Here are five PC games you should play at least once in your life

THESE are older games you might have missed the first time around and some newer ones that don’t always get a huge amount of attention.

Kerbal Space Progam is an incredibly involved and realistic game

IT’S Labour Day on Monday for anyone fortunate enough to be living in the Sunshine State of Queensland — which means a day off work and with it, the potential for some extended gaming time.

To help make the most of this Labour Day long weekend, news.com.au gaming correspondent Royce Wilson has put together a list of PC games you should be playing.

Some are older ones you might have missed the first time around and some newer ones that don’t always get a huge amount of attention.

KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM (Squad)

Actual rocket science can be a lot of fun and you don’t need to be a mad scientist or a Big Bang Theory character to enjoy it.

Placed in charge of the space program on an Earth-like planet in a solar system almost identical to our own, your job in Kerbal Space Program is to take the Kerbals starwards, building rockets, space probes, satellites and space planes from a vast array of parts, mastering spaceflight and then moving to lunar landings before exploring the other planets of the solar system.

It’s an incredibly involved and realistic game that tackles a hard science subject in an extraordinarily fun and engaging way with deft touches of humour to help keep things approachable.

The sense of achievement I felt when my astronauts climbed out onto the lunar surface for the first time was unmatched by any game I’ve played in years; the game is unmissable for anyone interested in space exploration — or simply likes the idea of building their own rockets and seeing how well they might (or might not) work.

SHADOWRUN: HONG KONG (Harebrained Schemes)

Based on the pen-and-paper cyberpunk-meets-magic RPG series, Shadowrun: Hong Kong is set against the neon backdrop of a futuristic Hong Kong circa 2056 in which humans, elves, dwarfs, orks and trolls wield guns, magic and technology as they run the shadows performing deniable operations against the megacorporations which control the world.

Befitting the cyber neo-noir atmosphere of the series, what seems like a relatively straightforward mission to help your adoptive father out of a sticky situation soon turns into a morass of intrigue, deception, and a fight against something much more dark and sinister.

A combination of isometric view RPG and turn-based combat game, Shadowrun: Hong Kong has some outstanding dialogue, a good combat system and does an excellent job of being an enjoyable game as well as capturing the atmosphere of the pen-and-paper game in the process.

The previous two games in the series, Shadowrun Returns and Shadowrun: Dragonfall are also excellent and worth checking out as well.

SAINTS ROW THE THIRD (Volition)

It’s well known that the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series of games is a satire on modern American culture. So what happens when someone satirises GTA? You get Saints Row The Third, which is hilarious, over the top and ludicrously fun.

You play the leader of the Third Street Saints, a street gang that has sold out and turned into a corporate entertainment and merchandising empire. The premise is deliberately ludicrous and the game embraces it in a way rivalled only by the most recent Just Cause games, encouraging the player to cause as much chaos, havoc and destruction as possible.

Take the craziest stuff you’ve done in GTA, turn it up to 11, add even more outrageous humour and make the whole exercise as NSFW as possible (Not Safe For Work — nudity, swearing, adult themes, that sort of stuff) and you’ve got Saints Row The Third.

Amazingly, there’s even a cromulent story in there too — it’s not Shakespeare (this is a game where one of the weapons is a marital aid baseball bat, after all), but there’s an entertaining supporting cast and if you’re fan of open-world GTA-style games, it’s a must-play.

The sequel, Saints Row IV, is also recommended and worth playing, but you’re likely to get more out of it if you play this one first.

It’s a game about checking passports, but we swear its fun

PAPERS, PLEASE (Lucas Pope)

A game about checking passports sounds mind-numbingly tedious, but playing Papers, Please will not only dispel that notion, it will also give you a new appreciation for the work of customs and border protection staff too.

You play the passport control officer at the border of the fictional Soviet republic of Arstotzka in 1982, and your job is to make sure that only approved people are allowed to enter the country.

Sounds straightforward, except the entry requirements change daily and you have a family to feed, clothe and heat on a meagre wage, which is penalised when you let the wrong people in — or the reject the right people, or otherwise make an incorrect decision based on increasingly confusing and unclear requirements and documentation.

And that’s without the shadowy anti-government organisation that wants your help, the secret police who are watching your every move, and a succession of smugglers, sob stories, reprobates and other people who have propositions for you in exchange for an entry stamp in their passport.

The retro graphics fit the style of Papers, Please perfectly and the story is surprisingly compelling, creating a unique but engaging experience with some interesting moral quandaries and definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re fond of dystopian themes.

PORTAL 2 (Valve)

There’s a reason this game is permanent member of “Best Game Ever” lists, and that’s because it’s brilliant. Excellent first-person puzzle-based gameplay, ingenious physics, a compelling setting, pitch-black humour and one of the most memorable gaming antagonists of all time are just some of the many outstanding elements of Portal 2.

You play Chell, a woman imprisoned in an Aperture Science facility at some point in the future. The facility is run by a rogue AI named GLaDOS, who has lost her grip on reality and is determined to put the player through ever more elaborate obstacle courses with an ever-increasing likelihood of horrible death.

You set out to escape with the help aid of portal gun, allowing you to effectively shoot holes in the space-time continuum — step, jump or fall through one portal and instantly exit through other the other, creating countless possibilities for solving puzzles and getting through the labyrinthine facility.

The puzzles are challenging without ever being infuriating and the acerbic comments from the AI, absurdist humour, and environmental storytelling adds up to an outstanding game.

The predecessor in the series, Portal, uses the same format and is also brilliant and well worth playing — especially if you’ve ever wondered why your gaming friends are given to saying “the cake is a lie” whenever someone offers them cake.

What will you be playing over the long weekend? Tell us in the comments below.