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Welcome to the PC Gamer Top 100—our annual list of the best games you can play right now. For the last few months, the PC Gamer team has been busy whittling down the hundreds of thousands of games available on PC; campaigning, voting and arguing until we arrived at the 100 games you'll find below. It's a list designed to represent the passion of our global team of over 30 writers and editors. If you're wondering why Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is back on the list for the first time in years, it's because Josh made a fully animated powerpoint presentation that he delivered to the team while dressed up as a pirate. Not everyone went to those lengths to advocate for their chosen favourites, but you can be sure every pick is a game that at least a few people on staff care deeply about. As always, the key question when creating a list of the best games is: What does it mean to be the 'best'? Is it a canon classic—a game that can't be ignored for its legacy to all of PC gaming? Is it an original idea, offering up something that's never been seen before? Or, more simply, is it a finely crafted masterpiece—the pinnacle of its chosen genre? In truth, the answer is that can be any or all of the above, and so those are the criteria our scoring system is built around. How we make the list Ahead of the vote, the PC Gamer team is free to nominate any PC game for Top 100 voting. These nominations gave us a longlist of 300 games. Each member of the team is then asked to rate those games subjectively across three weighted categories. Quality: How good is it? A purely personal rating of its calibre as a game. (60% of the Top 100 Score)Importance: How noteworthy is it? Its influence on other games and beyond. (20% of the Top 100 Score)Freshness: How unique is it? Its ability to stand out from other games. (20% of the Top 100 Score) Importance and Freshness are weighted around the Top 100's role as an annual list. Too much weighting to Importance, and the list remains stagnant each year. Too much to Freshness, and there's little consistency. Quality remains the most important category—if we don't think a game is actually good, it doesn't make the Top 100. The sum of each game's ratings is divided by its number of voters, and then run through a few special formula—including a confidence rating that penalises games that receive too few votes—to produce the final Top 100 score. We then make a few custom tweaks. In the interest of variety, we restrict the list to one game per series—we'll only include multiple if we feel the games are different enough from each other to both be worth mentioning, for instance Baldur's Gates 2 and 3. Otherwise the lower scoring games in a series are removed. For the final step, every voter can pitch for one change to the list—promoting a game higher, or demoting it lower. Each pitch is voted on by the wider team, and if it gets a majority vote in favour, the change is made. Where that's happened, we've noted the editor responsible for its new placing. Only after all that do we arrive at the 100 games you'll find below. We feel it's an accurate reflection of the PC Gamer team, and who we are as gamers—our best attempt to corral our subjective, varied tastes into a list of games we wholeheartedly recommend. As always, we'd love to hear what you think—both of the list and how we make it. If you've got thoughts to share, email us at editors@pcgamer.com. Enjoy! 100. Unavowed Released: August 8, 2018 | Top 100 Score: 210.60, promoted by Robin Valentine Fraser Brown, Online Editor: I'm extremely relieved that Unavowed managed to slip in at the end—though it deserves to be so much higher. This is Wadjet Eye's best adventure game, and thus simply one of the best adventure games ever made, whether you're an old-school point-and-click aficionado or have more modern sensibilities. A smart, pleasingly tangled supernatural story; a fascinating roster of supernatural investigators, from a hardboiled fire mage to a spirit medium with a tiny BFF, waiting to help you on your cases; clever puzzles that don't outstay their welcome—I love it. If you've got an appetite for urban supernatural affairs like Dresden Files or Constantine, you're gonna have a great time. Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: I'm a little sad that no one's really picked up the formula laid down by Unavowed—even Wadjet itself—because it feels like a really strong case to me for how point-and-click adventures can modernise for the new era. So much of the genre is about nostalgia and throwbacks, but by bringing the best of it together with BioWare-inspired elements such as a party of companions and a story full of heavy moral choices, Unavowed feels really fresh and different. 99. Cities: Skylines Released: August 10, 2015 | Top 100 Score: 213.12, promoted by Fraser Brown Fraser Brown, Online Editor: The sequel has dented the brand, but the original Cities: Skylines remains a supremely impressive city builder, elevated by years of DLC and mods. It's better than the follow up in nearly every regard—including being considerably better looking. If you've got a sudden craving to become a modern urban planner, there simply isn't a better option, and I suspect this will be the case for a very long time. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: City builders are thriving, in part because so many developers are putting their own specific, weird or cosy twists on the genre. If you want the pure hit, though—the 100% uncut thrill of residential zoning, tax policies and traffic flow management—Cities: Skylines has spent the last decade as the undisputed king. Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: Cities: Skylines is the world's best lesson in the incomparable power of the noble roundabout. 98. Against The Storm Released: December 8, 2023 | Top 100 Score: 213.80, promoted by Evan Lahti Evan Lahti, Strategic Director: It strikes a perfect balance of resource-accumulation coziness (bake pies for frogs, brew beavers beer, delight your heat-loving lizards by assigning them to work in a kiln) and managing the looming stress of the storm, which pours on ever-increasing hardships that drive your animal and human villagers away or kill them outright. In a game about imperial settlements, it asks you to be thoughtful about your impact on the environment: the cost of each felled tree is felt, as nature itself resents your presence and gets more dangerous as you cut further into it. The art is warm, effortlessly readable, and original. The structure of the game is one of the most clever I've seen in a roguelike—each run is one leg of an excursion into an overworld map's fog of war. The latest DLC adds gloomy bats as a playable species, and a giant fuzzy creature-pet you need to placate by throwing resources at it. Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: On paper, 'roguelite citybuilder' is my personal videogame nightmare. But Against the Storm is so devilishly moreish that I've struggled to put it down. Its dark and dreary vibe is surprisingly cosy, and there's no better feeling than finally getting the blueprint for that one building you need to have your entire encampment running like a well-oiled machine. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: Far more than a gimmick, the roguelite structure of randomised modifiers and choose-between-three-things upgrades works so well to enhance Against the Storm's win condition. You're not here to build a city that lasts. Your job is to satisfy your liege's demands and get out of dodge—moving on to the next town. Whatever buildings you're offered, whatever randomly generated threats are thrown your way, there's always a path to victory if you're flexible enough to use the options you're given. In the very best runs, that victory arrives moments before the inevitable disaster—when you've pushed the economy and your people beyond breaking point in order to squeeze out the last few production cycles needed to finish the job. 97. Dave the Diver Released: June 28, 2023 | Top 100 Score: 218.12 Evan Lahti, Strategic Director: This quaint-seeming underwater platformer is actually a bottomless array of features and minigames. "Surely weapon upgrading will be the last feature I unlock," you naively say to yourself before unlocking a photography system, fish farming, seahorse racing, and a multi-hour sea-people storyline. Otherwise, the over-the-top anime cutscenes (one of the DLCs introduces Godzilla) pair well with Dave's coastal calm. Christopher Livingston, Senior Editor: Yeah, when I was creeping through a stealth section while armed guards hunted me, I asked myself "Is this game ever going to stop giving me new stuff to do?" Nope. Even the end credits has a new minigame to play. 96. Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director's Cut Released: February 27, 2014 | Top 100 Score: 218.40 Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: I like games where wizards and warriors go into a dungeon, avoid traps, fight monsters, and emerge with a pile of loot, and I also like games where hackers and cyborgs go into a corporation, avoid cameras, fight security guards, and emerge with a cache of data. Shadowrun: Dragonfall looks at the similarities between fantasy dungeon crawls and cyberpunk heists, takes one in each hand, and says, "Now kiss!" The result is a turn-based RPG full of engagingly warped takes on the clichés. The dragon doesn't demand tribute, they host a talk show and demand attention. The dwarf doesn't craft magic swords, they code ultimate leet warez. And the hub's not a medieval town, it's an anarchist collective in the middle of Berlin. Released: December 10, 2018 | Top 100 Score: 218.40 Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: The trailblazer of indie boomer shooters is still hard to beat after seven years and hundreds of lo-fi, movement and exploration-heavy FPSes released in its wake. Dusk remains fresh and surprising, even on repeat playthroughs. It manages breathtaking visuals (E2M4, E3M7) that once again show how art direction can trump fidelity. Dusk is also a very funny game, boasting some of the most earned jump scares in all of gaming, an aspect of the shooter that prefaced creator David Szymanski's breakout horror game, Iron Lung. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: I love Dusk because it looks old, but it feels new: There's a clear reverence for the games that inspired it, but it doesn't wallow in nostalgia the way lesser games might. The stripped-down approach to the genre is equally great. It works brilliantly well because it's so pure—just guns, weird bad guys, clever levels, and nothing to do but shoot. 94. Metaphor: ReFantazio Released: October 11, 2024 | Top 100 Score: 219.00 Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Not into Persona? I wasn't, either, and it didn't matter—even if you aren't comparing it to some of Atlus' other games, Metaphor: ReFantazio stands on its own two leather boots as an excellent JRPG. Which it shouldn't be, because "it's an election campaign trail" is a terrible elevator pitch for a genre that usually hinges on killing god at some point. That still happens, but the road to get there is downright fascinating—and surprisingly thoughtful. Mind, I'd never been exposed to Atlas' writing before, but I was always astonished at how cleverly it played around with the very serious themes it juggled. The flawed concept of utopia, the dangers of nationalism, the way people in power turn us on each other to hold onto it. Also, you can turn into a giant fantasy mecha and hit someone with a sword very hard. Overall, Metaphor: ReFantazio is bursting with intriguing fantasy politics, well-written characters, and a main villain I absolutely did not develop a strong crush on. Stop asking. Fraser Brown, Online Editor: It might not be the highest-ranked JRPG on this list, but I remain convinced Metaphor is the greatest JRPG ever made, taking all the good stuff from Persona 5 and sticking it in a better game. As an added bonus: no more school. Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Persona's rag-tag teen shtick is losing its relatability as I barrel into my 30s, which makes me all the more grateful Metaphor exists. Fantasy, politics, and like Harvey said, a whole heaping of hot villains to love-hate. It's shorter than a Persona game with a lot less min-maxing to stress out over, too. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: The only videogame brave enough to just make Reinhard von Lohengramm its primary antagonist and so, by default, one of the best videogames ever made. 93. Hotline Miami Released: October 23, 2012 | Top 100 Score: 219.20 Jake Tucker, PC Gaming Show Editorial Director: Fast, brutal, and utterly hypnotic, Hotline Miami is a game that grabs you by the throat and demands attention. It's a puzzle game at heart, with every room being a conundrum solved only through violence. You slam through doors, batter white-suited Russian gangsters with hammers (and other bits), and do everything in your power to survive in this top-down fever dream of neon, blood, and carnage. It's twitchy, unforgiving and a total headfuck if you pay attention to the story. All of this is threaded through with a killer soundtrack that pulses through the entire game. Each track doesn't just accompany the violence, it feels like it drives it, surreal electronic music that amps up Hotline Miami's grim atmosphere. Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: This OST still makes up a big chunk of my workout playlist. 92. Lethal Company Released: October 23, 2023 | Top 100 Score: 219.40 Elie Gould, News Writer: Multiplayer wackiness is at an all-time high right now and that is thanks in large part to this hilarious co-op horror game. The best part? Zeekerss just gives players all the tools they need to create some zany moments and unforgettable memories and then just stands back and lets everyone get on with it. Evan Lahti, Strategic Director: We were sprinting back to the dropship when, inches away from the door, an Eyeless Dog snatched me up in its teeth. My teammate, who had been just two meters ahead of me, was puzzled when I didn't walk in behind him, having just heard me over prox chat seconds ago. "Uh… Evan?" He waits nine seconds for me to appear. With perfect comedic timing, the Eyeless Dog casually walks into the spaceship like it belongs there and eats my teammate. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Turns out, positional audio might be the single best game mechanic for making you laugh—Lethal Company might have a lot of imitators, but that's only because it was the first to recognise this immutable fact. It's also gone and revitalised (potentially created?) a genre unto itself. Yes, the term "friendslop" is a little derogatory, and I reckon we ought to come up with something better, but "nu-party game" doesn't quite slide off the tongue. Besides, I could never mean anything by it. Because after playing similar games as well—including the excellent Peak—I'm just glad these indie playrooms are giving me an excuse to hang out with my mates again. 91. Microsoft Flight Simulator Released: August 18, 2020 | Top 100 Score: 219.43 Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: Alright, so the 2024 edition was pretty donked up. But Flight Sim 2020's 1:1 scale virtual Earth remains one of the most impressive technical marvels in videogames, one that's responsible for the closest I've ever come to having a spiritual experience with a controller in my hands: soaring north through Italy to approach the Alps rising to meet the evening sun, and feeling firsthand how terribly small we are. Christopher Livingston, Senior Editor: It's the rare game that feels like we haven't quite invented the hardware powerful enough to handle it, and may not for another decade. The level of detail in the planes is simply ridiculous, with each and every switch and button and toggle modeled and completely functional, which alone puts every other sim game to shame. And once you've gotten over the beauty of the cockpit, you can look out the window and see, y'know, the entire planet in real time. It's still hard to believe this sim really exists. 90. Team Fortress 2 Released: October 10, 2007 | Top 100 Score: 219.60 Rich Stanton, Senior Editor: Still the pinnacle of the class-based shooter, the world's premiere hat simulator, and the exemplar of how to build-out and maintain a truly community-driven title. Valve continues to issue periodic updates, albeit using crowdsourced content, and every so often still surprises fans by doing things like releasing a new comic (after a "relatively short" seven-year delay). Not bad going for a game that, on October 10, will somehow be 18 years old. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: I'd be hard-pressed to find a game that's contributed as much to internet gaming culture as Team Fortress 2—with memes that've been burned into the public consciousness with all the fire of a branding iron. Couple that with some of the best class shooter gameplay to ever do it, and you've got one fresh-baked cultural touchstone ready to go. In other words, what makes Team Fortress 2 a good videogame? Well, if it were a bad videogame, I wouldn't be sittin' here, discussin' it with ya, now would I? Released: June 16, 2025 | Top 100 Score: 220.20 Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Peak came out of nowhere and climbed to the top of my estimation—it's basically everything you'd want out of its genre of friendship-based co-op fun. You and your friends must ascend while maintaining your stamina, naturally crafting moments of peak physical comedy via the power of positional voice chat and a physics engine that hates you. Or you can just yell at your co-workers. I'm over it, Mollie, don't worry. Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Help me up that damn cliff next time, Harvey! Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: No. Morgan Park, Staff Writer: I love that Peak is adjacent to, but not mimicking, the crop of co-op friendly horror games spawned from Phasmophobia. Unlike Lethal Company or REPO, Peak is bright, inviting, and enduringly simple. Yet that doesn't betray a level of skill and coordination needed to clear its highest peaks. You can feel the expertise of two skilled indies in Peak. Yes, it was mostly made in a month, but there's high craft here. 88. The Sims 4 Released: September 2, 2014 | Top 100 Score: 220.20 Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Other life sims have attempted to knock The Sims 4 off its throne, but it continues to be top dog. If you're willing to look past a small loan's worth of DLC, The Sims 4 still excels with a well-oiled simulation, and a build mode I wish more games would crib from. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Do I think the Sims 4 deserves to be the only game of its ilk? In a just world, and given EA's reputation for microtransactions, maybe not. But as Mollie rightly points out, nobody's managed to compete with it. Is the genre cursed by a witch? Perhaps. Lauren Morton, SEO Editor: The Sims 4 returns after the coup I committed against the series last year. Inzoi's launch this year hasn't really managed to shake The Sims 4's stranglehold on this genre of one, so on the list it stays, just banished to the 80s. Every year there are two wolves inside me: the one who still spends dozens of hours meticulously decorating houses each year and the one who knows that each new expansion brings increasingly cursed save file bugs to the game. Maybe next year I'll get everyone to vote in The Sims 2 now that we've got the Legacy Collection available. 87. Subnautica Released: January 23, 2018 | Top 100 Score: 220.33 Elie Gould, News Writer: I can't go any deeper than up to my shoulders in the sea so it just goes to show how much I love Subnautica for all its beautiful corals, intuitive crafting, and fun base building that I'm able to stomach the sickening thalassophobia. Morgan Park, Staff Writer: Timeless survival crafting goodness, easily gotten on a bargain these days. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: Subnautica may be the best videogame fakeout I've ever encountered. An exciting sci-fi game! An intriguing exploration adventure! Some… weird criticisms of capitalism here and there? And after lulling me into lazy-eyed complacency, my first goddamn Leviathan encounter. Most of the noises I made in that moment were not components of the English language, and of the bits that were, I cannot repeat them here, but it was balls-out terror worthy of anything conjured by Frictional. Those undersea horrors were my least favorite part of the game—I get creeped out by Jacques Cousteau documentaries, so going face to face with massive, unearthly horrors lurking in the black depths of an alien world is definitely not my thing—but it lent Subnautica a sense of intensity it otherwise would've lacked, making it unforgettable in the process. 86. Rocket League Released: July 7, 2015 | Top 100 Score: 220.50 Joe Donnelly, PC Gaming Show Deputy Editor: Rocket League is the epitome of 'easy to learn, difficult to master'. At top-level, it's a football-aping sports sim about small cars knocking around a massive ball inside a cage. But beneath this veneer lies a game of skill, tactics, aerial mastery and astute physics manipulation, with a decade's worth of crossover and customisation content. Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: I have such fond memories of the times I used to get home from work and jump straight into split screen Rocket League with a friend. As Joe points out, it's a magical combo of being easy enough to pick up and play, but still with enough depth and skill ceiling that you find yourself striving towards mastery. It's a surprisingly hard balance to achieve with a game. 85. Thank Goodness You're Here! Released: August 1, 2024 | Top 100 Score: 220.80 Kara Phillips, Evergreen Writer: Still one of the only games that has made me ugly cackle at my PC. I'm not convinced I understand what a comedy slapformer is, but I know for sure that I want more of them. Especially if Matt Berry is somehow involved. Thank Goodness You're Here! is filled with minigames that are as unsettling as they are entertaining. Fraser Brown, Online Editor: Thank Goodness You're Here! is an unequivocally brilliant comedy game. Not "funny for a game" but simply funny. Phenomenal gags, lots of slapping, and a tiny man who defies the laws of reality. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: It's an absurdist satire, sure, but also incredibly loving in its homage to Northern England. An absolute delight, finally beating out Jazzpunk for me as the best comedy you can play on your PC. Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: I grew up on shows like The Goodies and The Young Ones so I thought British comedy was in my veins, but the third time Thank Goodness You're Here! expected me to piss myself at a man who collects WWII memorabilia having to clean up chimney dust I realized it was too British even for me. 84. Halo: The Master Chief Collection Released: December 3, 2019 | Top 100 Score: 221.00 Rich Stanton, Senior Editor: It doesn't feel like Microsoft knows what to do with Halo these days, but luckily it got one thing right: The Master Chief Collection is the definitive way to enjoy the series' golden years. It's a generous package too: Five superb Bungie titles plus the half-decent Halo 4, with multiplayer modes aplenty including co-op and crossplay functionality. It's the single best way both start, and finish, the fight. Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: Battle rifle <3 Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: I have to second Lincoln here, Battle Rifle indeed <3. After firmly switching to PC and not having a way to replay Halo for many years, the classic games dimmed in my memory a bit. But the old magic returned immediately when I booted up Halo: Reach on my desktop for the first time at the end of 2019. For my money, the double Scarab fight at the end of Halo 3 is the defining moment of the series, and an all-timer FPS fight. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: I played the hell out of Halo 1—in its intended Castilian Spanish (don't worry about it)—back when I was a kid, but I'll be honest: I never really understood the hype. That is until pandemic lockdowns led me to return to the game and finally try to beat it solo on Legendary difficulty. It was like sharpening the whole thing to a fine point. Suddenly, facets of the design that had slid off my incredibly smooth brain like water from a duck's back became impossible to ignore. The placement of enemies and composition of their units, the precise natures of every individual weapon, the layout of each combat encounter: it all dovetailed into something I actually enjoyed ramming my head into over and over again. And then there's Halo 2, which, battle rifle <3. 83. Echo Point Nova Released: September 24, 2024| Top 100 Score: 221.00 Morgan Park, Staff Writer: Echo Point Nova is a sprawling open-world FPS for trickshot sickos. It's co-op Doom for friends who'd spend entire nights trying to do cool stuff in Tony Hawk or Skate. It's the "yes and" movement shooter unconcerned with rational speed limits and unapologetically made for a mouse. It's the cure to boomer shooter bloat—all killer, no filler, flow state action ripped out of a reality where Tribes sold more copies than Call of Duty. Echo Point Nova is a beautiful object that I'm continually impressed by: 1-4 player co-op that's equal parts arena shooter and extreme sports platformer. It's got Crackdown agility orbs. You can slap stickers on your hoverboard. There's a modifier to turn on friendly fire, and another that makes the floor lava. Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: You can use a grappling hook on clouds, you can hoverboard up walls, and you can blast guys with a shotgun while backflipping in first person. What else is there to say? 82. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Released: April 24, 2025 | Top 100 Score: 221.63 Jess Kinghorn, Hardware Writer: The isolated residents of Lumiere know their days are only ever counting down. Every year the Paintress across the sea wakes to inscribe a new number upon her monolith. If you're that age or older, well, time's up and you 'gommage', becoming nothing more than petals upon the breeze. Staring down this end, the titular expeditioners instead choose to spend their final year of life taking the fight to the Paintress through many, many turn-based fights. The twist here is that combat features an element of timing, with perfect parries against nightmarish painted creations netting you devastating counter attacks. Marinated in the angst of many classic console JRPGs from the early oughts, Clair Obscur wrings out its existential set up for all its worth with a cast of party members I'm actually close in age to. Between that, lively dust-ups, and world-building that wouldn't feel out of place in a premiere YA novel, it's little wonder this French-developed RPG has since become my whole personality. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: I don't have enough good words to say about Clair Obscur—I could talk about its very competent and interesting spin on turn-based RPG combat, but what really hit me sideways was its story. Clair Obscur starts out a solid, intriguing jog, then breaks out into a dead sprint after the end of Act 2 that had me glued to my screen until I'd finished it. It's rare my opinion on a narrative flips so quickly from mild enjoyment to absolute fascination, but Clair Obscur really did just pull a magic trick on me. Except the dove in this question was a fistful of existential dread, and the magician punched me in the face after yelling "tah-dah!" Also, you can electrocute a mime to death and steal its baguette. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: The most aggressively French Final Fantasy X you can play, which I mean as a complement. I don't love it as much as some people on team—unlike Harvey, I wasn't enamoured by its third act—but overall there's much to praise about Clair Obscur's design, story and characters. Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: If I had my way, this game would be banned from the list forever just for those absolutely criminal Gestral Beach platforming sections. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: I respect Phil's opinion, but not Robin's, and will be challenging him to single combat over it. The criminally terrible nature of the minigames is half of the point. All JRPGs need an optional, awfully-designed activity, like FF7 Remake's squatting section. Just be glad we didn't see Gustave drop it low. 81. Blue Prince Released: April 10, 2025 | Top 100 Score: 221.97 Chris Livingston, Senior Editor: I never would have guessed there'd be a fresh take on the now-ancient "walking around a mysterious house solving a bunch of puzzles" genre—but then Blue Prince became a nearly year-long obsession for me. Its roguelite elements can be occasionally frustrating, but the depth of the mansion's mysteries and the sheer brilliance of developer Tonda Ros' puzzle designs made this one of my favorite games of the past, I dunno, decade? Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: Like a fool, I went into Blue Prince expecting a short, breezy 10-or-so-hour puzzler that I could lose myself in between playing larger games. But then it just… keeps going, each mystery hinting at something deeper than I ever expected. If I have one criticism of Blue Prince it's that, at the end of my 77 hours with the game, its late-late-late-late game puzzles became so obtuse that they wore out my patience. If I have a second criticism, it's that the Gallery room is some spectacular bullshit. Everything else, though? Flawless. A perfectly executed mystery box that keeps unfolding in fascinating ways, with an ambience that drives you forward into its surprising twists and heartfelt story. 80. Stellaris Released: May 9, 2016 | Top 100 Score: 222.00 Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: Though recent DLC and support has been uneven at best, this nearly 10 year old 4X remains a wonderfully rich and dense simulation of a whole galaxy's worth of life, culture, and inevitably war. At this point in its life, it has almost every sci-fi trope you can imagine covered, playing out like a grand and remarkably coherent mash-up of every space sci-fi series in the universe. Fraser Brown, Online Editor: Yeah, that's absolutely the appeal, here. Sure, it's a great real-time 4X, but there are loads of great 4Xs—Stellaris is special because it's like 20 great sci-fi games rolled into one. And it's elevated even further by the incredible mods, like Star Trek: New Horizons, an absurdly huge Star Trek mod that lets you take control of a species from the show, leading them from their first warp-flight adventures to galactic conquest. Stellaris is effectively the best Star Trek game ever made. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: I am a sentient communist rock on a quest to dominate the galaxy. Also, Stellaris is good. 79. Cult of the Lamb Released: August 11, 2022 | Top 100 Score: 222.00 Kara Phillips, Evergreen Writer: Cult of the Lamb is one of those games you expect to keep you entertained for a couple of hours, but quickly becomes an all consuming entity that perfectly blends cult management and heretic slaying roguelike mechanics. There is nothing better than running your own little cult full of woodland creatures who praise the very ground you walk on. Elie Gould, News Writer: This game makes me go non-verbal for hours, would recommend. Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: Since the first time I saw The Wicker Man I've wanted to be in charge of my own pagan settlement like Lord Summerisle. Cult of the Lamb comes closest to that, only instead of Chrisopher Lee at his peak I'm an adorable sheep. Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: There's such a magic to the way Cult of the Lamb mashes its two genres together. In some ways, both halves are quite shallow, and by the time I was done with my original run, I left the game feeling like I'd enjoyed my time with it but there wasn't enough depth to ever bring me back. A few months later, I had to jump back in just to check out one of the updates for a news piece… and before I knew it, I was completely hooked all over again, throwing myself at all the new post-game content. It's the absolute definition of a game that's more than just the sum of its parts—the way village life and dungeon runs feed into each other makes for one of the best videogame hooks ever. 78. Total War: Warhammer 3 Released: February 17, 2022 | Top 100 Score: 222.00 Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: The joy of early Total War games was the zoom. Order a block of soldiers around, then scroll the mousewheel and watch individual soldiers charge – mindblowing 25 years ago. Warhammer gives us back that joyous spectacle, because when you zoom in it's no longer dudes with spears, it's a bear-rider slamming into hot pink daemons. Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: After 620 hours (not to mention 2,000 hours with the first and second), I still find myself loading up Total War: Warhammer 3 and hopping into Immortal Empires. The joy of Total War is that every campaign is different; new early game challenges, late-game obstacles, random factions in ascendancy—it lends itself so well to repeat play. This is also helped by Creative Assembly's continued support through DLC, but also via free updates and reworks that add entirely new features, such as Unusual Locations, or the Dwarf Deeps we got last year. Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: I've never been able to get on board with Total War. Something about the way combat works is just anathema to me—I can never quite find the fun in it. And yet I've spent hours and hours bashing my head against it in the Total War: Warhammer games, and even bought DLCs I'll probably never be brave enough to try. I can't help myself—it's the pure authenticity of the series to the lore and history of Warhammer Fantasy that keeps me coming back despite my ineptitude. It's an absolute feast of nostalgia for a longtime fan like myself, bringing in elements from across the decades. Not only does it now include every proper faction the tabletop game had, it dives into wonderful obscurity, resurrecting unit and army ideas from one-off campaigns, hazily remembered White Dwarf articles and even stranger sources. There are Warhammer games I prefer to play, but I don't think any of them can beat Total War: Warhammer for sheer density of reverence to the franchise. 77. What Remains of Edith Finch Released: April 25, 2017 | Top 100 Score: 222.00 Joe Donnelly, PC Gaming Show Deputy Editor: What Remains of Edith Finch arrived towards the end of the walking sim craze that swept the 2010s indie scene, but it is, for me, the pinnacle of that movement. In telling the titular character's poignant family story, it is one of the most imaginative, creative, thoughtful, heartfelt and truly unpredictable adventures you'll ever play. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: I reviewed What Remains of Edith Finch for PC Gamer back in 2017 and I absolutely stand by its 91% score. Just thinking about it now, all these years later, I still feel that knot in my gut: Such a brilliant yet powerfully sad story, made all the more sorrowful by its inevitability. Calling it a "walking simulator" is accurate but woefully inadequate. It is, as I said back then, a masterful piece of storytelling: Uplifting, devastating, and utterly unforgettable. 76. Alien: Isolation Released: October 6, 2014 | Top 100 Score: 222.32 Rich Stanton, Senior Editor: The best licensed game ever? Alien: Isolation is one of those rare examples of a game that truly 'gets' the source material, and its setting of Sevastopol is a brilliant slice of retro-futurist design that takes all its cues from the Nostromo while still feeling like its own place. Probably the single best piece of Alien media outside of the first two films, and also just straight-up one of the scariest things I've ever played. Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: You're 100% right when you say it 'gets' the source material, Rich. I remember interviewing the Creative Director, Alistair Hope, about working on the game, and it was immediately obvious both him and the team were just massive Alien fans who'd essentially pushed and lobbied to get this made at Creative Assembly. It's still strange to think that the foremost British strategy developer made such an excellent survival horror game, but it shows what you can do when you respect and love the source material. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: No game ever had a better save mechanic. Saving your progress in Alien: Isolation means running up to a dreadfully exposed and wonderfully lit public phone and standing there like a lemon while you wait for the machine to stop beeping at you. It's a fantastic exercise in suspense: craning your head from side to side but unable to look behind you as you pray the xenomorph won't turn you into lunch while you're distracted. Perfection. Fraser Brown, Online Editor: It took a full decade for me to finish this game because I had to keep checking out. I'm a big ol' coward. But I kept coming back! I couldn't help myself. Alien is the pinnacle of sci-fi horror, and Alien: Isolation is the game that captures its horrible magic the best. 75. Monster Hunter: World Released: August 8, 2018 | Top 100 Score: 223.13 Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Oof, it hurts to put World here over 2025's Wilds, but the newer game's sublime monster-killing action can't overcome its flaws: PC performance, lacking challenge, and promising environment systems it does practically nothing with. Lincoln Carpenter, News Writer: While Wilds is in desperate need of a redemption arc it may never get, World is a complete package. Morgan Park, Staff Writer: If I were stranded on a monster-infested island, this is the Monster Hunter I'd take with me. Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: I mean, I'd probably just take my Insect Glaive… a copy of Monster Hunter World ain't going to do much when you throw it at that hungry Tigrex lumbering towards you. 74. Cyberpunk 2077 Released: December 10, 2020 | Top 100 Score: 218.57 promoted by Ted Litchfield Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: Sorry haters, I didn't need a Netflix anime or balance patch to realize a simple truth in December 2020: Cyberpunk was always good. Sure, its many patches really made it sing, but I took the long view from the start: Many all-timer RPGs (some further down this list) were overambitious, uneven, and technically quite shit at launch. CD Projekt, you watch the streets, Troika will watch the skies. Night City is a triumph, a union of graphical grunt and art direction that has 2077 remaining a benchmarker's favorite. Cyberpunk's main quest is better plotted and paced than The Witcher 3's, while it continues CDPR's industry-leading standard of quality and quantity for side content. The sidequest centering on a VR recreation of Christ's Passion made out of an actual snuff film is pure Philip K. Dickian sci-fi excellence, and one of my very favorite quests in RPG history. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Unlike our true believer Ted here, I had the fortune of coming to Cyberpunk 2077 late—and while I'm willing to take his word for it that the game endured a harsher reception than was strictly deserved, I'm kinda glad I waited. The game I wound up playing was incredibly put together and, best of all, my car didn't explode at random intervals. Phantom Liberty is also a masterclass in DLC, somehow managing to patch itself into the central nervous system of Night City without ruining anything. Regardless of its jank history, Cyberpunk 2077 has been forged into an all-timer RPG that's deservedly up there with the greats. Also, in the grim corporate future, you can go Cool/Reflex and wavedash your enemies to death. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: Like Harvey, I waited nearly four years before jumping into Cyberpunk 2077, and as far as I'm concerned it was the best thing I could've done. The game I played was brilliant: Occasionally hinky, as such massive undertakings inevitably are, but solid, steady, and alive in a way that precious few games are. The city is largely an illusion, yes, but the sensation of depth is so well done—I fast-travelled once to see what it was like, but otherwise I drove everywhere, or often just walked so I could more easily take it all in. Yeah, the future is godawful by every measure, but I could not get enough of it. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: I just love Johnny Silverhand, is the thing. He's a prick, an egotist, a selfish asshole, and my bestest pal in the whole world. Getting to know the guy—who never stops being a dickhead, but who has a lot of depth nonetheless—was my favourite part of the whole Cyberpunk 2077 experience. Andy C: Neither here nor there as far as 2077 goes, but this is the one thing that gives me pause about Cyberpunk 2. How do you possibly pull it off without Johnny? 73. FTL: Faster Than Light Released: September 14, 2012 | Top 100 Score: 223.41 Morgan Park, Staff Writer: Call it nostalgia, but FTL is still one of the first roguelikes I'd recommend to friends. Its Star Trek trappings compliment its narrative pit stops perfectly, and I've yet to play a game since that weaponizes door controls. Evan Lahti, Strategic Director: I'm surprised to see it make our list. I think countless roguelikes have made meals out of its ingredients that leave FTL looking like the primordial soup of modern roguelikes. Fraser Brown, Online Editor: Few of the roguelikes that came after it nailed the fundamentals so effortlessly, though. So many of these games are described as "FTL but…" when all we really need is good old fashioned FTL. There's a reason why, all these years later, it's still inspiring studios and comparisons. Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Playing the more recent (also great!) Cobalt Core reinforced for me that FTL nailed the essentials; there's so much room for panic, disaster, triage, and triumph in the moments you're micromanaging your crew. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: FTL, a game that can be summed up as: Space hates you. Space hates you so much. 72. Vampire Survivors Released: October 20, 2022 | Top 100 Score: 223.57 Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: I'm a certain kind of sucker, and that kind is "put Castlevania stuff in a game and I'll play it." Vampire Survivors pioneered a certain type of breezy time wasting, but after becoming a smash success it began stacking on secrets, characters, and just more more more. It's generous in a way I haven't seen since Terraria. Still, it took the Castlevania expansion to make me fall in love. It offers structure Vampire Survivors lacked, with a castle to progress through and a huge cast of heroes to unlock by defeating a lore-appropriate boss or upgrading a key weapon, like a grenade into a rocket launcher. (After centuries of Belmonts failing to off Dracula with whips, 21st century teen Soma Cruz got serious). Call it Unlocking Fun Toys: The Game. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: Just a lethal, time-devouring videogame. You know the phantom cigar Venom Snake gets in MGS5? It's that. Fire it up on a flight and before you've looked up from the OLED glow of your Steam Deck you're at passport control. 71. Alan Wake 2 Released: October 27, 2023 | Top 100 Score: 224.42 Elie Gould, News Writer: A truly horrifying experience that somehow makes me feel impressed and grateful for all the wonderful quirky monstrosities as they scare the living daylight out of me. Kara Phillips, Evergreen Writer: When Elie recommends you play a horror game, it's always a good move to listen. No one knows horror like them, and Alan Wake 2 was one of the games that they simply couldn't (and still can't) stop talking about. Having now put myself through the terrors, I completely understand why. Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: Alan Wake 2 feels like Remedy's quirky, distinctive style at its most unrestrained. Weirdness, melodrama, and highly specific Nordic references abound, packed into a story layered across different mediums woven seamlessly together. From novel pages to radio excerpts to TV ads to a sprawling FBI pinboard to an entire Finnish horror movie, there's so much to explore and experience in the game—all of it contributing to making Alan Wake's world feel expansive and lived-in. 70. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Released: March 29, 2005 | Top 100 Score: 224.57 Morgan Park, Staff Writer: Our staff tends to skew toward the Looking Glass lineage of stealth games, but Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the sneak-em-up I keep installed for a rainy day. The controls are a bit weird now, but Chaos Theory is still unmatched in terms of pure sneaking. Sam Fisher's dynamic crouching animations build tension when approaching guards, and Michael Ironside's commanding performance is still a treat. But really, it's the levels that make Chaos Theory an amazing replay to this day. The cargo ship, the bank, Hokkaido—Ubisoft just nailed it on the third go-around. What stands out about Chaos Theory now, and why I still consider it "fresh" compared to today's stealth genre, is its tight, linear encounter design that offers multiple solutions without giving so much freedom that challenge is optional (the Far Cry and MGSV approach). Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: Morgan's nailed it. I'm a sucker for a ship level, and Chaos Theory's cargo ship stands at the pinnacle of the trope. 69. Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced Released: September 17, 2023 | Top 100 Score: 224.73 Joe Donnelly, PC Gaming Show Deputy Editor: It may be 12 years old, but Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best open-world crime simulator out there today. Driven in part by the success of its now standalone offshoot GTA Online, GTA 5 has shown remarkable staying power—with its Legacy and Enhanced editions both staples at the higher end of Steam's most played charts week-to-week. GTA 6 is coming, but, right now, GTA 5 still ain't going anywhere. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: I'm almost annoyed at how compelling GTA Online can be, because it's an absolute mess of a thing—one of the most unintuitive online experiences around. The fantasy of it far outstrips what Rockstar actually delivered back in the early 2010's, but there's nothing else like it even today. At its best, it's an effortless story generator—a frequently hilarious way to spend time with friends. Just be prepared to also have to deal with it at its worst. 68. Resident Evil 2 (Remake) Released: January 25, 2019 | Top 100 Score: 224.73 Joe Donnelly, PC Gaming Show Deputy Editor: Survival horror has made some phenomenal strides in recent years, with a deluge of old-school remakes reimagining a golden era of the genre for newer audiences. The Resident Evil 2 remake is pretty much responsible for that, taking us back in time with Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield as they fight to survive Raccoon City's zombie apocalypse. Shinier and scarier, the RE2 remake is the quintessential retelling of a classic. Elie Gould, News Writer: Is this the scariest Resident Evil? No. Is it the wackiest? Also no. But it does manage to straddle the two in a way that somehow makes it the most Evil Resident of them all. 67. Deep Rock Galactic Released: May 13, 2020 | Top 100 Score: 225.00 Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: DRG's popularity isn't just enduring, it's wonderfully enthusiastic—no other online multiplayer community is anywhere near as relentlessly positive. And I really think that's a reflection of the kind of game DRG is. It's not just about coordinated violence, it's about true cooperation—working together to creatively solve tricky problems. And thanks to some of the best deployed procedural generation in the industry, those problems are ever-fresh, as you discover unique and endlessly surprising environments with your fellow dwarves. Meanwhile, the atmosphere of blue collar camaraderie and the entirely uncynical progression system wonderfully foster a sense of genuine dwarven pride. Rock and stone, to the bone. Rory Norris, Guides Writer: Did I hear a rock and stone? 66. Mass Effect Legendary Edition Released: May 14, 2021 | Top 100 Score: 225.16 Robert Jones, Print Editor: The fact that this remastered trilogy is frequently going for five bucks on Steam is just ridiculous, as it delivers the definitive way to play the entire Mass Effect trilogy, which remains buckets of fun today in 2025. Yes, sure, the quite clunky third-person cover shooting now feels a little dated, and the whole Paragon/Renegade morality system childishly simple, but the world, characters and writing remain great reasons to board the Normandy. Tyler Wilde, US Editor-in-Chief: The military conspiracy plot is a bit more Call of Duty than I would've admitted back in the day, but the Mass Effect trilogy is still the most I've felt like the Picard of a little spaceship, getting to know a quirky and loveable crew of humans and aliens in a way that isn't hurried or couched in irony. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: We're PC Gamer, and this is our 66th favourite videogame on the Citadel. Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: These are some of my favorite games of all time, but it's still insane that they let you punch a reporter and a ton of gamers took it as an epic win moment. Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani was right. They let a deep state black ops killer just go nuts across the galaxy with no oversight. Commander Shepard should have been dishonorably discharged for punching her, relegated to hosting an operator space podcast where he hawked N7-themed coffee and nootropics. Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer: Ted… I've had enough of your disingenuous assertions. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: Shepard should've been discharged for banging a subordinate, Ted. I don't think the Systems Alliance is real big on the whole "rules" thing. 65. Counter-Strike 2 Released: August 21, 2012 | Top 100 Score: 225.40 Rich Stanton, Senior Editor: Counter-Strike 2 is a very Valve game. It's billed as the first true sequel in series history, but it's really more about being the definitive version of the same competitive shooter we've been playing for decades, with the focus on improvements to things like smoke physics, UI and contemporary quality-of-life features. In a field packed with would-be rivals, there's a reason CS2 attracts 30 million players a month: It's still as brilliant as ever. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: It's the spot to go to get screamed at by Russian teenagers. Elie Gould, News Writer: Amidst all the big glossy visual upgrades CS2 still manages to not be optimised very well, but hey, did you see how bullets pierce smoke? That's pretty cool. But I'll take just about anything at this point, I couldn't get Valorant or Overwatch 2 onto the top 100, but at least there's CS2. 64. Diablo 2 Released: June 28, 2000 | Top 100 Score: 225.55 Tyler Wilde, US Editor-in-Chief: I'm still not convinced that this genre is better with flashier lighting effects, non-stop rebalancing patches, and battle passes. The Diablo 2: Resurrected remaster is excellent if you want a more modern (but not too modern) way to play through a classic ARPG adventure that came out before hell had to be experienced through a film of live service cruft. Jake Tucker, PC Gaming Show Editorial Director: Diablo 2 Resurrected made basically no changes and proved good design is eternal. Later Diablo titles always have a "but" in there somewhere, but Diablo 2 is astonishingly fun, letting you steamroll entire dungeons for the sweet, sweet loot within. 63. Garry's Mod Released: November 29, 2006 | Top 100 Score: 225.82 Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: I used to spend long hours surfing Garry's Mod's server browser, just to see what strange, esoteric game modes I could find—like a hyperspecific Quantum Leap themed entirely around Half-Life 2 assets and late-'00s internet humour. Maybe this time I'm a watermelon, racing other watermelons across an abstract obstacle course suspended in the air. Next time it could be anything—RP, bunnyhop platforming, zombie horde shooting, whatever the server owner had cobbled together. Elie Gould, News Writer: I went to dinner with some mates the other day, and it quickly just devolved into us talking about how much we miss playing Trouble in Terrorist Town, even if no one in the group can lie to save their life. Gary's Mod had so many gems, many of which play an influential role in tons of games to this day. Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: I'm very, very glad Elie's mentioned the good ol' TTT—because I feel everybody forgets that games like Among Us had their roots there. Kids these days don't know their history. Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: When I was 14 years old, I had to get my first colonoscopy for ulcerative colitis and spent the entire day before chugging laxative mixed with Gatorade, pooping my goddamn brains out until my entire body was emptied of refuse and sin. I spent that day playing a custom Garry's Mod racing game where you launched a watermelon and bounced around with Source physics, potentially breaking apart if you crashed into a surface too hard. For some reason, this is now a crystalized, fond memory for me. 10/10 one of the Games of All Time. 62. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 Released: December 6, 2004 | Top 100 Score: 226.00 Robert Jones, Print Editor: Still, twenty years later, the most interesting Star Wars game ever made, as well as a fantastic (albeit unfinished) RPG. Some of the characters, but notably Kreia, are GOAT territory, and they're brought to life by mature and challenging writing that takes the Star Wars universe into areas no other Star Wars game, TV show, or film has done. Hey Disney, can we have more Star Wars stories like this, please? Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: Most of Star Wars is playing checkers while KotOR 2 was beating Deep Blue at chess. Star Wars is a beloved setting with history, politics, and economics that make no sense, but The Sith Lords took it extremely seriously, following its ideas to their logical conclusions, and the result is the best Star Wars story ever. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: Sara Kestelman's performance as Kreia is perfect, and KOTOR 2 would be severely diminished without her. It's an all-timer act made all the more impressive by the fact Kestelman isn't a videogame voice actor—this is one of only two games she ever featured in, and she spent the rest of her life on the stage. And yet, she turned in one of the most iconic performances ever as everyone's favourite objectivist space grandma. 61. Yakuza 0 Released: August 1, 2018 | Top 100 Score: 226.20 Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: If somebody walks in at the wrong time they can get the wrong idea about a game. To my girlfriend, Yakuza 0 is that game where you help weirdoes like the wimpy rock band who want to be tough. Only she's right. I've heard "real fans" care about the plot and the oddball substories aren't a big deal. Real fans can get lost: Yakuza 0 is about helping a kid buy a spank mag. Mollie Taylor, Features Producer: Wait, I thought Yakuza 0 was a Scalextric simulator? Lauren Morton, SEO Editor: Guys stop, Yakuza 0 is a cabaret club management sim. Joshua Wolens, News Writer: One of my only saved screenshots on Steam is a picture of my real estate manager—a chicken called Nugget—engaged in a 'money battle' with someone named 'the Pleasure King' for dominance of an establishment called the 'No-Panties BBQ'. Yakuza 0 is a story about organised crime. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: I'd point out that its main story is genuinely the highpoint of the series, extracting serious melodrama and pathos out of its inciting battle over a small plot of abandoned Tokyo turf. But who am I to stand in the way of the memes? Released: September 12, 2013 | Top 100 Score: 226.61 Andy Edser, Hardware Writer: Few games are as crunchy as Arma 3, and that's probably a good thing. Twist your fingers around the unforgiving interface and put up with the woeful performance, however, and you'll find the milsim to end all milsims. It's the best "hike for two hours before being shot in a bush" simulator on the market, and at least one of those should make this list, right? Evan Lahti, Strategic Director: Low-key an outstanding hangout game with lots of downtime and goofing off. Still one of the biggest banner-carriers for modding and user-generated content on PC. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: Seriously, though, don't sleep on the depth of Arma 3's Steam Workshop page. If you're looking for a recommendation, I have lost many an hour to Pilgrimage, a singleplayer scenario that tasks you with retrieving the body of your deceased brother from one of the many churches found across Altis's enormous map. Think of it like an orienteering RPG—you help civilians and interrogate soldiers in order to gain clues that help you narrow down your initially overwhelming needle-in-a-haystack search. 59. Satisfactory Released: September 10, 2024 | Top 100 Score: 227.14 Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Satisfactory is a building game about optimization in the same way that eating is about ingesting calories. You could take the most boring path to efficiency, but wouldn't you rather spend weeks designing a series of artfully suspended conveyor belts that deliver pizzas straight into your mouth? Why live off chicken and broccoli when you could build a tower taller than god whose only purpose is producing the exact number of ingredients needed to assemble one perfect al pastor burrito every 15 seconds? …It's possible this metaphor has gone way off track. But that's what Satisfactory is all about really: devoting hours to silly, elaborate, or mathematically precise constructs in whatever form you find creatively nourishing. Harnessing a huge open world sandbox of resources to graduate from making iron bars up to non-fusile uranium sometimes first requires building an elevated train network from one corner of the planet to the other, y'know? Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: On my journey to exploring efficient factory design, I used the Satisfactory Tools site's calculator to create a deranged nightmare spaghetti hell of industry that outputs 2.819 rotors and 0.598 assemblers per minute. I keep it around purely to irritate the sort of player who would have an aneurism at that sort of behaviour. 58. Stalker: Call of Prypiat – Enhanced Edition Released: May 20, 2025 | Top 100 Score: 227.17 Joshua Wolens, News Writer: Some of us want to be the heroes of grand, sweeping fantasy narratives. Others want to be shot to death for a tin of Spam in a world that doesn't care about you. Call of Prypiat's ever-lovable, ever-janky Zone is the home of the latter camp, at least while GSC finishes cooking its last run of patches for Stalker 2. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: One of my many, many dirty gamer secrets is that I can't really differentiate between the games of the original Stalker series. Who's to say what really happened in any of them? But Joshua is absolutely correct: The vibe of the place, and its absolute willingness to kill you at any time, is unsurpassed. I loved just being there: The purpose of my presence was almost irrelevant. 57. Nier: Automata Released: March 17, 2017 | Top 100 Score: 227.60 Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Listen, I think we've all probably hopped on the 'haha, game with sexy androids' train when it comes to Nier: Automata. Behind that gentle mockery, though, is the understanding that Yoko Taro made one of the most effective, haunting, and unique action RPGs out there. And that you can do that while still having sexy androids—these aren't mutually exclusive ideas. Its freshness score is only so low, in my mind, because it shifted the landscape in ways we're all a bit tired of. Its imitators might be able to replicate the hot robot people, but they're seldom able to duplicate the deep, existential dread the game heaps upon you. It also exists in the Kojima-brand tradition of "there ain't no rules saying a game has to move in a straight line"—taking some truly big swings as to what you can get away with when designing a videogame. Also, its soundtrack is one of the best in the business. Look me in the eye and tell me that Possessed by Disease isn't a banger, I double-dare you. 56. System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster Released: June 26, 2025 | Top 100 Score: 228.00 Joshua Wolens, News Writer: Sorry to JC Denton, but System Shock 2 is my favourite imsim of all time. Its pitch-perfect horror, innumerable secrets, endless character builds, and absolutely unhinged techno soundtrack combine to produce a game I'll never stop coming back to as long as I live, especially with Nightdive's fantastic remaster that finally hit this year. Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: I love this game to bits, particularly the Nightdive Remaster, but I've got to dissent on which System Shock we put on the list this year: I think the best place for a new player to start in the series is Nightdive's 2023 full remake of System Shock 1, which is also my gold standard for a videogame remake. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: Long story short, System Shock 2 is the game that cemented my love for videogames. I have no idea what prompted me to buy it—probably just the nifty box—but I was hooked immediately. Joshua is correct across the board but I also have to shout out the audio effects: The voices of Shodan and Xerxes, the screams of mutant monkeys in empty halls, the lonely warbling of cyborg assassins, and even the background beeping of computer systems are pitch-perfect and unforgettable. When I see System Shock 2, I hear System Shock 2. 55. The Case of the Golden Idol Released: October 13, 2022 | Top 100 Score: 228.00 Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: Wonderfully intricate detective puzzles unfold into a bizarre and fascinating narrative spanning decades of alternate history. Also, everyone has the most brilliantly ugly faces you've ever seen. Christopher Livingston, Senior Editor: I know we sometimes play a game and think it would make a great movie (and we're almost always wrong) but I would absolutely love to see Color Gray Games' adventure turned into a book. The story—the complete story we slowly piece together while solving bizarre murders—would be perfect for a sprawling, gritty, gruesome novel about a mysterious item that inspires brutality and backstabbery among any who possess it. Phil Savage, Global Editor-in-Chief: I played purely because it kept cropping up in the Top 100, despite everything about its screenshots suggesting it would not be my thing. I'm glad I did, because it's a pitch-perfect puzzler—a real triumph in staring long and hard at a scene, investigating all the hidden notes and clues, and just really figuring out what the hell is going on. It's incredibly satisfying to piece together and, while you're in the game itself, those grotesque dioramas have an intense charm and intrigue. It's a must play for mystery enjoyers. 54. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind Released: May 2, 2002 | Top 100 Score: 228.14 Joshua Wolens, News Writer: The last time Bethesda felt like it had something to say. Morrowind is a (spice) melange of influences ranging from Dune to The Dark Crystal, filled with murky morality and strange politics and set in one of the few fantasy worlds that feel actually fantastical. Also you can get so hopped up on Dunmer drugs you can kill god with a single blow, which you can't do in Skyrim without several speciality mods. Ted Litchfield, Associate Editor: Something really telling is that every Elder Scrolls game up through Oblivion basically had its own art style, and then Skyrim looked like a real callback to Morrowind in its race, armor, and weapon designs—there's even the Dragonborn DLC that takes us back to Solstheim. When Virtuos then remade Oblivion, it skewed the art heavily toward Morrowind/Skyrim. I haven't even gotten into the lore of Morrowind, which is equally foundational to the series, but Morrowind defined how the Elder Scrolls looks. Andy Chalk, NA News Lead: To me, Morrowind represents the last time Bethesda acted like it had something to prove, rather than something to lose. Bold, weird, dark, janky, and genuinely alien, Morrowind remains the best Elder Scrolls game ever made, and it's not even close. 53. Papers, Please Released: August 8, 2013 | Top 100 Score: 228.33 Harvey Randall, Staff Writer: Papers, Please is the only game I've ever played that makes you want to win so you can lose on purpose, later. It's a magic trick I've seen few games replicate since, and without nearly the same clarity of purpose. Yes, spot the difference games are interesting—but the real core of Papers, Please lies in how its bleak story gnaws at its central mechanics. The task of figuring out whether someone's paperwork is valid is almost entirely secondary to the question of 'what are you gonna do about it?' Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: I talked to creator Lucas Pope about how now this game feels, and he said, "You want your work to be relevant, but at the same time, wow, I really wish it was not that fucking relevant." If Papers, Please convinces even 0.1% of the people who play it that the global right-wing backlash against immigrants and asylum seekers is deeply wrong, it will be one of the most important videogames ever made. Joe Donnelly, PC Gaming Show Deputy Editor: Indeed, few games evoke the 'lif
