74 amazing fantasy screenshots for your desktop

When we started gathering screenshots celebrating our favorite fantasy games, we ran into a bit of a snag: defining fantasy isn’t always easy. Any world that fits rules laid out by Tolkien (or, in the case of Shadow of Mordor, a world literally based on Tolkien’s work) is an easy choice. Swords, castles, mages, and dragons are distinctive, and they make for great art. As a result, Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher 3 feature heavily in this gallery, as do Skyrim, Morrowind, and Dragon Age.

Alternate history fantasy worlds like Dishonored don’t fit in with Tolkien’s world, but their mix of magic, steampunk, industrial revolution, and the occult is fantastic enough for our purposes. Assassin’s Creed was another frustration, nesting sword-wielding assassins with mystical abilities inside a sci-fi DNA-memory wrapper.

In the end, we had to stick to a more malleable definition: we know fantasy when we see it. Inside this gallery are over 70 of the best screenshots we could find that feature dragons, horses, cloaks and castles, demons, gods and quaint country towns. They’re all worthy of a campfire story (and your desktop).

Want 'em all? We've packaged the whole lot of hi-res images as a zip file.

Dark Souls 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Betrayer. Image credit: K-putt.

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. Image credit: K-putt.

Dark Souls 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Berduu.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Berduu.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Image credit: K-putt.

Thief. Image credit: K-putt.

Dark Souls 3. Image credit: K-putt.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Skyrim. Image credit: K-putt.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

Shadow Warrior. Image credit: K-putt.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Digital Epicness.

Shadow of Mordor. Image credit: Nom.

Mind: Path to Thalamus. Image credit: Mary K.

Styx: Master of Shadows. Image credit: PulseZET.

The Witcher 2. Image credit: Midhras.

Skyrim. Image credit: Midhras.

Dishonored. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dishonored. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

Darksiders 2. Image credit: Mary K.

Thief. Image credit: K-putt.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Berduu.

Total War: Attila. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Star Wars: Battlefront. Image credit: Mary K.

The Witness. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Dark Souls 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Shadow Warrior. Image credit: K-putt.

Shadow of Mordor. Image credit: Nom.

Trine 2. Image credit: K-putt.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Image credit: PulseZET.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

Dishonored. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Dishonored. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dishonored. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Dragon’s Dogma. Image credit: Mary K.

Dishonored. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

Skyrim. Image credit: K-putt.

Skyrim. Image credit: Anthemios.

Skyrim. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: K-putt.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Berduu.

ABZÛ. Image credit: PulseZET.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: PulseZET.

The Witcher 2. Image credit: Midhras.

Shadow Warrior. Image credit: K-putt.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Midhras.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Digital Epicness.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Digital Epicness.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Image credit: Mary K.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Mary K.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Digital Epicness.

The Witcher 3. Image credit: Mary K.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Image credit: PulseZET.

Dark Souls 3. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dishonored. Image credit: Anthemios.

Morrowind. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Skyrim. Image credit: Davide.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Image credit: Digital Epicness.

Skyrim. Image credit: Anthemios.

Dishonored. Image credit: Nemanja Licina.

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. Image credit: K-putt.