The 99 best Windows PC games

Ranked by the scores that magazines gave these games when they came out. The list draws on 9,180 review scores of 5,110 Windows PC games; 3,571 of them have enough reviews to be ranked.

#	Game	Platform	Year	Score
1	Portal 2	Windows	2011	99.2
2	Half-Life 2	Windows	2004	97.3
3	Grand Theft Auto V	Windows	2015	96
4	Persona 5 Royal	Windows	2022	95
5	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Windows	2011	94.2
6	BioShock Infinite	Windows	2013	94
7	Civilization II	Windows	1996	94
8	Civilization IV	Windows	2005	94
9	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	Windows	2003	94
10	Mass Effect 2	Windows	2010	94
11	Quake	Windows	1997	94
12	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Windows	2006	94
13	Half-Life	Windows	1998	93.4
14	Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos	Windows	2002	93.3
15	BioShock	Windows	2007	93.2
16	Company of Heroes	Windows	2006	93
17	Divinity: Original Sin II	Windows	2017	93
18	Grand Theft Auto III	Windows	2002	93
19	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Windows	2005	93
20	Hades	Windows	2018	93
21	Minecraft	Windows	2011	93
22	Red Dead Redemption II	Windows	2019	93
23	StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty	Windows	2010	93
24	Tetris Effect: Connected	Windows	2021	93
25	The Witcher III: Wild Hunt	Windows	2015	93
26	Unreal Tournament 2004	Windows	2004	93
27	World of Warcraft	Windows	2004	93
28	Deus Ex	Windows	2000	92.7
29	Call of Duty	Windows	2003	92
30	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	Windows	2007	92
31	Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor	Windows	2008	92
32	Pro Evolution Soccer 3	Windows	2003	92
33	Sid Meier's Gettysburg	Windows	1997	92
34	Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory	Windows	2005	92
35	Team Fortress 2	Windows	2007	92
36	Undertale	Windows	2015	92
37	StarCraft	Windows	1998	91.7
38	Grim Fandango	Windows	1998	91.4
39	Quake III: Arena	Windows	1999	91.2
40	Rome: Total War	Windows	2004	91.1
41	Batman: Arkham Asylum	Windows	2009	91
42	Batman: Arkham City	Windows	2011	91
43	Battlefield 2	Windows	2005	91
44	Crysis	Windows	2007	91
45	Dark Souls II	Windows	2014	91
46	Disco Elysium	Windows	2019	91
47	Dishonored	Windows	2012	91
48	F1 Challenge '99-'02	Windows	2003	91
49	Fallout 3	Windows	2008	91
50	FEZ	Windows	2013	91
51	Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar	Windows	2007	91
52	IL-2 Sturmovik	Windows	2001	91
53	Madden NFL 2004	Windows	2003	91
54	Mark of the Ninja	Windows	2012	91
55	Medal of Honor: Allied Assault	Windows	2002	91
56	Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain	Windows	2015	91
57	Myth: The Fallen Lords	Windows	1997	91
58	Neverwinter Nights	Windows	2002	91
59	No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way	Windows	2002	91
60	Overwatch	Windows	2016	91
61	Quake II	Windows	1997	91
62	Splinter Cell	Windows	2003	91
63	Street Fighter IV	Windows	2009	91
64	The Longest Journey	Windows	1999	91
65	World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade	Windows	2007	91
66	World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King	Windows	2008	91
67	Homeworld	Windows	1999	90.9
68	The Sims 2	Windows	2004	90.8
69	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2	Windows	2000	90.3
70	System Shock 2	Windows	1999	90.3
71	Knights of the Old Republic	Windows	2003	90.1
72	Black & White	Windows	2001	90.1
73	Bayonetta	Windows	2017	90
74	Braid	Windows	2009	90
75	Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons	Windows	2013	90
76	Civilization III	Windows	2001	90
77	Civilization V	Windows	2010	90
78	Command & Conquer: Red Alert	Windows	1996	90
79	Dawn of War	Windows	2004	90
80	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	Windows	2011	90
81	Dota 2	Windows	2013	90
82	Empire: Total War	Windows	2009	90
83	Falcon 4.0: Allied Force	Windows	2005	90
84	Flight Simulator 2002	Windows	2001	90
85	Freedom Force	Windows	2002	90
86	Grand Theft Auto IV	Windows	2008	90
87	GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game	Windows	2006	90
88	Guild Wars 2	Windows	2012	90
89	Half-Life 2: Episode Two	Windows	2007	90
90	Into The Breach	Windows	2018	90
91	NHL 2001	Windows	2000	90
92	Portal	Windows	2007	90
93	Return to Castle Wolfenstein	Windows	2001	90
94	Silent Hunter III	Windows	2005	90
95	Stephen's Sausage Roll	Windows	2016	90
96	Tetris Effect	Windows	2018	90
97	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3	Windows	2002	90
98	Total War: Shogun 2	Windows	2011	90
99	World of Goo	Windows	2008	90

Highly rated, with fewer than 3 reviews

40 Windows PC games have a score of 90 or more, but from only one or two reviews, and no Metacritic score.

Game	Platform	Year	Score
Half-Life: Alyx	Windows	2020	100
Reventure	Windows	2019	100
Spycraft: The Great Game	Windows	1996	100
NBA Live 2000	Windows	1999	96
Dungeon Keeper	Windows	1997	95
Beat Saber	Windows	2018	95
Rage	Windows	2011	95
Svoboda 1945	Windows	2021	95
The Walking Dead: 400 Days	Windows	2013	95
Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels	Windows	1996	94
Missing: The 13th Victim	Windows	2004	93
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City	Windows	2010	92
Patrician III	Windows	2000	92
Rally Championship Edition 2000	Windows	1999	91.5
NBA 2K13	Windows	2012	91
Thief Gold	Windows	1999	91
Top Spin	Windows	2004	91
Rayman Legends	Windows	2013	90.5
Civilization II Scenarios: Conflicts in Civilization	Windows	1996	90
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes	Windows	2012	90
ANIMAL WELL	Windows	2024	90
Among us	Windows	2018	90
Balatro	Windows	2024	90
CM4: Championship Manager	Windows	2003	90
Cris Tales	Windows	2021	90
Evan's Remains	Windows	2020	90
FIFA 14	Windows	2013	90
Hero Academy	Windows	2012	90
Inside a Star-filled Sky	Windows	2011	90
International Cricket Captain 2	Windows	1999	90
Marvin's Mittens	Windows	2012	90
Mortal Shell	Windows	2021	90
Need for Speed: The Run	Windows	2011	90
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2	Windows	2023	90
Ori and the Will of the Wisps	Windows	2020	90
Ridge Racer Unbounded	Windows	2012	90
Shift 2: Unleashed	Windows	2011	90
The Pinball Arcade	Windows	2013	90
Time Warriors	Windows	1997	90
iF-22 Raptor	Windows	1997	90

How the ranking works

The scores are the ones magazines gave when the games came out, all converted to a 0–100 scale. Only one review per magazine counts for a game: the most recent.
A game's score is half the average, half the median of its magazine reviews. A title opens the game's page on uvlist.net; a score opens the report with every review behind it.
A game needs at least 3 magazine reviews to be ranked. With equal scores, the game with more reviews comes first.
Metacritic already sums up many reviews, so it is never mixed with the magazines: it is used only for games with fewer than 3 magazine reviews, as their only score.
Each list shows every game with a score of 90 or more. Games with fewer than 3 reviews and no Metacritic score are shown apart: their score is promising, but rests on one or two opinions.

The lists are rebuilt each time reviews are added. To filter by genre, year, magazine or publisher, explore all the scores in the report.

More lists

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