"2020s"

2024 · Roguelike Deckbuilder

Balatro takes the familiar language of poker hands and turns it into one of the most compulsive games available on any platform. Its Joker synergy system creates a different puzzle every run, its mobile port is among the best ever made, and its premium price means no ads or energy timers getting between you and the next hand. RNG will occasionally end a promising run through no fault of your own, and late-game strategies can start to converge. But the highs are so high, the feedback so immediate, and the depth so surprising that those complaints barely register against the overall experience.

2023 · RPG · PC / Steam

Baldur's Gate 3 is the kind of RPG that resets expectations for the entire genre. Larian Studios built a game where player choice actually matters in ways that ripple across dozens of hours, and they did it with a level of polish and ambition that makes most competitors look like they weren't trying. Act 3 performance issues and a few rough edges keep it from perfection, but everything else operates at a level so far above the norm that the flaws barely register. This is the new benchmark for what a story-driven RPG can be, and it's going to take something extraordinary to move the bar again.

2020 · Simulation / Strategy · PC / Steam

Factorio is one of the most polished and addictive games ever made in any genre. The factory-building loop is so well-designed that hours disappear without warning, and the mod support ensures the game can be whatever you want it to be. Combat is an afterthought and the visuals won't turn any heads, but neither of those things matters when the core gameplay is this tightly constructed. Wube Software built something that respects your intelligence and your time in equal measure. The Space Age expansion only confirmed what players already knew: this is a developer that understands exactly what makes their game work.

2022 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Elden Ring took FromSoftware's demanding combat philosophy and dropped it into a vast open world that actually rewards exploration rather than punishing it. The freedom to choose your own path through the Lands Between means difficulty is partly self-regulated, making this the most approachable entry point to the Souls formula while still delivering the highs that veterans crave. Late-game balance issues and reused bosses dull the final stretch, but the first 60 or so hours represent some of the finest action RPG design ever put together. FromSoftware didn't just make their best game. They redefined what an open-world action RPG could feel like.

2020 · Action Roguelike · PC / Steam

Hades solved the roguelike genre's biggest problem by making failure feel like progress, and it did it with some of the tightest combat and most charming writing in any game of its era. Supergiant Games built a game where dying sends you back to the start but moves the story forward, turning repetition into something you actually look forward to. The weapon variety, the boon system, and the sheer personality packed into every interaction keep runs feeling fresh for far longer than they should. If you've ever bounced off roguelikes because they felt like a grind, this is the one that might change your mind.

2025 · Action Roguelike · PC / Steam

Hades II is the rare sequel that matches its predecessor while carving out its own identity. Supergiant Games expanded the combat, deepened the progression systems, and built a world that rewards dozens of hours of repeat runs without ever feeling like a grind. Melinoe stands on her own as a protagonist, and the Greek mythology framing remains as rich and well-realized as ever. A few weapons land better than others, and the story's ending hasn't satisfied everyone, but those are minor blemishes on a game that earned its place among the best roguelikes ever made. If the original Hades grabbed you, this one won't let go.

2020 · First-Person Shooter · PC / Steam (VR Only)

Half-Life: Alyx is the game VR needed to prove the technology could carry a full, premium experience. Valve poured the kind of production quality into this that the medium had been waiting for, and the result is a campaign that rivals any traditional first-person shooter in scope and polish. The VR requirement limits who can actually play it, and a few design choices hold it back from the full physical immersion that other VR titles have explored. But for anyone with the hardware, this is the single best argument for strapping on a headset. It set the bar for VR gaming and nothing has cleared it yet.

2024 · 1 Season · FX · Drama / History

FX's adaptation of James Clavell's novel is a towering achievement in historical television. Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai deliver career-defining performances, the production commits fully to its feudal Japanese setting, and the writing trusts its audience to keep up with layered political scheming. Pacing drags in spots and the dense plotting won't be for everyone, but the ambition on display here is extraordinary. This is the rare prestige drama that earns every bit of the acclaim thrown its way, and it set a new standard for what historical television can look like.

2022 · Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert · 139 min · Sci-Fi / Comedy

Everything Everywhere All at Once shouldn't work. A multiverse action comedy about a laundromat owner doing her taxes has no business being one of the most emotionally devastating films in recent memory, but the Daniels pulled it off with a tiny budget, a fearless cast, and more creative ambition than most studios pack into an entire slate. The pacing stumbles in the final stretch and the sensory overload will lose some viewers along the way. Those are real flaws. They just happen to exist inside a film that found something true about families, about the weight of unlived lives, and about choosing kindness when the universe gives you every reason not to. Seven Academy Awards later, the consensus is pretty clear on where this one landed.

2023 · Christopher Nolan · 180 min · Historical Drama

Oppenheimer is one of the most ambitious biographical films in recent memory, built on a career-best performance from Cillian Murphy and technical craft that justifies every minute of its three-hour runtime. Robert Downey Jr. delivers his strongest work in years, the ensemble is stacked, and Ludwig Goransson's score finds power in both fury and silence. A few underwritten characters and a hearing-heavy final hour keep it just short of flawless, but this is the rare blockbuster that trusts its audience completely and gets rewarded for it. It earned seven Academy Awards for good reason.

2025 · Tactical RPG · PC / Steam

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is the remaster this game always deserved. Nearly three decades after its original release, the tactical RPG that defined a genre arrives on modern platforms with enhanced visuals, full voice acting, and quality-of-life improvements that make it more accessible than ever. The core game remains a masterwork of political storytelling and deep class-based strategy, and the remaster treats that foundation with obvious reverence. Some will find the price steep and the grinding demands intact, but what's here is one of the best tactical RPGs ever made, finally playable for a new generation.

2022 · Puzzle / Mystery · PC / Steam

The Case of the Golden Idol is one of the sharpest detective games ever made, building twelve interconnected murder scenes into a sprawling mystery that rewards careful observation and logical thinking. The deduction system, where you fill in blanks with collected words to reconstruct what happened, is brilliant in its simplicity and deeply satisfying when everything clicks. The art style won't appeal to everyone, and a few cases lean too hard on trial and error. But this is a rare puzzle game that trusts its players completely and never wastes their time.

2022 · 1 Season · Tokyo MX · Comedy / Music / Slice of Life

Bocchi the Rock! takes the well-worn premise of a socially anxious teenager joining a band and turns it into one of the most visually inventive and emotionally resonant anime comedies in recent memory. CloverWorks delivered something special with its wild animation experiments, and the show's ability to make social anxiety both hilarious and deeply relatable struck a chord with an enormous audience. It's only 12 episodes and occasionally leans too hard into repeated gags, but those are small complaints against a show this creative and this warm.

2023 · 2 Seasons · Nippon TV · Fantasy / Adventure / Drama

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End takes the aftermath of a classic fantasy quest and turns it into something quietly extraordinary. It's a story about an immortal elf learning what human connections mean only after the people she traveled with have grown old and died, and that premise delivers emotional weight that most anime can't touch. The deliberate pacing won't work for everyone, and viewers looking for constant action will find themselves waiting. But for those willing to match Frieren's unhurried rhythm, this is one of the most rewarding anime of the decade.

2016 · 3 Seasons · Crunchyroll · Animation / Action / Comedy / Supernatural

Mob Psycho 100 is one of the rare anime that gets better with every season and sticks the landing when it matters most. It wraps profound messages about self-acceptance and emotional growth inside some of the most inventive animation the medium has produced, and it does it without ever feeling like it's lecturing you. The humor is sharp, the action is spectacular, and the heart underneath it all is completely genuine. Three seasons wasn't many, but the show used every one of those 37 episodes to say exactly what it wanted to say.

2020 · First-Person Shooter · PC / Steam

Ultrakill is the best argument in years that the first-person shooter genre still has room to evolve. By fusing the speed of 90s shooters with the depth of character action games like Devil May Cry, Hakita created something that feels entirely new. The style meter, the coin-flipping trick shots, the blood-as-health system, and the sheer variety of combat tools make every encounter a performance. Early Access means it's technically unfinished, but the content already available outclasses most complete shooters on the market. If you have any love for fast, mechanically rich action games, Ultrakill belongs at the top of your list.

2021 · Adventure / Puzzle · PC / Steam

Chicory: A Colorful Tale wraps a deeply personal story about self-doubt and creative anxiety inside a painting adventure that anyone can pick up and enjoy. The brush mechanics are inventive and the world is a joy to explore, but it's the emotional honesty that sticks with you long after the credits roll. A few boss encounters feel clunky, and the late game can drag slightly, but this is one of those rare games where the heart behind it shines through every design choice.

2021 · 1 Season · HBO Max · Drama / Sci-Fi

Station Eleven takes a pandemic apocalypse and turns it into a meditation on art, memory, and human connection that feels unlike anything else on television. The nonlinear storytelling is ambitious and occasionally disorienting, and the pacing asks for patience that not every viewer will want to give. What it achieves with that patience is remarkable. This is a show that earns its emotional payoffs through careful construction rather than cheap manipulation, and its final episodes deliver some of the most moving television in recent years.

2022 · 2 Seasons · Disney+ · Sci-Fi / Drama / Thriller

Andor is a show that trusts its audience enough to slow down, ask difficult questions, and let complicated people make terrible choices for understandable reasons. Across 24 episodes, it builds a story about rebellion that feels urgent and grounded in ways the franchise rarely attempts. The pacing will test you early on, and the final stretch of Season 2 stumbles slightly in its rush to connect with what comes next. Those are real flaws in a show that otherwise operates at a level most television never reaches. If you can sit with its patience, what you get back is one of the most rewarding dramas in recent memory.

2021 · 2 Seasons · Netflix · Animation / Action / Adventure / Fantasy

Arcane took a video game property that had no business producing great television and turned it into one of the most ambitious animated series in recent memory. Its first season is a near-flawless piece of character-driven storytelling, elevated by animation that redefined what the medium could look like. The second season reaches higher but stumbles with pacing that leaves too many threads feeling rushed. That's a real flaw in an otherwise remarkable achievement. Taken as a whole, this is a show that proved animated drama deserves the same respect as its live-action counterparts, and it earned every bit of the attention it received.

2020 · Co-op FPS · PC / Steam

Deep Rock Galactic is a cooperative shooter that earns its devoted following through smart class design, endlessly varied missions, and a community atmosphere that's remarkably rare in online gaming. Solo play works better than expected thanks to a capable drone companion, but the magic lives in four-player co-op where every class feels essential. Ghost Ship Games built something that respects its players with cosmetic-only DLC and no predatory monetization, and the community has repaid that respect tenfold. If you have even one friend willing to dig in with you, this belongs near the top of your co-op list.

2020 · Action Adventure · PC / Steam

Ghost of Tsushima is the best samurai game available on PC, and one of the most visually striking open worlds ever built. Sucker Punch crafted a combat system that makes sword fighting feel both deadly and elegant, and the wind-guided exploration strips away the clutter that drags down so many games in the genre. It follows the open-world formula closely enough that fatigue sets in during the back half, and the story takes fewer risks than its setting deserves. But the moment-to-moment experience of riding through autumnal forests, cutting down Mongol patrols, and discovering hidden shrines carries a quality that makes the familiar structure feel fresh. The PC port by Nixxes is excellent, making this the definitive way to play.

2021 · Card Game / Horror · PC / Steam

Inscryption is one of the most original games released in the last decade, a card game that refuses to stay a card game and keeps pulling the rug out from under you in ways that are impossible to predict. Its first act is as good as deckbuilders get, its meta-narrative adds layers that reward players who lean into the mystery, and the whole package won a shelf full of awards for very good reasons. The later acts don't hit as hard as the opening, and that inconsistency keeps it from perfection. But a game this ambitious and this willing to surprise deserves to be experienced with as little foreknowledge as possible.

2021 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Mass Effect Legendary Edition is the definitive way to experience one of gaming's most celebrated trilogies. BioWare's remaster brings all three games and nearly all their DLC into a single package, with the first game receiving improvements significant enough to make it feel modern again. The third game's ending remains divisive even with the Extended Cut, and the visual upgrades vary in quality across the trilogy, but the core experience of building a Commander Shepard and watching your choices ripple across three full games is still unmatched. This is a trilogy that changed what people expected from narrative in games, and it holds up.

2020 · Action Platformer · PC / Steam

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a sequel that improves on its predecessor in nearly every meaningful way. The combat has real depth now, the movement is among the best the genre has ever produced, and the visual and musical presentation operates at a level most games can only aspire to. Some escape sequences frustrate more than they thrill, and certain abilities feel underused outside their introductory areas, but these are small complaints against a game that consistently reaches for something beautiful and lands it. Moon Studios built a platformer that resonates on an emotional level while still delivering satisfying action and exploration. That combination is rarer than it should be.

2023 · Survival Horror · PC / Steam

Resident Evil 4 Remake takes one of the most beloved games ever made and somehow makes it feel both faithful and fresh. Capcom rebuilt the whole thing from scratch, modernized the controls and combat, added a layer of survival tension the original lacked, and did it all without losing the spirit that made the 2005 game a classic. The island section remains the weakest stretch, and some PC players have dealt with DRM-related frustrations, but the core experience is outstanding. This is how you remake a legend.

2024 · Factory Building / Simulation · PC / Steam

Satisfactory is the factory-building genre at its most polished and inviting. Coffee Stain Studios spent five years in early access refining every system, and the 1.0 release reflects that patience. Building your first smelter array feels good. Building your hundredth feels better, because by then you understand just how much optimization is still possible. The fluid system will frustrate you, the late game demands serious commitment, and there will be moments where the scale of what you've built overwhelms you. That's part of the appeal. Few games reward long-term investment this generously.

2022 · 2 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Sci-Fi / Thriller

Severance takes a brilliantly simple concept, a surgical split between your work self and your personal self, and builds an entire world around it that feels both alien and uncomfortably familiar. Adam Scott anchors two seasons of mounting dread with a performance that balances quiet confusion with real emotional force, and the supporting cast matches him at every turn. The pacing stumbles in the second season's middle stretch, and the show's fondness for stacking mysteries faster than it resolves them will test some viewers. Those are real flaws in a show that otherwise operates at a level very few series reach. When it clicks, and it clicks often, this is some of the most absorbing and original television of its era.

2022 · Adventure / Comedy · PC / Steam

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe takes one of the smartest games ever made about games and somehow makes it smarter. The narrator remains one of the funniest characters in the medium, the new content doubles down on the meta-commentary without losing the original's sharpness, and the sheer number of paths and endings makes repeated playthroughs consistently surprising. It won't land for everyone, and people who bounced off the original won't find a different game here. But for anyone who appreciates clever writing and games that interrogate what games even are, this is essential.

2022 · Action Roguelike · PC / Steam

Vampire Survivors costs a few dollars and has consumed more hours from more people than games that cost ten times as much. The loop of surviving, leveling, and unlocking is tuned to near-perfection, the constant stream of updates and DLC has kept the game growing well beyond its initial scope, and it single-handedly launched an entire subgenre of imitators. Repetition sets in eventually, and players who want direct control over their combat will chafe at the auto-attack system. But for pure, dopamine-driven fun at an absurd value, nothing else comes close.

2022 · Action / Roguelike

Vampire Survivors on mobile is one of the best free games available on any platform. The addictive loop of surviving, leveling, and unlocking hits just as hard on a phone as it does anywhere else, and the ethical monetization model puts most of the mobile industry to shame. Touch controls hold it back from perfection, and a controller is strongly recommended for the best experience. If you have even a passing interest in action games and a phone in your pocket, there is no reason not to download this immediately.

2024 · Denis Villeneuve · 166 min · Sci-Fi / Adventure

Dune: Part Two is a rare sequel that matches and often surpasses its predecessor. Denis Villeneuve delivers one of the most visually commanding sci-fi films in years, backed by a Hans Zimmer score that practically rewires your nervous system. Austin Butler's villain is a standout, and the film's willingness to lean into its anti-messiah themes gives it real weight. A rushed final stretch and some emotional distance between the audience and its characters keep it just short of flawless, but this is blockbuster filmmaking operating at a level most studios don't even attempt anymore.

2021 · 1 Season · Fuji TV · Fantasy / Adventure / Drama

Ranking of Kings looks like a children's storybook and hits like an emotional freight train. WIT Studio's adaptation of Sosuke Toka's manga follows Bojji, a deaf and seemingly powerless prince, through a fantasy kingdom full of betrayal, hidden agendas, and unlikely kindness. The simple art style hides sophisticated storytelling, and the show's ability to make you cry over characters you've known for minutes is remarkable. Late-season pacing wobbles and an overstuffed cast keep it from sticking every landing, but the emotional core never wavers.

2021 · 2 Seasons · Tokyo MX · Fantasy / Adventure / Drama

Mushoku Tensei set a new visual standard for isekai anime when it debuted in 2021, and Studio Bind's dedication to the source material shows in every frame. The world-building is rich, the character growth is patient and detailed, and the animation quality is consistently outstanding. Its protagonist's past and some uncomfortable fan-service moments create a barrier that not every viewer can or should get past. For those who engage with it, this is one of the most fully realized fantasy anime ever produced.

2021 · 3 Seasons · FX on Hulu · Comedy-Drama

Reservation Dogs is one of the most original shows to come out of the 2020s, a coming-of-age comedy-drama that tells Indigenous stories with a voice entirely its own. Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi created something that feels both culturally specific and universally resonant, following four Oklahoma teenagers through grief, friendship, and the messy process of figuring out who you are. The show's gentle pacing won't work for everyone, and its third season occasionally stretches the episodic format thin. But the writing is warm without being sentimental, the humor is bone-dry and perfectly timed, and the final season delivers an emotional landing that most shows can only dream of.

2021 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Nioh 2: Complete Edition is the refined version of Team Ninja's already excellent combat formula, adding Yokai abilities and a character creator to an action RPG that was already one of the most mechanically rich in the genre. The three-player co-op and three included DLC expansions make this the definitive package for players who want depth, challenge, and hundreds of hours of content. Its complexity will overwhelm some players, and the PC port launched with issues that still linger in spots, but for those who push through the learning curve, the payoff is extraordinary. This is one of the best action RPGs available on PC.

2026 · Roguelike Deckbuilder · PC / Steam

Slay the Spire 2 takes the genre its predecessor defined and rebuilds it from the ground up. New classes, co-op multiplayer for up to four players, and mechanics like Doom, Sly, and Enchantments add meaningful depth without losing the tight strategic loop that made the original so compelling. Early access growing pains are real, with balance controversies and a review-bombed Steam page creating noise around a game that deserves better. Underneath that noise sits the most ambitious roguelike deckbuilder on the market, and one that already justifies its existence even before the full release arrives.

2023 · 3 Seasons · Tokyo MX · Drama / Mystery / Thriller

Oshi no Ko opened with one of the most talked-about premiere episodes in recent anime history, and the show that followed has largely lived up to that introduction. Aka Akasaka's unflinching look at the Japanese entertainment industry, wrapped in a reincarnation mystery, delivers sharp writing and genuine emotional weight. The pacing wavers after its explosive start, and some arcs feel more like industry commentary than plot progression. When it's focused, though, Oshi no Ko cuts deeper than most anime dare to go.

2024 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Black Myth: Wukong delivers some of the most visually spectacular boss fights in the action RPG genre, backed by a combat system that rewards patience and precision. Its adaptation of Journey to the West brings a mythological setting that feels refreshingly distinct in a space crowded with European dark fantasy. Camera struggles during large-scale encounters and inconsistent PC optimization hold it back from true greatness, but the highs are high enough to make it one of 2024's most memorable releases. Game Science's debut is a statement of intent that lands more often than it misses.

2022 · 2 Seasons · HBO · Docu-Comedy / Reality Experiment

The Rehearsal is unlike anything else on television, a show that uses elaborate simulations and meticulous planning to explore whether human connection can be engineered, and in the process reveals more about loneliness, control, and empathy than most conventional dramas manage. Nathan Fielder built something truly innovative here, blending comedy and philosophy in ways that make you laugh and then make you deeply uncomfortable about having laughed. Legitimate ethical concerns about its treatment of participants are impossible to dismiss, and the show's ambiguity about its own intentions can feel like evasion rather than art. But as a piece of television that expands the boundaries of what the medium can do, it's extraordinary.

2022 · 1 Season · Netflix · Animation / Action / Science Fiction / Drama

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a devastating ten-episode sprint through a world that chews people up and spits them out, animated by Studio Trigger with a visual energy that makes Night City feel more alive than the game ever managed. David Martinez's arc from desperate kid to doomed legend is a tragedy told at full speed, and the emotional gut-punch of the finale lands harder than most anime manage in three times the episode count. The compressed runtime leaves some character development feeling thin, and the middle episodes rush through material that could have used more room to breathe. But as a self-contained story about ambition, love, and the cost of trying to be somebody in a city that doesn't care, it's one of the best anime of its year.

2021 · 5 Seasons · Max · Comedy-Drama

Hacks built its reputation on two things: Jean Smart's towering performance as Deborah Vance and a central relationship so combustible it could power five seasons of comedy and heartbreak in equal measure. The writing is consistently sharp, the ensemble cast punches well above its weight, and the show handles themes of ageism, ambition, and creative legacy with a confidence that most comedies never attempt. A recurring cycle of conflict between its leads tests patience in later seasons, and the portrayal of stand-up itself leans more toward Hollywood satire than anything resembling the real comedy world. But at its best, Hacks is one of the defining comedies of the 2020s, funny and cutting and unexpectedly moving in ways that earned every one of its Emmys.

2023 · Martin Scorsese · 206 min · Crime / Drama / Historical

Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese at 80, telling the story of a real American atrocity with the patience and craft of a filmmaker who has nothing left to prove. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro deliver some of their most unsettling work, but it's Lily Gladstone who anchors the film with a performance of quiet devastation that earned her an Academy Award nomination. The 206-minute runtime is a real commitment, and the deliberate pacing will challenge audiences accustomed to tighter crime narratives. What Scorsese builds with that time, though, is something few other filmmakers would even attempt: a portrait of systemic evil that refuses to let its audience look away or find comfort in simple moral categories.

2022 · Action Platformer · PC / Steam

Neon White is a speedrunning game disguised as a first-person shooter, and it pulls off that fusion with extraordinary confidence. The card-based movement system is brilliantly designed, levels are short enough to replay dozens of times without frustration, and chasing faster times becomes deeply addictive. The visual novel story segments will split the room, and the humor lands better for some than others. But the core loop of sprinting through heaven, discarding weapon cards for movement abilities, and shaving seconds off your best time is among the most satisfying action gameplay on PC in recent years.

2021 · 5 Seasons · ABC · Comedy, Mockumentary

Abbott Elementary revived the network sitcom by doing something radical: being consistently funny while caring about its characters and their world. Quinta Brunson created a mockumentary that uses the format's familiar toolkit with precision, building a teaching staff that feels lived-in and authentic without sacrificing comedy for sentiment. The show occasionally leans too hard on its feel-good instincts, and the mockumentary framework can feel like a safety net rather than a creative choice. But the ensemble is so strong and the writing so consistently sharp that Abbott Elementary has earned its place as the best broadcast comedy in years.

2022 · 2 Seasons · AMC · Horror, Drama, Romance

Interview with the Vampire is the Anne Rice adaptation that fans waited decades for, a lush and emotionally devastating reimagining that honors the source material while making bold creative choices. The performances from Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid anchor a love story that spans centuries, and the show's willingness to explore race, identity, and power through its vampire lens gives the material a weight that transcends the genre. The narrative structure can be demanding, with its layers of unreliable narration and timeline jumping, and some viewers find the pacing of certain episodes uneven. But this is gothic television at its most ambitious and beautiful, the rare literary adaptation that justifies its own existence.

2022 · Adventure / RPG · PC / Steam

Pentiment is a murder mystery set in a Bavarian abbey during the 16th century, and it's unlike anything else in Obsidian's catalog. The illuminated manuscript art style is breathtaking, the historical detail is meticulous, and the branching narrative gives your choices real weight across a story that spans decades. It demands patience and a love of reading, which will narrow its audience considerably. But for players willing to meet it on its terms, Pentiment is one of the most distinctive narrative games in years.

2020 · Tower Defense / Tactical RPG

Arknights is one of the best tower defense games on mobile and one of the most respected gacha games in the genre. Its strategic depth rewards thinking over spending, its story and music punch well above their weight class, and its F2P model actually lets free players thrive. The stamina system and farming grind are real friction points, and the text-heavy storytelling won't click for everyone. If you want a mobile game that treats strategy as the main event rather than a sideshow, this one delivers.

2020 · FPS · PC / Steam

Black Mesa is the rare fan project that reached professional quality and then kept pushing beyond it. Crowbar Collective took the foundation of a legendary game, rebuilt it with modern tools, and had the ambition to completely reimagine its weakest section into something memorable. The early and middle chapters are a faithful, gorgeous update of a classic. Xen is a bold creative swing that mostly connects. Some sections drag, and the game's Source engine roots show their age in spots, but the overall package stands as one of the best remakes in gaming, fan-made or otherwise.

2020 · Grand Strategy / RPG · PC / Steam

Crusader Kings III is the rare strategy game that makes you care less about winning and more about the stories your dynasty creates along the way. It balances accessibility with staggering depth, letting newcomers find their footing while veterans lose themselves in centuries of scheming and succession crises. The DLC pricing model asks a lot of loyal players, and the late game can lose momentum, but the core experience remains one of the most compelling sandboxes on PC. Five years after launch, it's still generating the kind of stories people can't stop telling each other.

2020 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Cyberpunk 2077 is two stories. One is the messy launch that became a cautionary tale for the industry. The other is the game that emerged after years of patches, culminating in the 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty expansion. That second version is a confident, visually stunning action RPG with writing that hits hard and a city that feels like a character in its own right. The open world still struggles with interactivity outside of missions, and the scars of its troubled development never fully disappeared. But the game CD Projekt Red eventually delivered is worth the trip through Night City, even if the journey there was far rougher than it should have been.

2020 · First-Person Shooter · PC / Steam

Doom Eternal takes the foundation id Software built in 2016 and cranks every dial to its maximum setting. The combat, once you internalize its systems, reaches heights that few shooters have ever touched, demanding constant weapon switching, resource management, and spatial awareness in a way that feels like playing an instrument. The platforming and story ambitions don't always land, and the learning curve will bounce players who just want to shoot things. But for those willing to meet it on its terms, Doom Eternal offers some of the most exhilarating action in the entire FPS genre.

2021 · Stealth · PC / Steam

Hitman: World of Assassination is the definitive stealth sandbox, combining three games' worth of meticulously designed levels into a single package with staggering replay value. Every map is a puzzle box with dozens of solutions, and the joy of discovering new approaches keeps missions fresh long after the first completion. The always-online requirement and confusing purchase history are real problems that shouldn't exist in a game this good, but they don't diminish what IO Interactive achieved with the actual content. If you've ever wanted a game that rewards patience, observation, and creative problem-solving, this is the peak of the genre.

2021 · 4 Seasons · Amazon Prime Video · Superhero / Drama / Action

Invincible takes the familiar origin story of a teenager discovering superpowers and turns it into something brutal, complicated, and surprisingly moving. The voice cast, led by Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, and Sandra Oh, elevates every scene they touch, and the writing consistently finds ways to make superhero violence feel like it costs something. Animation quality dips too often for a show this popular, and pacing stumbles crop up across multiple seasons. Those flaws haven't stopped it from becoming one of the strongest superhero series in any medium, animated or otherwise. Four seasons in, with more on the way, Invincible keeps earning its place near the top.

2021 · Co-op Action Adventure · PC / Steam

It Takes Two is the most inventive co-op game in years, packed with so many ideas that it makes other collaborative experiences feel conservative by comparison. Hazelight Studios crammed a staggering variety of mechanics into a single game, and nearly all of them land well enough to keep both players engaged. The story stumbles where it should soar, the tone bounces between kid-friendly and surprisingly dark, and some levels overstay their welcome. But as a shared experience between two people, there's almost nothing else like it. That's what won it Game of the Year, and that's what people remember.

2023 · Co-op Horror · PC / Steam

Lethal Company is one of those games that sounds unremarkable on paper and then devours your entire friend group's free time for months. A solo developer built a co-op horror experience that generates better stories than most AAA studios write on purpose. The early access status means rough edges still exist, and playing alone isn't really an option, but those limitations fade fast when you're sprinting back to the ship at 11:58 PM while something with too many legs chases your crew through the rain. If you've got friends who play PC games, this belongs on the short list of things to try together.

2020 · Action Roguelite · PC / Steam

Noita is a game built on a single wild idea, that every pixel on screen should be physically simulated, and it follows that idea to its logical extreme. The wand-crafting system offers some of the deepest build customization in the roguelite genre, and the interactions between spells, materials, and environments create moments no other game can replicate. It asks for patience and a willingness to fail over and over before the pieces click into place, and lots of players never make it past that wall. Those who do find one of the most rewarding and creative sandboxes in modern gaming.

2020 · Sports

Retro Bowl strips American football down to its most satisfying parts and wraps it in pixel-art charm that hits right in the nostalgia. Half the game is missing in a literal sense, with defense handled entirely off-screen, and that's a legitimate trade-off worth knowing about. What remains is one of the most addictive mobile games in recent memory, a football experience that earns every minute of your attention without ever demanding your wallet.

2020 · Action Roguelite · PC / Steam

Risk of Rain 2 pulled off one of the most impressive transitions in recent memory, jumping from 2D to 3D without losing what made the original special. The item stacking system creates power fantasies that few games in the genre can match, and cooperative multiplayer elevates the whole experience. DLC releases after Hopoo's departure have been a mixed bag, with some additions landing well and others causing real problems. The core game that Hopoo built remains excellent, and that foundation is strong enough to keep players coming back years after launch.

2020 · Roguelike Deckbuilder

Slay the Spire is one of the best strategy games available on a phone or tablet, full stop. The deckbuilding is razor-sharp, the replayability is staggering, and the premium pricing means you never have to deal with ads or microtransactions. The mobile port delivers the complete experience but struggles with small-screen readability and touch controls that occasionally betray you at the worst possible moment. Play it on a tablet if you can. On a phone, you're getting a phenomenal game filtered through an interface that doesn't always respect the size of your screen. That tradeoff is worth it for most people, but go in knowing it exists.

2023 · 2 Seasons · HBO · Drama / Post-Apocalyptic

HBO's The Last of Us turned a beloved video game into prestige television that stands on its own, powered by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey's commanding performances and writing that treats its characters like real people navigating an impossible world. Season 1 is a near-flawless run of television that found ways to expand on its source material rather than simply replicate it. Season 2 stumbles with pacing and an incomplete arc across just seven episodes, leaving viewers in a holding pattern until the confirmed third season arrives. The highs here are extraordinary, and the show's willingness to slow down and live inside quiet, devastating moments sets it apart from everything else in the post-apocalyptic space.

2022 · Action Adventure · PC / Steam

Tunic is a game about discovery, and it delivers on that promise better than almost anything in its genre. The in-game instruction manual, the hidden paths, the language you gradually decode: all of it creates a sense of genuine wonder that's hard to find elsewhere. Combat can frustrate, and the hands-off approach to guidance will lose some players entirely. But for those who click with its philosophy of figuring things out for yourself, Tunic offers the kind of secrets-within-secrets experience that rewards curiosity like few games do. Andrew Shouldice spent seven years building this, and every hidden corner reflects that dedication.

2021 · Denis Villeneuve · 156 min · Sci-Fi / Adventure

Dune: Part One is a technical triumph that treats science fiction like it deserves the biggest canvas Hollywood can offer. Denis Villeneuve built a world so convincing you can practically feel the sand in your teeth, backed by a score and sound design that won Oscars for good reason. It stumbles where the source material forced a difficult choice, delivering half a story instead of a whole one, and the emotional register runs cooler than the material probably needed. Those are real limitations. But the sheer craft on display here set a new bar for what science fiction filmmaking could look and sound like, and the ambition alone makes it worth your time.

2022 · Tactical RPG · PC / Steam

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a careful, respectful remake of one of the most important tactical RPGs ever made. The branching political narrative remains as morally complex as it was in the 1990s, and the orchestrated soundtrack, HD pixel art, and quality-of-life enhancements bring the game into the modern era without losing its identity. Reduced class customization and a competitive release window alongside newer tactics games hold it back from greatness for some players, but the strategic combat, story depth, and replayability through branching paths make this an essential pickup for anyone who cares about the genre's history and its future.

2022 · 3 Seasons · Adult Swim · Animation / Comedy / Absurdist

Smiling Friends packed more creative energy into its 11-minute episodes than most shows manage in an hour. The mixed-media animation was constantly surprising, the humor landed with the kind of density that rewards rewatching, and the show never lost the handmade quality that made it feel like nothing else on television. It ended after three seasons by choice rather than decline, which is the rarest kind of exit in animation. For a show about making people smile, it turned out to be pretty good at it.

2022 · 5 Seasons · Crave / Hulu · Sports Comedy

A Letterkenny spinoff that had no business being this good, Shoresy turned a one-note trash-talking hockey player into the center of one of the sharpest sports comedies on television. The rapid-fire dialogue hits hard, the locker room ensemble brings genuine warmth, and the show's quiet commitment to representing Indigenous characters and women in positions of authority gives it substance that most comedies in this lane never attempt. Some padding issues creep in during later seasons, and the shift away from the character's signature verbal sparring has divided longtime fans. But five seasons deep, the show keeps finding new ways to tell stories about teamwork, loyalty, and a scrappy hockey team that refuses to fold.

2023 · 2 Seasons · Amazon Freevee / Prime Video · Comedy / Reality

Jury Duty pulled off something that shouldn't have worked. A prank show built around deceiving one person for three weeks sounds like a recipe for cruelty, but the entire production bends toward celebrating its subject rather than humiliating him. James Marsden's self-parodying performance and the tight ensemble of improvisers create a world absurd enough to be hilarious and warm enough to be deeply moving. The middle episodes lose momentum when the comedy drifts away from the courtroom's natural tension, and the ethical questions around the premise never fully disappear. But the finale delivers an emotional payoff that catches most viewers completely off guard, and the show's faith in basic human decency gives it a staying power that most comedy series would kill for.

2022 · 3D Platformer · PC / Steam

Tinykin is a joyful collectathon that borrows the best parts of Pikmin and 3D platformers, then wraps them in a world that's a constant delight to explore. Every room in the oversized house is packed with creative details, shortcuts to unlock, and puzzles that use the Tinykin types in clever ways. It's on the easy side, and it ends before its ideas run out, which is both a compliment and a mild disappointment. For anyone who misses the feeling of discovering secrets in a well-crafted game world, this is a treat.

2021 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Diablo II: Resurrected is a faithful and visually stunning remaster of one of the most important action RPGs ever made. The updated graphics bring the dark world of Sanctuary to life without compromising the gameplay that made the original a legend. Quality of life improvements like shared stash and auto gold pickup smooth out the roughest edges, and ongoing content updates have kept the game evolving. Some design choices haven't aged gracefully, and the rocky launch left scars on community trust. But the core experience, the loot chase, the build diversity, the satisfying rhythm of clearing dungeons, remains as compelling as it was two decades ago. For action RPG fans, this is essential.

2023 · Adventure RPG / Management Sim · PC / Steam

Dave the Diver is a charming mashup of ocean exploration and sushi restaurant management that keeps finding new ways to surprise you. The loop of diving for ingredients by day and serving customers by night is addictive in a way that sneaks up on you, and the game constantly introduces new systems to keep things fresh. Some of those systems land better than others, and the pacing stumbles when it forces you to sit through lengthy story sequences instead of letting you play. But the overall package is so warm and inventive that most players blow past the 30-hour mark without realizing it.

2020 · 3 Seasons · MBS / TBS · Action / Dark Fantasy / Supernatural

Jujutsu Kaisen delivers some of the best animated action sequences in modern anime, powered by a creative magic system and a willingness to let its characters suffer real consequences. MAPPA's production work is frequently stunning, and the show's refusal to pad itself with filler keeps the pace tight across its run. Its villain roster beyond the top tier can feel underdeveloped, and certain character arcs get cut short before they fully land. Still, this is a series that earns its place in the modern shounen conversation through sheer craft, ambition, and an appetite for darkness that most of its peers won't touch.

2021 · 3D Platformer · PC / Steam

Psychonauts 2 is a game that leads with imagination and never runs out of it. Double Fine built something that looks, sounds, and feels like nothing else in the platforming genre, and the way it handles its themes of mental health gives the whole experience a warmth that sticks with you. Combat drags the package down a tier, and the difficulty won't push experienced players, but the level design alone makes this essential for anyone who cares about creative game worlds. Sixteen years between sequels, and the studio came back with something better than the original in almost every way.

2022 · 4 Seasons · FX (on Hulu) · Comedy-Drama

The Bear built its reputation on two seasons of extraordinary television, driven by performances and filmmaking that set a new standard for how stories about work, grief, and family could be told on screen. Jeremy Allen White anchors a cast that brings real emotional weight to every frame, and the show's portrayal of kitchen culture feels lived-in and honest. Season 3's stumble into pacing issues and narrative drift is a real blemish, not an imagined one, though Season 4 clawed back meaningful ground. Taken as a whole, this is a show that reaches genuine greatness more often than it falls short, and its best stretches rank among the finest hours of modern television.

2021 · Survival Crafting · PC / Steam

Valheim caught lightning in a bottle by blending survival crafting with a sense of atmosphere and progression that most games in the genre can't match. Building is best-in-class, exploration stays rewarding across dozens of hours, and the boss progression gives the whole thing a shape that pure sandbox games lack. Early access means it's still incomplete, and the content pace has tested patience, but what's already here offers hundreds of hours of quality gameplay. Bring friends if you can. The Viking afterlife is better with company.

2021 · Action Adventure · PC / Steam

Death's Door is a tightly crafted action adventure that punches well above its two-person studio origins. The world design rewards curiosity with hidden paths and secrets tucked into every corner, the boss encounters each bring something distinct to the table, and the whole package is wrapped in an art style that makes its dark subject matter feel surprisingly warm. Combat simplicity and limited weapon variety keep it from reaching the heights of the genre's best, but the 10-12 hour runtime means it never overstays its welcome. Acid Nerve built something charming, polished, and worth every minute.

2021 · Steven Spielberg · 156 min · Musical / Drama / Crime

West Side Story is Spielberg proving that the musical, as a cinematic form, still has the power to overwhelm. The dance sequences are some of the finest ever filmed, Ariana DeBose owns the screen as Anita, and the technical filmmaking is breathtaking from first frame to last. The central romance remains the weakest structural element, inherited from the source material rather than introduced by this version. But as a piece of pure cinema, choreographed and shot with a passion that borders on obsessive, it's a stunning achievement.

2024 · 1 Season · HBO · Crime, Drama

The Penguin is a crime drama that happens to take place in Gotham City, and that distinction is what makes it work. Colin Farrell disappears completely into Oswald Cobb, delivering a performance that's equal parts repulsive and magnetic, while Cristin Milioti matches him beat for beat as Sofia Falcone. Lauren LeFranc built a power struggle that owes more to classic gangster stories than to superhero television, and the eight-episode structure keeps the narrative tight and focused. The show's darkness can feel unrelenting, and its Gotham exists in a moral void that some viewers will find exhausting. But as a character study of a desperate, dangerous man clawing his way to the top, it's one of the best things to come out of the DC universe.

2022 · Steven Spielberg · 151 min · Drama

The Fabelmans is Spielberg turning the camera on himself and finding that the story of how he became a filmmaker is also the story of how he lost his family. Michelle Williams gives a performance of startling vulnerability, Gabriel LaBelle carries the film with skill beyond his years, and the filmmaking sequences capture the intoxicating discovery of artistic purpose like nothing else in recent cinema. It's more personal than polished, which is exactly what makes it feel like something new from a director who's been doing this for fifty years.

2023 · 2 Seasons · Peacock · Mystery, Comedy-Drama

Poker Face proved that the mystery-of-the-week format still has plenty of life when paired with the right creative vision. Rian Johnson built an inverted mystery machine around Natasha Lyonne's irreplaceable screen presence, delivering standalone episodes that play like miniature crime films with their own distinct tones and guest casts. The procedural format means some episodes land harder than others, and the overarching story never quite matches the strength of individual cases. But when it clicks, and it clicks often, Poker Face is the most purely entertaining mystery show in years.

2019 · 4 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Science Fiction Drama

For All Mankind is the most ambitious alternate history series on television, using a simple premise, what if the Soviets reached the Moon first, to explore decades of divergent American history through the lens of the space program. Each season's time jump keeps the show from growing stale, and the blend of personal drama with geopolitical stakes gives it an emotional range that most sci-fi series can't match. The show occasionally buckles under the weight of its many storylines, but its best episodes capture the wonder and danger of space exploration with real conviction.

2024 · Survival / Sandbox · PC / Steam

Planet Crafter takes the survival crafting formula and builds it around one of the most satisfying progression loops in the genre: watching a barren, lifeless planet slowly transform into a living world because of your actions. The terraforming is the star, and the visible environmental changes as you raise oxygen, heat, and pressure create a feedback loop that makes hours disappear. Late-game content thins out and the story is minimal, but the core experience of building something from nothing on an alien world is deeply compelling.

2022 · Tactical RPG · PC / Steam

Triangle Strategy is a tactical RPG that takes its narrative ambitions as seriously as its grid-based combat, and that combination lifts it above most of its contemporaries. The Scales of Conviction voting system creates agonizing choices that reshape the story in meaningful ways, and the battle design makes smart use of terrain, elevation, and unit positioning to keep every encounter feeling distinct. Heavy dialogue sections and a slow early game will test the patience of players who just want to get to the fights, but those who invest in the political intrigue will find one of the richest tactical RPG experiences on PC. It's the closest thing to a worthy successor to the genre's classics in years.

2023 · RPG · PC / Steam

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is the first CRPG to tackle the Warhammer 40K universe with the depth and ambition the setting deserves. Owlcat Games built a game where the grim darkness of the far future feels fully realized and lived-in, with companions whose loyalty shifts based on your philosophical alignment and combat that rewards tactical thinking across sprawling turn-based encounters. Bugs at launch and a final act that overstays its welcome are real issues, and the sheer length demands a level of commitment not every player can offer. But for those willing to invest the time, this is one of the most atmospheric and choice-driven CRPGs of its generation, carried by writing that understands its source material completely.

2024 · Action Platformer · PC / Steam

Nine Sols is a beautifully hand-drawn action platformer that builds its entire combat system around parrying and talisman detonation, creating fights that feel like violent puzzles. The boss encounters are exceptional, the art direction is stunning, and the Chinese mythology-inspired setting gives it a cultural identity that stands apart from the crowd. Brutal difficulty and some pacing issues in the story keep it from universal appeal, but players who click with its deflection-focused combat will find one of the most satisfying action games in recent years.

2022 · 3 Seasons · TV Tokyo · Action / Comedy / Slice of Life

Spy x Family builds its entire premise around a fake family where every member is hiding something, then spends its runtime making you care about them like they're real. The combination of Cold War spy action, a telepathic child's chaotic misadventures, and a found-family heart gives the show a range that most anime comedies never attempt. It leans heavily on its comedic formula and the overarching spy plot moves forward at a crawl, which limits its ceiling. But the character chemistry is irresistible, the animation quality is strong, and Anya Forger might be the most universally beloved anime character in years. It's the rare show that works for hardcore anime fans and complete newcomers alike.

2024 · 1 Season · MBS / TBS · Supernatural / Action / Comedy / Romance

Dandadan throws ghosts, aliens, teenage romance, and absurdist comedy into a blender and somehow produces something that feels completely coherent. Science SARU's animation is jaw-dropping, the chemistry between its leads carries real emotional weight alongside the chaos, and the show's willingness to be weird without apologizing for it makes every episode feel unpredictable. The breakneck pacing occasionally leaves character development behind, and certain mature elements won't land for everyone. But as a pure shot of creative energy, Dandadan is the most exciting new anime to arrive in 2024.

2020 · Real-Time Strategy · PC / Steam

The Command & Conquer Remastered Collection is one of the most respectful and generous remasters in gaming. Petroglyph rebuilt the visuals from scratch, included both games with all expansions, added mod support with open source code, and delivered rebuilt multiplayer, all for a modest price. Pathfinding remains stuck in 1995 and the AI hasn't evolved, but the restraint shown in preserving what made these games matter is exactly what this kind of project demands. For anyone who remembers building their first base and hearing 'construction complete,' this is the definitive way to revisit those memories.

2023 · Tactical RPG · PC / Steam

Jagged Alliance 3 is the revival fans waited over twenty years to see, and Haemimont Games delivered a game that earns the franchise name. The tactical combat is deep and flexible, the mercenary roster overflows with personality thanks to excellent voice acting, and the strategic layer of managing contracts, equipment, and territory creates real tension. Some tonal clashes between humor and the serious setting don't always land, and the weapon variety doesn't match its predecessor. But as a modern interpretation of the series that defined mercenary tactics games, this is a confident and addictive return to form.

2022 · 2 Seasons · AMC+ · Animation / Sci-Fi / Drama / Thriller

Pantheon is the kind of show that deserved a bigger audience and got buried by a streaming platform that didn't know what to do with it. Its exploration of digital consciousness, corporate power, and what makes a person a person is handled with the kind of philosophical seriousness that most animated series wouldn't attempt. The slow start is real, and the technical jargon can be dense, but the payoff across both seasons justifies the patience required to get there. This is smart, ambitious science fiction that treats animation as a legitimate vehicle for adult drama.

2008 · 7 Seasons · Cartoon Network / Disney+ · Animation / Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi

Star Wars: The Clone Wars transformed a gap between two movies into one of the most expansive storytelling achievements in the franchise. Its best arcs deliver drama, moral complexity, and emotional weight that stand alongside anything in the films. Getting to those arcs means pushing through a significant amount of filler and accepting that the show's anthology format creates an uneven viewing experience by design. For anyone willing to meet it on those terms, Clone Wars adds layers of depth to the Star Wars universe that nothing else in the franchise has matched.

2020 · 3 Seasons · Hulu · Satirical Dark Comedy / Historical Drama

The Great is a gleefully irreverent take on Catherine the Great's rise to power, carried by two lead performances that elevate every scene they inhabit. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult have the kind of on-screen chemistry that makes you forget you're watching actors, and Tony McNamara's writing is sharp enough to make the absurdity of 18th-century Russian court politics feel fresh and funny across three seasons. The show occasionally struggles with pacing in its middle stretches, and its commitment to anti-historical chaos can leave viewers wanting more substance beneath the wit. Those who connect with its wavelength will find one of the most entertaining period shows of the 2020s, and one that was cancelled before it ran out of ideas.

2022 · Matt Reeves · 176 min · Action / Crime / Drama

The Batman commits fully to its noir detective vision, and that commitment is both its greatest strength and the source of its only real problem. Nearly three hours of rain-soaked Gotham, a Batman who thinks more than he punches, and a visual style that makes every frame feel like a graphic novel panel. Robert Pattinson brings something entirely new to the character, and the film earns its place in the pantheon of great Batman adaptations. It just asks you to sit still for a very long time to get there.

2022 · Roguelike Deckbuilder

Dicey Dungeons is a brilliantly designed roguelike that turns dice rolls into tactical decisions with real weight. Six distinct characters keep the game fresh far longer than its cheerful presentation suggests, and the mobile port runs beautifully with touch controls that feel native to the platform. The lack of iCloud syncing is an unnecessary annoyance, and RNG-heavy runs can occasionally feel punishing regardless of your choices. But the core design is so clever and the value proposition so strong that those complaints barely register against the hours of inventive gameplay on offer.

2021 · Action RPG

Punishing: Gray Raven delivers some of the most satisfying real-time combat on mobile, with responsive controls and a skill ceiling that rewards dedicated players. Its generous pity system and free-to-play friendliness stand out in the gacha space. The story hits its stride in later chapters but stumbles through uneven localization, and the early game can feel like a wall of menus and systems. For action game fans willing to push past the initial learning curve, PGR offers a combat experience that few mobile games can match.

2023 · Turn-Based RPG

Reverse: 1999 stands apart in the gacha landscape through its commitment to literary storytelling and a combat system that rewards thoughtful play over brute force. The writing is ambitious and often brilliant, the voice acting is exceptional across multiple languages, and the art direction creates something visually distinct. Resource grinding hits harder than it should, the narrative pacing can test your patience, and the gacha rates demand careful planning. But for players who value story and atmosphere in their mobile RPGs, Reverse: 1999 offers something remarkably rare.

2023 · 2 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Science Fiction Drama

Silo is a confident dystopian thriller that understands the value of patience, building its mystery across two seasons with the kind of measured tension that rewards attentive viewers. Rebecca Ferguson carries the show with a performance rooted in quiet determination, and the production design of the underground community is detailed enough to make it feel like a real place rather than a set. The slow pacing will lose some viewers, but those who stay will find a sci-fi series that trusts its audience to engage with ideas rather than explosions.

2023 · Action Roguelike · PC / Steam

20 Minutes Till Dawn strips the survivor-like genre to its essentials and executes them with precision. The tight time limit creates urgency that longer games in the genre lack, and the upgrade synergies can produce absurdly powerful builds that feel earned rather than given. It's slim on content compared to its biggest competitors, and runs can start to blur together after a while. But for its price point, this is one of the tightest, most satisfying loops in the bullet heaven space.

2022 · Roguelike Deckbuilder · PC / Steam

Across the Obelisk is a co-op deckbuilder that thrives on party synergy and build variety. Managing a four-hero team with intertwined card combos gives it a tactical richness that most games in the genre can't match. It's best with friends, and solo players may find the AI companions limiting, but the sheer volume of unlockable heroes, cards, and paths keeps runs feeling fresh for dozens of hours. If you've been looking for a deckbuilder you can share with someone, this is the one.

2022 · Roguelike · PC / Steam

Luck be a Landlord turns a slot machine into a roguelike puzzle, and the result is dangerously addictive. Building synergies between symbols on the reels creates a strategic depth that the simple premise doesn't advertise. Runs are quick, the learning curve is gentle, and the moment a build clicks into place is consistently satisfying. It runs out of surprises eventually, and the randomness can occasionally feel punishing. But as a pick-up-and-play roguelike with a clever core concept, it punches well above its weight.

2021 · 4 Seasons · Hulu · Comedy-Mystery

Only Murders in the Building is a charming, clever comedy-mystery that gets remarkable mileage out of the chemistry between Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Its true-crime-podcast premise is both a loving homage and a sharp satire, and the show's best seasons balance genuine whodunit tension with character comedy that lands consistently. Later seasons show some formula fatigue, cycling through new murders and celebrity guest stars with diminishing returns, but the central trio remains a delight and the show's warmth keeps it enjoyable even when the mysteries themselves lose some of their punch.

2021 · Puzzle / Zen · PC / Steam

Unpacking tells a complete life story through the simple act of putting things where they belong, and it does so with a subtlety that most narrative games never achieve. The pixel art is gorgeous, the sound design is impeccable, and each new move reveals more about a character you'll never hear speak. It's short, it's niche, and some players will wonder where the 'game' is. But for those who click with it, Unpacking is a quietly unforgettable experience.

2024 · Roguelike RPG · PC / Steam

Caves of Qud is a remarkable roguelike that rewards curiosity and punishes complacency in equal measure. Its science-fantasy world is one of the most imaginative settings in gaming, realized through writing that would be impressive in a novel, let alone a procedurally generated dungeon crawler. Character creation alone offers more meaningful choices than most RPGs provide across their entire runtime. The learning curve is severe, the interface demands patience, and death will come often and without warning. For players willing to meet it on its terms, though, Caves of Qud delivers the kind of depth and surprise that keeps you thinking about your last run long after it ended.

2020 · RPG · PC / Steam

Wasteland 3 delivers a post-apocalyptic RPG experience that earns its reputation through excellent writing, meaningful choices, and darkly funny world-building. The tactical combat is solid, the Colorado setting is memorable, and the freedom to approach situations your own way gives the game strong replay value. Co-op ambitions and some lingering technical issues hold it back from greatness, and the difficulty could stand to be more punishing for veterans. But as a complete package, this is one of the better tactical RPGs of recent years and a significant step up from its predecessor.

2021 · 3 Seasons · Netflix · Thriller / Drama

Squid Game's first season is one of the most gripping things Netflix has ever produced, a survival thriller with real characters, devastating emotional stakes, and social commentary that hits without feeling preachy. The premise of desperate people playing children's games for money is brilliantly simple, and the execution lives up to it. Later seasons struggle to recapture that lightning, leaning on familiar structures and introducing storylines that don't always pay off. The show as a complete package is uneven, but that first season alone earns it a place in the conversation about the best things streaming television has produced. Start it for the games. Stay for the people playing them.

2021 · RPG · PC / Steam

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is one of the deepest CRPGs available, offering a staggering amount of character building options and a mythic path system that makes each playthrough feel meaningfully different. The crusade management drags it down, and the technical issues can test your patience. But for players willing to push through those rough edges, there's an epic-scale RPG here that very few games can match. It rewards commitment like almost nothing else in the genre.

2023 · Survival Horror · PC / Epic Games Store

Alan Wake 2 is Remedy Entertainment's most ambitious game, and it largely delivers on that ambition. The atmosphere, visual design, and integration of live-action sequences create something that feels unlike anything else in the genre. Saga's investigative gameplay and the Dark Place's shifting reality offer two distinct flavors of horror that complement each other well. But the pacing asks a lot of patience, combat doesn't evolve enough over the runtime, and the PC version's hardware demands limit who can experience it properly. For players who want a horror game that prioritizes mood and narrative above all else, this is one of the most memorable entries in years.

2025 · Action Roguelite · PC / Steam

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor takes a beloved co-op franchise and reshapes it into a compelling solo experience that stands on its own. The mining mechanic gives it an identity most survivor-likes lack, and the build variety through overclocks and gear keeps the loop engaging for dozens of hours. It runs out of surprises eventually, and the highest difficulty tiers can feel more punishing than rewarding, but the core of what's here is polished, priced right, and hard to put down. For fans of the genre, this belongs near the top of the list.

2005 · 15 Seasons · BBC One · Science Fiction / Adventure

Doctor Who's 2005 revival took a beloved but low-budget science fiction institution and turned it into a modern television powerhouse, proving that a show about a time-traveling alien could make you laugh, cry, and hide behind the sofa all in the same episode. At its best, under showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, it produced some of the finest sci-fi television of its generation, with David Tennant and Matt Smith delivering performances that defined the role for a new audience. The show's quality varies wildly depending on who's running it, and certain eras tested even the most devoted fans with inconsistent writing and questionable creative choices. But that inconsistency is baked into the show's DNA, and the regeneration concept means there's always another version of Doctor Who around the corner.

2020 · Action RPG

Genshin Impact delivers one of the most ambitious open worlds ever made available for free on a phone. The exploration, visuals, and soundtrack alone justify the download. Gacha mechanics and stamina limits create real friction, and the mobile experience demands a capable device. For players willing to take it slow and resist the urge to collect everything, there's an enormous amount of quality content here that most paid games can't match.

2023 · Turn-Based RPG

Honkai: Star Rail delivers a polished turn-based RPG with a story, soundtrack, and visual presentation that put most paid games to shame. The gacha system and power creep are real friction points, and the daily grind loop will test your patience once the story content runs dry. For players who want a narrative-driven RPG they can pick up on their phone and play at their own pace, this is one of the strongest options available for free. Just know what you're signing up for with the monetization, and set your boundaries early.

2023 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Lies of P is the strongest non-FromSoftware entry in the soulslike genre, and it earns that distinction through sheer commitment to its own identity. The Belle Epoque steampunk setting is gorgeous, the weapon assembly system adds real creativity to builds, and the boss fights will test even experienced players. Some of those bosses push past challenging into frustrating, and the story doesn't quite stick the landing on every thread it weaves. But Round8 Studio built something that stands next to the games it draws inspiration from without looking like a shadow, and that's an achievement very few studios have managed.

2022 · Collectible Card Game

Marvel Snap delivers one of the best core gameplay loops on mobile, wrapping real strategic depth into matches that last just a few minutes. The snap mechanic gives every game a poker-like tension that no other card game has matched. Monetization has grown more aggressive over time, and free players will eventually hit a wall where new cards feel unreasonably hard to earn. If you can accept that friction and focus on the gameplay itself, this is one of the sharpest competitive experiences available on a phone.

2020 · Co-op Horror · PC / Steam

Phasmophobia turned a simple premise into one of the most effective co-op horror experiences on PC. The ghost hunting loop is satisfying, the voice recognition adds an interaction layer that nothing else offers, and playing with friends creates the kind of shared stories that keep groups coming back for years. It's still in early access, with rough edges that show, and solo play can't replicate what makes the game special. But for groups looking for something properly scary that also generates constant laughter, Phasmophobia occupies a space in co-op gaming that nobody else has filled.

2023 · Third-Person Shooter / Action RPG · PC / Steam

Remnant 2 takes the foundation of its predecessor and builds something bigger, stranger, and more replayable. The procedural world generation means every campaign run offers different dungeons, bosses, and storylines, which gives the game legs that most action RPGs can only dream of. Co-op with up to two friends is where the experience hits its peak, turning tough encounters into chaotic fun. The gunplay could hit harder, and the procedural approach sacrifices some environmental storytelling for variety. But Gunfire Games made a sequel that improves on the original in nearly every way that matters, and the Archetype system gives character building the depth to match.

2021 · Survival Horror · PC / Steam

Resident Evil Village is a confident, varied horror game that takes big swings with its location design and mostly connects. Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento rank among the best sequences Capcom has ever produced, and the expanded combat options give the action a satisfying crunch that Resident Evil 7 lacked. The back half can't sustain the front half's momentum, and the story asks you to care about a narrative that never quite earns it. But as a complete package, Village delivers a 10-12 hour campaign that's consistently entertaining, frequently surprising, and packed with enough variety to keep you guessing about what comes next. Capcom proved they could evolve the modern Resident Evil formula without losing what made it work.

2022 · Beat 'em Up · PC / Steam

Sifu is a martial arts game that demands mastery and rewards it generously. The combat system is deep, responsive, and built to make you feel like a kung fu expert once you put in the hours to actually become one. The aging mechanic gives death real consequences without making the game feel unfair, and the level design is packed with shortcuts and secrets that reward repeated runs. Difficulty will push away players looking for a casual brawler, and the structure requires replaying content more than some people will tolerate. But for anyone who wants a game that makes earning skill feel meaningful, this is one of the best action games of the decade.

2020 · 3 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Comedy / Drama

Ted Lasso arrived at a time when television audiences were drowning in cynicism, and its relentless optimism felt like oxygen. The first two seasons deliver some of the warmest, funniest, and most emotionally intelligent comedy in recent memory, anchored by Jason Sudeikis and a deep ensemble that makes every character feel worth caring about. Season three's bloated episodes and scattered focus dull the momentum considerably, turning what could have been a perfect run into a good one with a disappointing final stretch. The show still lands more than it misses across 34 episodes, and at its best, it's the kind of television that actually makes you want to be a better person.

2024 · Third-Person Shooter · PC / Steam

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 delivers on the fantasy of being a superhuman warrior carving through alien hordes at a scale no other Warhammer game has achieved. The campaign and co-op operations are a blast, the visual spectacle is remarkable, and the moment-to-moment combat carries a satisfying weight that keeps you engaged across your first dozen hours. Content runs thin after that initial rush, and post-launch updates have been a mixed bag, but the foundation is strong enough that what's here already justifies the price of admission. If you've ever wanted to feel like a Space Marine, this is the closest any game has come.

2022 · Word Puzzle

Wordle is one of those rare games that became a verb, a ritual, and a cultural touchstone all at once. The concept is almost absurdly simple: guess a five-letter word in six tries, once per day, and share your results without spoilers. That simplicity is the entire point. It respects your time, rewards your vocabulary, and gives you exactly one reason to come back tomorrow. The NYT acquisition brought some rough edges, and the format has natural limits, but the core loop remains one of the most elegantly designed puzzle experiences available on any platform.

2022 · Jordan Peele · 131 min · Sci-Fi / Horror

Nope is Jordan Peele's biggest and most visually ambitious film, and also his most uneven. The central creature design is wildly original, the IMAX cinematography is stunning, and Keke Palmer delivers a performance that deserves to launch her into a different tier of stardom. When the film focuses on the Haywood siblings trying to capture evidence of something impossible in the sky above their ranch, it's thrilling and funny and unlike anything else in recent horror. But Peele is juggling too many thematic plates at once, the Gordy subplot never fully connects to the main story, and the pacing lurches between stretches of dead air and bursts of intensity. It's a film with extraordinary individual sequences that doesn't quite cohere into the unified statement Peele seems to be reaching for.

2023 · RPG · PC / Steam

Wartales drops you into a gritty medieval world with a band of mercenaries and no grand quest to follow, and that deliberate lack of direction is both its defining strength and the thing most likely to bounce you off the game. The open-world exploration rewards patience with emergent stories that feel earned rather than scripted, and the profession system gives every member of your warband a role that matters outside of combat. Turn-based tactical fights are solid if not spectacular, and the management layer of feeding, paying, and equipping your company adds a survival tension that keeps the stakes grounded. DLC pricing is aggressive, and the mid-game pacing can drag when you've outgrown a region but haven't found the next one. For players who want an RPG that trusts them to make their own fun in a world that doesn't care about their survival, Wartales delivers that experience with commitment.

2023 · 2 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Comedy

A buddy comedy about platonic friendship between a man and a woman that refreshingly refuses to turn into a romance. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen have the kind of natural, combustible chemistry that makes every scene together feel effortless, and their dynamic as two friends navigating separate midlife crises provides the show with a reliable comic engine across two seasons. The supporting cast gets pushed to the margins by the central pairing's dominance, and the show sometimes chooses gentle amusement over genuine insight into the midlife anxieties it raises. But the second season tightened up considerably, and when Platonic commits to being a hangout comedy about two people who make each other's lives simultaneously better and worse, it's one of the most purely enjoyable shows on streaming.

2024 · Fede Álvarez · 119 min · Sci-Fi / Horror

Alien: Romulus is the franchise getting back to doing what it does best: trapping people in a confined space with something that wants to kill them, then ratcheting the tension until it becomes almost unbearable. Fede Álvarez proved he understands the mechanics of this series, and the practical creature work is some of the best the franchise has produced in decades. The heavy reliance on callbacks and a divisive third-act creature keep it from standing fully on its own, and several characters needed more development to make their fates resonate. But as a return to the horror roots that defined the original film, this delivers the goods.

2024 · Shawn Levy · 127 min · Action / Comedy

Deadpool & Wolverine runs almost entirely on the combustible chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and that fuel turns out to be enough to power a wildly entertaining ride. The action is brutal and inventive, the soundtrack choices are inspired, and the self-aware humor lands more often than it misses. A weak villain, an overreliance on cameos, and a story that sometimes feels like a delivery mechanism for references rather than a narrative keep it from the upper tier of the genre. But as a send-off for Fox's Marvel era and a showcase for two actors who clearly love working together, it does exactly what it sets out to do.

2023 · Turn-Based Strategy RPG

Limbus Company is a gacha game that puts story and generosity ahead of predatory monetization, and the community has rewarded it with fierce loyalty. The writing, music, and strategic combat form a deeply compelling package for players willing to push through a rough onboarding period and tolerate repetitive weekly farming. It won't convert anyone who hates gacha games, but for fans of narrative-driven RPGs who don't mind the model, this is one of the best options on mobile.

2022 · Action

Jetpack Joyride 2 takes the beloved original's one-touch flying formula and gives it structure, upgrades, and a reason to keep playing beyond chasing a high score. The level-based design is a smart evolution, the absence of ads and microtransactions (through Apple Arcade) removes every friction point, and the gameplay feels as immediately fun as it did in 2011. The campaign ends too soon, and some of the free-to-play DNA shows through in the upgrade pacing. But as an Apple Arcade offering, it's one of the service's most purely enjoyable games.

2020 · Fighting / Platform Fighter

Brawlhalla on mobile brings the full platform fighter experience to phones with cross-play, a fair free-to-play model, and a massive roster. Touch controls work better than expected for casual play, though competitive players will want a controller. The skill ceiling is high enough to keep you improving for months, and the rotating free legend system means you can try everyone before spending anything. Matchmaking hiccups and occasional input lag on touch hold it back from matching the console experience, but as a free fighting game you can play against your friends on any platform, it's hard to beat.

2021 · 3 Seasons · Netflix · Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Lupin is a stylish and infectious heist thriller elevated by Omar Sy's magnetic screen presence and a Parisian setting that drips with charm. The show's best moments combine clever disguises, elaborate cons, and genuine emotional stakes rooted in a father-son story that gives the flashy surface real weight. Plot logic doesn't always hold up under scrutiny, and the later parts lean heavier on action at the expense of the intricate scheming that made the early episodes so satisfying. But as escapist entertainment with a cultural identity all its own, Lupin delivers something that feels fresh in a crowded streaming market.

2023 · 3 Seasons · Netflix · Drama, Thriller

The Diplomat delivers a smart, character-driven political thriller anchored by Keri Russell's commanding performance as an ambassador thrown into an impossible situation. Debora Cahn's writing is at its best when exploring the personal cost of political power, and the show crackles when its characters are arguing in rooms, negotiating alliances, and navigating marriages that have become indistinguishable from policy disputes. The plotting can stretch credibility, and some seasons struggle to maintain the tension of their cliffhanger-driven structure. But Russell and the ensemble keep you invested through every twist, and the show fills a gap in television that's been empty since the West Wing era.

2023 · Puzzle · PC / Steam

Viewfinder is a puzzle game built on one of the most striking mechanics in recent memory. Placing photographs into the world to reshape reality is consistently surprising, and the visual design sells every moment of it. The puzzles themselves don't always match the ambition of the central concept, trending toward easy solutions that leave the mechanic underutilized. It's a short, beautiful experience that's more impressive than it is challenging, and for many players, that's enough.

2024 · Action RPG

Zenless Zone Zero brings some of the slickest action combat and most distinctive art direction on mobile, wrapped in an urban setting that feels fresh for the genre. Character animations and combat flow are exceptional, and the stylized presentation gives every fight a sense of energy that few games match. Content depth and exploration are thinner than what players might expect, and the TV-static navigation system is either charming or tedious depending on your tolerance. If you care about how combat looks and feels above everything else, Zenless Zone Zero delivers that in abundance.

2021 · Strategy RPG

Blue Archive succeeds by investing heavily in its characters and their stories, creating a gacha game where the roster feels like a cast rather than a collection of stat blocks. The writing is surprisingly strong for the genre, blending lighthearted school comedy with moments of real emotional weight. Combat takes a back seat to the narrative and character interactions, which means players looking for deep tactical gameplay won't find it here. If you value character writing and personality in your gacha games and can appreciate a lighter tone, Blue Archive is one of the best in its class.

2024 · Action RPG

Wuthering Waves delivers some of the best action combat available on mobile, with a fast and technical fighting system that rewards skill over character rarity. The open world is large and explorable, and Kuro Games has shown a genuine willingness to improve the game based on player feedback. Story presentation was rough at launch but has improved with updates, and the gacha system is more generous than its biggest competitor. If you want a mobile action RPG where combat feels like the priority rather than an afterthought, Wuthering Waves earns serious consideration.

2022 · Survival / Adventure · PC / Steam

Grounded takes the 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' fantasy and turns it into a capable survival game with a surprisingly engaging world to explore. The backyard setting gives familiar survival mechanics a fresh coat of paint, and the creature encounters deliver genuine tension when a wolf spider rounds a corner. Co-op with friends is where it truly comes alive, but the story underwhelms, the late game becomes a grind, and solo play exposes how much the design leans on having teammates. A fun survival adventure that's best shared.

2023 · Roguelike / Puzzle · PC / Steam

Peglin mashes pachinko physics with roguelike deck building and turns the result into something far more compelling than it sounds. Launching orbs into a field of pegs and watching damage numbers cascade as they bounce creates a unique satisfaction that no other roguelike offers. The RNG can feel oppressive when bad bounces tank a run, and the strategic depth doesn't quite match the genre's best. But the core concept is so inventive and the moment-to-moment gameplay so fun that Peglin earns its place alongside the roguelike heavyweights through sheer creativity.

2021 · Puzzle / Match-3

Royal Match is a polished, generous match-3 puzzle game that earns its enormous player base through smart level design, strong visual presentation, and a lighter hand on monetization than most competitors. The decoration metagame and steady flow of events keep players engaged over thousands of levels, even if the core formula never truly surprises. If you enjoy the match-3 genre and want one that respects your time more than your wallet, Royal Match is an easy recommendation.

2020 · 4 Seasons · Netflix · Romance / Drama / Period

Bridgerton carved out its own space in the period drama genre by refusing to play by the usual rules, mixing Regency-era setting with modern sensibility, diverse casting, and a willingness to prioritize romance over historical accuracy. The lavish production design and rotating love stories keep things fresh across seasons, and the show has built one of Netflix's most passionate fanbases in the process. Uneven season quality, shallow treatment of its own social commentary, and a formula that can feel repetitive are real limitations. But as pure romantic escapism with gorgeous costumes and a pop-orchestral soundtrack, it delivers exactly what its audience wants.

2022 · 2 Seasons · Netflix · Supernatural Mystery / Comedy

Wednesday takes a beloved character and drops her into a teen mystery format that works better than it probably should. Jenna Ortega's deadpan performance carries the show through weaker plotting and some casting choices that don't quite land. The gothic visuals are gorgeous, the humor hits more often than it misses, and Ortega's chemistry with Emma Myers gives the show a genuine emotional core. The mysteries themselves are the weakest link, often predictable and occasionally convoluted, and the Addams Family elements beyond Wednesday herself feel undercooked. It's a fun, stylish show that knows what it does best and mostly sticks to it.

2021 · Real-Time Strategy · PC / Steam

Age of Empires IV brought one of PC gaming's most beloved strategy franchises back from the dead, and it did so with a solid foundation that has only improved with ongoing updates and new content. The civilizations are distinct and fun to learn, the campaigns offer a unique documentary-style presentation, and the competitive multiplayer scene has found real legs. It doesn't replace Age of Empires II for everyone, and some visual and interface choices remain polarizing, but it earned its place in the lineup. For RTS fans looking for a modern entry point into the genre, this one delivers.

2022 · 2 Seasons · HBO · Fantasy / Drama

House of the Dragon delivers some of the most impressive production values on television and features a cast that elevates every scene they're in. Paddy Considine's King Viserys alone is worth the price of admission, and the show's best moments rival anything its predecessor produced. Season 2's pacing problems and anticlimactic structure hold it back from greatness, though, leaving a show that's often excellent but frustratingly inconsistent. With two more seasons planned, there's still time for the story to find its footing. Right now, it's a gorgeous, well-acted drama that hasn't quite figured out how to pace itself.

2023 · Immersive Sim · PC / Steam

System Shock's remake is a labor of love that brings a 1994 classic into the modern era while keeping its soul intact. Nightdive Studios nailed the atmosphere, modernized the visuals without losing the original's claustrophobic identity, and kept SHODAN as one of gaming's most compelling villains. The trade-off is that the game's maze-like levels and minimal guidance are still here, preserved alongside the good stuff. Players who want that old-school challenge of charting their own path through a hostile space station will find one of the most faithful and well-executed remakes in years. Everyone else should know what they're signing up for.

2022 · Strategy · PC / Steam

Total War: Warhammer III represents the grand finale of Creative Assembly's Warhammer trilogy, and Immortal Empires is the sprawling sandbox that fans always wanted. Faction diversity is unmatched, the modding scene keeps things fresh, and nothing else lets you throw dinosaurs at demons on this scale. Settlement battles and AI issues drag the experience down, and the DLC pricing adds up fast for anyone arriving late. If you want a strategy game with absurd variety and hundreds of hours of factional warfare, this delivers. Just know that the community and modders are doing some of the heavy lifting.

2023 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty brings Team Ninja's signature combat design to a Three Kingdoms setting with impressive results. The deflect system and spirit gauge create a rhythm of aggressive, precise play that stands apart from other games in the soulslike genre, and the best boss fights rank among the studio's finest work. A repetitive second half, limited enemy variety, and a PC version that launched with significant performance problems keep it from reaching the heights of Team Ninja's previous titles. It's a flawed but rewarding action RPG that delivers on its combat promise even when the surrounding game can't always keep up.

2021 · RPG

Cookie Run: Kingdom blends gacha RPG combat with kingdom building in a package that's more generous and more charming than most competitors in the genre. The power creep in recent content is pushing the game toward the pay-to-progress model it once avoided, and performance on older devices can be rough. If you enjoy collecting characters, building a base, and following a story with more personality than you'd expect, this is one of the better gacha games available, as long as the trend toward harder paywalls doesn't continue.

2022 · 2 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Comedy / Mystery

A murder mystery comedy built on a clever structural gimmick: each episode retells the same night through a different character's perspective, and each perspective transforms the entire episode into a different film genre. Season one pulls this off with infectious energy, a stacked ensemble, and a whodunit that actually rewards close attention. Season two repeats the formula at a wedding with diminishing returns, swapping out most of the cast and leaning harder into genre parody without the character depth that made the first year work. The cancellation after two seasons felt inevitable given the second season's quieter reception, but the first season remains one of the most inventive comedy experiments Apple TV+ has produced.

2021 · RPG · PC / Steam

Solasta: Crown of the Magister succeeds by doing one thing exceptionally well: translating D&D 5th Edition rules into a video game with a fidelity that makes tabletop veterans feel right at home. The tactical combat system, built around verticality, lighting, and faithful rule implementation, creates encounters where positioning and preparation matter as much as raw character power. The Dungeon Maker tools transform the game into a platform for community-created adventures that extend its life well beyond the official campaign. Story and visual polish fall short of bigger-budget competitors, and some classes and subclasses are locked behind DLC. But as a combat-first D&D experience that actually plays by the rules, Solasta fills a niche that nothing else occupies quite as well.

2021 · 2 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Science Fiction Drama

Foundation is a visually stunning adaptation that succeeds most when it departs from Isaac Asimov's source material and struggles most when it tries to follow it. Lee Pace's Emperor Cleon and the Genetic Dynasty storyline represent some of the most compelling original science fiction television has produced in years, while the Terminus plotlines that attempt to adapt the novels directly never achieve the same level of engagement. It's a deeply uneven show with moments of greatness scattered across two seasons, rewarding for patient viewers but frustrating for anyone looking for consistency.

2024 · Survival Horror · PC / Steam

Sons of the Forest delivers a gorgeous, unsettling forest to survive in and expands on its predecessor in almost every mechanical way. The building is more flexible, the AI companions are surprisingly endearing, and the atmosphere can shift from peaceful to terrifying in seconds. But the story never comes together in a satisfying way, performance issues persist, and the survival and narrative elements feel like they exist in parallel rather than reinforcing each other. It's a better sandbox than it is a horror game, and a better co-op experience than a solo one.

2021 · 3 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Dark Comedy / Drama

A dark comedy set in 1980s San Diego that follows a housewife's transformation through aerobics, driven by one of the most committed performances in recent television. Rose Byrne carries every scene with a ferocity that elevates material which can be difficult to sit with, playing a woman whose polished exterior conceals an internal life of relentless self-punishment. The show improved dramatically from a polarizing first season to a stronger second and third year, but it never fully escaped the challenge of asking audiences to spend extended time inside a character's cruelest thoughts about herself. A hidden gem for viewers who appreciate unflinching character work, and too uncomfortable for those who don't.

2020 · Psychological Horror · PC / Steam

Visage is one of the most terrifying games released in recent years, with an atmosphere and sound design that can make simply standing in a hallway feel unbearable. Its commitment to psychological horror is total, and when it works, nothing else in the genre comes close. But the obscure puzzle design, frustrating inventory system, and wildly uneven chapter quality mean that patience is the price of admission. Players who can tolerate the rough edges will find something truly special underneath.

2023 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Lords of the Fallen is an ambitious soulslike that gets its most distinctive feature right. The dual-world mechanic, powered by the Umbral Lamp, creates a layered exploration experience that no other game in the genre offers, and the gothic art direction gives the world a haunting visual identity. But ambition without execution only gets you so far. Performance issues, frustrating enemy density, uneven checkpoint spacing, and a second half that relies on overwhelming the player rather than challenging them hold the game back from the standard set by its inspirations. Extensive post-launch support has smoothed many of the roughest edges, making the current version a significantly better game than what launched in October 2023.

2020 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Mortal Shell is a focused, atmospheric take on the souls-like formula built by a team of roughly 15 people, and the ambition shows in both its best ideas and its limitations. The Harden mechanic is a smart and original addition to the genre's defensive toolkit, and the visual design punches far above what you'd expect from a studio this small. Limited weapon variety, a short runtime, and enemies that don't always match the quality of the game's systems keep it from standing shoulder to shoulder with the genre's heavyweights. It works best as a proof of concept, one that demonstrates real talent and leaves you wanting to see what Cold Symmetry does next.

2022 · 1 Season · TV Tokyo · Action / Dark Fantasy / Horror

Chainsaw Man arrived as one of the most anticipated anime adaptations of its era and delivered something markedly different from what many fans expected. MAPPA's cinematic approach created a visually distinctive series with a moody, grounded atmosphere and excellent voice work, but that same stylistic choice became the center of a fierce debate among manga readers who wanted something faster and more vibrant. The writing remains sharp and the characters compelling, but the adaptation's deliberate restraint left a meaningful portion of the fanbase feeling the anime missed the manga's raw energy. It's a strong show that will land perfectly for some viewers and feel like a near miss for others.

2023 · Real-Time Strategy · PC / Steam

Company of Heroes 3 delivers where it matters most for the series: on the battlefield. Squad-based tactical combat has never felt better in the franchise, with destructible environments, smart unit design, and tense moment-to-moment engagements that reward quick thinking and careful positioning. The multiplayer is strong, the mod support is welcome, and two years of post-launch updates have addressed many early complaints. But the single-player campaigns that should have carried the experience fell flat at launch, with a buggy dynamic campaign map and story presentation that couldn't match the spectacle of the tactical layer. It's the best Company of Heroes for competitive play and the weakest for solo players.

2021 · Battle Royale

Free Fire MAX upgrades the original Free Fire's visuals significantly while keeping the fast-paced, accessible battle royale formula intact. Quick matches, low device requirements compared to bigger competitors, and a massive global player base make it a solid entry point for mobile battle royale. Pay-to-win character abilities and persistent hacker problems keep it from reaching the top tier, but for players who want battle royale action that respects their time and doesn't demand a flagship phone, it delivers.

2020 · 6 Seasons · Hulu · Animation / Comedy / Sci-Fi

Solar Opposites is a show at war with itself. Its main storyline delivers reliable animated comedy that coasts on rapid-fire gags and alien absurdity without ever becoming essential viewing. Its Wall subplot is something entirely different: a sprawling, inventive story-within-a-story that earned a level of investment the primary narrative never matched. Six seasons and 63 episodes produced plenty of laughs, but the show's most lasting legacy might be proving that its best idea deserved to be its own series.

2021 · Lifestyle

Pikmin Bloom is less a traditional game and more a charming companion that rewards you for going outside and moving. The Pikmin themselves are endlessly endearing, the flower planting mechanic turns ordinary walks into something colorful, and the low-pressure design fits perfectly into daily routines without demanding constant attention. It lacks the depth and engagement density of other location-based apps, and players who want strategic challenges or competitive features will find it frustratingly thin. But for anyone looking for gentle motivation to walk more, wrapped in Nintendo's characteristic warmth, it does exactly what it sets out to do.

2022 · James Cameron · 192 min · Sci-Fi / Adventure

Avatar: The Way of Water is James Cameron proving once again that nobody builds a visual spectacle like he does, while also proving that his storytelling instincts haven't evolved much since 2009. The underwater sequences represent a genuine leap in what digital filmmaking can achieve, and the family dynamics give the film more emotional texture than its predecessor. But the three-hour-plus runtime strains against a plot that doesn't have enough narrative momentum to justify it, and the villain problem from the first film returns in a different skin. It's a gorgeous, uneven experience that works best when it stops trying to advance its story and just lets you exist in the water.

2023 · Action RPG

Monster Hunter Now translates the franchise's core loop of hunting, crafting, and upgrading into bite-sized mobile encounters that work surprisingly well for a location-based game. The combat feels more substantial than any other Niantic title, and the weapon variety gives each play session a different flavor. But 75-second time limits flatten the excitement of larger fights, rural players still struggle with spawn variety, and the content pipeline has trouble keeping up with players who progress quickly. It's the best action-focused AR game available, occupying a space between casual walk-and-play apps and traditional mobile RPGs without fully satisfying either audience.

2020 · 4 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Workplace Comedy

Mythic Quest spent four seasons inside a fictional game studio and found something surprisingly affecting beneath the workplace comedy formula. The show's standalone episodes rank among the best individual episodes of any comedy in the 2020s, and the ensemble cast built a dynamic that grew richer with each season. Its week-to-week plotting could feel loose and aimless at times, and the later seasons occasionally struggled to find new directions for characters whose arcs had already peaked. Low viewership ultimately ended the show before its time, but what it left behind is a workplace comedy with more heart and ambition than its modest reputation suggests.

2020 · Real-Time Strategy · PC / Steam

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition is a respectful and visually impressive remaster that modernizes the most polarizing entry in the franchise without fundamentally changing what made it different. The graphical overhaul is excellent, the quality-of-life improvements are welcome, and the updated multiplayer infrastructure gives the competitive community a solid foundation. But the campaigns haven't aged well, the early game pacing remains slow, and the lack of substantial new content leaves it feeling more like a polish pass than a reinvention. For players who already loved Age of Empires III, this is the best way to play it. For those hoping it would close the gap with its predecessor, the distance remains.

2021 · Sandbox MMORPG

Albion Online on mobile puts a full sandbox MMORPG in your pocket with the same servers, economy, and full-loot PvP as the PC version. The player-driven economy and classless gear system create something impressively ambitious for mobile. But touch controls put you at a real disadvantage in PvP, the grind is substantial, and the game assumes you already know what you're doing. It's best treated as a companion to the PC experience rather than a standalone mobile game.

2023 · Action RPG

Aether Gazer delivers flashy, satisfying combat and a generous gacha system that makes it one of the more accessible action RPGs on mobile. The core loop of chaining combos and switching characters is a blast, and the sci-fi mythology setting gives it a personality of its own. Repetitive grinding, missing quality-of-life features, and a shrinking English-language community hold it back from competing with the top of the genre. Players who want fast combat without the punishing difficulty of similar games will find a lot to like here, but the long-term staying power depends on how much repetition they can tolerate.

2020 · Strategy RPG

CounterSide pairs one of the best stories in mobile gacha gaming with polished 2D combat and impressive production values, creating something that feels more like a passion project than a revenue machine. The gear system's brutal RNG and PvP's wallet-checking tendencies undercut an otherwise generous free-to-play experience, and with active development now halted, the game is coasting on the strength of what's already been built. For players who care about narrative and character writing in their gacha games, there's still nothing quite like it on mobile.

2022 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Dying Light 2: Stay Human offers some of the best first-person parkour in gaming and a sprawling open world that rewards vertical exploration. The co-op experience remains a blast, and years of post-launch updates have smoothed out the roughest edges. But the story never finds its footing, the choice system fails to deliver on its ambitious promises, and combat can feel repetitive over the long haul. Players who loved the original's movement and want more of it will find plenty to enjoy here. Those expecting a meaningful narrative or deep RPG systems will come away disappointed.

2022 · RPG

Dislyte is one of the most visually striking gacha RPGs on mobile, blending mythological heroes with a cyberpunk-EDM aesthetic that no other game in the genre matches. The music and character design carry it far, and the turn-based combat has enough strategic depth to keep team-building interesting. Where it stumbles is everywhere else: a throwaway story, repetitive game modes, exhausting gacha rates, and a growing complexity that makes life difficult for anyone who didn't start at launch. It's a style-first experience, and how much that style is worth to you determines everything.

2022 · 1 Season · Amazon Prime Video · Science Fiction Thriller

The Peripheral is a stylish, ambitious adaptation of William Gibson's novel that delivers a compelling central performance from Chloe Grace Moretz and some inventive science fiction concepts. The show's dual-timeline structure creates an intriguing puzzle, but the dense mythology and rapid-fire worldbuilding leave many viewers struggling to keep up. Amazon's cancellation after one season means the story ends without resolution, making it a harder sell despite its significant strengths.

2023 · Strategy

Whiteout Survival stands out in the crowded mobile strategy space by committing fully to its frozen setting, where every decision about resources, exploration, and development feels grounded in a survival context. The winter atmosphere is striking, the strategic choices carry real weight in the early and mid-game, and the customer support team earns rare praise in a genre known for ignoring players. Alliance politics and pay-to-win spending dominate the late game, with top alliances controlling access to events and wealthy players able to erase weeks of progress in minutes. It works best as a deliberate daily strategy session rather than a competitive pursuit.

2020 · Puzzle

Merge Mansion wraps a solid merge puzzle game inside a mansion renovation story that gives your merging a genuine sense of purpose. The mystery narrative featuring Grandma Ursula adds personality that most puzzle games lack entirely, and the satisfaction of restoring rooms drives you forward through the merge chains. Energy timers, limited inventory, and paid slot expansions create friction that intensifies over time, and the late-game grind tests patience in ways the early hours don't prepare you for. Stick with it for the story and the renovation progress, but know that the game gets more demanding of either your time or your money the deeper you go.

2023 · Puzzle

Block Blast does one thing and does it well enough to have captured millions of players. The block-placement puzzle loop is immediately understandable, oddly satisfying, and perfectly suited to filling idle moments. It won't challenge puzzle veterans or offer any depth beyond its core mechanic, and the ads are relentless in the free version. But the reason it's everywhere is simple: placing blocks and clearing rows triggers the same part of your brain that makes organizing a messy drawer feel good. It's not trying to be more than that, and for what it is, it works.

2021 · JRPG

Fantasian is a love letter to classic JRPGs wrapped in one of the most visually distinctive presentations in mobile gaming. The handmade dioramas give every location a tactile beauty that screenshots can't fully capture, and the Dimengeon system offers a smart solution to the genre's oldest frustration. But uneven pacing drags the second half down considerably, difficulty spikes test patience more than skill, and the Apple Arcade exclusivity limits who can actually play it. For JRPG fans with an Apple device and a subscription, Fantasian delivers a nostalgic, sometimes magical experience that stumbles but never loses its sincerity.

2021 · Roguelike Deckbuilder · PC / Steam

Roguebook has good ideas and a pedigree that promises more than the final product delivers. The two-hero system and hex map exploration add wrinkles to the deckbuilder formula that are worth experiencing, and the combat has enough depth to sustain a few dozen hours of runs. But it struggles to escape the shadow of the games that inspired it, and the progression system that's supposed to keep you coming back can feel like it's gating the fun. It's a solid second-tier deckbuilder that's worth trying on sale if you've exhausted the genre's best.

2023 · FPS · PC / Steam

Counter-Strike 2 carries the weight of the most important competitive FPS franchise in gaming history, and the core gameplay still delivers. Gunplay is tight, round-based tactics remain compelling, and the Source 2 engine gives the game a visual upgrade it needed. But the transition from CS:GO left scars that haven't fully healed, with removed content, persistent cheating concerns, and the controversial sub-tick system keeping community sentiment firmly in mixed territory. It's still Counter-Strike, and that alone keeps millions playing. The question is whether Valve will do enough to make it the best version of Counter-Strike, and after two years, the jury is still out.

2023 · Roguelike RPG · PC / Steam

Darkest Dungeon II is a bold, polarizing sequel that trades the base-building loop of its predecessor for a tighter roguelike structure built around doomed road trips. The turn-based combat is excellent, the atmosphere is oppressive in all the right ways, and the relationship system adds a layer of strategy that can make or break a run. But the shift away from persistent progression alienates as many players as it attracts, and the run length can test patience when things spiral. If you can accept it as its own thing rather than measuring it against the original, there's a deeply rewarding tactical game here.

2023 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Diablo IV delivers an excellent campaign and a dark, atmospheric world that fans waited years to explore. The combat feels responsive, the classes are distinct, and the production values are among the highest in the genre. What follows that campaign is where opinions split. Endgame content, seasonal depth, and an expensive cosmetic shop have kept the community in a state of perpetual debate about whether the game lives up to its potential. It's a good action RPG with a great foundation that hasn't yet figured out how to keep its most dedicated players satisfied long-term.

2024 · Open World Survival Craft · PC / Steam

Palworld launched like a rocket and landed somewhere more complicated. The creature-collecting survival craft formula is a blast, especially with friends, and the initial rush of exploring, capturing Pals, and building bases is hard to beat. But the game's early access status shows in its rough edges, from terrain navigation issues to systems that need more polish. The massive player count drop after launch was inevitable for a game that frontloads its best moments, and the ongoing legal situation adds uncertainty to its future. What's here right now is an entertaining ride that burns bright and fast.

2020 · 4 Seasons · TNT / AMC · Sci-Fi / Drama

Snowpiercer expands the world of its source material into a sprawling class-war thriller aboard a perpetually moving train, and at its best it delivers compelling world-building, satisfying plot twists, and strong ensemble performances. The show never quite matches the visceral impact of Bong Joon-ho's film, but it carves out enough of its own identity to justify its existence across four seasons. Production design and visual ambition carry the show through patches where the writing loses its edge, and the central metaphor of a rigidly stratified society barreling through a frozen wasteland remains potent throughout. It's a solid genre show that occasionally rises above its limitations without ever fully transcending them.

2022 · 3 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Comedy

A workplace comedy that coasts almost entirely on Maya Rudolph's charm and the strong chemistry of its supporting ensemble. Rudolph plays a newly divorced billionaire who discovers her own charitable foundation, and the fish-out-of-water premise generates reliable laughs without ever digging deep enough into its satirical potential. The show wants to comment on wealth inequality but treats its billionaire protagonist with too much affection to land any real punches. Three seasons in, Loot remains a pleasant, lightweight comedy that never quite becomes the sharper show its premise promises, carried by a cast that deserves writing with more bite.

2022 · Action RPG

Tower of Fantasy offers a massive open world with MMO-style multiplayer that fills a specific niche on mobile, blending exploration with cooperative content in a way few competitors attempt. The combat is serviceable and the world is large enough to lose hours in. Technical issues, aggressive monetization, and an uneven content pipeline have prevented it from reaching the heights its ambition suggests. If you want a mobile MMO with open-world exploration and don't mind rough edges, Tower of Fantasy provides that experience. Just know that the game is still finding its footing years after launch.

2021 · Party

Stumble Guys is a lightweight party game that nails the formula of chaotic obstacle course races on mobile, and it costs nothing to jump in. The cosmetic shop pushes hard and the gameplay doesn't evolve much after the first few hours, but as a pick-up-and-play multiplayer distraction, it does exactly what it sets out to do. Best enjoyed in short bursts with friends rather than as a daily grind.

2020 · Action RPG · PC / Steam

Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is a cautionary tale wrapped in gorgeous packaging. Its visuals remain among the best the ARPG genre has produced, its Gate of Fates passive system is an inventive take on character building, and the voiced campaign shows more ambition than most games in this space attempt. But persistent bugs, balance problems that funnel players into a narrow set of viable endgame builds, and the end of all development and multiplayer support in 2024 leave it as a single-player curiosity rather than a genre contender. There's a good game buried here for those willing to accept its limitations, but the ceiling it could have reached makes its reality sting.

2024 · Action

Squad Busters delivers quick, chaotic fun by mashing together Supercell's greatest hits into bite-sized multiplayer matches. The crossover appeal and pickup-and-play design are real strengths, but the lack of strategic depth means most players exhaust what it offers faster than Supercell hoped. It's a good time for a few weeks and a hard sell beyond that.

2025 · 4X Strategy · PC / Steam

Civilization VII is a bold reimagining of the franchise that alienated a significant portion of its own audience. The Ages system and civilization-swapping mechanic break the core fantasy of guiding one people through all of history, and the UI problems make an already divisive design harder to engage with. Diplomacy improvements and strong presentation keep it from being a failure, but this is the most divided the Civilization community has been in the series' history. Firaxis is actively patching toward something better, but right now the game feels like it's still searching for the version of itself that works.

2023 · Strategy

Last War: Survival combines base building, hero collection, and alliance warfare into a post-apocalyptic package that hooks new players with its accessible early game and satisfying hero progression. The strategic depth is real, with hero composition and alliance coordination creating meaningful decisions. The pay-to-win structure becomes unavoidable at higher levels, where spending hundreds of dollars per week is the norm for competitive players, and the misleading advertising creates expectations the actual game doesn't meet. Free-to-play players can enjoy the early and mid-game, but the endgame belongs to those with deep pockets.

2023 · Board Game

Monopoly GO! takes the world's most recognizable board game brand and builds a slick, visually polished mobile experience around dice rolls, city building, and sticker collecting. The social features and themed events create genuine short-term fun, and the presentation quality is well above the mobile average. The dice economy is where the experience fractures, as meaningful progress requires thousands of rolls that regenerate slowly, creating relentless pressure to spend money. Casual players who treat it as a light daily distraction will have a better time than anyone trying to compete in events without opening their wallet.

2023 · Simulation

Pizza Ready delivers a colorful and initially engaging pizzeria management experience that hooks players with its simple loop of taking orders, making pizzas, and expanding the shop. The vibrant visuals and satisfying early progression make a strong first impression. That impression erodes quickly as the ad bombardment becomes relentless and progression slows to a crawl without spending money. If you can tolerate ads every thirty seconds and resist the urge to pay for diamonds, there's a thin but real layer of fun underneath. Most players will hit their limit long before they hit the endgame.

2020 · Real-Time Strategy · PC / Battle.net

Warcraft III: Reforged is a cautionary tale about how to mishandle a beloved classic. The original Warcraft III remains one of the best RTS campaigns ever made, with hero-based gameplay and a story that laid the foundation for World of Warcraft. That game is still in here, buried under a remaster that launched broken, stripped features players had relied on for years, and took nearly half a decade of patches to reach a baseline level of quality. The 2.0 update improved things meaningfully, but the trust Blizzard burned at launch has never fully recovered. If you want to play Warcraft III in 2026, Reforged is the only official option, and the campaign is worth experiencing. Just know that this version of the game carries scars.