It’s 2022. The craziness of 2020 is slowly abating, and most of us are returning to our normal pre-Covid-19 lives. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is how much we lot at Softonic love to game – and we know you do too. To that end, we’ve set up this list of the top 10 games for Windows.
Your favorite games might be on this list, and if they’re not, leave a comment so we can add them to the next top 10 review. If you want to see us play the games listed below, we have an accompanying video that you can find here. Without droning on about how much we love gaming, let’s get into the list, shall we?
Roblox
The easiest way to explain Roblox is to take every single game on this list and every game that has ever existed and put them all on one platform. Roblox is a gaming platform that hosts games built by people like you. You can do virtually anything in Roblox, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more diverse and vast gaming platform. In fact, while you’re checking out Roblox and its infinite possibilities, try your hand at Crewmates Among Us.
It’s Among Us but in first-person. Roblox hosts all manner of games and will see you swimming with mermaids, driving through China, building a mansion, starting a cruise ship line, and beating the living daylights out of fellow Robloxians in the space of an hour. Go anywhere, do anything, and be whoever you want to be.
Grand Theft Auto V
This is the last iteration of GTA on our list, and also the most recently released. This game is by no means new, though. GTA V came out in 2015 and has been topping charts around the world ever since. This new iteration takes you back to GTA San Andreas’ Los Santos, but with more graphical, gameplay, and atmospheric advancements than this article allows me to elaborate on.
This time, you’ll be able to cycle through three different protagonists who at one point in the game are also each other’s antagonists. GTA V is stunning to look at, and with the addition of GTA Online and all its subsequent DLC packs, even more compelling to play. Visit the revamped Diamond Casino and pull off the heist to end all heists, or invest in million dollar homes, cars, aircraft, and yachts. The sky is the limit in GTA V and it’s so much more satisfying to reach in a Buckinham Volatus.
Grand Theft Auto Vice City
You can see how popular the GTA gaming franchise is by just how many iterations if it there are on our list. This one is older than San Andreas but still just as fun. Particularly with the overhauled graphics and atmospherics in the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition. Vice City follows a similar story to San Andreas, but with different characters and in a different city.
Here, you’re in the Miami-inspired Vice City, a location set to make a return in the highly anticipated GTA VI. Drive around in even older cars, steal boats, crash planes, and do it all because the game tells you to. A life of crime is truly the most rewarding way to live in the GTA universe, and some would argue no game expresses this better than GTA Vice City.
Among Us
This is one of my personal favorites. The premise of Among Us is simple. Your first game will likely be onboard the Skeld, a spaceship in the furthest reaches of the cosmos. You board the Skeld with a group of equally excited crewmates, but one of these – or in some cases two – is not like the others. They are an impostor. A fearsome creature that takes the form of a crewmate, but its mission is quite different.
As a crewmate, you’ll need to run around the ship performing tasks to keep the ship going and your fellow crewmates safe. An impostor will sabotage the ship and try and kill everyone else on the ship. Impostors win if the ship goes down or the crewmates all die; you win if you identify and vote to have the impostor ejected from the ship. Vote carefully, though, crewmates can be ejected too. You’ll only be able to call an emergency meeting once, so use it wisely.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
If you had a good childhood you probably played this into the early hours of the morning. If you had a bad childhood, you probably also played this, but likely killed more Vagos and Ballas than your parents would be proud to admit. GTA San Andreas takes place within the fictional US tri-state area of San Andreas.
You’ll need to follow the storyline to unlock all the areas, like the vast San Francisco-inspired San Fierro. But the missions are incredibly fun and will challenge you at every turn. If you don’t like the cars, guns, NPCs, or even houses that the game gives you, you can change them all with mods. One more thing, in San Andreas, a life of crime is far more profitable than an honest day’s work.
Fall Guys
If you enjoyed Stumble Guys, you’ll most likely fall in love with Fall Guys too. This massively multiplayer platform knock-out game will test even the most dedicated and nimble beans as you make your way across a vast selection of obstacle courses.
Each obstacle course is more daunting than the last so it’s best to keep your wits about you. As with Stuble guys, players will be knocked out after each round drastically shrinking the pool of potential victors. Bean be fast, bean be quick, bean jump over the various chasms of certain death. Follow this crudely constructed rhyme and you’ll be more than just fine.
Minecraft
Minecraft is by far one of the most popular games in the industry’s history. What started out as a simple cave game by Markus Persson (The great and powerful Notch) has turned into a multi-dimensional world of intrigue, mystery, and monsters. Sleep at night to keep the monsters at bay for when the sun rises again you’ll have to toil away. Punch trees to harvest wood, craft your first set of wooden tools, and find food.
As you progress, you’ll make your way through a vast and complex skill tree that will eventually see you taking on the fearsome Ender Dragon. When the game is done, you get to do it all over again, or jump into creative mode to let your imagination run wild. Each update has introduced new mechanics, monsters, tools, and resources to the game. In this particular world of blocks, villagers, and beautiful vistas, you’ll never be bored.
Stumble Guys
Stumble Guys is one of the most enjoyable experiences on our list. You start with up to 32 players in this massively multiplayer online game. You, then, have to compete against each other in various stages of an obstacle course. This is a knock-out game, which means that people are eliminated periodically should they not reach the next stage in time.
The game leads to pure scenes of chaos in a visually appealing, colorful world populated by like-minded bean-like characters. If you fall, get up and carry on running. There’s only one way to win this game and that is by being the fastest, most agile, and most resilient stumble guy. Each round the obstacles get harder so put your best foot forward and run your little heart out.
The Sims 4
The Sims 4 is the fourth mainstream iteration of EA’s The Sims franchise. This time around, Sims are more intelligent, prone to emotional outbursts and far more fun to play with. EA and Maxis have updated the Create-A-Sim utility to make it even easier to make Sims that look like you, your crush, your family or your mortal enemy. Play with Life as you make your way through careers, romantic situations and experience the different towns that the base game has to offer.
Enhance your game even more with over 50 DLC packs with different gimmicks. Go back to college, become a vampire, or explore life as a plant Sim that absorbs sunlight as nourishment, Build impressive mansions or apartments and get to know the locals. You might even find some mysteries in the jungles of The Sims 4 Jungle Adventure. If you’re looking to solve the biggest mystery of all, though, head to Stranger Ville and confront the mother plant and her evil schemes.
Poppy Playtime
Poppy Playtime is the newest take on the indie horror genre that sees you exploring an abandoned toy factory that isn’t as empty and dead as you’d like it to be. If you succumb to the terrifying monster lurking in the shadows, the only dead one will be you. Along the way, you’ll need to find numerous toys, tapes, and other collectibles that will help you on your journey to discover the truth of the terrible fate that befell Playtime Co.
The game has two chapters currently out, and it’s best to play them in order. You have no weapons, so the only way to escape death is to keep moving and complete all your tasks before Huggy Wuggy finds you. Death isn’t all bad, though. As they did in Five Nights at Freddy’s, the death screens can yield some interesting clues about the nature of the situation within which you find yourself.
No better time to game it out on Windows
Gaming has always held a special place in my heart and mind. More than just a way to kick back and relax after a hard day at work, gaming provides you with a release of endorphins and a way to get rid of all the angst, irritation, and dark and twisty thoughts you might have. I hope that this list inspires you to try your hand at one of these games or even get back into a childhood favorite that you’ve neglected for a while.
With the technological advancements and new platforms coming out now, there truly is no better time to game it out. If you prefer mobile gaming, you can check out our top 10 Android games based on downloads.
