Thousands of games release on Steam alone each year, beckoning to you from algorithmic recommendation engines, the bottom halves of TikTok videos, and the review sections of websites like PC Gamer. So how the heck do you decide which are the best PC games to play right now?
We figure the best way to help is to tell you what we're playing. Chances are, if PC Gamer's staff of 30+ videogame enthusiasts and network of contributors is putting hundreds of hours into a new game, it's something you might enjoy, too.
We also hope to expose you to indie gems that might only have captured the attention of one or two of us, but have really captured it.
How we determine the 10 best PC games to play now
2026 games: Upcoming games
Best PC games: All-time favorites
Free PC games: Freebie fest
Best FPS games: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs: Grand adventures
Best co-op games: Better together
We rate and rank games in lots of ways at PC Gamer, and further down this page you can find a list of our highest recent review scores, the champions from our annual Top 100 list, and more ways to find a new game to play.
The list of 10 great games in the next section, however, is made just for this article and updated at least monthly. We consider three main things when picking the games to put on it:
- Are we currently playing it? The goal of this list is to recommend games that we love right now, not what we were playing last year or in 1996, so we regularly poll the team to see what everyone's been up to.
- Is right now the best time to play it? Great games don't always have great launches, and when big updates drop, older games can suddenly become the best place to be.
- Would we recommend it to our friends? Ultimately, we put games on this list because we think they're worth playing—by you, us, and everyone we know.
The 10 best PC games to play right now
1. Arc Raiders
Released: November 2025 | Review: 86% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 100+ hours
This is the extraction shooter we predicted would launch the genre into the mainstream, and sure enough, it's been a hit. Unlike some of the more cutthroat extraction shooters out there, you can have a good time in Arc without a whole lot of PvP—the game's 'aggression-based matchmaking' has been controversial, but we think it's what sets it apart. Here's Morgan with more on that.
2. Mewgenics
Released: February 2026 | Review: 92% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 150+ hours
A tongue-in-cheek roguelike with tactical, systems-driven combat underpinned by a substantial homemaking and cat breeding system. In his review, Robin described it as "a sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike that will drag you body and soul into its chaotic world."
3. Cairn
Released: January 2026 | Review: 91% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 20 hours
A climbing adventure that has similarities to games like Death Stranding and Baby Steps, but "feels like a landmark, in the sense that it's the first of its kind that I'd unreservedly recommend to everyone," Shaun said in his review.
4. Nioh 3
Released: February 2026 | Review: 90% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 60+ hours
"Team Ninja is giving FromSoftware a run for its money, with an open-world soulslike that I think I like even more than Elden Ring," wrote Lewis Parker in our review.
5. Helldivers 2
Released: February 2024 | Review: 86% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 10 hours
Helldivers 2 is doing live service right, Morgan recently argued, by not just peppering us with new cosmetics but releasing full-on expansions. The latest has added a fantastic tank and a new biome.
6. Overwatch
Released: May 2016 | Review: 88% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 10 hours
If you hadn't heard, it's just Overwatch now—they dropped the "2." The decade-old Blizzard hero shooter has also gotten a major update with five new heroes. If you're a lapsed player and were ever thinking about jumping back in, now's the time.
7. Europa Universalis 5
Released: November 2025 | Review: 87% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 20 hours
A mind-bogglingly complex historical simulation. Europa Universalis 5 buckles under the weight of its ambition at times, Jon said in his review, but it's Paradox's "best suite of interlocking, core game mechanics since Hearts of Iron 4."
8. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Released: September 2025 | Review: 90% | Steam
The enormously hyped sequel to 2017 metroidvania Hollow Knight finally dropped. It's tough as nails, but worth it, Tyler Colp said in our 90% review: "Silksong can be ruthless, but it's hard to pry yourself away from its haunted little world that never seems to end."
9. Battlefield 6
Released: October 2025 | Review: 82% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 10 hours
You can skip the campaign, but otherwise, Battlefield's back. We have some quibbles (more closed weapons playlist please!) and wished there were more big maps at launch, but DICE and the other Battlefield Studios have pulled off the comeback they promised they would.
10. Abiotic Factor
Released: July 2025 | Review: 92% | Steam | PCG's recent playtime: 20 hours
One of our favorite survival games ever has left early access. Abiotic Factor is more or less the co-op survival version of Half-Life, sending you and your friends deep into a Black Mesa-style research facility full of interdimensional horrors and terrible ideas for meals.
More games we've been playing in February 2026
- Elden Ring: Nightreign: We're still jumping into this FromSoft spin-off (Steam)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: The most acclaimed RPG of 2025 (Steam)
- Baby Steps: Bleak and hilarious (Steam)
- Demonschool: A great old school tactics RPG (Steam)
- Dispatch: Episodic workplace comedy (Steam)
- Escape from Tarkov: It finally hit 1.0 (Steam)
- Peak: A co-op climbing game that was a surprise hit in 2025 (Steam)
- Skate Story: Skateboard through hell (Steam)
- Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles: A classic (Steam)
- Monster Train 2: One of our favorite deckbuilders (Steam)
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: A successful remake of MGS3 (Steam)
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor: One of the best Vampire Survivors-likes. (Steam)
High scores: 90% and up
If we score a game 90% or higher in our review, we think it's stupendously good. Here are the games that joined the 90-and-up club in 2025. (There are none so far in 2026.)
- Caves of Qud: 94% (Review | Steam/GOG)
- Promise Mascot Agency: 94% (Review | Steam)
- Blue Prince: 92% (Review | Steam)
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2: 90% (Review | Steam/GOG)
- Keep Driving: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Monster Train 2: 91% (Review | Steam)
- The Alters: 90% (Review | Steam/GOG)
- Abiotic Factor: 92% (Review | Steam)
- Hollow Knight: Silksong: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Silent Hill f: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles: 91% (Review | Steam)
- Escape from Tarkov: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Cairn: 91% (Review | Steam)
- Nioh 3: 90% (Review | Steam)
- Mewgenics: 92% (Review | Steam)
All-time greats
Below are the top 10 games from the latest edition of PC Gamer's yearly Top 100 list, which was published in October 2025.
Whereas the list on this page is entirely focused on what to play right now and mainly features newer games, our Top 100 also considers historical significance.
The selection changes year-to-year not just because there are new games we want to include, but also because our collective tastes change as people join or leave the team, or because we've reevaluated a classic since the last vote.
The games that fell out of the top 10 this year are: Doom (1993), Minecraft, Persona 5 Royal, and Half-Life 2. New to the top 10 are: Dwarf Fortress, Crusader Kings 3, Caves of Qud, and Red Dead Redemption 2.
- Baldur's Gate 3: Our 2023 Game of the Year and a brilliant RPG (Steam/GOG)
- Disco Elysium: Our 2019 Game of the Year and former #1 game (Steam/GOG)
- Dwarf Fortress: There's nothing quite like this fantasy civilization sim (Steam)
- Crusader Kings 3: There's also nothing quite like this historical sim series (Steam)
- Stardew Valley: Still our favorite farming/life sim (Steam/GOG)
- Caves of Qud: A ridiculously deep roguelike (Steam/GOG)
- Balatro: The poker roguelike sensation was our 2024 Game of the Year (Steam)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Set a high bar for open world RPGs (Steam/GOG)
- Elden Ring: Another day, another FromSoftware masterpiece (Steam)
- Red Dead Redemption 2: Rockstar's classic western (Steam)
More resources and lists
Looking for more recommendations? We've got you covered.
- Steam Curator page: See our recommendations directly on Steam
- 2025 Game of the Year awards: Our favorite games of last year
- New games of 2026: What's ahead in PC gaming
- Gaming PC build guides: You'll need some hardware for all these games
- Steam sale dates: Find out when these games will be cheapest
- The best Steam Deck games: Great games for handhelds
- The best laptop games: Great games for laphelds
- The best free games on Steam: Can't beat the price
- The best indie games on PC: Also many of the best games period
- 14 underappreciated recent games: Great games you might've missed
Best games by genre
Find our selection of the best PC games just a bit too broad? Our genre lists have curated recommendations for RPGs, racing, strategy, and more.
