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A brilliant strategy game that manages to be both broad and deep, challenging and accessible.
Undertale
91% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A hilarious JRPG romp with far more than laughs on its side.
Grand Theft Auto 5
92% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A sandbox of extraordinary scope created with a masterful attention to detail. A patchy campaign doesn't spoil this wonderful, evocative city.
Homeworld Remastered
92% | Read the review | Tom Senior’s Personal Pick | Amazon
A worthy upgrade to one of the best strategy games ever, featuring the best space battles in the business.
Pillars of Eternity
92% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A deep, rich, and wonderfully written RPG that lives up to the towering legacy of the games that inspired it.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
92% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Best Singleplayer of 2015 | Amazon
A big, beautiful, sprawling action RPG full of rich stories, and suffused with an oppressive darkness.
Metal Gear Solid 5
93% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Game of the Year 2015 | Amazon
A generous stealth sandbox masterpiece that'll delight both new and existing fans of Metal Gear.
Kerbal Space Program
96% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A perfect blend of science and slapstick, and a robust and compelling sandbox of possibility. Simply outstanding.
