The best PC games in 2025: 10 picks that PC Gamer's staff is playing now

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Looking for a great new PC game? Here's what we're playing in 2025.

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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 ones to play?

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

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

Recent updates

July 3, 2025: This article has been renovated into the new form you're seeing now. Check this space in the future for notes on changes to the list below.

1. PeakReleased: Review: PCG's recent playtime:
Top pick!

1. Peak
Released: June 2025 | Review: 86% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 30+ hours

An $8 climbing game that's been the biggest surprise hit of the year so far (next to REPO, perhaps). "Peak is everything I'd want from a co-op game," Elie said in our review.

2. Dune: AwakeningReleased: Review: PCG's recent playtime:

2. Dune: Awakening
Released: June 2025 | Review: 80% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 100+ hours

The Dune survival game remains thrilling even after 100 hours, Chris said in his review: "...when I see a sandworm breach or I hear another player's 'thopter approaching, Dune: Awakening still makes my heart pound."

3. RematchReleased: Review: PCG's recent playtime:

3. Rematch
Released: June 2025 | Review: 86% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 25+ hours

A multiplayer football game from a developer known for martial arts games, Rematch's love for the game is infectious. Also known as 'Rocket League with feet.'

4. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Released: Review score: PCG's recent playtime:

4. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Released: April 2025 | Review score: 70% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 10+ hours

Our reviewer wasn't over the moon in love with this Persona-inspired French RPG, but there are some on the wider PCG team readying GOTY nominations.

5. The AltersReleased: Review score: PCG's recent playtime:

5. The Alters
Released: June 2025 | Review score: 90% | Steam/GOG
PCG's recent playtime: 30+ hours

Its developer recently stepped in it with some generative AI placeholders, but that aside, this singleplayer sci-fi survival thriller is one of our favorite games of the year.

6. Elden Ring: NightreignReleased: Review score: PCG's recent playtime:

6. Elden Ring: Nightreign
Released: May 2025 | Review score: 80% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 40+ hours

The co-op Elden Ring spinoff is full of little cruelties and quirks, but we can't help but continue to be FromSoft sickos. Nightreign is the "most aggravating, player-hostile FromSoft game I've played, but I keep staying up past 3 am for 'one more run'," Ted said.

7. Monster Train 2Released: Review score:PCG's recent playtime:

7. Monster Train 2
Released: May 2025 | Review score: 91% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 10+ hours

The first of these deckbuilders was a bit overshadowed by Slay the Spire, which preceded it, but some say it was the better game, and the sequel doesn't let up: "Slay the Spire 2 might have to grant access to actual Heaven to top this," Abbie said in our review.

8. Warhammer 40K: DarktideReleased:Review: PCG's recent playtime:
New DLC

8. Warhammer 40K: Darktide
Released: Nov 2022 | Review: 80% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 45+ hours

This co-op horde shooter had a mildly rocky launch, but its popularity has steadily grown over the past few years thanks to a class overhaul and other free updates. It just got a new $12 DLC class and lots of people jumped back in (including us).

9.WanderstopReleased:Review score: PCG's recent playtime:

9. Wanderstop
Released: March 2025 | Review score: 84% | Steam
PCG's recent playtime: 12+ hours

Manage a teashop and maybe learn a little about yourself in a cozy game with serious themes from Stanley Parable and Beginner's Guide developer Davey Wreden and co.

10.System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary RemasterReleased: Review score: PCG's recent playtime:
Classic

10. System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster
Released: June 2025 | Review score: 85% | Steam/GOG
PCG's recent playtime: 18+ hours

System Shock 2 is a classic immersive sim, and this light touch remaster is now the best way to play it.

More games we've been playing in July 2025

  • Space Marine 2: Update 8 added a horde mode (Steam)
  • KOTOR: Sometimes you just feel like some KOTOR (Steam/GOG)
  • Stellar Blade: Has anyone called it "HorNieR: Automata" yet? (Steam)
  • Diablo 4: The latest season's not bad (Steam/Battle.net)
  • Path of Exile: While PoE 2 cooks in early access, the original's still great (Steam)
  • Mount & Blade 2: We've been checking out a feudal Japan mod (Steam)
  • South of Midnight: Southern gothic action-adventure (Steam)
  • The Bazaar: F2P autobattler which got a lot better in April (Official site)
  • Skin Deep: The immersive sim tradition lives on (Steam)
  • TMNT: Shredder's Revenge: Retro beat-'em'up (Steam)
  • Left 4 Dead 2: It's still great! (Steam)
  • The Horror at Highrook: An "occult card crafting narrative RPG" (Steam)
  • Haste: Gotta go fast? Get Haste (Steam)
  • Factorio: The automation hit got a big expansion last year (Steam)
  • The Excavation of Hob's Barrow: Folk horror adventure (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 have joined the 90-and-up club so far this year:

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 2024.

Whereas the list above is entirely focused on what to play right now and mainly features newer games, our Top 100 also considers historical significance. A new edition is coming later this year.

  1. Baldur's Gate 3: Our 2023 Game of the Year and a brilliant RPG (Steam/GOG)
  2. Disco Elysium: Our 2019 Game of the Year and former #1 game (Steam/GOG)
  3. Elden Ring: Another day, another FromSoftware masterpiece (Steam)
  4. Minecraft: One of the most influential and fun games ever made (Official site)
  5. Persona 5 Royal: The most stylish RPG on PC? (Steam)
  6. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 🛁: Our favorite game about Geralt (Steam/GOG)
  7. Half-Life 2: Valve's groundbreaking shooter turned 20 last year (Steam)
  8. Balatro: The poker roguelike is the newest game in the top 10 (Steam)
  9. Stardew Valley: Still our favorite farming/life sim (Steam/GOG)
  10. Doom (1993): We used to call FPSes 'Doom clones' (Steam/GOG)

More resources and lists

Looking for more recommendations? We've got you covered.

Best games by genre

Metaphor: ReFantazio

(Image credit: Sega Atlus)

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.

Tyler Wilde
Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

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