The best single-player games provide memorable experiences that stick with you. Unlike the best MMOs or the best co-op games, single-player titles do away with pesky distractions and allow you to enjoy the game on your own terms.
These are the sorts of titles that transport us to new worlds, inviting us into rich storylines that, whether emergent or pre-written, never fail to captivate. The best single-player games come in a wide range of different flavors. On our list, you'll find the best RPGs rubbing shoulders with some of the best FPS games. No matter the genre, however, every entry on this list allows for the sort of high-grade escapism that you can only get from a top-tier single-player title.
Whether you want to embark on a fantastical quest through the Forgotten Realms, don a suit of power armor, or make for the Wild West, there's something below that'll whet your appetite. No matter which title you choose, however, every entry on this list is a paragon of its respective genre, set to provide an experience that'll immerse you in your world of choice. Read on to see our painstakingly curated list of the very best single-player titles on offer in gaming today.
Best single-player games
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Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch
Developed by Supergiant Games, makers of Bastion, Hades is the story of Zagreus, the son of Hades, who attempts to escape from the Underworld to reach Mount Olympus, with the occasional bit of help from the Olympians themselves.
Hades is incredibly focused on you as the player, as its story revolves around your protagonist's repeated attempts to break free. Hades is a roguelike, and Zagreus' every death sets you back to the beginning, the layout of rooms to cross through slightly different than before. Together with how the game allows you to customize your fighting style and uncover the story at your own pace, it makes for a beautiful single-player experience that feels really personal to how you play it.
Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S
The Witcher 3 is an open-world third-person RPG that sees you exploring the world of The Continent as monster-slaying witcher, Geralt of Rivia, as he searches for his adopted daughter Ciri.
The Witcher 3 lets you tackle many of its quests in any order you want, and there are plenty of sidequests to discover. It's not only this amount of freedom that makes it one of the best single-player games – as Geralt, you get to decide how (and if!) to help many of the people you meet, changing the world around you in substantial ways. The brilliant writing makes each of these choices feel believable and weighty, giving you real power over what happens in the story. Excited for the sequel? Learn everything we know about The Witcher 4.
Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
In this remake of one of gaming's horror classics, you explore a police station infested with zombies. As with most good horror, this remake, as well as the original Resident Evil 2, really played up the sense of loneliness and loss of control that makes horror so tense.
The creatures in Resident Evil 2 Remake aren't just disgusting, the way they announce their presence through noise or a glimpse at their presence can be genuinely frightening. Even though the game has some great jumpscares, we like it better for the difficult decisions you will have to make: which resources can you leave behind and which do you need to fit into your inventory? Where to go next? Here, the relief of meeting someone never lasts, and before you know it, you're alone again. Just you, and the maze that is the Racoon City Police Department. Remake or not, this is one of the best horror games to date. For a more in-depth look, visit our Resident Evil 2 Remake review.
Available on: PC, coming to PlayStation 5 on September 6, and Xbox Series X|S TBC
Baldur's Gate 3 stands as one of the best single-player games of the year, offering a sprawling campaign full of exploration, moral dilemmas, and challenging turn-based combat. Set in the well-established fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons, Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to blaze your own trail through its fleshed-out setting, offering a degree of player agency seldom seen.
Larian Studios' latest RPG is technical and requires patience at times, but the payoff is well worth the effort, should you feel so inclined. You'll meet a memorable cast of characters, brought to life by stellar voice acting and motion capture. You'll delve into forbidden dungeons and journey across a gorgeous fantasy world as you find yourself embroiled in a plot that could bring the Forgotten Realms to its knees. For an in-depth look, check out our Baldur's Gate 3 review.
Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch
This 2D platformer will test both your skills and your emotional resolve, and it does the same for its protagonist. A young woman named Madeline decides to climb a fictionalized version of Celeste Mountain, a dangerous place full of traps and spikes.
However, while the gameplay in Celeste makes it one of the best and most grueling platformers, it's the feeling that you as the player and Madeline as the protagonist are on the same journey that makes this one of the best single-player games. The mountain is much more than a mountain - it and the people Madeline meets symbolize her own fears - suddenly you will feel as if you're not just climbing the mountain to win a game, but to win for her.
Available on: Nintendo Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom offers a breezy yet deceptively complex single-player adventure, full of exploration, problem-solving and fierce battles. A worthy successor to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom builds on the mechanics introduced in the first game, rewarding players for creative use of the environment and for pursuing unorthodox solutions to the game's puzzles.
Tears of the Kingdom doubles down on this by adding a building mechanic which allows you to fuse items together and construct buildings, weapons, and even vehicles from items in the environment around you. Tears of the Kingdom also places a greater emphasis on verticality, starting on a beautiful sky island. As you might expect, the game also boasts rich environmental storytelling, supported by a simple, yet bittersweet narrative at the title's heart. Our Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review has all the details if you want a closer look.
Available on: PC
Creative Assembly first brought its signature brand of strategy to the grimdark world of Warhammer in 2016, but it wasn’t until 2022 that the studio refined it. Total War: Warhammer 3 builds on its predecessors in every way to deliver a superbly inventive strategy experience and possibly the best Warhammer video game of all time and one of the best single-player games for strategy enthusiasts. (If you are looking for more strategy recommendations, check our list of the best strategy games of all time.)
The open-ended sandbox gameplay that characterized past Total War games has been reigned back here in favor of a more directed grand campaign. You’ll still be raising armies, growing cities, and crushing your enemies under the hawkish boot of your ever-expanding empire, but you'll also follow a central questline. The semi-linear segments act as tense, challenging dungeons that provide structure to the single-player campaign, and punctuate its gameplay to make your warring that much more engaging. Warhammer 3 may well be one of the most ambitious single-player strategy games to release, but it’s also one of the most accessible. If you’re looking to jump into the strategy genre, start here. Check out our Total War: Warhammer 3 review.
Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
FromSoftware’s latest game may be on our list of the best single-player games, but playing it can be an almost communal experience. As a Tarnished, it is your job to restore the Elden Ring, your world's concept of power, and fight those who have already succumbed to chaos. There are so many secrets to find in its sprawling open world that you will likely exchange notes with friends for a while to come.
Even though it's as outrageously difficult as FromSoftware other games, Elden Ring will allow you to find alternative routes to your goal, sometimes that can involve playing with other people from its online community, but this is fundamentally still a single-player game. Our five-star Elden Ring review called it huge, consistently inventive, and absurdly good – an invitation to dive in if we’ve ever had one.
Available on: PlayStation 5
Final Fantasy 16 is the latest entry in Square Enix's long-running RPG series. This standalone epic offers exceptional voice acting alongside a finely crafted narrative courtesy of the developers behind rich, story-driven MMO Final Fantasy 14. This title, however, is a firmly single-player affair and has you take on the role of Clive Rosfield, prince of a beleaguered nation in the dark fantasy world of Valesthia.
Plagued by political rivalries and an ominous blight sweeping the land, Valesthia teeters on the brink as Clive's life is swiftly thrown into chaos. Journey across the land as you seek to get to the bottom of an ancient conspiracy and battle challenging foes through Final Fantasy 16's responsive and satisfying action-oriented combat system. If you're a fan of dark fantasy or rich, complex narratives, you won't want to sleep on this exceptional title.
Available on: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
Red Dead Redemption 2 tells the story of Arthur Morgan, a member of the notorious Van Der Linde gang living at the tail-end of the Wild West era. This is a fantastic single-player game because, as you embody Arthur, you get to know him and the people around him to the point that you feel real affection for each character. Arthur's connection to John Marston, the protagonist of previous Red Dead games, also makes this game an exercise in delving even deeper into an already-established world.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is certainly a game that will keep you busy. Between story missions, mini-games, activities, and side quests, you will find yourself sinking plenty of hours into this title without even noticing it, making it one of the best single-player games of all time.
Available on: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC
Doom: Eternal makes for a brutally satisfying FPS experience, offering fast-paced, frenetic combat with an emphasis on action economy and satisfying displays of violence. Spiritual successor to one of the most influential FPS titles of all time, Doom: Eternal has a percussive quality to its combat encouraging you to find a steady rhythm of shooting, strafing, and melee attacks to keep yourself alive and your demonic foes dead.
Doom: Eternal is a joyful, generous, and cathartic ride, embodying many of the highest virtues of the FPS genre. The controls are responsive, the sound design is meaty and the weapons are absurd. However, to call this game a guilty pleasure is to do it a disservice. Scratch the gorey surface, and you'll find a meticulously designed Swiss watch of a game, with slick, well-executed mechanics and tightly constructed levels.
Available on: Playstation 5
The gameplay in this sequel to 2018's God of War will feel immediately familiar with how little has changed, but God of War Ragnarok improves on what came before it by allowing you to experience the story both from Kratos' and Atreus' perspective, even though you're the only one playing.
As you explore the game's new semi-open world and explore both characters' points of view, you get to understand them and the world they live in even better. God of War Ragnarok is a good example of how to invest players in a story in which they may not be the hero - you'll feel powerful carving your axe through large foes, but just as helpless as Kratos and his son when battling against fate. If you'd like to know more, have a look at our God of War Ragnarok review.
Best single-player games: FAQs
Which game is best to play alone?
Red Dead Redemption 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and The Witcher 3 are the best titles to play alone, making up the strongest three entries on our best single-player games list. All three are storytelling triumphs that will pull you into their worlds with rich game design and engrossing storylines.
As a triad, they offer a gritty, realistic Western, a high-fantasy adventure, and a grounded dark fantasy opus. Though each offers distinctive flavors, each is, unambiguously, one of the best single-player games ever made.
What single player game should I play 2023?
Final Fantasy 16, and Baldur's Gate 3 offer two of the best single-player games we've seen all year. Final Fantasy 16 will provide you with a tightly paced, linear storyline full of emotional moments and meaningful character development.
Baldur's Gate 3, however, will give you a more open-ended experience which, while not open-world, gives you a wide scope to customize your protagonist and to make important choices throughout the story.
How we made our best single-player games list
This list of the best single-player games was curated to show off the breadth and depth of experiences on offer for players looking to fly solo. Not every game on this list will be to every player's taste, but gems from almost every genre are represented here in some form, from pulse-bounding FPS titles to methodical strategy games.
These titles are bespoke, immersive, and excellent examples of their respective genres. We're confident that, no matter your tastes, you'll find something on our list to suit you.
Looking for a broader look at the world of video games? Our lists of the best PS5 exclusives and best Xbox Series X games will have you covered.
