13 best PC games you can play right now
So you want a full list of the very best PC games that you can play in 2022? Well you’ve come to the right place, as we’ve got a full list here for you.
The PC landscape in 2022 is totally different.
We now have PlayStation games on PC, meaning you can play the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, and Days Gone on your laptop, if you’ve got one that’s beefy enough. We’ve also added Elden Ring because it’s the law and we don’t want to get fined. Hades has made an entrance, and Half-Life: Alyx is fighting the corner for VR titles on PC.
The games in the list are great, that’s important, but even more important is that you can play and enjoy them in the modern day, with a modern system. We’re not going to goad you into running a virtual machine from 1993 just to play Syndicate, regardless of how good it might be.
We’ll also be including the most recent games from many of these franchises, as they’re often the biggest and best iterations. With all of that out of the way, just scroll down below to find our expert list of the best PC games of all time.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Disco Elysium’s creators have a strong background in playing Dungeons & Dragons and you can easily tell because it constantly feels like the perfect homage to good old pen-and-paper RPGs. Even though it lacks combat, the game compensates with a deep dialogue system and dice rolls that can yield unpredictable story twists and guarantee a unique experience.
This isometric RPG puts you in the role of an amnesiac hungover detective in the impoverished district of Martinaise, part of the fictional city of Revachol, as you try to piece together both a murder case and your own identity.
Everything about the game – from its gorgeous art style to its story, its fully-acted dialogue in The Final Cut, the music, the political overtones and social commentary, the immense skill system that manifests itself as inner voices in your head, to the overall atmosphere it creates – is meticulously crafted and unlike anything you’re used to playing on your PC. Definitely a must-play, today and always.
Forza Horizon 5
Racing has been a big part of the PC’s history as a gaming platform, but it’s typically more likely to be racing simulators than arcade racers. Sim racing was born here, in an environment that knows a force feedback wheel when you plug one in.
But it’s 2021’s Forza Horizon 5, a very arcadey racer, that accelerates onto this list. Arguably still just using and building on the advances made in Horizon 3, the latest game still offers an unrivalled open-world racing experience where cars handle the way you want them to, not the way they necessarily would. The massive car collection, auction house economy, and seasonal events give it serious longevity, too. It’s one of the best racing games of all time, hands down.
Final Fantasy XIV
MMORPGs were once ruled exclusively by World of Warcraft. Not many other games in this list can claim to have an episode of South Park based on it, can they? Blizzard found an enticing way to bring players together in a fantasy “metaverse” and keep them there. But in a plot twist that would kick off the second act in any good RPG, Final Fantasy XIV came along and claimed the entire MMO landscape for itself.
But it wasn’t easy – the initial launch back in 2010 was considered a disaster. Square Enix fired or demoted those involved, player numbers were at best modest, and Final Fantasy looked as if it had to abandon its MMO ambitions. Then it did something miraculous: it returned in 2014 with A Realm Reborn and turned the whole story around, literally destroying the landscape of the previous game and erecting a brand new world in its place, one in which that rough launch is literally a piece of history.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring might be a recent release, but it’s sure to be remembered as a masterpiece, and it’s certainly one of the best PC games to play right now – if you don’t run into too many technical issues. With over 100 hours of open-world adventure to enjoy, it’s easily FromSoftware’s biggest game yet. From lakes of rot, to crooked keeps and sandy beaches, it’s hauntingly beautiful and uncompromisingly hostile.
Dogs with huge heads and huge, malnourished bodies? Yep. Singing old women who are secretly bats? Sure. You think you’ve seen what open-world games can do, but you haven’t – not until you’ve had your head stomped in by Elden Ring and realise you are actually a masochist.
Half-Life: Alyx
The best VR game ever made, Half-Life: Alyx is more than a showcase for cool tech. It’s a proper game and an amazing one at that. You can immerse yourself in City 17 like never before: stare in awe as striders stomp around, and run in fear as headcrabs attempt to claw at you through a window.
This game is genuinely cutting-edge when it comes to immersion and interactability – you can pick up and manipulate almost everything on-screen at all times. There’s nothing quite like catching a grenade and tossing it right back at enemies, or flipping off the G-Man. Nothing more satisfying, either.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Explore, expand, exploit, exterminate – simple tenets for a game of life-swallowing depth and engaging complexity like Civilization. Societies rise and fall over the course of a single game in Sid Meier’s slow-burn series, and Gandhi almost always ends up nuking you. VI might not be your favourite Civ game, but it’s excellent whether you’re a new player or have been in the game from the beginning. It’s not the only 4x game out there, but it is dripping in historical detail, hilarious moments, and capable of arresting every single neuron you have access to in a bid for victory.
Do you go after the science victory, capitalising on the bonus science points you earn from some ancient era wonders and spam universities across your realm? Maybe this game feels like a diplomatic run, using your silver tongue to get to the top. Or – no. Let’s do it the old-fashioned way with a domination victory. Ready the Sumerian war carts, we’re marching on Gandhi’s Athens at daybreak.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
When you think of the best RPGs, it’s hard not to immediately think of Skyrim. Even if you’ve not journeyed through the North quite yet, there’s still time since it keeps getting rereleased. There are side quests we picked up on the way to Whiterun to tell the Jarl about a dragon attack back in 2011 still waiting for us to attend to them – and that’s just how big Skyrim is.
The game’s modding scene hasn’t hurt its longevity. With the latest version of the game, a suite of the best mods, and a very powerful PC, you can make Skyrim look as good as the most modern triple-A titles – or better, honestly.
GTA V
Arguably among the greatest open-world games ever made, Grand Theft Auto V continues to top the charts as one of the most played PC games a full seven years after its debut on the platform.
Apart from its great story told through the eyes of three of the most iconic criminals in video games – Michael, Trevor, and Franklin – the game owes its success to GTA Online with tons of content updates, game modes, and additional missions. GTA V’s vast city of Los Santos, modelled after LA, is a playground with endless opportunities for things to do, places to explore and exploit, cars to steal and more.
Much like Skyrim, GTA V bolsters a large and active PC modding community, letting you spice up the vanilla experience with tweaks ranging from simple quality-of-life improvements to mods that give you a completely different game.
GTA V’s longevity and huge player following are true testaments to its quality. And the great news is that Rockstar Games has finally confirmed that GTA 6 is in the works.
Football Manager 2022
Football Manager, also known as Championship Manager, has been a staple of PC gaming for as long as there have been spreadsheets. During its lifespan it has simulated interpersonal locker room relationships and team talks, modelled the tactics du jour, and even introduced 3D graphics in the mid-noughties.
30 years later though, despite some monumental changes, the core experience has felt like a reassuring constant. It’s a rags-to-riches story that you write with every transfer, contract renewal, and formation change, told with vivid detail. And for that, FM earns its place in the PC pantheon among stiff management game competition. If you prefer more action, check our list of the best sports games.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 places you in the boots of a monster slayer who’s searching for his adopted daughter. In order to do that, Geralt must do the things witchers do: hunting monsters and accidentally getting caught up in political clashes that will dictate the fate of the continent.
Despite it being 100 hours long, there’s barely an ounce of fat on The Witcher 3. Almost every side quest is tied to an emotional story, and you’ll often be influencing the climax of each.
Minecraft
You can’t do everything in Minecraft, but you can get close. There aren’t many games in which you can build a slime farm, tame a horse, slay a dragon in an alternate dimension, and ride a rollercoaster. Minecraft’s powerful toolbox, with the artful blockiness, has enthralled players for over a decade and it still hasn’t satiated our appetite for madcap inventions, luxury homes, all-out server-wide wars, and co-op experiences.
Before Minecraft, survival in a game meant avoiding bullets behind a chest-high wall. Managing your hunger felt like a fresh challenge in the early days, and there’s something beautifully comforting about keeping safe from mobs at night by constructing a filthy mud shack. And then turning it into a graceless wooden shack. And, in time, a castle. If you’re after a fresh adventure of your own, look no further than our list of the best Minecraft seeds.
God of War
One of the best games on PS4 is now on PC, thanks to Sony’s push to publish more PlayStation exclusives on Steam. God of War is a proper adventure game with a mature but gentle story. Playing as the Greek God of War, Kratos, you find yourself in a land of Norse mythology – possibly Norway – trying to escape your violent past and raise your son.
The past has a way of catching up with us all though (and so does your axe, which you can throw and call back to you like Thor’s hammer). The story is excellent, the performances are amazing, the action sings — just do yourself a favour and play it with a controller, trust us on this.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Another great PS4 game that got ported to the PC as part of Sony’s ongoing efforts to expand the player base of its PlayStation exclusives. You play as Aloy, a young outcast huntress who sets out on a journey to uncover her past in a 31st-century post-apocalyptic Earth ravaged by machines, where humanity has survived as a tribal society.
Horizon Zero Dawn’s captivating story takes place in a vast open world with tons of mechanical monsters to slay, collectibles to discover, and side quests to complete, as you’re trying to save the planet from an impending threat.
The large variety of ranged weapons, armour, traps, and throwables at your disposal and the number of different machines you’ll encounter keep combat fresh and force you to think about your approach and tactics against each enemy type. Stealth plays an important role in the game and can be very satisfying if you choose to make it your playstyle.
The game is available on PC in its Complete Edition which also includes The Frozen Wilds expansion and a bunch of digital goodies and in-game items.
Written by Dave Aubrey and Stoyan Ovcharov on behalf of GLHF.
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