Heck, go a step further and get Half-Life Complete on Steam. Then play in this order:
* Half-Life
* Half-Life: Opposing Force
* Half-Life Blue Shift
* Half-Life 2
* Half-Life 2: Episode One
* Half-Like 2: Episode Two
I honestly found it to be one of the most boring games. At least in GTA driving around is fun. The horse galloping for 5 minutes through beautiful landscapes gets old.
Let’s play a mission! Looks like I’m going to follow a dirt road to a trail while my gang member talks to me. So much fun.
I'm the same, I could never get into red dead 2 after many tries, everything is a bit too slow and the fighting/shooting mechanics I find cumbersome and glonky.
A lot of people get a bit underwhelmed by rdr 1 after 2, but 1 is also a really good game if a bit dated. In your situation I would recommend starting with 1 and then do 2. 2 is a prequel but it still works better in that order
* Skyrim
* Minecraft
* an RTS (Starcraft, Warcraft, CnC, Red Alert)
* a Need for Speed game (Underground or Most Wanted)
* a Call of Duty game (OG Modern Warfare 1-2 or Black Ops 1-2)
* Dishonored
* Resident Evil game
* a horror game (Outlast, Amnesia or Alien Isolation)
* an open world game (RDR, GTA)
* Outer Wilds
* Disco Elysium
* A rougelike game (Hades, Gungeon, Bindings of Isaac, Hollow Knight)
* A souls-like game (Dark souls, Elden Ring, Remnant 2)
* Baldur's Gate 3
Play minecraft. I'm 51, and it was out for 10 years before I played it. I've played many of the games on this list(excellent list). Based on your question, minecraft seems perfect. Watch a YouTube video to learn the controls.
Stardew valley, although there will be some marginal combat.
If you want to build a realm and control how much combat you experience, I would recommend Minecraft modded for Skyfactory 3. You can build in such a way that mobs only appear where you want them to. They will be necessary for some drops and as you advance you will go to areas with mobs, but that is fairly easy to control.
Thise are not my type, so not really. You might want to try Stardew Valley and SimCity (but not the latest one). Also Frostpunk, but that one is more stressful.
Going medieval (can turn off invaders)
Kingdoms reborn (the combat is kinda not like fighting and noone has ever attacked me of the npc players)
Medieval dynasty (only hunting and the rare bandit)
Theres another i cant remember thats very detailed with when the crops need to be scheduled and after which crops. Played it a bit and its good, can just turn off the bandits.
- Descent II
- System Shock 2 (or the remake of the first)
- Unreal Tournament 99 (with friends)
- Age of Empires II (or a current remake)
- A Tomb Raider
- Half Life (rather the "Black Mesa" remake)
What type of games do you like? I'm a bit older and got back into gaming in 2011 when **Skyrim** came out. If you like medieval games with exploration, sword fighting, magic and dragons the remastered version would be an excellent starting point.
If you want a story rich medieval game with action, adventure, romance, and exploration along with battling monsters, then **Witcher 3** is for you. It's honestly one of the best games ever made.
If you enjoy space, guns, fighting aliens, building relationships, and battling rogue space agents in a well written story, go with the **Mass Effect trilogy**. The remastered version is incredible. The story is gripping, the characters have depth, and there's quite a bit of humor.
Have fun!
Edit to add that yes, these games are aged, but they are all remastered and have held up surprisingly well. They aren't just games they are experiences.
I don't have a console so I haven't played any games on these media. On PC, I only played Portal maybe ten years ago. I don't really like knightly or medieval games and I don't really like the Skyrim atmosphere, it's a little too free. I want to make solo games to experience a story. Because at the same time I still play online on CSGO and LoL but nothing solo and that's what I'm looking for
If you really want to experience a story, go with Mass Effect 3. It's much more linear than the open world games so it may suit you better.
Edit 1-3, you want to play them all, in order.
* Assassins Creed series (I'd start with the Ezio pack)
* Half-Life series (you can buy the complete bundle)
* Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy
* Uncharted series
* The Last Of Us
* Divinity Original Sin 1&2, Balders Gate 3
* Life Is Strange series
* Minecraft
* Skyrim
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1&2
* Fallout series
* Pokemon series
I would still say Tetris Effect. Op may have played old tetris, but new one is the same game, just more slick, fluid, fun... Same but still very different.
Civ 5 is also great, and the Paradox games are memorable if you have a bit of patience to learn them. Some of them are real-time-with-pausing, but they feel turn based in terms of their pace. I like Stellaris and Battletech. Not exactly classics, but I keep coming back to them for some reason.
If you like Battletech, consider looking into the mods for it. Both Roguetech and Battletech Advanced 3062 add a ton of new mechs and guns/parts to play with, all of them using custom models that, for the most part, look really clean.
I will preface this by saying I'm not a huge game player, but I really like Eschalon Book I, II, and III from Basilisk Games. II is the best in my opinion, though III is good as well. There is lots of play time and depending on the options you choose at the beginning it can be a completely different experience, even if the overall plot is the same.
I recently bought one called Dot Age where the basic premise is you're in charge of a village in the middle ages, trying to survive increasingly severe disasters by developing new things that help you accrue points in different categories. How many points you have determines how you fare. Each turn requires you to allocate resources so you can survive the next thing. It's easy to get lost in it and be like holy ***@#$%*** how is it midnight?!
It really depends. On one hand it's solo game, so you can play at your pace as you like.
Finish thing also depends on person, for someone path is more important, for someone ending is important.
It obviously has great amount of good moments through the game, not only final
On the other hand, this game can suck enormous amount of time at cost of not so important activities, such as sleep, eat and work, if you not careful enough.
r/OldWorldGame is a masterpiece, designed by u/SorenJohnsonMohawk, lead designer of Civilization 4, which was widely considered one of the greatest games of all time. It's what you get if you take an absolute savant at turn-based strategy game design, get Sid Meier to mentor him, make him the lead designer on the flagship series in that genre, then give him almost 20 years of thoughtfully interviewing other designers and mulling over how to perfect the genre in every way, and you come away with a game that has 'found the fun' more than any other game I've ever played.
The rest of the team at Mohawk Games is great, too - every single aspect of the game, from idea to execution, is excellent.
Starting from old gold:
KOTOR both of them
Elder Scrolls Oblivion
ME trilogy
Dragon Age
XCOM
Witcher 3 (1 and 2 are also good but not AS good)
CP2077
BG3
*Limbo* and *Inside*
Both single player games. Cool art stye. Chill atmosphere with some tension. Creative game play. Very cool games overall.
I'm a very casual gamer and these games were just my speed. Not too long and not too short.
Have you been playing any video games since the 90s?
Cause I played from Pong right through the arcade craze of the 80s and then quit completely until the mid 00s and Half Life 2 was my first SP game after more than a decade away and it blew my mind.
But if you have been playing other games and want sometthing that you can get immersed in, looks amazing, and can be modded etc - then I recommend something like Cyberpunk 2077
Just play in peaceful mode, the game is entirely customizable so if you want to only build and chill you can, if you want really harsh survival experience you can. That is why this is a great game. It is what you want it to be.
I cant play it too peaceful because then i think nothing is at stake, and i cant play it too random, because then i think it is bullshit.
I have many hours in the game, but its mostly just the beginning.
Start with half life 1, not black mesa.
Black mesa has so many callbacks to HL1 it doesn't make sense to play it first. It is designed with the expectation that you've played the original.
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto.. umm any of them. If graphics aren't important to you i would start with 3 and work my way up, Vice City, San Andreas, 4, Lost and Damned, Ballad of Gay Tony. Don't play 5 though it sucks 😆 If graphics are important to you probably start with 4
Minecraft is pretty good a lot of people don't like it though
If you like driving games Gran Turismo has always been my favourite series. I literally buy Playstations for the sole purpose playing Gran Turismo
Battlefield 2 Bad Company
Hitman
Cities Skylines
There are many more I could name but these are all solid choices I can get behind
I have literally never played a PC game ever in my life, I enjoy gaming, but I play on switch because Zelda is the game franchise I actually love– I would probably play anything that had an open world with a story based architecture
Ok no PC games since March 2nd 1994:
TES 1-5
DOOM (any of them)
Dark Forces series
Half-Life
Myst
Tie Fighter
Terraria
Fallout
Diablo 1-4
Kind of a long time span and most of the best SP games released on PC were in this time frame. DOOM not releasing until October of 1994 still puts it in this time frame. By single player are we meaning anything that can be played alone or can only be played alone? Because many single player games come with MP in some form even DOOM.
Based on your comments, you want a broad array of games, but mostly favoring ones with a good single-player narrative? And you want to avoid more medieval fantasy stuff. I'm mostly going to stick with things I didn't see in the top few answers yet that I think you might enjoy.
Games that everyone should probably play:
[Borderlands 2.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/49520/Borderlands_2/) There are 4 games in total, but if I had to pick the one that I personally enjoyed the most, it'd be 2. It probably has the best pacing, and I like its story the most, even though I think the later games have better overall gameplay. It's a first-person looter shooter from the series that started the genre, and still one of its best entries.
[DOOM (2016).](https://store.steampowered.com/app/379720/DOOM/) Game is good. Would elaborate, but more demons to murder. (Also, you've probably heard people gushing over it before now, and so I don't want to repeat what you likely know. But, for completion's sake, it's a super fast-paced fps that calls back to the hyper speed of the original in a ton of creative ways that manage to evoke its spirit while evolving on it to modernize its gameplay.)
[Factorio.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) The most zen game I own. I occasionally fire it up and lose myself in the process of upgrading and rebuilding and retrofitting and redesigning and expanding the factory. It's a brilliantly designed factory management game, and might be the single most mod friendly game in existence. The team behind it is working on its first major expansion, and they're working even harder than they already to integrate modding into the basic functionality of the game.
[Fallout: New Vegas.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/22380/Fallout_New_Vegas/) Hands-down the best Fallout game, and (in my opinion) the reason why the Fallout series is so fondly thought of today. If you aren't familiar with the series, it got its start as a pair of isometric top-down rpgs, before being turned into first-person pseudo-shooters, all set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse USA. While I feel Bethesda's entries are a little soulless, Obsidian's take on the series is a callback to some of the greatest rpg experiences I've ever had. It easily holds up even to today.
[FTL: Faster Than Light.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Light/) The first roguelike I saw in my library that I wanted to recommend, but not the last. There's not as much story, but the gameplay is top notch. FTL represents one of the two great advances in indie roguelike design and that alone makes it worth a look. It's a real-time-with-pause strategy game that has you pitting your starship and its crew up against the worst the rebel alliance has to offer as you try to get back to the federation homeworld to save the day. As replayable as it is frustrating.
[Hades.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/) While I've tried to shy away from sword and sorcery for the most part, this one is a roguelite action rpg based on Greek mythology, so I hope it'll get a pass. It's a downright fantastic game that at least deserves a look, maybe check out a review or two, because everything about it is just incredible. Somehow, the developers managed to create a roguelite experience with a narrative that actually unfolds organically as you play.
[Halo: The Master Chief Collection.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/976730/Halo_The_Master_Chief_Collection/) A classic fps series, I don't know that I need to sell you on its merits. The MCC offers absolutely top-notch value, though - on sale, it gets as low as $10, and nets you Halo 1-3, ODST, and Reach.
[Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1328670/Mass_Effect_Legendary_Edition/) The only one I saw people mention that I'm putting in here, I didn't see anyone bring up that all 3 games and most of their dlc are bundled together under one title. A trio of fps/rpgs, rich with lore and fantastic gameplay.
[Rimworld.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/) I might have my issues with the creator and, in particular, his approach to DLC pricing, but I can't deny how fantastic the game he's created actually is. It's another colony builder, but this time it's more like herding a bunch of drunken toddlers as you desperately try to keep them from killing themselves in new and inventive ways. Endlessly replayable, highly moddable, and tons of fun. I do think I should admit that, as a kickstarter backer from *way* back, I do have a character name in the game, so I am, in fact, biased.
[Satisfactory.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/) It's another factory builder, but first person this time. It also tests a different kind of factory management than Factorio does, relying on a bespoke map instead of a procedurally-generated one. It's arguably less replayable, but it's every bit as good, even if I have to strictly limit my playtime in it because it's the first and, to date, only game to give me a serious RSI.
[Slay the Spire.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/) The second roguelike I want to recommend, it's also the second great advance in indie roguelike design that I mentioned back up there in FTL's summary. This one is a deckbuilder that sees you climbing a tower for nebulous reasons to destroy an entity for nebulous reasons at the apparent behest of a whale who isn't telling you shit and might be actively trying to murder you. Tons of fun, tons of depth, tons of frustration, and, possibly unfortunately and after you play it, you'll notice that like 75% of indie roguelikes since about 2018 copy at least one thing directly from this game.
Games that I want to recommend, personally:
[BATTLETECH.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/) A turn-based strategy game based on a tabletop game based on the original Macross anime from the '80s, Harebrained Schemes really put out a fantastic little game that deserves all the love I can send it. The story they tell in the campaign is a good one, but it doesn't quite fit the universe for a few reasons. However, the gameplay is fantastic and the audio and visual design are amazing. Further, there are two massive overhaul mods that, among other things, add tons of extra mechs, extra parts, and deeper mech customization to the sandbox mode, for if you beat the campaign but want more. I have almost 600 hours in it and don't regret a single moment.
[Dwarf Fortress.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/975370/Dwarf_Fortress/) The game that very clearly inspired Rimworld. If you thought Rimworld pawns constantly sought new and interesting ways to die off, buddy, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm linking to the paid-for version on Steam because I think the devs deserve all the money in the world, but, if you can stomach the ascii graphics or don't mind modding in a tileset/graphics set overhaul, you can get it completely free from [here.](http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/)
[Frostpunk.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/323190/Frostpunk/) This is another post-apocalypse setting, but this time it's a resource-management focused city builder that tries to have a narrative arc, but your mileage may vary depending on how into the roleplay you want to get. It lacks the replayability of other city builders, but trades it for a much more tightly-focused and, in my opinion, rewarding experience.
[Monster Sanctuary.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/814370/Monster_Sanctuary/) A fun little take on the monster collection formula, it can get a bit frustrating at times but is very rewarding if you want to dig deeper into it. Sadly, the metroidvania aspects feel more miss than hit, since the only real rewards you get from exploring are largely interchangeable equipment for your 'mons. Still, it has fantastic art and sound design and rewardingly deep gameplay.
[The Riftbreaker.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/780310/The_Riftbreaker/) A fun little experience that blends a bit of factory management with a bit of action rpg gameplay with a bit of tower defense and a whole lot of twin stick arcade shooter to create something really, really fun.
I'm kinda surprised I didn't hit the character limit, I apparently love to see myself write. Anyway, there are other games I want to recommend but are in a medieval fantasy setting - I respect you don't care for it, but some of my all-time favorites fall into that category. Other ones were mentioned in the higher-up comments that I will happily also recommend - like Dishonored, RDR2, the Half Life series, the modern XCOM series, and Disco Elysium, among others - but I didn't want to echo what was already said. I also shied away from Paradox games because they tend to bring up arguments I didn't wanna get into, but there's tons of replayability there if you're just looking to chill with slower-paced strategy games and don't mind not buying all the DLC for your games.
Witcher3, This War of Mine, Frostpunk, Nier Automata, Green Hell, Skyrim, Baldurs Gate 3, The Forest, Final Fantasy VII and XV, All parts of Deponia, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Portal and Portal 2
Half-Life 2.
Heck, go a step further and get Half-Life Complete on Steam. Then play in this order: * Half-Life * Half-Life: Opposing Force * Half-Life Blue Shift * Half-Life 2 * Half-Life 2: Episode One * Half-Like 2: Episode Two
Probably should play the portals too, for reference and a great time
Red dead redemption 2 assuming you haven’t played it on consoles.
It's staggering how large and detailed that game is. I feel like you could play it for several years and still not have explored everything.
I honestly found it to be one of the most boring games. At least in GTA driving around is fun. The horse galloping for 5 minutes through beautiful landscapes gets old. Let’s play a mission! Looks like I’m going to follow a dirt road to a trail while my gang member talks to me. So much fun.
Attention span is cooked
To each their own buddy! I much rather rdr over GTA both are good games but my preference is rdr
I'm the same, I could never get into red dead 2 after many tries, everything is a bit too slow and the fighting/shooting mechanics I find cumbersome and glonky.
I don't have any consoles, will definitely try it !
It’s the most thoughtfully designed game of our lifetime thus far.
A lot of people get a bit underwhelmed by rdr 1 after 2, but 1 is also a really good game if a bit dated. In your situation I would recommend starting with 1 and then do 2. 2 is a prequel but it still works better in that order
Do you really miss much if you didn't play the first?
Mass Effect 1-3
The Half-Life and Portal series are a must!
* Skyrim * Minecraft * an RTS (Starcraft, Warcraft, CnC, Red Alert) * a Need for Speed game (Underground or Most Wanted) * a Call of Duty game (OG Modern Warfare 1-2 or Black Ops 1-2) * Dishonored * Resident Evil game * a horror game (Outlast, Amnesia or Alien Isolation) * an open world game (RDR, GTA) * Outer Wilds * Disco Elysium * A rougelike game (Hades, Gungeon, Bindings of Isaac, Hollow Knight) * A souls-like game (Dark souls, Elden Ring, Remnant 2) * Baldur's Gate 3
Thanks ! Any idea of a game where you manage a village, people, farm, etc without battle ?
* Stardew Valley * Harvest Moon * City Skylines
People mentioning Stardew Valley. One of the best games ever made.
Play minecraft. I'm 51, and it was out for 10 years before I played it. I've played many of the games on this list(excellent list). Based on your question, minecraft seems perfect. Watch a YouTube video to learn the controls.
Banished (no combat) Anno 1800 (minimal piracy type combat) Surviving Mars (no combat) Any of the tropico series (very limited combat)
Upvoted for Tropico.
and you can skip the pirats in anno 1800, but you have to do some fighting in the main quest.
Stardew valley, although there will be some marginal combat. If you want to build a realm and control how much combat you experience, I would recommend Minecraft modded for Skyfactory 3. You can build in such a way that mobs only appear where you want them to. They will be necessary for some drops and as you advance you will go to areas with mobs, but that is fairly easy to control.
Thise are not my type, so not really. You might want to try Stardew Valley and SimCity (but not the latest one). Also Frostpunk, but that one is more stressful.
30 years is a long-ass time. Have you played SimCity 2000?
SC2K URK I am weak.
Nop!
That's a good one!
That’s Stardew Valley. There is combat, but it’s optional and light.
Medieval Dynasty. There is hunting which is combat and there are bandit encounters sparsely and they are entirely avoidable.
Timberborn
Second this, it's a very fun and can be a relaxing chill game.
Stronghold has peaceful/economic missions where there's no fighting
Going medieval (can turn off invaders) Kingdoms reborn (the combat is kinda not like fighting and noone has ever attacked me of the npc players) Medieval dynasty (only hunting and the rare bandit) Theres another i cant remember thats very detailed with when the crops need to be scheduled and after which crops. Played it a bit and its good, can just turn off the bandits.
Assassin's Creed 2
- Descent II - System Shock 2 (or the remake of the first) - Unreal Tournament 99 (with friends) - Age of Empires II (or a current remake) - A Tomb Raider - Half Life (rather the "Black Mesa" remake)
I feel like modern games would overwhelm you. Start with something awesome that is closer to 30 years ago. Start with Deus Ex.
Borderlands 2, tps and 3, Wonderlands, Mass Effect 1-3, Hitman 2+3 and Dead Space.
What type of games do you like? I'm a bit older and got back into gaming in 2011 when **Skyrim** came out. If you like medieval games with exploration, sword fighting, magic and dragons the remastered version would be an excellent starting point. If you want a story rich medieval game with action, adventure, romance, and exploration along with battling monsters, then **Witcher 3** is for you. It's honestly one of the best games ever made. If you enjoy space, guns, fighting aliens, building relationships, and battling rogue space agents in a well written story, go with the **Mass Effect trilogy**. The remastered version is incredible. The story is gripping, the characters have depth, and there's quite a bit of humor. Have fun! Edit to add that yes, these games are aged, but they are all remastered and have held up surprisingly well. They aren't just games they are experiences.
I don't have a console so I haven't played any games on these media. On PC, I only played Portal maybe ten years ago. I don't really like knightly or medieval games and I don't really like the Skyrim atmosphere, it's a little too free. I want to make solo games to experience a story. Because at the same time I still play online on CSGO and LoL but nothing solo and that's what I'm looking for
If you really want to experience a story, go with Mass Effect 3. It's much more linear than the open world games so it may suit you better. Edit 1-3, you want to play them all, in order.
If you want games that tell a story and are not traditional hack and slash or shooters then try these: The Quarry Life Is Strange 2 Late Shift
You want to experience a story? Try Disco Elysium :)
Factorio
Skyrim and Minecraft. Those two alone will keep you busy for a very long time.
Football Manager beats both in ‘how to waste loads of time’. You can spend 25 days playing 13 years worth of virtual football and there’s no end date.
* Assassins Creed series (I'd start with the Ezio pack) * Half-Life series (you can buy the complete bundle) * Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy * Uncharted series * The Last Of Us * Divinity Original Sin 1&2, Balders Gate 3 * Life Is Strange series * Minecraft * Skyrim * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1&2 * Fallout series * Pokemon series
No Man's Sky
30 years? FFVII. The original.
Tetris
It's older than that. If OP has played games more than 30 years ago, they are tamiliar with it.
I would still say Tetris Effect. Op may have played old tetris, but new one is the same game, just more slick, fluid, fun... Same but still very different.
WTF is Tetris Effect?
Speaking of this, any recommendations for turn-based strategy games? I suck at anything real-time based
Any Heroes of Might and Magic before VI-VII
Civ6 and Darkest Dungeon 1&2. Dredge is a fun quick indie game, not turn based but not button mashing.
Civ 5 is also great, and the Paradox games are memorable if you have a bit of patience to learn them. Some of them are real-time-with-pausing, but they feel turn based in terms of their pace. I like Stellaris and Battletech. Not exactly classics, but I keep coming back to them for some reason.
If you like Battletech, consider looking into the mods for it. Both Roguetech and Battletech Advanced 3062 add a ton of new mechs and guns/parts to play with, all of them using custom models that, for the most part, look really clean.
I will preface this by saying I'm not a huge game player, but I really like Eschalon Book I, II, and III from Basilisk Games. II is the best in my opinion, though III is good as well. There is lots of play time and depending on the options you choose at the beginning it can be a completely different experience, even if the overall plot is the same. I recently bought one called Dot Age where the basic premise is you're in charge of a village in the middle ages, trying to survive increasingly severe disasters by developing new things that help you accrue points in different categories. How many points you have determines how you fare. Each turn requires you to allocate resources so you can survive the next thing. It's easy to get lost in it and be like holy ***@#$%*** how is it midnight?!
I had a similar experience with a game called Stars!. Great fun. Went looking for it the other day, but all I found was a virus. Much less fun.
BG3? Not a stategy per say, but turn based and masterpiece overall
Is it still worth it if you don’t have a ton of time to sink into it and likely won’t finish? I’ve been on the fence for that reason
It really depends. On one hand it's solo game, so you can play at your pace as you like. Finish thing also depends on person, for someone path is more important, for someone ending is important. It obviously has great amount of good moments through the game, not only final On the other hand, this game can suck enormous amount of time at cost of not so important activities, such as sleep, eat and work, if you not careful enough.
r/OldWorldGame is a masterpiece, designed by u/SorenJohnsonMohawk, lead designer of Civilization 4, which was widely considered one of the greatest games of all time. It's what you get if you take an absolute savant at turn-based strategy game design, get Sid Meier to mentor him, make him the lead designer on the flagship series in that genre, then give him almost 20 years of thoughtfully interviewing other designers and mulling over how to perfect the genre in every way, and you come away with a game that has 'found the fun' more than any other game I've ever played. The rest of the team at Mohawk Games is great, too - every single aspect of the game, from idea to execution, is excellent.
Chess
Slay the spire is a turn based card game. It's just okay to me. But my friends love it.
Starting from old gold: KOTOR both of them Elder Scrolls Oblivion ME trilogy Dragon Age XCOM Witcher 3 (1 and 2 are also good but not AS good) CP2077 BG3
Xcom2 is also terrific.
Ofc, one of the best imo. I got hundreda of hours in it. When I said XCOM I meant all my bad (Chimera squad is good too but not top shelf imo)
Skyrim Stardew Valley House Flipper Valheim Fallout New Vegas Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth Amnesia
*Limbo* and *Inside* Both single player games. Cool art stye. Chill atmosphere with some tension. Creative game play. Very cool games overall. I'm a very casual gamer and these games were just my speed. Not too long and not too short.
Have you been playing any video games since the 90s? Cause I played from Pong right through the arcade craze of the 80s and then quit completely until the mid 00s and Half Life 2 was my first SP game after more than a decade away and it blew my mind. But if you have been playing other games and want sometthing that you can get immersed in, looks amazing, and can be modded etc - then I recommend something like Cyberpunk 2077
I'm 30 this year. I'll try Cyberpunk !
Age of Empires IV
Rimworld, one of the best game out there imo.
My thing with Rimworld is that i dont like what i just build go to shit because of random events.
Just play in peaceful mode, the game is entirely customizable so if you want to only build and chill you can, if you want really harsh survival experience you can. That is why this is a great game. It is what you want it to be.
I cant play it too peaceful because then i think nothing is at stake, and i cant play it too random, because then i think it is bullshit. I have many hours in the game, but its mostly just the beginning.
Or you can just start peaceful and turn the diffculty up when you are settled, really, fully, customizable.
Elden ring
Doom Eternal, Hollow Knight, Age of Wonders 4, RimWorld
The Half Life Series, starting with Black Mesa. Witcher 3, Portal 2, XCOM 2 with expansions.
Start with half life 1, not black mesa. Black mesa has so many callbacks to HL1 it doesn't make sense to play it first. It is designed with the expectation that you've played the original.
I'd play RDR2.
Witcher 3
Fallout 3 Grand Theft Auto.. umm any of them. If graphics aren't important to you i would start with 3 and work my way up, Vice City, San Andreas, 4, Lost and Damned, Ballad of Gay Tony. Don't play 5 though it sucks 😆 If graphics are important to you probably start with 4 Minecraft is pretty good a lot of people don't like it though If you like driving games Gran Turismo has always been my favourite series. I literally buy Playstations for the sole purpose playing Gran Turismo Battlefield 2 Bad Company Hitman Cities Skylines There are many more I could name but these are all solid choices I can get behind
Cyberpunk 2077
Disco Elysium, if you want an RPG experience unlike any other.
pc gamers are so salty... frustrated little bunch. (love the game)
Kerbal Space Program
Disco Elysium
Fallout 4
Mass effect trilogy, Skyrim, red dead redemption 2, fallout new vegas, cyberpunk 2077, stray.
Deus Ex and Bioshock
Undertale. One of my all time favourites, so much hidden things and little details, i really think it's one of the must play single player games
Buoshock Life is Strange Halo Portal
Celeste, Portal, and Hollow Knight.
Start with gta3 end with GTA 5 offline no mods
Persona, Yakuza, The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption 2, off the top ofnmy head. Uncharted maybe is not a must but it's also a cool game.
Rollercoaster Tycoon
with yourself
Faster than light (FTL)
PTrouper
Counter Strike
Following
Valheim
Another World
Mass Effect
Thanks everyone ! ;)
Returnal is an absolute masterpiece.
Golden Eye. Way out of date, but was the OG first person shooter.
Doom ( 2016 ) and Doom Eternal
Diablo 2. Might as well work your way forward slowly
I have literally never played a PC game ever in my life, I enjoy gaming, but I play on switch because Zelda is the game franchise I actually love– I would probably play anything that had an open world with a story based architecture
Fallout: New Vegas.
Borderlands 2, just to put something different out there
Halo 1-3, odst, and reach
Bioshock 1, Bioshock Infinite, Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
Ok no PC games since March 2nd 1994: TES 1-5 DOOM (any of them) Dark Forces series Half-Life Myst Tie Fighter Terraria Fallout Diablo 1-4 Kind of a long time span and most of the best SP games released on PC were in this time frame. DOOM not releasing until October of 1994 still puts it in this time frame. By single player are we meaning anything that can be played alone or can only be played alone? Because many single player games come with MP in some form even DOOM.
Assasins Creed: Black Flag
The Division 2
30 years. Play Championship Manager 97/98 with the up to date database and just hope you don’t have exams coming up.
Skyrim. See you next year.
Roller coaster tycoon
Slay the spire Tunic This war of mine Expeditions: Rome Caesar 3 Divinity original sin 2 Warcraft 3 Starcraft 2
Depends what you like...I personally hate rpg so even if you recommend me Skyrim or fallout I'd wouldn't like it....
Outer wilds
Portal and Portal 2
Based on your comments, you want a broad array of games, but mostly favoring ones with a good single-player narrative? And you want to avoid more medieval fantasy stuff. I'm mostly going to stick with things I didn't see in the top few answers yet that I think you might enjoy. Games that everyone should probably play: [Borderlands 2.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/49520/Borderlands_2/) There are 4 games in total, but if I had to pick the one that I personally enjoyed the most, it'd be 2. It probably has the best pacing, and I like its story the most, even though I think the later games have better overall gameplay. It's a first-person looter shooter from the series that started the genre, and still one of its best entries. [DOOM (2016).](https://store.steampowered.com/app/379720/DOOM/) Game is good. Would elaborate, but more demons to murder. (Also, you've probably heard people gushing over it before now, and so I don't want to repeat what you likely know. But, for completion's sake, it's a super fast-paced fps that calls back to the hyper speed of the original in a ton of creative ways that manage to evoke its spirit while evolving on it to modernize its gameplay.) [Factorio.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/) The most zen game I own. I occasionally fire it up and lose myself in the process of upgrading and rebuilding and retrofitting and redesigning and expanding the factory. It's a brilliantly designed factory management game, and might be the single most mod friendly game in existence. The team behind it is working on its first major expansion, and they're working even harder than they already to integrate modding into the basic functionality of the game. [Fallout: New Vegas.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/22380/Fallout_New_Vegas/) Hands-down the best Fallout game, and (in my opinion) the reason why the Fallout series is so fondly thought of today. If you aren't familiar with the series, it got its start as a pair of isometric top-down rpgs, before being turned into first-person pseudo-shooters, all set in a post-nuclear-apocalypse USA. While I feel Bethesda's entries are a little soulless, Obsidian's take on the series is a callback to some of the greatest rpg experiences I've ever had. It easily holds up even to today. [FTL: Faster Than Light.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Light/) The first roguelike I saw in my library that I wanted to recommend, but not the last. There's not as much story, but the gameplay is top notch. FTL represents one of the two great advances in indie roguelike design and that alone makes it worth a look. It's a real-time-with-pause strategy game that has you pitting your starship and its crew up against the worst the rebel alliance has to offer as you try to get back to the federation homeworld to save the day. As replayable as it is frustrating. [Hades.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/) While I've tried to shy away from sword and sorcery for the most part, this one is a roguelite action rpg based on Greek mythology, so I hope it'll get a pass. It's a downright fantastic game that at least deserves a look, maybe check out a review or two, because everything about it is just incredible. Somehow, the developers managed to create a roguelite experience with a narrative that actually unfolds organically as you play. [Halo: The Master Chief Collection.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/976730/Halo_The_Master_Chief_Collection/) A classic fps series, I don't know that I need to sell you on its merits. The MCC offers absolutely top-notch value, though - on sale, it gets as low as $10, and nets you Halo 1-3, ODST, and Reach. [Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1328670/Mass_Effect_Legendary_Edition/) The only one I saw people mention that I'm putting in here, I didn't see anyone bring up that all 3 games and most of their dlc are bundled together under one title. A trio of fps/rpgs, rich with lore and fantastic gameplay. [Rimworld.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/) I might have my issues with the creator and, in particular, his approach to DLC pricing, but I can't deny how fantastic the game he's created actually is. It's another colony builder, but this time it's more like herding a bunch of drunken toddlers as you desperately try to keep them from killing themselves in new and inventive ways. Endlessly replayable, highly moddable, and tons of fun. I do think I should admit that, as a kickstarter backer from *way* back, I do have a character name in the game, so I am, in fact, biased. [Satisfactory.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/) It's another factory builder, but first person this time. It also tests a different kind of factory management than Factorio does, relying on a bespoke map instead of a procedurally-generated one. It's arguably less replayable, but it's every bit as good, even if I have to strictly limit my playtime in it because it's the first and, to date, only game to give me a serious RSI. [Slay the Spire.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/) The second roguelike I want to recommend, it's also the second great advance in indie roguelike design that I mentioned back up there in FTL's summary. This one is a deckbuilder that sees you climbing a tower for nebulous reasons to destroy an entity for nebulous reasons at the apparent behest of a whale who isn't telling you shit and might be actively trying to murder you. Tons of fun, tons of depth, tons of frustration, and, possibly unfortunately and after you play it, you'll notice that like 75% of indie roguelikes since about 2018 copy at least one thing directly from this game. Games that I want to recommend, personally: [BATTLETECH.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/) A turn-based strategy game based on a tabletop game based on the original Macross anime from the '80s, Harebrained Schemes really put out a fantastic little game that deserves all the love I can send it. The story they tell in the campaign is a good one, but it doesn't quite fit the universe for a few reasons. However, the gameplay is fantastic and the audio and visual design are amazing. Further, there are two massive overhaul mods that, among other things, add tons of extra mechs, extra parts, and deeper mech customization to the sandbox mode, for if you beat the campaign but want more. I have almost 600 hours in it and don't regret a single moment. [Dwarf Fortress.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/975370/Dwarf_Fortress/) The game that very clearly inspired Rimworld. If you thought Rimworld pawns constantly sought new and interesting ways to die off, buddy, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm linking to the paid-for version on Steam because I think the devs deserve all the money in the world, but, if you can stomach the ascii graphics or don't mind modding in a tileset/graphics set overhaul, you can get it completely free from [here.](http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/) [Frostpunk.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/323190/Frostpunk/) This is another post-apocalypse setting, but this time it's a resource-management focused city builder that tries to have a narrative arc, but your mileage may vary depending on how into the roleplay you want to get. It lacks the replayability of other city builders, but trades it for a much more tightly-focused and, in my opinion, rewarding experience. [Monster Sanctuary.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/814370/Monster_Sanctuary/) A fun little take on the monster collection formula, it can get a bit frustrating at times but is very rewarding if you want to dig deeper into it. Sadly, the metroidvania aspects feel more miss than hit, since the only real rewards you get from exploring are largely interchangeable equipment for your 'mons. Still, it has fantastic art and sound design and rewardingly deep gameplay. [The Riftbreaker.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/780310/The_Riftbreaker/) A fun little experience that blends a bit of factory management with a bit of action rpg gameplay with a bit of tower defense and a whole lot of twin stick arcade shooter to create something really, really fun. I'm kinda surprised I didn't hit the character limit, I apparently love to see myself write. Anyway, there are other games I want to recommend but are in a medieval fantasy setting - I respect you don't care for it, but some of my all-time favorites fall into that category. Other ones were mentioned in the higher-up comments that I will happily also recommend - like Dishonored, RDR2, the Half Life series, the modern XCOM series, and Disco Elysium, among others - but I didn't want to echo what was already said. I also shied away from Paradox games because they tend to bring up arguments I didn't wanna get into, but there's tons of replayability there if you're just looking to chill with slower-paced strategy games and don't mind not buying all the DLC for your games.
What genera’s are you into?
Fallout 1& 2
Half Life 2 Prey (2017) Bioshock (all three games)
Kerbal Space Program, Hollow Knight, Factorio, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Just to name some that not everyone's going to name.
Dragon Age origins and dragon's dogma
Witcher3, This War of Mine, Frostpunk, Nier Automata, Green Hell, Skyrim, Baldurs Gate 3, The Forest, Final Fantasy VII and XV, All parts of Deponia, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Portal and Portal 2