The Best 25 Games You Can Currently Find on Steam

Obviously, Steam is not really a console like the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or the Nintendo Switch. However, it is the preferred platform for a large portion of PC, Mac, Linux, and other gamers who turn to its library for hours of gaming fun. Valve’s Steam is the online marketplace for games if your gaming is done on a computer, and the company famous for creating the classic and iconic Half-Life series has tons of games to offer through their service. Here, we will take a look at 25 of the best games currently on Steam.  

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

If you never played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you probably came across its genre of horror. You do not have weapons, you hide from the enemies and keep all your senses sharp constantly. This game revolutionized the horror genre completely. It also changed the Let’s Plays and streaming entertainment, as players recorded themselves while playing the terrifying game.

They would then upload their reactions for the world to see, proving how scary the game is. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of defining moments for gaming generally, because it defined a whole new subgenre of the famous horror genre of video games in the process. It is a must-play experience for any fan of horror games.

BattleTech

The famous series by FASA returns with a great mech tactical game. Harebrained Schemes is the developer, the studio that made the popular Shadowrun. This game makes you the leader of a mercenary company, which makes its profits by completing various missions and quests all around the galaxy.

The tactics in the game are pretty good, but purchasing and upgrading your countless mechs is the most fun and thrilling part. The game also features a rather interesting and deep story with different choices you can make. Be sure to check it out.  

Cities: Skylines

After the failed attempt at a SimCity return, the PC players thought that their dear city builder game is gone for good. Paradox Interactive and developer Colossal Order had other plans however, as they stepped up and delivered us Cities: Skylines. It is a premier city simulation that heavily focuses on modding. If you want a certain building or landmark in your city, someone probably made it themselves and put it in the game.

The game also receives frequent expansions, and now has the day and night cycle and options for tourism. Snowfall and natural disasters are in the game as well, while Mass Transit improves the traffic. There is a new one called Parklife, which lets you make amusement and theme parks. It is the best city builder simulation available.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

This game is one of the most popular shooters, and games, in the world. It is a team-based game, whose series of games has proven as one of the most influential phenomena for games during the last two decades.

Global Offensive did not only evolve Counter-Strike. It also managed to present it to a new and younger audience who never played the older games. It blends the iconic Counter-Strike elements with new maps, characters, and weapons. Since recently, the game is free-to-play as well, so what are you waiting for?

Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is now present on different platforms. However, the PC original is without a doubt the best way to experience it. It offers DLC, looks best, and it does not have the always-annoying UI problems that other platforms are filled with. Darkest Dungeon is a game certainly worth your time. It is a party-based, roguelike game where you send explorers into dangerous and deep places below the earth.

The excellent battle system along with some memorable graphics guarantee a great time. In addition, some recent updates cut down the grind up time by a big margin, making the eponymous final dungeon an easier but equally amazing part of the game. Elements of deep strategy, great boss fights, and a rather spooky narrator make the game essential for any true RPG fan.

Dead Cells

Dead Cells started out on Steam Early Access, being incomplete for a full year before getting the 1.0 status complete with bosses, polish, and all the other good stuff. While still being incomplete, some fans made a case for it to be considered as one of the best games of the year.

This alone says how good it is. Although a roguelike game, you do get a feel of actually progressing. Every run is a lesson and a new opportunity to level up some perks, talents or abilities. And once you beat the game, the replay value and additional improvements will keep you behind the screen.

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Larian Studios had huge success with their Kickstarter role-playing game Divinity: Original Sin. They did not stop there however, as Divinity: Original Sin 2 offers many more character choices, excellent writing, and improved and tweaked spells and skills. All of these elements offer a much deeper turn-based RPG than its predecessor was.

The new Tag system enables the NPCs to meaningfully react to the background of your characters, as some of the solutions you choose will make you feel different. Other than being a great RPG, the game also boasts cooperative play mode, the Game Master mode, and a PVP arena.

Dragon Quest XI

Dragon Quest XI is absolutely the best if you play it on PC. The 4K resolution is a must, while the fans already put out mods that improve the soundtrack with an orchestral version easier on the ears and more in line with the game. The game itself is reminiscent of and inspired by the classic RPGs, with moments from many games in the series.

When compared to other JRPGs, it is easy to master due to the simple battle system. The intriguing story is often tragic. Dragon Quest is the series that brought RPGs to consoles in the first place, although its true home is still on the PC. Give this last installment a shot.

Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout 3 and 4 are much better known and more famous. However, Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas is perhaps the best game out of the three. Staying true to the series setting, Fallout: New Vegas casts you as a lone wanderer in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world, this time in the dessert wastes of the Mojave Desert. Due to its complex politics, it is different than the rest.

This has the potential to result in dozens of different endings, all depending on who you support and who you choose to kill or let live. You can between the New California Republic, the savage Caesar’s Legion, or the enigmatic Mr. House. The fourth and perhaps the most personal agenda is to simply build your own army. Whatever you choose, you are sure to experience the best storytelling in the whole series. Fan modes and expansions are also available, for additional hours of great fun.

Frostpunk

Frostpunk is a special new setting for a city-building survival strategy game, which is all the recommendation you need.  The game’s execution on this new concept helped to make Frostpunk one of the best strategy simulations on PC.

Think of the game as the movie Snowpiercer, where you have to build a surviving civilization around a dying heater. In the constant snow and ice, the victory is almost impossible. The climate change themes are widely present throughout, reminding us what could happen in the worst case scenario for our planet.

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

It is hard to achieve true failure in video games, as your respawn time is usually short or the save and load game features allow you to try again. In Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, failure is much more affecting. The mysterious man you control is attached to a cauldron, with your goal being to reach the top of a junk-filled mountain. If you fail, you will fall all the way back to start, which is incredibly rough and disappointing.

You then receive a c voiceover saying something dark like that failure is inevitable and that you should not become upset once it happens. Despite making you work hard and start over and over, the game is great and you should definitely check it out.

Hotline Miami

Not a lot of games are as cool as Hotline Miami. It definitely knows what is cool and, and delivers exactly that to the players. It is the classic premise of a methodical top down game where you need to pass through a level effectively and not die in the process. It is quite gruesome, despite its wacky pixelated design. If you are not too sensitive to blood, Hotline Miami, as well as its sequel, are well worth your time.

Into the Breach

Into the Breach is a brutal and unforgiving game, and completely addictive too. FTL’s Subset Games once more perfectly balanced the challenge and reward, which made the previous game a hit. This time around, everything is wrapped up in a sci-fi storyline that features customizable mechs.

Each decision you make in Into the Breach feels earned, while consequences come after every failure and feel quite personal. The strategy element of customizing the robots and building the perfect mech team is quite addictive for those who grew up watching the famous giant robot anime.

Papers, Please

This indie game was a huge hit. In it, you take the role of a border crossing immigration officer of a fictional country. Your job grants you the ability to approve who can enter the country, or not allow them to enter, as drama that follows unfolds around you.

The only way you can do this is by checking the immigration papers of the people who come to you, and ensure if they are legitimate or not. It is a rather harrowing game, which puts the harsh reality of immigration troubles into the hands of the players. It is a must because of its uniqueness.

Pillars of Eternity 2

The favorite RPG of Obsidian picks up exactly where the last part left off, this time putting you on a boat. It is perfect for the hardcore RPG fans, as it features deep combat, different companions to recruit for help, and a twisting and engaging story involving gods, death, and reincarnation.

However, the aforementioned boat is the best part, because it is basically the fortress from the first game, and gives you all the freedom to explore the world with your crew. A variety of DLC packs is available as well, so make sure you try it out.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Countless articles could be devoted to describing the hit phenomenon that began with PUBG’s gameplay formula. This game, on its surface, looks and feels almost like any other military shooter, where a bunch of players shoot at each other and cooperate, until one of them, or one team, gains victory. However, PUBG places a staggering 100 players against each other.

The game is constantly growing in scope since its launch back in early 2017. New maps, guns, equipment, vehicles and limited event modes appear almost every month. If you are looking for a fun new video game to play with your best buddies after work or on when you free on weekends, look no further than PUBG, as the possibilities for great and funny stories are next to unlimited.

Portal 2

The first Portal game remains one of the best puzzle games ever created, thanks to its ingenious portal mechanic, applicable for all kinds of crazy and devilish puzzles. With Portal 2, Valve had to heavily rely on the proven and iconic Portal mechanic combined with some new mechanics like reactivating gels in order to create masterful puzzle games of your own.

In addition, another thing that made the Portal equation work and made it great is the ambient storytelling of Aperture Labs, and its perfect creation in the form of Glados. Valve increased the storytelling, fleshing out Glados, Chell, and Aperture Labs to the point where they and the story are the stars, not the puzzles.

Return of the Obra Dinn

When the game was announced in 2014, it was promised to come out in a year. Four years later however, Return of the Obra Dinn finally appeared, bringing a staggering level of detail. In the game, you play the role of an insurance adjuster and try to figure out what went wrong aboard a ghost ship that is washed ashore.

The discoveries are shocking at every turn, and are sure to leave you scribbling your own notes and questioning your intuition in pursuit of the real truth.

RimWorld

This game is a science fiction colony simulation, which is so popular that when it became a 1.0 version this year after five and a half years of development, it was not that much of a hit as it was already massive before it. It is so popular because no two runs of the game can be the same.

The story is generated by an AI, while you adapt to it at every turn as you go. It has a devoted and lively modding community, which is practically the key to success on the PC platform.

Ring of Elysium

The expansion of the battle royale genre started strictly on PC thanks to the mods for other games, which were never meant to become as great. Since its releases, PUBG has received a lot of competition, each aiming to offer something new and different.  Ring of Elysium is Tencent’s take in the free-to-play market of the battle royale genre. It is basically PUBG in a snowy environment with a different goal in mind.

Here, you have to escape instead of being the last man standing. This is unique to the game.  Similar to specialists of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Ring of Elysium allows you to gear up with a snowboard, or other sorts of snow-related rewards. The game is unique in the battle royale sphere. The best thing is that it is free to play, so what is stopping you from trying?

Starbound

Since Minecraft first appeared, developers have constantly been trying to twist and tweak the formula to create something similar, yet different. A lot of Minecraft clones lack purpose of why you are exploring the world and building your creations. Starbound is the winner among these games on the PC. It throws you into an unforgiving galaxy as a new cadet, and you have to survive.

Multiple planets are yours to explore, each with new creatures and civilizations to build upon. The game offers quests, boss fights, and a great number of other gameplay mechanics. The multiplayer mode is great as well, so here you have a winner among building games for the PC.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is available for different platforms, but Steam had it first. Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone made this wacky farming simulator. For Harvest Moon fans, this is a delight, as it truly feels like that games last and most powerful form. There are no rigid rules when it comes to tasks that must be performed.

What you do Stardew Valley is completely up to you. You can farm, raise animals for cash, mine, grow fruit, fish or even go on adventures to find and sell loot.  You can also settle down on your own farm, expand, and improve it. Real life problems are presented as easy in the game, which is great.

Subnautica

Steam has thousands of survival games in its rich library of games, however none as absorbing as Subnautica. The game has over 73,000 reviews on Steam, a great majority of them positive. The wide fan base of survival game lovers is evident here. In Subnautica, you are a survivor of a crash on an alien ocean world.

Here, you have to survive by building bases, scavenging for supplies to construct various things to help you in your struggle, and last but not least explore the unending depths of the ocean. The latter is the best and the most engaging and intriguing part of this great game.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 is one of those great games which are hyped before, during and after their release. The game is immensely big and incredibly good. As an impressive RPG, it offers tons of material across all merits. From the quest design, the narrative, characters, and combat system, other games wish they are the Witcher series.

For the current generation of gaming, the latest installment in the famed series is arguably the best game that came out. It is an essential part of every Steam library, and you should definitely pick it up if you do not know what to play at the moment.

XCOM 2

XCOM 2 is an outstanding update of the widely popular first game. The sequel subverts the original’s premise and casts you as rebels against an alien-run government. The game does retain its familiar tactical and strategic bird’s view gameplay. This time around, it ads this strategic layer where you must be swift and stop the aliens before they are able to complete their mysterious “Avatar Project.” The campaign is intense, especially near the end.

The overall quality and experience only increases with b the massive XCOM 2: War of the Chosen expansion pack, dramatically expanding the content of the base game. If you are looking for the best tactical game around and you play on a PC, look no further than XCOM 2.