Steam is home to thousands of games, so any list of the best ones is going to include most of the PC games we think are worth playing. It's also the most popular place for PC gamers to buy and download new games, and developers know it—hundreds of new games appear each month, and many of them, bluntly, just aren't worth your time.
2024 games: Upcoming releases
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best MMOs: Massive worlds
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
And while publishers are increasingly returning to Steam, there are still a handful of great games still locked to other launchers like Epic, GOG, Battle.net and even the EA App. It can be hard to wade through the sheer number of PC games and find the very best, so we've picked out some of the best choices that are available on Valve's platform.
If you're new to PC gaming, have a gift card to use, or are just looking for the next game to pick up, we've compiled a list of our recommendations to save you sifting through the store for yourself. Our broad categories feature recommendations that we've loved and would say any Steam user must play.
New Steam games
Some of our favorite recent Steam releases and their review scores.
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (95%)
- Zero Sievert (85%)
- Mechwarrior 5: Clans (82%)
For newcomers to PC gaming
If you're getting into PC gaming for the first time, here are some great games to start with.
Portal and Portal 2
You're a test subject trapped in a maze, equipped only with a gun and the will to escape. It sounds like standard videogame stuff, but there aren't any aliens coming after you, and your gun doesn't shoot bullets. It shoots portals, glowing passageways that connect to each other. Walk through one portal and you come out of another. That simple idea, plus gravity, results in dozens of ingenious puzzles, as well as an all-time favorite character in GlaDOS, the AI testing and taunting you. The first Portal is short and sweet, and the second one elaborates on the humor and puzzles in a longer adventure. Both are classics.
If you're new to first-person games on PC, the Portal games are one way to learn keyboard and mouse controls in a non-competitive environment. They're not brutally hard games, but tricky maneuvering is required in a few places. (Read our review of Portal 2.)
Slay the Spire
An easy game to get hooked on, and a definite upgrade from Windows Solitaire. It seems simple at first: You play attack and defense cards drawn from a small deck to kill monsters as you ascend a tower, adding to or subtracting from that deck as you go. After a few runs, though, you'll start to see the possibilities in the cards: combos and loops and synergies that can give you godlike power over monsters that previously stomped you, but only if you make the right choices on your next adventure. Once Slay the Spire clicks, the urge to try and try again is hard to resist. (Read our full review here.)
Civilization 6
The Civilization games used to be what people thought of when they imagined bleary-eyed computer goblins clicking away all night, unaware of the rising sun outside. It's the quintessential "just one more turn" game, where there's always a new short-term goal to reach as you build and manage a nation by founding cities, connecting them with roads and railways, researching technology, trading with other leaders, and waging wars.
There are many opinions on which Civ game is the best, and series regulars will gladly debate the merits of all of them. Civilization 6 is the newest version, and it's a great game which adds some welcome complexity to city design (here's our review). That said, if you don't want to spend $60, Civilization 5 is also a great strategy game for $30, and Civilization 4 is a classic at $20.
Destiny 2
A big, online shooter that you can play for free. It's possible to get really into Destiny 2—to the point that you develop esoteric opinions about the state of the game that baffle your friends—but just as possible to have a good time shooting aliens in the free story missions and then move on. (If you do get into it, the paid expansions and opinions about things called "exotics" and "Bright Dust" will be there for you.)
Try it with friends, if you can. And if you're not used to keyboard and mouse controls, Destiny 2 plays fine with a controller given its console pedigree (its developer, Bungie, first became famous making the Xbox's Halo games).
Great free-to-play games on Steam
Some of the best games on Steam can be played for free.
Explore big open worlds
These games can provide tens or hundreds of hours of experimentation and discovery. It really just depends on how much time you've got.
Enshrouded : The vast world of Enshrouded welcomes you as the last hope of a dying race. You'll spend a lot of time facing off with bosses around the expansive map and building a new life through crafting and scavenging off the land.
Red Dead Redemption 2: If you've got a fairly powerful PC, Rockstar's vast western tale is an excellent pick. Here's our review.
The Witcher 3: CD Projekt's landmark open world RPG, starring Geralt of novel, Netflix series, and bathtub fame.
Death Stranding: A supernatural backpacking adventure from Hideo Kojima with a bizarre and wonderful take on a post-apocalyptic USA. Our 2020 GOTY.
Grand Theft Auto 5: That famous game about stealing cars and otherwise committing crimes in a big city. Its online mode is also very popular.
Euro Truck Simulator 2: It's exactly what it sounds like, a game about driving trucks through Europe. You might be surprised by just how into it you get.
Challenge yourself
Action games that require precise timing, foresight, and cleverness.
Hades: Getting out of the underworld won't be easy, but you can do it if you keep trying. One of the best recent action games, with great characters.
Doom Eternal: In its modern form, the classic first-person shooter is a super-fast gauntlet of bloody demonic combat. We love it.
Elden Ring: The latest of the famously difficult action RPGs from developer FromSoftware, the developer behind the Dark Souls series. Like those games, it's brilliant if you have the patience for it.
Hollow Knight: An expansive 2D bug adventure that's full of secrets to discover, and just about the pinnacle of the 'Metroidvania' genre.
Investigate mysteries
Many of our favorite story-driven games are more or less detective stories. Here are a few of the best.
Disco Elysium: A brilliant, story-focused RPG about a hungover detective solving a murder in a grimy, fantastical city in the throes of class struggle. Our 2019 GOTY.
Immortality: An immersive interactive movie where you are the editor and the film might be haunted. This is another great mystery from the creator of Her Story and Telling Lies.
Paradise Killer: A wild anime and vaporwave-inspired setting houses one of our favorite new detective game designs. Find out who killed Paradise itself.
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: Perhaps an even more bizarre murder mystery. The premise: A bunch of students are trapped in their high school and told that the only way to escape is to murder a classmate without getting caught.
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games: Another great (and very strange) visual novel series, this one starts with a Saw-like premise, but goes in entirely its own direction.
Return of the Obra Dinn: Find out what happened to the Obra Dinn, a ship that was lost at sea, in this eerie, 1 bit-styled mystery. One of our top games of 2018.
Outer Wilds: Untangle a time loop that spans a whole solar system. (Not to be confused with The Outer Worlds, which is alright, too, but a different game entirely.)
Take it easy
Engrossing games that don't require ultra-sharp reflexes.
A Little to the Left : If you feel like you need to get your life in order, which face it a lot of us do, then A Little to the Left is bound to scratch that itch. Within its various puzzles, you'll neaten up, tidy, and organise every nook and cranny where your belongings may have scattered themselves.
Stardew Valley: Spend your days clearing out rocks and designing your ideal farm, and your evenings hanging out with new friends. One of our all-time favorites, and it has kept getting better over time.
A Short Hike: An ultra-charming game about exploring an island and making friends. Can be enjoyed in one nice sitting, if you like. (Cup of tea not required, but pleasant.)
What The Golf? Find out what golf is (maybe) in one of our favorite comedy games.
Dorfromantik: This super chill strategy game gives you a deck of hex tiles to build pastoral world with or, if you like, just snap them together at leisure in sandbox mode.
Chants of Sennaar: A lovely language-based puzzle adventure where you'll teach yourself several fictional languages as you climb a towering mountain inhabited by different societies who need to reconnect.
Play with friends
Some of our favorite online cooperative games.
We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship: If you want a co-op game more puzzle-based than the usual long, story-driven adventures, then We Were Here Expeditions: The Friendship is worth picking up. You and your companion will have your friendship tested throughout three trials which aim to test three separate skills, such as communication and teamwork. It's a short game, taking around two hours to complete.
One Armed Robber: If you don't want to commit to a game that requires a huge amount of skill or practice, One Armed Robber is an ideal fit. Regardless of your skills, this is a fantastic, fast-paced multiplayer game that challenges you and your friends to commit a huge heist.
Manic Mechanics: If you've played Overcooked then Manic Mechanics is incredibly similar, but instead of cooking you and three friends are responsible for repairing vehicles. It's a frantic but fun slice of multiplayer madness, whether you're playing with your close friends or with strangers online.
Valheim: A recent favorite. Build a Viking settlement with friends, craft weapons, and fight mythical bosses. Here's a guide for getting started.
Satisfactory: Work together to construct giant three-dimensional factories on an alien planet. Conveyer belt loops never stop being fun to design.
Left 4 Dead 2: A classic for just $10. You and up to three friends scramble to get from point A to point B while shooting waves of zombies.
Phasmophobia: Work with friends to investigate hauntings in what we recently called "the best ghost game ever made."
Dead by Daylight: A group of survivors try to escape one killer, who's also controlled by a player. Scary, and just a great asymmetrical multiplayer game.
Strategize and build
Games about tactics, physics, building, and raising a medieval family (there's always an outlier).
Dune: Imperium: You're in control of spice production within this deck builder, and you'll have to deploy harvesters and face any oncoming attacks from your competitors. Along the way, you will also want to earn the trust of different factions which raises the challenge of deciding whether you will side with them or go against their wishes in pursuit of spice.
XCOM 2: Build and manage your base and command soldiers against alien invaders in challenging turn-based combat. One of our favorite tactics games ever.
Factorio: Design and manage enormous 2D factories in this satisfying construction game. We gave it a 91% in our 2020 review.
Crusader Kings 3: It might take some time to learn, but once you do, this grand historical strategy game is one of the best ever, and generates brilliant medieval drama.
Total War: Warhammer 2: One of our favorite games in the Total War series, which has you commanding giant fantasy battles in real time. It's not a big deal if you're not familiar with the Warhammer universe.
