What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?

Genre:Survival, Open world, Exploration

Co-Op:No

Controller Support:Full

Play environment that's completely unique and never done before. See More

Top Pro

Unique gameplay

Top Con

No Insanity Meter

This game isolates you from all human life. You're stranded with an artificial intelligence. If that were you, you'd go insane within a few days. Without a friend or a pet (fish), the insanity meter should slowly rise and insanity should make you see things that aren't there, start talking to yourself underwater (thus using up oxygen) and stuff like that. See More

FunIusaaset's Experience

bro hands down the best survival game out there i put in hours into the game it is fun as hell See More

Top Pro

The sound effects really set up the overall atmosphere

The sound design in Subnautica is amazing. Even though the soundtrack can be bland at times, the sound effects for the ocean noises are incredibly atmospheric and really help to get the player in the mood for exploring a vast, alien ocean. See More

Top Con

Slow Gameplay Pacing

Some may see the game as only for kids and see it as boring due to the slow, resource collecting nature of the game. However, this is purely an opinion and not a real con. See More

CharmingBodbDerg's Experience

Excellent game See More

Top Pro

Remarkable game design and sound design

The sound design is absolutely remarkable, along with the game's feel and gameplay. See More

ColorfulWollunqua's Experience

This game in Virtual Reality is amazing. The scenery and sense of scale is fantastic and far beyond my expectations. See More

Top Pro

Interesting creature design

The creature design in Subnautica deserves some major praise. Spotting a new, never seen before creature is extremely rewarding and there's a large variety of alien creatures to look for. See More

EnchantingPhilotes's Experience

I became addicted to this not long after I started playing it. Amazing music and gameplay. 10/10 would recommend you play this game. See More

Top Pro

Incredibly satisfying tool-building mechanics

The whole process of creating new tools is mostly done using a sophisticated 3D-printer available from the start of the game. You gather various resources and transform them to create tools that you will need for your survival. For example, organic matter gets printed into raw carbon, combine carbon with some zinc and you get a battery; combine that battery with some glass and you get a flashlight that helps you see in the dark. It's very straightforward but incredibly satisfying when you build your tools, especially since you are doing all of this while swimming in an ocean filled with predators. See More

RealisticHymenaios's Experience

Honestly, it's just a great game story wise and replay value wise. After completing the game normally, there are cheats that you can use to mess around with and even complete the game with one command (okay maybe like two or three but still). Mostly underwater but that also adds another aspect of oxygen. It's tense to keep track of oxygen on top of health. hunger and thirst but I enjoy the added realism and challenge. The three game modes add a ton more possibilities too. Even though I recommend this game, it will get boring after completing the game normally and with cheats after a while. This game sadly doesn't have any co-op yet but I believe you can get mods for it. Realism is something I brought up before and i'm bringing it back again. In this game, you're alone with an A.I. which could decrease morale and would make you slowly go insane. In the end, you should get it. I was lucky enough to get it for free on the Epic Games store but even if it was paid, i'd still buy it. See More

Top Pro

Has a mode for people who just want to explore

Subnautica has three game modes: survival, freedom, and creative. The first one pits the player against the elements and forces them to think about food and water through its thirst and hunger mechanics. The second game mode basically removes every mechanic that is related to surviving, such as the aforementioned hunger and thirst mechanics. It also leaves all the items in your inventory after you die. In other words, it's a game mode for people who want to explore without having to bother with surviving. Which is nice, since Subnautica has a lot of stuff to explore. The third one will let you build a base of your dreams without worrying about food, oxygen, or thirst. It is the best mode for people who want to build and don't want to gather resources. See More

Top Pro

Constant updates and improvements to game play

The devs are very reliable when it comes to constantly fixing bugs and improving the game. See More

Top Pro

No pointless multiplayer

Not every damn thing needs multiplayer, and multiplayer can often ruin an otherwise incredible experience. There's none to be found here, and that intensifies the lonely atmosphere. Also, the creators didn't waste resources on something that would fundamentally undermine the experience so they could focus on making the game the wonderful thing that it is. See More

Top Pro

Very interesting for both new and long-time players

But it goes faster when you learn the game. Because everything is done manually. See More

From mission to mission the game will alternate from action to slow and methodical, creating a nice pace for the player. See More

Metro: Last Light

Top Pro

Alternating gameplay

Top Con

No charisma, boring world

Specs

Most immersive survival game in the last decade. See More

Top Pro

Linear, but doesn't feel linear

Top Con

You'll have to get the DLC if you expect to get more than 8 hours of gameplay out of it

There is only about 8 hours of gameplay in the base game. See More

Top Pro

Excellent story.

Top Pro

The first proper AAA game on Linux that was not a Valve title

Metro: Last Light was the first AA game released on Steam that was not a Valve title. See More

Dishonored allows you to either play stealthily avoiding enemies or go in guns blazing killing everyone while utilizing supernatural powers to aid you in either of these routes. Combined with a unique moral system and interesting setting and story it is a great game. See More

Dishonored

Top Pro

Great stealth & action hybrid game

Top Con

It doesn't rely on sound or light as a means of stealth

Dishonored clearly borrows a lot of elements from Thief, but sadly, not its ancestor's most important traits. Where Thief cared about the materials you walked on, and had guards that would vocalize constantly to let players know where they were, Dishonored merely relies on whether or not a player is running (loud mode) or crouch-walking (quiet mode), and it feels less satisfying than Thief. Likewise, stealth is based primarily on line of sight in Dishonored, whereas Thief considered light and dark as well; a player cloaked in shadow could not be seen, even if he was standing directly in front of his target. See More

ClassyPepromene's Experience

I loved it for all the Pros and more. I had no clue what the game was about until I played it. Still do this day I play it. It's an experience that has to be experienced slowly and deeply. See More

Specs

Genre:Action, Adventure, Stealth

Depending on player action, the world can change in drastic ways. A violent player will find that disease-carrying rats will multiply in number depending on the number of people killed, while a pacifist player who eliminates enemies with nonlethal options may will find the world easier to explore. See More

Top Pro

The world (and difficulty) changes based on your actions

Top Con

Harder difficulty level does not change AI

Instead of a "better" AI in higher difficulties just like in a Call of Duty guards just need a lot of ammo to take them down (if you do not aim the head) . See More

Top Pro

Non-lethal options aren't always better

One weakness of most stealth games is that it's almost always better to play nonlethally. In Dishonored, choosing the nonlethal option on an assassination target is often a fate worse than death. For instance, one woman can be delivered to her secret stalker, the overseer of the anti-magic church can be branded as a heretic and punished by the church, and a pair of brothers can be sent to slave in the mines they once owned. See More

Top Con

Taking down targets can feel unsatisfying

While the build up to getting to a target is great, talking them down does not always feel satisfying. Thankfully, this option is rarely available. While it does not ruin the game, it would be nice if conversations felt more fulfilling than this. See More

Top Pro

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is truly spectacular. Its art and its lighting really give me goosebumps when looking forward to an assassination. Although it might just be me, the game's art is quite pensive and invokes some pensive thoughts quite frequently. See More

The game asks the player to meet everyone in town, while there is mini map that shows where townspeople are, certain townsfolk are missing from this map such as shop keepers. This makes it difficult to keep up with who is where. See More

Stardew Valley

Top Pro

Relaxing game

Top Con

Townspeople schedule is difficult to keep up with

CheerfulThetis's Experience

Stardew Valley is suprisingly immersive for a pixel farming game. The town and it's inhabitants are truly special and real. The conversations about menatal health that you can have with certain characters can be extremly relatable at times. This added with fun gameplay, an enjoyable soundtrack, and the joy of fighting against the capitalist regime make Stardew Valley a wonderfull game. See More

Specs

Genre:Farming Simulation, Role-Playing

Co-Op:Online and Local, up to 4 players

Such as farming, fishing, mining, forestry, exploration and meeting people. This allows for many elements to explore in the game that expands the gameplay but also allows for freedom of choice in what to do and when to do it. See More

Top Pro

You have freedom to choose to play one aspect of the game or all of them

Top Con

Lacks polish in some areas

Menus feel odd in that some controls work in some areas while not in other such as item management when using chests. There is also a lack of information in the game on how to do things, which means the player must figure it out through trial and error. While this is much like an old school game it would be nice to have a few things explained in order to not miss anything important in the game like certain festivals. See More

Stuart Kearney's Experience

Don't be put off by the cutesy graphics and "farming" theme. This game is incredibly addicting and a very relaxing gaming experience while not being a crappy mobile game that asks you to constantly pay for upgrades. See More

Top Pro

Catchy and relaxing music

For a game that is meant to have large amounts of time spent in it, the music is quite relaxing, which is nice as it does not get on the players nerves. See More

Top Con

Large amount of grind

While it is the bread and butter of the gameplay, the amount of work that needs done from the start is quite a lot and so you will be doing the same thing over and over again. The whole farm is dilapidated, meaning everything needs cleaned up, weeds need cleared, rocks need cleared, tress need cleared, the whole house needs rebuilt. this amount of what are basically chores may not appeal to all as it is quite a feat to take on. See More

Alec Heesacker's Experience

Has weapons. See More

Top Pro

Long playtime

The game is reported to taking over 10 hours for one season in the game, of which their are four season in a year. Which means it can take 40 hours just to get though the first year in the game, of which there can be many. This means a user can easily sink in 100s of hours into the game, making for quite a bargain for a $15 game. See More

Top Con

Winter

Grass and weeds die out in the winter which results in hay and fiber becoming harder to get. Winter is regarded as the most difficult season. See More

LivelyKekui's Experience

iss guud See More

Top Pro

Deep customization options

There is quite a lot that can be crafted in the game, from fence posts to chicken coops. Discovering how to build these and then deciding where to place them is one of the best parts of the game as you can build/design a farm to your liking. See More

Top Pro

Very fulfilling to play

Stardew Valley is a very simple game where you're free to do anything and everything at your own pace. This includes building your farm, planting and harvesting crops, and exploring the world among many other things. It will feel enjoyable no matter how fast or slow you do it. This coupled with the colorful/pleasing art style and the great soundtrack makes it an extremely pleasing experience. See More

Top Pro

Convenient auto save feature

There is no manual saving in the game, it auto saves when sleeping or or moving on to the next day. This is convenient as the player does not need to remember to save, which could lead to accidental lost data. This system also prevents the player taking advantage of the randomly generated mines, as it could be too easy to exploit for rare items. See More

Top Pro

Supported on Windows, Mac and Linux

The game has been updated to support all these platforms. See More

Top Pro

A great mix of genres

While Stardew Valley is primarily a farming simulator, it also has social interaction elements and combat elements. The social interaction elements allow you to interact with people around the town. You can befriend them, get quests from them, hang out with them, and even find a significant other to go out with and eventually marry. It can be very addictive to max out your relationship with everyone. The combat elements are introduced when you unlock the dungeon, allowing you to battle creatures such as slimes, golems, and even mummies. While the combat is pretty simple, having you just swing your weapon, it's very satisfying to whack away at enemies. If farming ever starts feeling stale you can try either of these to mix it up, allowing you to keep the game fresh for a longer time. See More

Top Pro

Great freedom in designing your farm

When creating your own farm you aren't just limited to plowing fields for planting crops. You can also dig wells, put down fences, and even build various structures such as barns or stables. This allows you to build a farm that firmly matches your goals and sense of aesthetics. See More

Top Pro

There is always more to do

Just like in the real world, operating a farm is a lot of work, especially if one is set on expanding said farm. The game works just like this in that the player is always driven to expand on what they have, be it growing more crops, raising more animals or just improving ones house and equipment. This makes for a game that drives the player to keep playing just a little bit longer to get just one more thing done. See More

Top Pro

Good selection of game options

The games options see resolution support, controller and keyboard support, of which the controller support even has a rumble feature (for those that have controllers with rumble support). Keyboard support also has built in key-bind support, for those that do not have a separate key-bind support app. See More

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

When you work on your farm, go fishing, explore or just walk around the town you'll be accompanied by a really nice soundtrack. It's sometimes upbeat, sometimes soothing, and sometimes even melancholic, with every track matching each location and season perfectly. There's also a wide variety of instruments used, including a piano, accordion, banjo, synths, and many others. This allows you to listen to the soundtrack for hours without getting tired of it. Sometimes it's very hard to believe Stardew Valley and its soundtrack was produced by just one person. See More

Top Pro

Weather system that forces the player to adapt

Each day in the game may feature different weather depending on the season in the game. From rain to snow to natural disasters, each forces the player to adapt their workload to that days forecast. This keeps the player on their toes and forces them to plan for events to make sure they have the needed supplies for when different disasters happen. See More

With proper planning users can "code" together very precise ways to create all the things needed for the game, some in very inventive ways that can differ quite a bit. This allows for tons of replayability. See More

Factorio

Top Pro

Endless solutions

Top Con

Can become rather repetitive

There's really little payoff for being able to build really long chains of automation, it usually results in being able to open a new tech tree which allows the player to continue the process of building automation chains ad infinitum, which, admittedly can become rather boring after a while. See More

RobustCottus's Experience

PRO You can tell the developers love this game. Infinitely playable. See More

Specs

Genre:Realtime Strategy (RTS)

Co-Op:16+ Player Online (100+ has been done)

The playing world is as large as you want to explore, it automatically generates it as you explore more areas. See More

Top Pro

Massive and infinite procedurally generated world

Top Con

Still in Alpha

The game is still in Alpha, which means there will be bugs as well as missing features. (Update: No longer in Alpha. I've always played beta builds and never experienced any issues.) See More

Jasper B's Experience

I have to say it is an amazing game. See More

Top Pro

Playable even after the "end of the game"

Even after you launch the rocket, you get special resources from it that allow you to improve your player and factory. See More

Top Con

Very addictive

ChuckNorris's Experience

This game has a special place in my heart See More

Top Pro

Though not "released", it is updated nearly weekly (UPDATE: It is completely released)

The developers of factorio truly know what it is to make a polished game. Updates typically weekly for the beta build, always staying on top of bugs. See More

ReflectiveEopsin's Experience

The factory must grow See More

Top Pro

Charming old school graphics

While not the most technically advanced graphics the look of the game is much like a game from the 90s but seeing it in action when an assembly line starts moving there is an impressiveness to it that suits the game quite well. See More

Top Pro

Cooperative or PvP building

Factorio also supports multiplayer, allowing many players to cooperate and assist each other, or work against each other in PvP. By default, multiplayer games run the CO-OP freeplay scenario where all players work together to launch a rocket with a satellite into space. See More

Top Pro

Incredibly immersive. Satisfying. Relaxing. Best community ever. Developers pay attention to users' advices. You can play this game for hours, days, week. You dont need anything more. You just need factorio.

Best singleplay game ever played. See More

Top Pro

Intense logical building

The game allows players to use combinators to create complex logic devices. See More

Top Pro

Active modding community

There is a big modding community which made thousands of great mods that either make the game harder, easier or add something cool. It's also easy to develop something. See More

Top Pro

Under active development

The game is still in Alpha which means endless future possibilities. (UPDATE: It is not in Alpha anymore. Early Access has ended) See More

Top Pro

Demo version available

There is a demo version for free. With it you can test the game. See More

Bethesda Softworks has upheld a tradition of releasing their internal content-creation tools to the public since Morrowind (2002). Many modders transition to new Bethesda games as they are released, bringing their experience with them and helping newcomers through forums and wikis. As a result, Skyrim's mod selection is outstanding in both variety and quality. See More

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Top Pro

Huge variety of mods

Top Con

Combat is too simple

Fights within the game don't have very many options. "Headshots" don't matter, and most combat options in the game are poorly balanced. Few examples: Doesn't really matter if you go mace, sword or axe, fire, ice or lightning, or even two handed vs dual wielding. The options mostly add flavor to your character and little else. Despite the fact that you might have ranged attacks, dragons are impossible to hit while in the air, so you end up fighting them similarly to a melee character. "Twincasting" the first healing spell is actually worse than just casting it once in each hand. Illusion magic becomes useless at later levels, since the spells don't do anything if the enemy is too high level and enemies scale to your level. Enemies are too stupid to make hiding a bad thing. The worst one is leveling as an Alteration mage, which gives you access to the Dragonskin spell, granting maximum armor for 30 seconds and has a 5 second cast time. Or you could just go Heavy Armor, level that up (so it weighs nothing) and have maximum armor ALWAYS without ever having to cast an Alteration spell before combat ever again. Combat comes down to how you leveled, not how you play. See More

Specs

Genre:Fantasy Role-Playing

Skyrim has no concept of character classes, and there are no restrictions on what equipment or magic a given character can use or learn. A character's capabilities are defined by skills (e.g. heavy armor, marksman, enchantment) which automatically improve as they are used. Levels are gained by increasing skills, and each level grants one perk -- a passive, secondary effect which further enhances a particular skill -- and increases an attribute of your choice (Magicka, Stamina or Health). See More

Top Pro

Unrestrictive skill-based RPG system

Top Con

Forgetful NPCs can break immersion

After completing certain story quests NPCs get new lines added to their dialogue based on your decisions. Sometimes the NPCs might become forgetful and return to their default dialogue, which can break immersion, especially if they talk about an event that's been long resolved. See More

Top Pro

The longest-running RPG-FPS franchise, with world lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

The Elder Scrolls series stretches back 20 years and has always focused on providing a rich world to explore. Skyrim inherits the stories and world-building of over half a dozen previous games. See More

Top Con

Immersion can be broken due to game limitations

While the game offers players many choices some of these choices are not reflected in the game accurately. There are instances where NPCs should know who your character is or what classes they belong to but due to the limitations of the tech used in the game it is unable to "remember" these things and so NPC text will often break immersion in the game by saying the wrong things. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful game-world

Open and vast. See More

Top Con

Repetetive dungeons

Many of the dungeons are the same old thing over and over again. The monsters may change but its all the same, no change in offense or defense. See More

Top Pro

Moral choices that can affect gameplay

Things like stealing (and getting caught), fighting or killing in towns will change how the game plays as now those people or towns will be angry with the player, which makes things much more difficult. There are also many moral choices in game such as if one should betray the person who gave then their quest by keeping the treasure they were hired to return. All of these things will change how the game plays and how NPC's react to the character making for a simulated real world of consequences. See More

Top Con

Barely an "elder scrolls game"

The game, compared to the other games in the series, has very limited options when it comes to roleplaying. They removed a lot of options like attributes, custom classes and all the other features that makes The Elder Scrolls unique. See More

Top Pro

Deep lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

Skyrim inherits the stories and world-building of The Elder Scrolls series, which stretches back 20 years. It has numerous stories surrounding the various races (orcs, elves, lizardmen, demons, etc.), mythical beasts, gods, cataclysmic events, parallel worlds, and just about any fantasy trope you could think of. What's even better you can read the lore in books found in-game, allowing you to immerse yourself for countless hours. See More

Top Con

The game is designed for a single play-through

There are no real choices, every quest or questline that suggest so ends up being a mirror image (I.E Storm vs Imperial). See More

Top Pro

Game has a lot of depth

The depth you could get yourself into depends on you and how you enjoy your RPG gaming the most. See More

Top Pro

Total freedom in how you choose to play through the world's different factions

You can set off to any of Skyrim's different towns and discover new storylines from interesting factions that flesh out the world and the lore, with great characters and their own absorbing narratives to get lost in. There are a good number of these factions, like the scholars at the snowy College of Winterhold, the secretive assassins of the Dark Brotherhood, or the cohort of rogues and bandits of the Thieves Guild. After picking whichever faction you want to learn more about, you can eventually become a Master of the guild and learn new skills for your character. Playing through each of their individual stories lets you really feel like a member of the faction you choose, like with how the Thieves Guild sends you on missions to pick locks and steal valuables without getting caught by the guards. And if you only get through some of the faction's story and decide you don't enjoy it, you can easily go find another one and play through that one instead. There are no limits on how you play through the plot, with Skyrim giving you the flexibility to pick up stories, set them down, and come back to them whenever you feel like it. See More

Top Pro

Massive sandbox to explore at your own pace

The in-game map is absolutely gigantic. There are so many places to go and so much to do in the world, easily giving you hundreds of hours of content. Exploring the wide range of environments, from the snowy mountains to the richly-detailed towns and cities is such a joy because of how lush and beautiful everything is. Wandering around often surprises you with new side quests to find off the beaten path, with new characters to meet and history to learn about in whichever area you find yourself in. You can get into all sorts of battles with powerful enemies or stumble into hidden dungeons with awesome loot at the end. Or you can sneak around towns at night stealing peoples' stuff while they're asleep to sell everything off for money. And there's just a ton of other intriguing secrets and fun diversions to discover as you adventure throughout the world. See More

Top Pro

Nvidia support

On the list of NVidia supported games. See More

The dialogue of the game is very intriguing as well as voiced superbly making for a very immersive experience as far as story is concerned. It is through the care the developers took to implement such realistic writing and voice work that makes the game so intriguing and an experience to play. When you play The Witcher 3, more than any other game, it occasionally feels like you're playing in a living, breathing world with real people in desperate times. See More

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Top Pro

Immersive story

Top Con

The combat can take some time to get used to

The real-time action combat with Geralt's swords and magic doesn't quite feel right. When you first try it, you might find the controls to be imprecise and a bit sluggish. You may need a few hours to get used to the way the swordplay works with parrying and dodging, on top of knowing when to use your defensive and offensive spells to take advantage of enemy weaknesses. See More

Scott Silvers's Experience

After finishing up with the Baron, I realized just how bored I was playing this game.......it's boring. See More

Specs

Genre:Action RPG

Combat is deep, and not super simplistic. The story isn't just a means to advance the main quest. Quests themselves are simple fetch quests so the player can feel a false sense of accomplishment. See More

Top Pro

Attention to detail in every facet of the game

Top Con

Some main story segments drag on for way too long

The story is generally excellent except for certain parts that seem to go on and on for hours with no end in sight. You start off looking into someone who has information on Ciri, only to get the run-around in the worst of ways, chasing down several leads for many different characters all at one time. Just when you think you're done with a series of main quests, you have to go talk to someone else, or kill some other monster, or go to some other place instead. It's really annoying and kills the pacing of the otherwise well-written narrative. See More

DignifiedGuayota's Experience

After completing The Witcher 3, I kinda feel empty. I know that the beauty cannot be gone through again in the same manner "un-spoiled". Surely the greatest RPG of the new generation holds up to it. The story of Geralt, his adventures, his "contingency" sums up pretty well, though it feels rushed in the end. The characters, the voice acting, BRILLIANT. That breathtaking song performed by Priscilla at The Kingfisher's Inn, surely something I can never forget. The visuals, well do I have anything to say that you haven't already heard? And the God damn story, it was always freaking trying to butcher my HEART OUT! But I would like to repeat my remark that I feel empty after completing the game, it keeps me thinking, what did Cirilla do in the Aen Ael? Is Hjalmar envious of his sister? What happened to Emhyr var Emreis and Nilfgard? And you know what the worst part is? They will never be answered. Though to be honest, Geralts adventure is no where to be over, I still have the two expansion packs to go through.... I just hope it never ends! See More

Top Pro

Meaningful and intriguing quests

Every quest has that main quest feel of importance and meaning within the overall arc of the story. See More

Top Con

Side Quest rewards offer little if too high a level

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt suffers from a lack of experience scaling in regards to side quests and hunts, as if the player is too high a level, upon completing the quest of hunt, Geralt is awarded 1-10 experience points. Thus any effort expended to complete these missions is often fruitless, save for experiencing more of the rich world. See More

ResponsibleAstghik's Experience

its f•••ing amazing what do you mean See More

Top Pro

Gigantic openworld has lots of content to explore

Deviating from the previous two games, Wild Hunt now has open world environments that are so large and detailed it can be intimidating. Compared to other open-world games such as Skyrim, the open World in The Witcher 3 is 3.5 times larger. Similarily, it is 1.5 times larger than GTA5. See More

Top Con

Performance hiccups

Even though the frame rate is capped at 30 frames per second it often drops below that. You also might experience long load times or textures not loading fully in some areas. See More

EncouragingBudai's Experience

Just play it and youll never regret it 😊 See More

Top Pro

Extremely good graphics

Top Con

Story feels like a chore

Most quests feel like a chore in that it is basically fetch quests in exchange for information to advance the story. While this is often a mechanic found in games to keep the gameplay long it does get tiresome. See More

Paolo's Experience

Without a doubt one of the best and most memorable games I have ever played. See More

Top Pro

Side quests are as good as the main quests

There are almost no lazy "go get me 12 turtle shells" quests in the Witcher 3 and you get to experience some amazing writing even in the most obscure side quests. See More

Top Con

Story quests may feel like a chore

If you happen to enjoy doing side quests, you might end up overleveled for the story quests, allowing you to easily power through them. This may remove the challenge and enjoyment, causing it to feel like a chore, especially because the loot also remains low-level. See More

RickZeeland's Experience

Now on offer on Steam for only 5,99€ See More

Top Pro

Choices matter

The Witcher 3 has three completely different endings. The decisions during main quests and side-quests affect how the endings play out, adding up 36 possible outcomes. It feels refreshing to actually impact your character's fate and not just trot along a path to an inevitable conclusion. See More

ColorfulThinanMalkia's Experience

only have 10 hours in this game and im loving it See More

Top Pro

Lots of random side quests

You can just walk around for hours, find abandoned structures, caves, etc and find interesting side quests to do. See More

AwesomestFodbgen's Experience

Best story telling in games See More

Top Pro

Attention to detail in almost every facet of the game

The Witcher 3 is how an AAA title should play, sound, and feel like. Its deep combat, beautiful graphics, amazing sound, interesting quests, immersive story, and almost every other aspect of the game has a surprising amount of polish. See More

CalmEros's Experience

absolute great story a must play def not a perfect game but a gem non the less See More

Top Pro

One of the most emotional games

This game makes you cry.... It does! See More

Top Pro

Thoughtful and expansive story with well-written characters

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tells a deep and intricate story about the main character, Geralt, on his long journey to find his adoptive daughter, Ciri, who's on the run from the evil, supernatural warlords of the Wild Hunt. You spend the game following various leads on Ciri's whereabouts, meeting up with old friends, former lovers, powerful politicians, and all sorts of people from many walks of life. These characters usually want something in exchange for giving Geralt the information he wants, leading you down some unexpected and eye-opening paths as you learn more about who they are, how they met Ciri, and how she helped them grow as people, letting you form a bond with her through these thought-provoking tales. And as Geralt either helps or hurts these people himself, he inevitably impacts their lives in even more ways. Aside from the main story, there are also two great expansions: Hearts of Stone, and Blood and Wine, both of which offer their own amazing narratives with hours and hours of content. Hearts of Stone has you get involved with a shady, all-powerful manipulator who gives Geralt a series of seemingly impossible tasks, while Blood and Wine lets you explore the rolling hills of the wine-loving country of Touissant, with all the political intrigue surrounding the Duchess there. The Witcher 3's story has so much to offer, easily keeping you hooked for well over a hundred hours as you play and replay the base game and the excellent expansions. See More

Top Pro

Memorable and meaningful side quests

The Witcher 3 sets a new standard with how well-done the side quests are. Since Geralt is a witcher, meaning he specializes in dealing with monsters with his swords and magic spells, people often go to him when they need a monster problem taken care of. Some of these problems involve people who have lost loved ones to a monster and simply want help tracking down their corpses to give them a proper send-off, or they want Geralt to take revenge by tracking down the monster and killing it. These side stories go a long way to humanize the minor characters, letting you feel their grief, hopelessness, or anger within only a few short minutes of speaking with them and getting the quest details. It's impressive that the writers manage to consistently pack so much emotion into these optional quests that you might not even choose to play through. See More

Top Pro

Vast and beautiful open world to explore

The world is gorgeous in how untainted it is, with many locations to see and visit. Full of vibrant life, the medieval-style setting is simple and understated, with wide open fields, rainy meadows, snowy mountain ranges, and modest wooden towns and cities for you to roam around on horseback or on foot. There are tons of secrets to find all over, like monster lairs to destroy for loot, treasure maps to follow, and hidden side quests in remote villages. The in-game clock keeps the skies changing with the hour as you cross from city to city, country to country, brightening the horizons with brilliant, golden sunrises in the morning and burning crimson sunsets in the evening. Everything is amazing to look at, encouraging you to wander around aimlessly just to take in the sights. See More

Top Pro

Accessible to players who are new to the Witcher series

Even though this is the third Witcher game, you can still jump right in and not feel lost. The story is generally good with the way it introduces you to the main characters without expecting you to know who they are. Geralt often reminisces with his friends from the first two games, letting you in on their history and adventures together to give you an idea of what happened in the past. And you don't have to have read the series of Witcher books, either, as the games all take place beyond the stories there. See More

Top Pro

Convenient ways to get around the massive world

The world is intimidatingly massive but thankfully there are ways to cut down on travel time. You can ride a horse, use a boat, or just simply fast travel to explored locations. This makes the experience more accessible and enjoyable as a whole. See More

Top Pro

Your choices lead to morally-gray consequences and multiple different endings

There are rarely any right answers when making decisions. The situations that the story puts you in are unique and oftentimes unsettling, sometimes leaving you agonizing over which dialog option to pick during story conversations. During your first playthrough, it's isn't obvious which of your decisions are "important" and will impact plot outcomes, making you think critically about all of your choices. Most surprising are the critical decisions that determine which ending you get -- once you see your ending, you learn how organic everything is, with the game keeping track of your relationships with other characters in subtle ways. See More

Top Pro

The soundtrack is well constructed and complementary in almost all situations

While exploring, doing a quest whether it is main or side one, the music in the back always enhances your game play. When a fight starts it pumps you up by playing Slavic or Celtic beats, and on a heartbreaking scene, it slows down its pace and plays an instrumental that rings even after you close it. You won't even notice, but you start to hum Skelliege sound or Priscilla song in your daily chores. Watching the sun set over the horizon while the Kaer Morhen tune plays was one of the best moments in the game. Without the songs to complement it, the side quests or the battles would have started to feel like a chore after a while on doing side content. See More

Top Pro

Fleshed-out romance options

Playing as Geralt, you have the choice to have one-night stands with ladies at certain taverns, or you can focus on his more involved romantic subplots. By this third game, Geralt has quite a long history with two competent and beautiful sorceresses: Triss Merigold, his love interest from The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, and Yennefer of Vengerberg, his old flame from the series of The Witcher novels that the games are based on. The two women also happen to be best friends, injecting some drama depending on how you go about things. Triss is really sweet, fun, and spontaneous with the way she makes the stoic Geralt smile and open up more as they get up to mischief together. On the other hand, Yennefer is strict, straightforward, and no-nonsense, not wanting to get into feelings all that much, and yet she and Geralt have such a strong bond over several years, making it feel special when Yen does occasionally let her guard down. Both of these romances intertwine well with the main story, with great optional side quests that add even more layers to whichever relationship you decide to pursue. It's also possible to try romancing both of them at the same time, but you might regret it, so choose carefully. See More

Top Pro

Best game ever made

No other game in the world will give you the same breathtaking, amazing experience that this game will give you. No doubt, best game ever. Only games that come close are RDR2 and maybe GOW. See More

Starts out easy enough, but gets to some truly difficult puzzles by the end. If you get stuck on a puzzle you can skip it and come back to it later. See More

The Talos Principle

Top Pro

Difficulty ramp-up

Top Con

Ending troubles

After getting the "normal" ending you will have to replay the entire game again if you want to find everything you missed. Replaying a puzzle game isn't that fun when you already know the puzzles. See More

CharmingBodbDerg's Experience

Greatest game of all time See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Puzzle

It's hard to explain this without spoiling anything, but there are lots of "aha!" moments you will encounter on the areas if you get invested into the story, making the game deeper. See More

Top Pro

Rewards exploration and out-of-the-box thinking

Top Pro

Great storyline

The puzzles in the game are great, but they're tied together with a thought provoking story line filled with mystery and intrigue. A story about a robot with human consciousness who is being guided by a disembodied voice, are they to be trusted? As the story progresses the player is drip fed clues which can lead them closer to the truth. See More

Top Pro

Lots of side content

Many Easter eggs and more difficult puzzles as well as an ending in many parts of the game, as well as hidden lore. See More

Top Pro

Great original soundtrack

The soundtrack is very pleasant to listen to and fits perfectly with all the areas and themes present in the game. It varies from calm music, for those heavenly areas where you are solving puzzles, to more misterious and epic pieces for moments when things get... real. It's good to have some nice music playing while your brain is melting from solving the puzzles, or just appreciating the scenery. See More

Top Pro

Lots of easter-eggs

With a couple exceptions, the boss fights are challenging in a way that does not feel cheap. If you die, it is because you screwed up and not because the game didn't feel like keeping you alive anymore. See More

Hollow Knight

Top Pro

Fun, challenging boss fights

Top Con

Slow first 2 hours

Game feels slow until you acquire an important upgrade. See More

ReverentAkras's Experience

This game caught my attention when I saw a Youtuber play and review it. This game is amazing and it is definitely worth more than the 15 bucks it claims to be. See More

Specs

Genre:Metroidvania

Co-Op:Single Player

Has a very dedicated aesthetic that works beautifully. See More

Top Pro

Amazing art and soundtrack

Top Con

Some glitches inside

Some speed runners use glitches to finish the game very fast, including glitches that cause you to go to some other area or glitches that make you fly, but you might find some by accident. See More

EfficientSilvanus's Experience

I've sunk in more then 100 hundred hours into one of my saves and i can say this is one of the most fun games i've ever played. it is hard at first but if you can master the movements this game will be a blast See More

Top Pro

Large amount of content

Over 30 hours of gameplay. See More

Top Con

Becomes a grinder

At some point in the game all you can do is just grind for essence and that gets boring since your just killing enemies till they drop some and you also have to grind money just to buy a lantern or upgrades which takes hours to do since their so expensive. See More

ResponsiveKuu's Experience

Can't say I was impressed at first. It took me some time to get used to the controls but it was all worth it. Amazing story and gameplay get well togheter, therefore giving the player a good experience. See More

Top Pro

Worth its small price tag

Better than most $60 games. See More

Top Con

Difficulty

Top Pro

Amazing story and lore

Top Con

Hidden lore/story

The story and lore are revealed in a similar manner as Dark Souls. There is a lot of lore, but you have to piece it together on your own because they don't tell you much straight-up. See More

Top Pro

Tight and fluid movement

Every movement in the game makes you feel like you are in control. See More

Top Con

Map system

To get a map, you must find an NPC first for each area you visit. Map updates whenever you find a bench. You also get sent to your last-visited bench when you die. It does not update in real-time, but the map will update with wherever you have been when you find a bench. This is all assuming you have bought the base map from the NPC in that particular area. See More

Top Pro

Forces you to learn attack patterns

You won't get far just going in swinging. Learning enemy behavior is much more important than in any other Metroidvania and that feels very rewarding. See More

Top Pro

Mysterious story/lore

Makes you wanna explore more to find out whats going on and you may find secrets with NPCs that will tell you more or add to the mystery. This keeps things interesting. See More

Top Pro

Rewarding exploration

The game world is enormous, with a massive amount of secret areas that really reward you for sniffing them out. See More

Top Pro

Has free DLC

Two DLCs have been released, adding additional quests for free. See More

Top Pro

Has character

The visuals, music and sound effects are both quirky and charming. You may stay for the gameplay, but you come in for the lovable world. See More

Terraria is like a 2D Minecraft, so you can alter the world around you and craft things, which teaches creativity and critical thinking skills. This is great for children who enjoy building and discovering new ways to tackle ideas just as it is great for adults who enjoy the same things. It also makes for a great objectiveless game where you can do just about anything you want, which allows for less stress due to being able to play at any pace the player likes. See More

Terraria

Top Pro

Encourages creativity for all ages

Top Con

No tutorial and un-intuitive menus

There is no tutorial to speak of and the menu system can be a bit cumbersome and confusing. See More

HealthyPasithea's Experience

its a great game with 5 types of weapons magic weapons, meelee weapons, bows, guns and summon staffs and its super fun to explore See More

Specs

Genre:2D platformer / Minecraft-like

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN

Controller Support:Android (MOGA / HID), Steam (Full)

There are many enemies to face, and even more weapons to kill them with, ranging from flails to sniper rifles to magic staves that summon rain clouds to rain damage upon your foes. See More

Top Pro

Fun and diverse combat

Top Con

Gameplay can feel slow

While there is little to show progress in the game over gaining many items and having many structures built, progress overall can be slow due to having to collect every item needed to craft the necessary tool, equipment and materials. This can be time consuming and may turn some people off. See More

ConsiderateLanCaihe's Experience

300 Hours, and I'm still coming back whenever there's a new update. Its a lot more fun with friends but solo is good too. After you get bored of replaying terraria, you can just use tmodloader to get more content for FREE! See More

Top Pro

Extensive crafting system

The vast majority of items in Terraria can be used to create other items, often requiring specific crafting stations (which themselves must be crafted). This is the core of character advancement, since gear defines nearly everything about your character. See More

Top Con

Progress can feel slow

Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs. See More

Alec Heesacker's Experience

Got killed by bamboo shot. :( See More

Top Pro

2D retro-platformer style

Instead of building a deliberate feeling of suspense, Terraria uses bright palettes and arcade action to provide a fun experience outside of the survival elements. When those elements gradually appear one by one, each is all the more shocking from the contrast. See More

Top Con

Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game

Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring. See More

UnbiasedNahundi's Experience

This game does so many things right, from progression to collectibles, crafting and building See More

Top Pro

You can do so much

There is so much to do, this game will take your life away. See More

Top Con

Difficult for new or bad gamers

A fantastic game, but hardcore master mode is extremely difficult and it may discourage bad players or children from playing, if they try out one of the harder difficulties or even normal first. See More

Top Pro

Moddable

Even if you do run out of stuff to do there are many mods adding much more content See More

Top Pro

Large community

Terraria has a very large community as it is a very popular game. Released on just about every platform including mobile, PC/Mac/Linux, consoles, it allows for anyone to play no matter their prefered device. This also means that with many players comes many servers to play on as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. So finding content or help or just basic information on the game will be quite easy. See More

Top Pro

Multiplayer also an option with up to 8 player online co-op

Up to 8 online players can be invited to join a shared Terraria world, including worlds that are also used in single-player mode. This allows for large co-op or PvP games to be played, for those that are interested, meaning you can choose how you play. Build something big together, or destroy the other guy's base. See More

Top Pro

Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace

Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace. See More

Top Pro

Fun combat

It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate. There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies. See More

Top Pro

Intriguing world

Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria. See More

Top Pro

Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams

Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy. See More

Top Pro

Playing with friends allows for endless scenarios

Up to 8 players can join any Terraria world. You can progress through the game normally, build a race course and compete in it, or split into factions and wage war against each other. The scenarios are endless, you just have to let loose your creativity. See More

There are several endings that you can find, but it is still a relatively short game. See More

The Stanley Parable

Top Con

It's short

Top Pro

Points out narrative limitations in games by encouraging breaking narrative structure through gameplay

The game encourages players to explore decisions that would change the meaning of the presented story. What if you took a left turn where the game asked you to take a right? What if you decided not to push a big red button needed to continue playing because you didn't agree with pushing the big red button? What if you died in a boss battle? How would that affect the narrative of the game? The game rewards you for not following the "intended" narrative structure of the situation in order to point out how the structure is unavoidable in games as a whole. The process of attempting to break the structure can be highly satisfying in The Stanley Parable and can help you better notice limitations of narrative in other games. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Interactive Story

There are numerous ending to the game that appear to play out even when the player makes the same choices as their last playthrough. See More

Top Pro

The game has a lot of different endings to find

Top Pro

It screws with you and is hilarious

Top Pro

Exceptional narration

Excellently crafted, hilarious writing delivered by a well spoken, charismatic British narrator. Kevan Brighting has become somewhat of a cult success since the game due to its cult like status which just shows how deserving he is due to how well done the narration of the game is done. See More

Top Pro

It's really worth it

Top Pro

A few nods to other games can be seen throughout the game

References to other games including Half-Life 2, Portal & Minecraft can be found throughout the game. See More

Top Pro

Discusses the illusion of choice in games

One of the main themes of the game is the illusion of choice that's presented in games. While a player can make a vast number of decisions in the game, the narrator reminds the player he can only make decisions that the game allows him to and how the game manipulates the player into making them. The narrator points out that not just common choices such as what path to take to get from point A to point B, how to approach a certain situation or what ethical choices are available are limited to the game's designers having thought of and implemented those aspects of the game, but decisions such as purposeful suicide, not taking action, disobeying instructions and even turning off the game are only there if the game allows them to be there. See More

Top Pro

Insightful commentary on state of game design

The game tackles topics such as ludonarrative dissonance, choice in games, narrative limitations, etc while mostly focusing on the relationship between the game and the player in terms of storytelling in a very meaningful, educated and entertaining way. See More

Civilization V has a large assortment of nation leaders to choose from that have an even bigger assortment of scenarios that are able to play out for said leaders. Each game can be quite unique in this way as each leader allows for a different nation to be controlled. See More

Civilization V

Top Pro

Endless scenarios and replayability

Top Con

One unit per tile

Civ 5 restricts you to having one unit per tile, but has an AI unable to handle that restriction well, and doesn't even have decent pathing for units. Late game becomes a slog of ordering each unit individually due to poor pathing. See More

Specs

Co-Op:2 to 21 Player Online / LAN

Genre:4X

Controller Support:Steam Controller Officallly supported

Building different wonders, and the expansive tech tree, coupled with being able to play as an aggressive, or passive civ. You can win science victories, which require patients, or rule the world with an iron fist, the choice is yours. See More

Top Pro

Allows you to choose your own path

Top Con

No stats on other Civ attitudes

Unlike past Civilization games there are no longer stats on the attitudes of the players surrounding Civilizations. This allowed one to see how each other nation felt about the player, but now that it is gone one has to guess, which is definitely not as helpful. See More

Top Pro

Beautiful graphics

From the players cities and armies to the lush landscape, Civilization is quite a beautiful game for those with systems powerful enough to push the graphics to the limit. Even when on lower graphical settings the game looks lush and well animated. See More

Top Con

Most victories won by timed or military victory

It can be pretty difficult to win by diplomacy or culture which does add some challenge to the game but it can get tiresome if one keeps winning by only military or timed victories. See More

Top Pro

Customization through policies

Policies are used as a tool to gain a variety of customizations that benefit ones society. There is a branching tree of policies that will allow the user to pick certain aspects that will suit them best such as adding law or religion to ones society which will give gains in certain aspects. See More

Top Con

No steam workshop support on Linux

The Linux port currently does not support steam workshop, and as the mac port made by the same developers has not received workshop support despite having been out for several years, it is unlikely that it ever will. Though there are unofficial workarounds to get the mods working. See More

Top Pro

Fantastic tactical combat

Civilization V has a great combat system that feels very tactical over previous versions as there is no stacking of troops, but with the new hexagonal grid players can surround enemies as well as allow for better tactics when planning attacks. See More

Mass Effect 2's levels are more like winding corridors with the occasional wide open space here and there. You always have a clear sense of where to go next, but there isn't much room for exploration. It's also obvious when enemies are about to show up, since you'll come to a place with a bunch of chest-high walls conveniently spread around the area for you to take cover behind. It's unimaginative, making missions feel like you're only going from point A to B. See More

Mass Effect 2

Top Pro

Amazing story

Top Con

Levels are very linear

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Third-Person Shooter

The combat in Mass Effect 2 is much better than its predecessor in every way possible. You can enter cover and vault over it whenever you want this time around instead of your body magnetically sticking to whichever surface you stand next to. Guns use expendable thermal clips, which are like bullet clips, meaning you're no longer held back by your weapons overheating if you fire them too much. They also feel more satisfying to shoot with a real kick to them, especially the meatier shotguns and sniper rifles. Your squadmates are smarter this time around, like how you can order them to use their own abilities to chain them with yours for cool bonuses like melting armor with fire powers. The combat is actually fun in Mass Effect 2 and stands on its own next to the great story and characters. See More

Top Pro

Butterfly effect, choices matter the flow and endings of the game

Top Pro

Amazing, plot twist ending

Top Pro

Replay value is great

Top Pro

Improved third-person shooting combat from the first game

Top Pro

Memorable cast of authentic characters

Mass Effect 2 has an amazing cast of both human and alien characters who feel like real people. While just about any NPC you meet is fantastic, your squad members are the ones that stand out the most. You have about ten squadmates to choose from, not including DLC characters. They all have backstories and traits that are believable and natural. Their personalities shine through the most during their optional loyalty missions where you help them complete certain personal tasks separate from the main story. One of your human squadmates, Miranda, is cold and intimidating at first, since she distrusts you for her own reasons. Her loyalty mission is unexpectedly emotional, showing Miranda as more flawed and caring than she lets on. There's also Garrus, one of your returning squadmates from the first Mass Effect. He's a turian that looks somewhat bird-like in design, but his easygoing personality is very cool, making him feel relatable and reliable. His loyalty mission shows his darker side as you help him tie up loose ends from his past. Getting to know everyone through dialog and squad banter is a lot of fun, making it easy to grow attached to your favorite characters. See More

Top Pro

You can customize your protagonist Commander Shepard

There are lots of ways to make Commander Shepard feel like your own character. The character creator at the start of a new game lets you change all sorts of options, from your hair, to your skin color, the shape of your nose, mouth, and ears, and so much more. Or, if you prefer, you can simply stick with the default male or female Shepard. You also get to pick which class you want to be for combat: soldier, infiltrator, vanguard, adept, or sentinel, each with their own unique abilities, like the adept's helpful "magic spells" and the infiltrator's specialty with sniper rifles. You can role-play as Shepard however you want, with plenty of options to customize your looks and your combat specialties for whichever role suits you the most. See More

Top Pro

Good romance subplots

The romance subplots in Mass Effect 2 are great. Playing as male Shepard, you can romance most of your female squadmates, while female Shepard can romance most of the male squadmates. If you romanced someone in the first Mass Effect, then that story continues here in Mass Effect 2. There are certain consequences for being unfaithful where your partner will confront you or the person you're cheating with in a heated showdown. Sticking with one person for the whole game rewards you with a romantic scene near the end of the story. A lot of care and attention went into these subplots, giving you the chance to see each of the characters in a new light. See More

Top Pro

Combat is never boring and can be played in a variety of ways

Top Pro

'Semi-open world' gameplay customization interactions

Top Pro

Your choices have true consequences on the story

Your choices have direct consequences on how the story plays out, not only in this game but also across the rest of the Mass Effect trilogy. In Mass Effect 2, you get to choose between options like keeping or destroying inhumane scientific research that could help an entire galactic race, or exposing the dark truth about a squadmates' family for the greater good or keeping it hidden. Who you bring along for the final mission and how you lead your team has a huge impact on the ending. Each of your decisions, big and small, carry over into Mass Effect 3, opening things up for many different playthroughs to see how things turn out with other choices. See More

Portal takes 2-3 hours to complete which means it can be completed in one sitting. This may not be enough game for the money for some people and should be considered before purchasing. See More

158 Other Games Considered

Portal

Top Pro

Really nice ending song

Top Con

Somewhat short

Specs

The main mechanic of the game revolves around solving different puzzles using a handheld portal device - a device that can bend space and time to create a wormhole through which you can move. See More

Top Pro

Requires solving spatial and physics based puzzles using portals

Top Con

Portal mechanics not used much to their best ability

Certain parts of the game sees the player using portals to manipulate sentry guns that fire rockets in order to progress in that stage, Mechanics like this make for a really enjoyable way to manipulate ones environment but sadly are not used too often. See More

Top Pro

Humorous telling of a dark story

Portal is known for its humor. Even years after it's been out in the world people are still quoting and referencing it in everyday situations. See More

Top Con

Outdated graphics

The game was released in 2007, making it somewhat of an older title, because of this the graphics will not be on par with modern releases. See More

Top Pro

Innovative gameplay

Portal has won multiple awards for innovative design. Using a first person view and portals that allow one to traverse a room through one placed in one location to the other placed in another location to solve puzzles was and still is a very unique game design. See More

Top Pro

Made people fall in love with an inanimate, virtual object

The game made people emotionally attach to The Weighted Companion Cube and feel uncomfortable when later forced to incinerate it. See More

Top Pro

Character-driven

Even though the only organic sentient being in this game is the player's character, this game features some of the most memorable and intriguing characters in fiction or in gameplay. GladOS obviously, but also the drone robots that sweet-talk the player to a sudden death (and then forgive you when you dismantle them), the clues left behind by former test subjects, the abandoned hints of what the lab used to be like. It tells a story without telling a story, and immerses you more than most other games can ever hope to achieve. See More

Top Pro

Created one of the most memorable characters in gaming history - GLaDOS

GLaDOS, or Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, is the main antagonist of Portal games. She is voiced by Ellen McLain with the voice later processed to sound closer to how a text-to-speech program would synthesize a voice. GLaDOS initially functions as a guide to the player and is only later revealed as a manipulative, narcissistic, sinister and passive-aggressive character that wants to kill the protagonist. GLaDOS is the main force that moves the humorous yet dark narrative of Portal series with her remarks being simultaneously hilarious and terrifying. See More

Top Pro

Merges first-person shooting mechanics with platforming and puzzle-solving

Portal uses an engine that was meant for a first person shooter and creates puzzles that need solved through various stage with the use of platforming. While not the very first game to merge platforming with and FPS the puzzle aspects make it unique in that no other game had done this specific combination yet. See More

Top Pro

The game leaves clues to a deeper story

Throughout both Portal games there are hints left in various forms that fill in more of the story, including information about Chell's personal history. See More

Top Pro

Making it halfway and completing unlocks new content

Getting to the halfway point in Portal will unlock challenge maps and finishing the main story will unlock advanced chambers. See More

Life is Strange expertly portrays a teenagers life during high school, capturing all the good and bad emotions, while also adding a supernatural twist. The main character and her issues are relatable, side characters are interesting, and the plot twists are very unexpected. The story as a whole is very enjoyable, keeping you on the edge of your seat most of the time. See More

Life is Strange

Top Pro

Great story

Top Con

Some audio sync issues

In addition to poorly done lip syncing, character voice lines sometimes overlap as well. You might not understand what's being said unless you turn on the subtitles. It can be really annoying at times, even with subtitles. See More

ResponsibleComus's Experience

It was an Amazing Story game and very Immersive See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Narrative

You will fall in love with the characters. See More

Top Pro

Lovable characters

Top Con

Choices feel a little lacking

While there are many choices in Life is Strange, most of them have no long term impact on the story. The only noticeable changes are the dialogue lines and what scenes you get. While this adds some nuances to your journey, the destination is ultimately the same. See More

PeterPettiwut's Experience

One of the greatest experience I've ever had. Story, characters, soundtrack, even the simple mechanics is great. It makes you think about life, choices, your time and how you are spending it. If you care enough to give it attention of course, it's common to see people complaining about the lack of options you have for someone that can travel in time. These people really don't get what the game is about, they clearly didn't understand a thing about the ending and what the games tries to tell you. It has a lot to do with empathy I would say, it's a game to sit back, relax and enjoy the little details, take your time while playing it, get to know the characters, sit on the campus and take a break to just think. See More

Top Pro

Amazing overall atmosphere

Between the good voice acting, lighting and object/level design, extensive number of things and people that can be examined or talked to, and music, it really makes one feel as if they're there experiencing the story. See More

Top Con

Some poor writing and unbelievable characters

Many of the characters use dialog and behave unlike how a teenager would making for poor believable characters and story. See More

ProfessionalPramzimas's Experience

Epic game made me cry (max cute) See More

Top Pro

A well-polished experience

Excellent voice acting, great story, smooth lighting, detailed object/level design, extensive number of people and objects to interact with, and even amazing music. Everything about the game makes it very enjoyable to play. See More

VivaciousZhurong's Experience

I'd say the biggest issue with this game is the fandom who practically worships it and over hypes it. With all good reason but can do some injustice. This game has the best story I've ever had the pleasure of playing through. However I would not recommend it to everyone. It's a game for people who don't care about gameplay and want to immerse themselves in a depthful story. See More

Top Pro

Choice based gameplay with a twist

Your character can rewind time, so you can undo any recent choice or action, allowing you to try out different ones. This feels really awesome since in most games you'd have to reload your save or replay through entire sections just to view the other choices. See More

VigorousEndovelicus's Experience

h(might be a little spoiling) It's a good game, would recommend it but the choices aren't really game-changing unless of course, you pick the "daring" type of choices which leads you to a different ending choice, which is quite unexpected (if you don't analyze the choices made). The game also has an unexpected storyline with an ending making you think of why you chose that. See More

Top Pro

Free chapter available

The first 20% (roughly) of the game is free to try to see if you like it or how well it runs on your machine. Steam will give refunds for games that you didn't like it or had trouble with anyway (as long as you played less than 2 hours of it), but this saves the hassle of refunding, as well as the annoying 2 hour mental timer in your head that you'd be weary of. See More

You will die, a lot, and that is the point. The game is challenging, but fair. It is as much about memorization as it is about precision of movement. This makes for a game that needs to be practiced, quite a bit, which should appeal to those who enjoy working for their achievements. See More

Super Hexagon

Top Pro

Addictively challenging gameplay where "just one more game" is a constant

Top Con

Not free

Specs

Genre:Action / Arcade

Co-Op:None

Controller Support:No

Top Pro

Great soundtrack that complements the gameplay perfectly

The soundtrack is done by BossFightSwe, who is very well known for their video game sounds. See More

Top Con

May cause nausea

The fast spinning graphics could cause some people a bit of nausea. See More

Top Pro

Aggressive aesthetic that forces the player to adapt to succeed, which keeps the gameplay interesting

The visual design of the game consists of basic geometric shapes in bright colors that turn and blink, all while you are trying to stay focused on a little triangle in the middle. This can be distracting and is by design in order to try to trip up the player in their goal of continuing as long as they can. See More

This game will run on old PC's/laptops without a problem as the game itself is quite old. It can therefore run on hardware that is mostly seen as low spec. So pretty much anyone can run this game as it will even work on integrated graphics on modern CPUs. See More

Age of Empires 2

Top Pro

Runs on very old computers

Top Con

A lack of proper User Interface scaling makes a clunky UI worse

While this is a remastered edition of a classic Real-Time Strategy title, the UI was left largely unchanged. Selecting workers still prompts you to click buttons to bring up both economic and military buildings, then choosing whichever building you wish to construct. This is uninteresting design and makes the UI difficult to navigate. On top of this, the game does not feature UI scaling. Since the game is bound to your current desktop display settings, the UI will adjust itself to match that resolution. This means if you play at 4K resolution the User Interface will be absurdly small, making it near impossible to see what buildings you wish to construct or what units you want to train. This is counter-intuitive design, for this era of modern gaming, and makes properly playing the game more of a hassle than it should ever be. See More

Specs

Genre:RTS

Co-Op:No

Controller Support:No

This game neither gives the impression of being thrown to the wolves nor that of being left stranded on an island. Whether you want to move slowing and steadily through the game or take things at a more heightened pace, Age of Empires 2 will allow for both (with some minor planning). See More

Top Pro

Facilitates the user's preferred pace

Top Con

Outdated

As it was originally released in 1999, Age of Empires 2 shows its age, particularly in terms of the UI and graphics. See More

Top Pro

Simple Map Editor

You can create endless scenarios with the map editor as well! See More

Top Con

Age of Empires II HD is an unsuccessful remaster due to its outdated graphics

With the only notable upgrade being high resolution options, Age of Empires II HD fails at being a proper remaster. While higher resolutions give the game a slight face lift, the rest of the engine is left largely unchanged. This means the graphics we see in this remaster are nearly the same in its original 1999 release. Due to this, the game is grating to the eye and does not deliver on its high definition promise. See More

Top Pro

Awesome ambiance with a great finish

While the graphics are slightly outdated, they were very well done for their time. And when combined with the history behind the game and its wonderful soundtrack, the game comes across as extremely polished. See More

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

Musical elements from a variety of cultures and combined them to create a mixed sound. See More

Touching on themes of classism, racism, the power of religion, propaganda, and even delving into the metaphysical, Bioshock Infinite delivers a compelling story that will have you engaged till the very end. See More

Bioshock Infinite

Top Pro

Great story

Top Con

Story and gameplay can give mixed tones

A high story concept mixed with super bloody battles threw off some people’s experience of the game who site ludonarrative dissonance as the problem. See More

Alec Greene's Experience

This was one of the first games I played as I started exploring story driven single player games, and really viewed it from the experience perspective. I'm a huge movie fan, and it felt like a proper adaption of amazing story telling techniques from books and movies into a game. The setting and bystanders were phenomenal, hiding away pieces of the world all around you if you are there to listen. The reactions of characters and the world itself to your character is engaging and immersive. You feel as if you are booker dewitt, and the choices/actions you are making are your own as much as his. The enemies strike a good balance between diverse and populated. It feels much more like platoons of guards on a holy crusade to kill you than they do walking plot devices. Elizabeth was one of the most charming and interesting characters I've seen in a long time, and you really wind up caring what happens to her. The villains were great, and at the end of the game the plot comes together with a huge punch that will literally drop your jaw. 10/10, this story is quite the experience and was so much fun! See More

Specs

Genre:FPS, RPG

A city floating in the sky with quantum physics set in the early 1900’s with gear propelled robots and powers brought on by tonics are awaiting you in the city of Columbia. Bright colors and amazing vistas that are populated with floating islands that house full carnival resorts, giant memorial statues, along with deadly enslavement camps and prisons bring Bioshock’s world to life. See More

Top Pro

The world is amazing

Top Con

Non-coherrent garbage

A complete trainwreck of a game. <----Hot take See More

EnterprisingNinimma's Experience

My Favorite game. See More

Top Pro

Intense fast-paced gameplay

Continuing the super-powered gameplay from the first two Bioshock’s this installment in the series refines the fun and fast formula. Use tonics to launch fireballs, ravens, or electricty at your foes, or make them fight by your side, as long as you have enough salt that is. Then to liven things up get help from Elizabeth’s “tears” to bring in more guns and tin-men from another time/dimension to aid you in your fight! See More

FantasticSuijin's Experience

Best single-player game! See More

Top Pro

Great Add-On content

With the main game being so great you just want to keep playing! So Irrational Games came out with four dlc packs: Columbia’s Finest, Clash in the Clouds, Burial at Sea Episode 1 and Episode 2. See More

Top Pro

Phenomenal characters

From believable civilians, to genuine allies and complex villains, the characters in this game make you feel like you are inhabiting a world and not just walking through levels. See More

The game has more than 60,000 co-op puzzles created by users through the Steam Workshop and through mods. Because it is user-generated content, the quality and size of these puzzles vary widely, including everything from simple, one-off chambers to full-fledged expansions with high-quality stories, voice-overs, and new gameplay elements (for example, Mel). See More

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Portal 2

Top Pro

Hundreds of hours of user-generated content

Top Con

No replay value

Since it's a puzzle game, once you know the solution, there is no reason to play again. See More

EnterprisingIstanu's Experience

Immersive and unique experience. I fell in love with it since I found out it's not all about the puzzles. See More

Specs

The game challenges your brain to use portals, cubes and other mechanics in order to solve simple and complex puzzles in interesting ways. Trying to figure out the best placement of entrance and exit portals in order to gain access to (perceived) inaccessible places takes a lot of thought, especially in the later game. See More

Top Pro

Mind-bending puzzles

Top Con

Steep co-op learning curve

Although the single-player campaign features a gradual learning curve, co-op gives no mercy. The puzzles start off hard and only get harder. It is highly recommended that you play through single-player first if you are not familiar with Portal's mechanics. See More

Alec Greene's Experience

Great story telling and atmosphere, genuine humor that sticks to the portal style without repeating material. More in depth backstory, additional puzzle elements, a character cast just as good as the first one if more expansive, and obviously much better graphics. It feels like a proper sequel. The only downside is there are quite a few times where the puzzle is more finding where CAN you put the portal instead of where should you put the portal. However, all in all, it was a great gaming experience that captured the heart and story of the last story while continuing to add and expand on it. Great game! See More

Top Pro

Both online co-op and local co-op

It is possible to play a multiplayer game for free online using the Steam servers, as well as locally on your machine using split-screen (the second player must use a gamepad controller if playing locally). See More

Top Con

Boring world, no charisma

Harvey Jolly's Experience

Incredibly fun and story rich. Doesn't have a lot of replayability though. See More

Top Pro

Humorous voice acting

Voice acting for Wheatley the robot is done by Stephen Merchant (Extras, The Office UK, Life's Too Short) in humorous fashion. His delivery is well executed on all dialogue. On top of this specific experience, the rest of the voice acting of every other character in the game is performed just as well, in part due to the fact that the dialogue was written in a smart and entertaining fashion. This makes for a top quality listening experience that shows a lot of care was taken with the voice acting of the game. See More

Top Con

Late game single player can be quite difficult

While the single player learning curve is quite gradual, late game the puzzles can become quite difficult, sometimes leading to the player being stuck for long stretches of time. While not impossible to solve, some creative thinking will need to be done in order to finish. See More

HealthyPasithea's Experience

its a fun puzzle game just good See More

Top Pro

GLaDOS is perhaps the best villain in video game history

The voice acting for GLaDOS, psychopathic yet delightfully passive-aggressive, is brilliant. There's an understated malevolence that makes the game a delight to experience. See More

SpontaneousParthenos's Experience

To this day, this is my Favorite Game to EVER come out See More

Top Pro

Witty and funny character driven story

Four major characters drive the single player campaign, and they are amazing. Three of which have explosive personalities, bring humor, suspense, sadness, and empathy. The other being Chell, who doesn’t speak but her interactions with the rest of the cast make her all the more mysterious and interesting. Most of the time you don’t even see or directly interact with the characters, but that just shows how great they are. See More

Alec Heesacker's Experience

Turrets and Blood Violence. See More

Top Pro

Well implemented tools that improve teamwork

In Portal 2, co-op is a completely different set of puzzles than the single-player campaign. Almost all puzzles require a high level of teamwork that will leave you feeling proud of what you have accomplished. In a game that requires perfect timing and teamwork, Portal 2 features many tools to facilitate teamwork. One of the most helpful is a 3-second countdown timer that can be initiated and shown to both players to ensure you launch that portal or jump at the perfect time. In addition, there is a marker that you can place on certain objects for your teammate to see as well as a setting that shows your partners view super-imposed on the corner of your screen. See More

JoyfulShurpanakha's Experience

Fun game mainly for co op See More

Top Pro

Larger in scope than the first title

Portal 2 is larger in every way when compared to the first title, from the longer and more detailed story to the larger levels and new game mechanics. See More

The Gster's Experience

Best puzzle game I've played. Great acting. Doesn't need NASA computer. Needs 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 CPU, 128 MB or more GPU, 2GB RAM, and Windows XP or above. See More

Top Pro

Creates a sense of accomplishment through a high level of teamwork

Co-op multiplayer offers a completely different set of puzzles from the single-player campaign, which keeps things fresh for those that finished the single player campaign. Almost all co-op puzzles require a high level of teamwork, creating a great sense of accomplishment for the players working together. See More

The Mighty Warrior's Experience

FUN GAME! See More

Top Pro

Main co-op campaign is short

The co-op campaign in Portal 2 is about 4 hours long for experienced players, meaning it could be beaten in a weekend. With almost zero replayability, this makes the game feel incredibly short. Luckily, hundreds of hours worth of user-generated content is available. See More

Top Pro

Co-op does not punish when you want to goof off with or troll the other player

While Portal 2 requires focus and logic, it does not punish players for causing a bit of mischief. The instant respawn system means trolling your friend will affect almost nothing in the game, as there are no in-game setbacks when you die. Being able to stop at any point in the game to just goof around is great for releasing some steam, even when it is at the expense of your co-op partner. See More

Top Pro

Huge selection of user-generated content that should appeal to any use-case

The game has more than 60,000 co-op puzzles created by users through the Steam Workshop and through mods. Because it is user-generated content, the quality and size of these puzzles vary widely, including everything from simple, one-off chambers to full-fledged expansions with high-quality stories, voice-overs, and new gameplay elements (for example, Mel). By having such a selection of content, there should be something that appeals to just about anything someone is looking for. See More

Top Pro

Cross-platform co-op

As long as both players have a Steam account, the co-op is able to be played even if one user is playing on the PS3 while the other is on a PC. See More

Top Pro

Versatile selection of co-op multiplayer

It’s possible to play a multiplayer game for free online using the Steam servers, as well as locally on your machine using split-screen (the second player must use a gamepad controller if playing locally). This keeps the multiplayer options versatile to any players needs. See More