120+ Best PC Games to Play in 2026: A Genre-by-Genre Guide

Here are 130 PC games to consider in 2026, organized by genre and play style rather than presented as a single supposedly definitive ranking. The list mixes newer-feeling picks with established classics, from short-session roguelikes to sprawling RPGs and multiplayer games. No one list fits every player: use the categories to find a style that appeals to you, then check the current store page and PC requirements for the exact game and edition.

How this list is organized

This is a discovery guide, not an objective ranking. It balances genre representation, broad appeal, lasting influence and variety in play style. The picks are grouped to help you narrow the field; their order within each group is not a score. PC Gamer distinguishes a guide focused mainly on newer games from an annual all-time list that also weighs historical significance. This guide makes room for both scopes rather than treating “best now” and “all-time great” as the same question.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Borderlands 4 Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code]	$35.00	Buy on Amazon
2		Battlefield 6 Standard -- PC EA App [Online Game Code]	$69.99	Buy on Amazon
3		Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box Standard - PC [Online Game Code]	$37.90	Buy on Amazon
4		Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Standard Edition - PC Steam [Online Game Code]	$49.99	Buy on Amazon

The selection follows the broad mix of action-adventures, RPGs, roguelikes, strategy and other categories reflected in TechSpot’s January 6, 2026 recommendations. TechSpot also cautions that readers may disagree with individual choices, and TechRadar notes that games and control preferences vary by player. Treat every entry as a candidate to investigate, not a promise that it will suit you.

What are the best PC games to play right now?

Start with the play style you want. The list below includes newer-feeling options and long-established favorites; it does not claim that every game is a current release or that each one is available in every region or edition.

#1 Best Overall

Sale

Borderlands 4 Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code]

• Pre-order Borderlands 4 and receive the Gilded Glory Pack featuring a Vault Hunter Skin, a Weapon Skin, and an ECHO-4 Drone Skin!*
• BE A BADASS: Become an unstoppable force of battle, blasting through enemies with an all-new arsenal of outrageous weaponry. Move across the Borderlands like never before—double jumping, gliding, dodging, grappling, and more—dealing death from every direction. Explode each encounter with devastating Action Skills that unleash your Vault Hunter's unique abilities. Craft your perfect build with branching skill trees and a deep, rewarding loot chase full of wild weapons and powerful gear.
• FIGHT SOLO OR CO-OP: Wreaking havoc across Kairos is awesome alone and even better with friends in 2-player splitscreen or up to 4-player online co-op.** Borderlands 4 is designed for co-op from the ground up; whether you're hunting for loot, tackling missions, or wandering freely, level scaling and individual difficulty keeps the party together and having fun.
• LESS BORDERS, MORE LANDS: Freely explore a vast and dangerous world rife with warring factions. Hop on your hover bike and ride through lush fields, towering peaks, and deadly deserts full of fearsome enemies, dynamic events, and engaging quests with unforgettable characters. Unite the people of Kairos and ignite a revolution, tackling this adventure however you see fit in a seamless Borderlands experience.

$35.00

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Action-adventure and open worlds

• Baldur’s Gate 3 — A choice-heavy fantasy adventure with turn-based combat and a substantial campaign.
• Cyberpunk 2077 — A first-person open-world RPG set in a dense science-fiction city.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 — A deliberate, story-led western adventure in a large open world.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — A sprawling fantasy quest built around exploration, story and monster hunting.
• Grand Theft Auto V — An open-world crime story with a separate online multiplayer component.
• Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition — A science-fiction action adventure focused on exploration and machine-hunting combat.
• Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered — A superhero action game centered on city traversal and combat.
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey — An open-world historical adventure with RPG progression.
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance — A historically grounded first-person RPG with a slower, simulation-minded approach.
• Death Stranding Director’s Cut — An unusual traversal-focused adventure about connecting isolated communities.

Role-playing games and immersive worlds

• Disco Elysium – The Final Cut — A dialogue-led detective RPG where choices and character skills shape the investigation.
• Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Definitive Edition — A tactical fantasy RPG designed for flexible problem-solving and cooperative play.
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition — A science-fiction trilogy combining squad combat, exploration and consequential conversations.
• Persona 5 Royal — A stylish turn-based RPG mixing dungeon adventures with a school-year social calendar.
• Final Fantasy XIV — A large online RPG with a story campaign and cooperative group content.
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous — A complex fantasy role-playing campaign with extensive character-building options.
• Dragon Age: Inquisition — A party-based fantasy RPG with exploration, companions and tactical combat.
• Fallout: New Vegas — A post-apocalyptic RPG known for branching quests and faction choices.
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon — A story-rich urban RPG that replaces the series’ usual action combat with turn-based battles.
• Undertale — A compact role-playing adventure that lets players approach encounters in unconventional ways.

Roguelikes and run-based games

• Hades — A fast action roguelike whose repeated runs advance a character-driven story.
• Dead Cells — A demanding action platformer built around procedurally varied runs and persistent unlocks.
• Slay the Spire — A deck-building roguelike where each climb calls for a new strategy.
• Balatro — A poker-inspired deck-building game focused on chaining scoring combinations.
• Risk of Rain 2 — A cooperative-capable third-person roguelike shooter with escalating difficulty during each run.
• Vampire Survivors — A simple-to-learn survival game about dodging crowds and building powerful weapon combinations.
• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth — A room-by-room action roguelike with a vast range of item combinations.
• Into the Breach — A turn-based tactics roguelike built around short, puzzle-like battles.
• Rogue Legacy 2 — A side-scrolling action roguelike where successive heirs inherit new traits.
• Spelunky 2 — A precise, punishing platforming roguelike with dangerous, interconnected levels.

Strategy, tactics and management

• Civilization VI — A turn-based empire-building strategy game spanning the ancient era to the future.
• Total War: Three Kingdoms — A historical strategy game combining turn-based empire management with real-time battles.
• XCOM 2 — A turn-based squad tactics game about resistance operations and high-stakes missions.
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — A real-time strategy classic with campaigns and competitive multiplayer.
• Stellaris — A grand strategy game about exploring space and managing an interstellar civilization.
• Crusader Kings III — A dynastic strategy sandbox driven by characters, politics and succession.
• Frostpunk — A survival city-builder in which harsh conditions force difficult policy choices.
• RimWorld — A colony simulation shaped by emergent stories and unpredictable crises.
• Factorio — A logistics and automation game about building and refining a vast production network.
• Against the Storm — A run-based city-builder that asks players to establish settlements in a hostile fantasy world.

Simulation, building and life games

• The Sims 4 — A life simulator focused on characters, homes and everyday storytelling.
• Microsoft Flight Simulator — A detailed civil flight simulator; check the specific edition and system requirements before buying.
• Euro Truck Simulator 2 — A long-haul driving and logistics simulation built around gradual business growth.
• American Truck Simulator — A trucking simulation focused on routes and freight across the United States.
• Planet Zoo — A zoo-building and management game with detailed habitat design.
• Planet Coaster — A theme-park builder centered on designing rides and managing visitor experience.
• Stardew Valley — A gentle farming and community-life game with optional exploration and co-op.
• House Flipper — A renovation simulator about cleaning, repairing and redesigning properties.
• PowerWash Simulator — A task-focused cleaning simulator built around methodical, low-pressure play.
• Kerbal Space Program — A physics-minded spaceflight sandbox about designing rockets and attempting missions.

Survival, crafting and co-op adventures

• Minecraft — A sandbox for building, exploration and survival, playable solo or with others.
• Valheim — A cooperative survival adventure with exploration, crafting and boss encounters.
• Terraria — A 2D sandbox blending exploration, building, crafting and action combat.
• Don’t Starve Together — A challenging cooperative survival game with a distinctive storybook style.
• Grounded — A cooperative survival adventure that shrinks its world to backyard scale.
• Subnautica — A solo underwater survival and exploration adventure.
• Raft — A cooperative survival game about expanding a small raft while exploring the ocean.
• Deep Rock Galactic — A cooperative first-person shooter about mining dangerous caves as a team of dwarves.
• Sea of Thieves — A shared-world pirate adventure centered on crew cooperation and naval encounters.
• Project Zomboid — A demanding isometric zombie-survival sandbox with extensive simulation systems.

First-person shooters and action games

• DOOM Eternal — A fast, demanding single-player shooter built around aggressive movement and combat.
• Half-Life: Alyx — A story-driven VR shooter; it requires compatible virtual-reality hardware.
• ULTRAKILL — A high-speed, score-focused shooter with retro-inspired visuals.
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection — A bundle of science-fiction shooter campaigns and multiplayer modes.
• Control Ultimate Edition — A supernatural third-person action game with a mysterious setting and telekinetic combat.
• Metro Exodus — A story-led shooter combining survival elements with open-area exploration.
• Resident Evil 4 — A third-person survival-horror action game built around tense encounters and resource management.
• Prey (2017) — An immersive first-person science-fiction adventure with flexible approaches to obstacles.
• Titanfall 2 — A compact, inventive shooter campaign paired with competitive multiplayer.
• Left 4 Dead 2 — A cooperative zombie shooter built around replayable team campaigns.

Platformers, puzzle games and adventures

• Hollow Knight — A challenging exploration-led action platformer set in a vast underground kingdom.
• Celeste — A precise platformer with demanding levels and a personal story.
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps — A fluid, visually rich action platformer with exploration and combat.
• Portal — A first-person puzzle game built around a device that links two surfaces.
• Portal 2 — A puzzle adventure with a full campaign and cooperative mode.
• Outer Wilds — An exploration mystery best approached with minimal spoilers.
• Return of the Obra Dinn — A distinctive deduction game about identifying the fate of a ship’s crew.
• INSIDE — A compact, atmospheric puzzle-platform adventure.
• Limbo — A monochrome puzzle-platformer built around environmental hazards.
• It Takes Two — A cooperative-only platform adventure designed for two players.

Competitive multiplayer, MOBAs and team games

• Counter-Strike 2 — A competitive team shooter where precision and coordination matter.
• Valorant — A tactical team shooter that combines gunplay with character abilities.
• Dota 2 — A complex free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game with a steep learning curve.
• League of Legends — A team-based MOBA built around lane strategy, champion roles and coordinated fights.
• Overwatch 2 — A hero-based team shooter with role-focused multiplayer matches.
• Rocket League — A competitive sports game in which rocket-powered cars play soccer.
• Team Fortress 2 — A class-based team shooter with a playful style and varied objectives.
• Warframe — A free-to-play cooperative action game with extensive progression; its systems can take time to learn.
• Path of Exile — A free-to-play online action RPG known for deep character customization.
• Apex Legends — A free-to-play squad battle royale shooter; check current availability and regional listing before installing.

Driving, sports and rhythm games

• Forza Horizon 5 — An open-world driving game with a large range of cars and events.
• Assetto Corsa Competizione — A focused racing simulation for players interested in GT competition.
• Trackmania — A time-trial racing game built around short runs and precision driving.
• Wreckfest — A contact-heavy racing game with demolition-derby events.
• EA Sports FC 24 — A football game with single-player and online modes; verify the edition and current PC listing.
• NBA 2K24 — A basketball simulation with multiple modes; check edition details and current availability.
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 — A score-chasing skateboarding game based on classic levels and trick challenges.
• Beat Saber — A rhythm game for compatible VR systems, pairing music with motion-controlled play.
• DJMAX RESPECT V — A keyboard-focused rhythm game with a large song library.
• Hi-Fi RUSH — A rhythm-inflected action game where combat moves sync with the soundtrack.

Indie, narrative and strategy-adjacent standouts

• Dave the Diver — A relaxed hybrid of underwater exploration, fishing and restaurant management.
• Dredge — A fishing adventure with exploration and unsettling supernatural elements.
• Citizen Sleeper — A narrative RPG about survival and relationships on a space station.
• Norco — A Southern Gothic point-and-click adventure with a strong narrative focus.
• What Remains of Edith Finch — A short, story-led exploration game told through varied interactive vignettes.
• Firewatch — A first-person narrative adventure set in a remote forest lookout.
• Night in the Woods — A character-focused adventure about returning to a struggling hometown.
• Returnal — A demanding science-fiction action game structured around repeated runs.
• Oxygen Not Included — A detailed colony simulation about keeping a group alive underground.
• FTL: Faster Than Light — A compact spaceship-management roguelike driven by tactical decisions and risk.

Which PC games are worth playing in 2026 if you want classics?

“Classic” here means an established game with a long-standing place in its genre, not necessarily a game that still receives updates or is currently sold in every region. These picks can be rewarding, but older titles may need different settings, compatibility steps or hardware assumptions than newer releases. Confirm that the edition you are considering works on your version of Windows and meets the publisher’s stated requirements.

• Half-Life 2 — A landmark first-person adventure with physics-driven encounters.
• System Shock 2 — A foundational immersive sim blending role-playing progression and survival horror.
• Deus Ex — A cyberpunk immersive sim that rewards stealth, exploration and player choice.
• Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition — A classic party-based fantasy RPG with a large campaign.
• Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition — A dialogue-heavy RPG centered on identity and consequence.
• Thief II: The Metal Age — A stealth game focused on careful movement and observation.
• Diablo II: Resurrected — A modernized edition of a seminal action RPG; check edition details before purchase.
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition — Included above for its enduring strategy appeal and substantial campaign content.
• StarCraft II — A real-time strategy series with story campaigns and competitive play.
• RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 — A classic theme-park management game built around compact parks and intricate scenarios.
• Quake — A foundational fast-paced shooter whose current edition and multiplayer options can vary.
• Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri — A science-fiction turn-based strategy game about ideological futures on an alien world.
• Braid — A puzzle-platformer that experiments with time manipulation.
• Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition — An approachable lane-based tower-defense game.
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 — A fast, campy real-time strategy classic; confirm current availability and compatibility.

Will these games run on my PC?

Not necessarily. Performance depends on the particular game, edition, resolution and settings, as well as the PC’s components. GameSpot’s 2026 list search result makes the same practical point: a reader’s PC can affect the experience. This list does not validate the requirements of all 130 entries individually. Before buying or installing, open the current official game page or store listing and compare its minimum and recommended requirements with your system, especially its operating system, processor, memory, graphics hardware and storage.

Rank #2

Battlefield 6 Standard -- PC EA App [Online Game Code]

• The ultimate all-out warfare experience.
• MULTIPLAYER Victory, however you envision it. Battlefield 6 has more ways to win than ever before.
• GLOBAL SCALE CAMPAIGN Join an elite squad of Marine Raiders fighting relentlessly to save a world on the edge of collapse.
• PORTAL Battlefield Portal is a massive sandbox where creators and players can push Battlefield to the limit. Take unprecedented control of your environment by moving, scaling, and duplicating objects.
• Pre-order Battlefield 6 Standard Edition and get the Tombstone Pack*, featuring: - Gravedigger Soldier Skin - “Fallen Heroes” Player Card - “Bandolier” Weapon Charm - “Express Delivery” Weapon Sticker - “Hatchet” L110 Weapon Package - “Doomsayer” Soldier Patch - Tombstone XP Boost Set

$69.99

Buy on Amazon

• Check the exact edition. Requirements can differ between a base game, remaster, complete edition, expansion or VR version.
• Use the publisher’s current specifications. Store pages and availability can change, and catalogues may differ by region.
• Separate minimum from recommended. Minimum requirements indicate a baseline, not a guarantee of smooth play at your preferred resolution or settings.
• Check online requirements. Multiplayer features may require an internet connection or other services; confirm on the relevant listing.
• Look for accessibility information. Difficulty options, subtitle controls, remapping and other features vary by game; check the game’s current description or settings information.

Do you need a controller to play PC games?

No. A keyboard and mouse are standard options for many PC games, and a controller is an optional alternative for compatible titles. TechRadar discusses keyboard-and-mouse, controller and Steam Deck play as different ways to approach PC games; that does not mean every game supports every input method or device. Check the specific game’s current listing if you want to use a controller, Steam Deck or VR equipment. A controller can be especially appealing for some platformers, driving games and action games, but it is a preference rather than a requirement for PC gaming.

Quick Recap

SaleBestseller No. 1

Borderlands 4 Standard - PC Steam [Online Game Code]

$35.00

Bestseller No. 2

Battlefield 6 Standard -- PC EA App [Online Game Code]

The ultimate all-out warfare experience.

$69.99

SaleBestseller No. 3

Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box Standard - PC [Online Game Code]

$37.90

Bestseller No. 4

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Standard Edition - PC Steam [Online Game Code]

$49.99

Rank #4

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Standard Edition - PC Steam [Online Game Code]

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever.
• Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.

$49.99

Buy on Amazon

Rank #3

Sale

Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box Standard - PC [Online Game Code]

• MAKE COMPLETE MAYHEM: Venture across the desert planet of Pandora and the brutal worlds beyond, playing as badass Vault Hunters in search of legendary loot. Every Borderlands game is packed with larger-than-life characters, treacherous worlds, and unforgettable stories.
• GO SOLO OR TEAM UP: Borderlands' intense looter-shooter action gets amped all the way up when you're in a co-op party of up to four players online! Grab your friends and share the joys of firing bazillions of guns, crafting perfect builds, and conquering fearsome bosses!
• EXPERIENCE THE SAGA SO FAR: Whether you're new to the Borderlands or reuniting with old friends, you'll love making Mayhem with the series' eccentric cast. From Lilith's heroic ascension to Handsome Jack's infamous rise and fall, you’ll meet an unforgettable group of bandits, rebels, heroes—and Claptrap, who is also there.

$37.90

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.