Challenging games

If you want challenging games, skip the solo queue and squad up for the extraction shooter that tests your aim and your patience—here's our pick.

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12 games match — here are the 10 we’d play first.

Play this tonight

Marathon

Marathon's gunplay is the best in the genre, so grab your buddies and survive the chaos together.

  • Updated 2d ago

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hornet's pogo-and-dash silk kit moves better than the original's, and 40 hours at $20 is absurd value — unless you bounce off punishing boss timing.

  • Updated 2d ago

Cronos: The New Dawn

Corridor dread and bullet-hoarding done as well as Dead Space did it — worth the price if you can forgive boss fights that belong in a different game.

  • Updated 2d ago

Nioh 3

Punches above its sequel weight — Nioh 3's Samurai/Ninja stance system is Team Ninja's sharpest combat to date, despite empty-zone pacing.

  • Updated 96d ago

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

The best Ubisoft release in years — Lost Crown nails 2.5D metroidvania flow with Hollow-Knight comparisons, but Ubisoft canceled the sequel after sales disappointed.

  • Updated 98d ago

Black Myth: Wukong

Killer boss combat with Journey-to-the-West mythology — Wukong's lategame fights rival Orphan of Kos, but Chapter 2 onward demands real Sekiro-level patience.

  • Updated 98d ago

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Best-in-class single-player DLC if you finished base Elden Ring — Land of Shadow rivals a full game, and patch 1.14 tamed Consort Radahn's combos.

  • Updated 98d ago

Balatro

Definitive deck-building poker roguelike that holds up past 100 hours, with free Friends of Jimbo updates adding new collab card packs.

  • Updated 98d ago

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Finally fixed since launch — patches 1.5 through 1.8 restored A-Life and tamed the worst stutters that wrecked the November 2024 reception.

  • Updated 98d ago

HELLDIVERS 2

Still the best chaotic 4-player co-op shooter on PC despite the playerbase falling from 458k peak to 30k after Arrowhead's balance churn.

  • Updated 98d ago