Games have never gone out of style, but in 2020 they evolved from a fun hobby to an essential lifeline. Maintaining sanity is not easy when you have been isolated for months on end. You can only watch a certain Netflix limit before your brain starts dripping in your ears. Games offer more active experiences that can help you forget that you’ve been looking at the same walls for weeks, allowing you to explore distant virtual worlds or hang out with friends in multiplayer lobbies. In 2020, games became vital.
So instead of ending the year with our traditional list of the best PC games, we asked the PCWorld team to share the essential games that took them through 2020. It’s a diverse list – some of us preferred light and airy games, while others preferred virtual tourism. Several of us lean towards the comfort of continuous “live service” games that we have played for years.
For a more traditional list of the “best”, check out our mid-year summary of the best PC games of 2020. (Hayden Dingman’s picks below are taken from this article.) We have also compiled a comprehensive guide to the best PC games in this generation now that the next generation consoles have arrived. But without further ado, here are the games that took us through 2020.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 – Mark Hachman
I’m not sure which niche Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 fits like a games: one of the best simulators, for sure. But for a year that felt like a century, Flight simulator it was something else: a meditation, perhaps, as you flew 30,000 feet across Central America or across a stormy sky. Or maybe a tour guide, exploring cities (Jakarta! Cairo! Cape Town!) That I will probably never visit in my life. All I know is that, after going through the sequence of punitive installation, I rediscovered the beauty of a world that I could only visit virtually. Oh, and it was quite a stress test for PCs as well.
Half-life: Alyx – Hayden Dingman
This is the year that we finally have a new Half life, in case you forgot – and it was made for virtual reality. I still can’t believe it.
What did that to mean Although? I still don’t think we’re far enough to say it definitively. Was Half-life: Alyx the watershed moment? Have you convinced people to take VR seriously? I do not know. It certainly sold a lot of headphones to a lot of people. Perhaps it is enough, even if it has not opened many new paths. Again, I just don’t know.
I suspect it will take years for the dust to settle. Said that, Alyx is an excellent new chapter for Half life, and deserving of a place on this list, even if it hasn’t reinvented the entire gaming industry. And hell, maybe now that Valve has released the weight of expectations, it doesn’t seem so limited in the development of the next chapter.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Brad Chacos
I longed for simpler and more relaxed gaming experiences in 2020. I sank hundreds of hours in Cross between animals on my Nintendo Switch and strongly bounced off the dark post-apocalyptic vibe of Wasteland 3 although it was better on all fronts than Wasteland 2– my favorite game in the year it was released. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout crossed that itch perfectly.
Autumn staff It is like Mario Party, a real battle and the TV show “Wipeout”, all mixed in one. It shows you as a cute, hooting and highly customizable jellybean competing against 60 other competitors on a variety of fast-paced obstacle courses. In the end, only one winner can claim the Crown in the final battle.
Each Autumn staff The round lasts mere minutes, with a wide variety of courses available that keep the game free. Sometimes, you will be accumulating eggs as part of a team; at other times, it is each jelly on its own in a mad rush through fake doors or spinning fans. It’s one of those rare games where losing is as much fun as winning, and you can start a new game in a few seconds. Winning or losing, each game gains experience and you can put in customization options that help you make your beans your beans. The developers took a seasonal approach that adds new clothes and courses every few months. (The third winter-themed season has just begun!)
I can’t spend all night eating Autumn staff how can I with, say, Fall. But it is perfect for taking a few rounds day after day. It is an explosion to pass control with my children after work. (Local split screen when?) This brief and cheerful distraction is exactly what I need in 2020, and I look forward to playing more Autumn staff in the new year.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Alaina Yee
Few games captivate me, let alone arouse deep emotions. But this year Ori and the Will of the Wisps it made me cry no less than three times – and all the time I praised non-stop to friends and family.
The sequel to 2015 Ori and the blind forest, this Metroidvania-style platform game starts from where the last game left off, both in the environment and in history. Your world remains filled with the same exuberant art, beautiful music, quiet reflection and well-adjusted gameplay; its themes still explore essential human experiences, such as sacrifice and belonging in a gentle and healthy way. All the pieces work together in almost perfect harmony.
O Wisps willthe only weakness is a little too very similar to the first game, which prevents it in areas that Moon Studios tries to expand. Although new skills are introduced, they remain very familiar. Ori’s new enemy also has the same general type of motivation as the antagonist in Blind Forest– but the story is a little too tenuous to adequately support this more complex villain, thus reducing the impact of the story.
But by adapting to Ori and the Will of the Wisps‘new skills and areas seem as natural as breathing, leaving plenty of room to absorb your message. The game has a lot of heart, so I never bothered to whine about it. In fact, I love it, despite my general aversion to crying.
Destination 2: Beyond the Light – Ben Patterson
Bungie’s three-year-old looter shooter had a bumpy road this year (who wouldn’t?), With a few lackluster seasons, an uproar over the decline of large portions of equipment (which players have spent countless periods of time and updating on resources), and the “jump” of four planets, five attacks and more than a dozen other activities, including the popular six-player “Bando” mode. (Planets and vaulted activities may return at a later date, but still, ugh).
But with Beyond the light, Destiny 2’s third major expansion, Bungie seems to be ending a difficult year on a high note. Beyond the lightThe centerpiece of, the frozen deserts of Europe, boasts dynamic snowstorms, legendary and “masters” lost sectors (think of minidungeons), Empire Hunts (multi-stage missions that lead to an attack on a chief of Europe) and Exo Challenges (diabolically intelligent “simulation” missions that run every week). We also received a new attack, the return of the beloved Cosmodrome from the original Destinyand graphics enhancements for the PS5 and Xbox Series X / S (120FPS FTW!). Best of all, Destiny 2 PC, console and Stadia players can expect crossplay from next year.
Call of Duty war zone – Adam Patrick Murray
I was surprised at how much Called modern armament war and Call of Duty: Warzone multiplayer that I played in 2020. But it makes sense. I needed a place to connect with friends near and far, instead of physical locations. I just wouldn’t have imagined it would be in Call of Duty.
That said, the character and weapon progression found in the basic multiplayer looked as addictive as ever, and winning a round of Plunder in War zone it always shakes you with an excited hum. Funny, the youngest Black Ops: Cold War didn’t itch the same itch. Features found at last year’s entry are missing and some of the basic movements and movements of the weapon are slightly wrong – probably due to the fact that it was handled by a different developer. But for now, War zone it’s still free and receives frequent updates, so I’ll keep downloading all those huge patches to continue the fight, friends on my virtual side.
Cyberpunk 2077 – Brad Chacos
Look i know Cyberpunk 2077 it is a flaming disaster on conventional consoles. But this is PCWorld, and on my next generation gaming platform, Cyberpunk 2077 is wonderful. (You know, because it really works.) Will you be like a great guy all of the time Witcher 3, The last game on CD Projekt Red, after all the bugs have been eliminated? Perhaps. Maybe not. This game was promoted beyond all reasonable expectations. But I am deeply enjoying my time with this, however.
The dense and dramatically vertical Night City looks alive in a way that no other virtual world has yet done, revolving the superb world construction evident in Witcher 3 up to 11. The narrative and character construction are even better, making you feel like you’re playing the lead role in a surprisingly promising action movie. Driving is fun, playing with a firearm is great (although the enemy’s AI is simplistic at best), and the incredibly versatile character construction allows you to prepare your V the way you see fit. Do you want to be a hacker who blows up cybernetics implanted in your enemy’s head? An escape that ghosts on your way undetected by hostile locations? A brute who tears doors off the wall and punches his enemies? A sniper? A tough cyber ninja? A stick for everything? The flexible system of advantages allows everything.
Even better, Cyberpunk 2077 shows why the PC is The place to play, even with the next generation consoles coming. Its exceptional real-time ray-tracing effects are punitive and glorious, truly changing the look and feel of the game, while a robust photo mode lets you capture those eye-catching visuals for posterity. I spent almost as much time posing with V in the Night City locations and taking pictures of the streets as I fought against wandering gangs. Maybe wait for a patch or two to fix the most blatant bugs, but don’t let the console crash distract you from how masterful this game is on the PC. Our Cyberpunk 2077 The performance optimization guide can help you get started.
Next page: Our favorite 2020 games continue