Best Single-Player Games: Top Picks for Solo Gaming Adventures

Do you like playing games alone? If so, you’ll love this post. We run through the top titles for those wanting to go solitaire!

For many, solo-player games are a relaxing pastime. For others, they represent adrenaline-pumping fun that eschews the downsides of multiplayer experiences, allowing you to immerse yourself completely in a new world.

Whatever the case, you’ll find a title you love here. We run through the best single-player games available today, and what makes them so spectacular. Here’s our rundown:

Doom: Eternal

Doom: Eternal burst onto the scene in early 2020 during the first phase of the pandemic and immediately struck a chord with gamers. Originally, everyone thought it was just going to be another Doom game. But it soon became clear that it was much more than that.

Doom: Eternal built on the fist-pumping, fast-paced success of Doom 2016, a game that redefined the genre and massively improved on the somewhat disappointing Doom 3 (released in 2004). However, it was even better than many expected, leading to a spate of positive reviews.

Doom: Eternal is an incredible first-person shooter with RPG elements because of its combat loop. The game forces you to use every option in your arsenal to win (especially at higher difficulty settings), making you use all your weapons and power-ups. As such, it’s impossible to only use the sniper mod (like you can on some titles) or stick with the chain gun – you have to mix it up with grenades, rocket launchers, and even swords.

Doom: Eternal achieves this by linking attacks and weapon usage to resources. For instance, you use the chainsaw to get ammo out of demons like some sort of pinata. And you use the flamethrower to make enemies bleed armor shards to improve your survivability.

Then there’s the compelling difficulty level. Setting the challenge to “Hurt me plenty” is great for beginners, but you can also ratchet it up to “Ultra-Nightmare” and select special instances where the developers insert even more monsters.

The result of all this is an adrenaline-pumping first-person shooter that tests your reaction times, strategy, positioning, and weapon selection continuously, without a break. After a few minutes, you’re both exhausted and left wanting more.

Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Unfortunately, Bethesda hasn’t released a new Elder Scrolls game in over fourteen years. But it almost doesn’t need to because Skyrim was such a triumph. The release put the studio on the map and fostered high expectations for future games, like Fallout 74.

Today, many consider Skyrim the big daddy of role-playing games. The fantasy title invites you into a massive open-world adventure with everything you could imagine from epic loot to giant dragons that descend from the heavens.

Critics widely praise it as one of the greatest games ever. Players can dump hundreds of hours into it and still fail to explore its vastness.

The game starts with you as a prisoner being led to execution down a cold, stony track. However, just before the beheadings get underway, a dragon interrupts proceedings, creating chaos, and giving the hero a chance to escape.

The game’s first few minutes are on rails, similar to Fable. But players soon find themselves in a Nordic-style forest and with the ability to go wherever they want.

Fortunately, the game doesn’t include any completionist elements. Players don’t have to finish certain tasks before they can proceed. Rather, adventure awaits in every direction and all players need to do is run.

For example, if you go to the main city, Whiterun, you will meet numerous people en route, many of whom want to talk and involve you in their worlds. In typical Skyrim fashion, you can ignore them, work with them, or kill them. It’s up to you.

Going deeper into the game reveals more of its glory. You start to understand the beauty of its crafting system and can explore hundreds of dungeons, all with unique enemies to overcome. Eventually, you reach the point where you’re ready for the final showdown in Valhalla, a heaven-like realm where the story concludes at the end of the game.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring is arguably the modern equivalent of Skyrim, offering gamers a vast open fantasy world that begs for exploration. However, it is arguably an improvement on the Skyrim formula, offering even more immersion.

To clarify, Elden Ring isn’t made by the same developer as the Elder Scrolls series (despite the naming similarities). However, it is set in a fantasy world and you sometimes ride a horse (always a nice touch).

Released in 2022, Elden Ring by FromSoftware is based on the world created by American writer George R. R. Martin, following the Dark Souls series (another set of exceptional single-player games). Previously, FromSoftware focused on creating difficult games to push back against the wave of casual experiences dominating the RPG genre in the 2010s. But with Elden Ring, it decided to break with tradition and create a more mass-market option. In the game, players must fight through dense forests, towering castles, and dangerous dungeons, all while improving their skills and gear. Gamers can also modify their characters with numerous weapon and armor upgrades, and aesthetic mods.

Even so, the game’s main appeal is its storytelling. You can play it for hundreds of hours because of its rich lore, dark atmosphere, and realistic world that responds to your choices.

Critics like that Elden Ring combines elements of Skyrim with the fast-paced action combat of the Dark Souls series. The difficulty level is high (but not extreme), and there’s a whole world to explore that doesn’t feel forced or procedural. As such, it won numerous Game of the Year Awards and became one of the best-selling games of 2022.

Final Fantasy VII: Remake

Fans started clamoring for a remake of Final Fantasy VII in the early 2000s, just a few years after the game’s release. However, it took Square until 2020 to make the updated game a reality.

Given the various disappointments concerning other games in the Final Fantasy series over the years, fans weren’t expecting much. Most worried that the game would lose the essence of the original and simply be a cut-and-paste version of Final Fantasy XV.

But, fortunately, that didn’t happen. Final Fantasy VII: Remake kept all the elements of the original that made it fantastic while layering on improved combat, interface, and character design.

The game begins with the introduction of Cloud Strife, a member of an elite military unit, in the city of Midgar. The protagonist joins forces with Barrett Wallace’s and Tifa Lockhart’s terrorist group, Avalanche, to bring down the evil Shinra company, an organization hell-bent on destroying the planet for commercial gain.

The introductory sequence sees you playing as Cloud battling Shinra guards on a mission to bomb one of the company’s power plants, draining energy from the planet. However, as the story unfolds, all is not what it seems. Doubts emerge about Cloud’s origin story, and he meets a strange new character, Aeris, who is key to his past and future.

While the narrative can get complicated, the intrigue and gameplay more than compensate. For the new release, Square made significant changes, removing the old-school real-time combat and replacing it with a new, live-action system that retains the original’s menu-based actions.

Following its release, the game received massive critical acclaim and sold millions of copies. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Final Fantasy VII: Remake only spanned the original game’s first disc, which ended with the motorcycle chase out of Midgar. It didn’t include any story around other parts of the game, such as Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, the Ancient Temple, or the Golden Saucer.

Fortunately, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth fills in the gaps. It covers the middle section of the original game where the player gets out onto the world map and discovers more about the Shinra organization, Cloud’s arch-nemesis Sephiroth, and the fact that a giant meteor is flying toward the planet.

Red Dead Redemption II

Red Dead Redemption II is perhaps the greatest Western role-playing game ever released on any platform. Created by Rockstar Games, it continues the story of the Red Dead series (which began in 2010).

Red Dead Redemption II follows the story of Arthur Morgan, part of Van der Linde’s gang, a mercenary and vagabond. It follows him as he tries to survive the crazy world of the Wild West, fighting rival gangs, bounty hunters, and the law.

To put it mildly, Arthur’s life is difficult. He has to manage relationship conflict, wild animals, and a rapidly changing society as the American government clamps down on cowboys.

However, the game’s narrative can only partly explain its success. Yes, it’s gritty, but also compelling, encouraging players to go deeper.

Part of Red Dead Redemption II’s appeal is the beauty of the in-game landscape. The open-world format leaves you wanting to explore every nook and cranny as you learn more about what the Western United States used to be like. Players traverse mountains, forests, deserts, and the odd plantation here and there before reaching their destinations (usually jail cells).

Another loved element of the game is the survival aspect. When you don’t have many friends or resources (like Morgan), things like finding food and ammunition become a priority. Being too tired or thin, or having a broken gun, can prevent you from fighting off enemies effectively.

Players must also make moral choices as part of the game’s Honor system. Decisions affect how NPCs treat you and can affect the story’s outcome. Being reckless with the Honor mechanic can be fun, but it makes the game harder. Shooting random citizens in every town you go to increases the bounty on your head and causes local townsfolk to send out vigilante parties to hunt you down.

When the game was released, players lauded its depth and realism (something players have come to expect from RockStar). However, as the weeks went by, it became clear that Red Dead Redemption II was a massive improvement on the original, which was already an exceptional game for the time. The advanced melee combat, gunplay, and stealth elements meant that the title had something for almost everyone and you could play it how you wanted.

The Witcher III

Fifteen years ago, nobody had heard of CD Projekt Red. The Polish developer was still right on the fringes of indie game-making.

However, that changed with the Witcher series. The company wanted to create several games about the life of Gerald of Rivia, a human-like figure imbued with special monster-hunting powers, with each version building on the last.

The Witcher (the original game) was quite simplistic, focusing on story elements to grab players’ attention and create a cult-like following. The Witcher II built on this legacy, adding more elements and better visuals but it wasn’t a AAA release. However, The Witcher III changed all that, blowing gamers’ minds with its open world and incredible questing. CD Projekt Red had invested all their profits into the new title, hell-bent on creating the best fantasy game ever.

Incredibly, the gamble paid off. The Witcher III was everything their followers wanted it to be and more. The music, swordplay, enemies, and characters created an immersive world rivaling Skyrim’s five years earlier.

The role-playing element of the game was spectacular. Players customized Geralt’s abilities through a skill tree, searching for synergies to improve their ability to slay monsters. They could also make meaningful story decisions, altering outcomes that put the entire experience on a different track.

Adding to these elements were the incredible exploration and epic combat mechanics. Players could ride around on Roach (Geralt’s horse) and discover hidden treasures, secret dungeons, and new characters everywhere they went. During it all, the game’s dynamic environment played out, going through various day-night cycles, and windy or rainy weather, changing the nature of monster encounters.

The Witcher III’s success was so enormous that CD Projekt Red released two expansions for the game. Hearts of Stone added a new storyline about Geralt’s dealings with the Man of Glass and the immortal Olgierd von Everec. Then later, Blood and Wine introduced the new region of Touissant, a land of chivalry quite different from Geralt’s homeland.

Dishonored 2

Dishonored 2 is another solo game developed by Arkane Studios. The title was released in November 2016 and offered players an upgraded version of the gameplay present in the original game.

Dishonored 2 follows the story of the empress of Dunwall (the main country in the game) after she’s usurped from her throne, and Corvo Attano, her father and the protagonist from the first game. Players battle through numerous Victorian-style scenes to help the former empress regain her power.

The original Dishonored forced players to play as Corvo only. However, Dishonored 2 offers more options and replay value by including Emily as a playable character. She has different skills and abilities from Corvo, allowing for a different play style.

Most of Dishonored 2’s gameplay revolves around stealth and combat. Players must navigate levels using various strategies to avoid getting caught or seen. Sometimes, it makes sense to bypass entire groups of opponents, while other times, using weapons and abilities is the better option. In this way, Arkane Studios designed Dishonored 2’s levels to be flexible, allowing players to approach them how they want. You can experiment with various tactics on each map and find your preferred play style.

Interestingly, Emily and Corvo have supernatural powers. These give them the edge over the hundreds of guards and defense mechanisms encountered as you progress through the levels. You can shoot from one hiding place to another or manipulate time to gain accuracy against larger groups.

While Dishonored 2 isn’t as well-known as the other titles on this list, it still received critical acclaim. Critics loved its high-detail levels, gameplay mechanics, and world-building elements, designed for immersion.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed games seem to come out every year. But 2018’s Odyssey was arguably among the best. The Ubisoft game follows the story of mercenary Alexios as he tries to find his place in a spectacular digital recreation of Ancient Greece.

The open-world design means players can choose their own adventure and quest order. Much of the game revolves around the mystery of Alexios’s family and various ancient artifacts, called Isu, ultimately leading to a showdown with the Gods and authorities.

Critics love the game because of its questing and exploration. Players can go anywhere, talk to almost anyone, and do nearly anything. Interestingly, there are even awards for random achievements, like climbing the tallest mountain in the game (Mount Olympus).

However, progression still matters. Players desiring to excel at the highest level must complete various side quests and standard missions (such as destroying enemy faction outposts), which can be a grind.

The best part of the game is arguably the naval combat, a mechanic that builds on the triumph in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Alexios commands the Adrestia, a fighting caravel you can upgrade with additional men, oars, and arrows.

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey is arguably the best iteration of Ubisoft’s RPG formula. The recreation of ancient Greece is both stunning and educational, helping you learn more about what the world was like during antiquity. The character development is also stellar, alongside weapon customization and combat sequences.

With that said, the game can feel a bit formulaic at times because it lays out all the objectives on the map ahead of time. Because of this, it often feels like you are just running from one location to another to complete tasks instead of exploring a living, breathing world.

Diablo IV

Diablo IV continues the story ending with the destruction of Diablo at the end of Diablo III. It follows his daughter, Lilith, an antagonist from the series’ lore, and how she is bringing the world to chaos.

Diablo IV’s storytelling is pretty limited compared to many of the games discussed so far. But it more than makes up for it in its compelling gameplay.

For example, critics love the game’s new open-world design. In Diablo III, players fought their way through various “Chapters.” But in Diablo IV, they can go to any dungeon whenever they want, including those way above their current level.

The combat is also slick and impactful. A clever sound design makes each spell or ax blow more realistic. Players must use a combination of strategy and hack-and-slash in many encounters to emerge victorious, especially against bosses.

Loot and progression are epic. The mechanic keeps players hungry for more, and desperate to earn gear from the next rung up. Furthermore, the skill tree is also quite advanced, with players selecting ability skills for the first fifty levels and then Paragon points to buff their stats for the remaining levels, but it isn’t quite as expansive as rival titles like Grim Dawn.

The game’s dark, gothic atmosphere is also worth mentioning. Developer, Blizzard, deliberately tried to recreate the game in the guise of Diablo II, the most celebrated title in the series. As such, players often find themselves in dingy caves where bloated abominations belch green fumes when they explode and die.

Blizzard says it is planning several Diablo IV expansions for the gaming community. It wants the title to remain relevant for years to come, just as Diablo III did for a decade after its launch.

Cyberpunk 2077

Following the massive success of The Witcher III, CD Projekt Red turned their attention to Cyberpunk 2077, an ambitious project set in a dystopian future characterized by corporate dominance, advanced body modifications, and artificial intelligence. The game's early teaser (from 2013) generated immense excitement, leading to one of history’s most anticipated video game releases. Millions of players eagerly awaited the game's debut, driven by the studio's newfound reputation and the promise of a richly detailed, futuristic world.

Released in December 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 follows the story of V, a mercenary with customizable skills and cybernetic enhancements. Players guide the protagonist through a dangerous and scary world, all the while trying to build their strength to take on bigger challenges. While the initial version of the game wasn’t up to the standard fans expected, it still provided decent gameplay for the vast majority of players.

Central to Cyberpunk 2077 is its open-world design. Players can go anywhere in Night City while exploring technologies and themes like identity and capitalism. The game’s character customization is exceptional, allowing you to choose your avatar’s appearance, cybernetic upgrades, and fighting style (stealth, hacking, or combat). And rich dialogue between you and NPCs makes the world’s inhabitants more diverse and interesting.

Unfortunately, the game didn’t receive critical acclaim at launch. Technical issues, performance problems, and bugs made it unplayable for some audiences, particularly on the PC. However, CD Projekt Red released numerous patches correcting problems over the following months, turning the game into an exceptional future-themed RPG.

Fallout: New Vegas

Bethesda released Fallout: New Vegas in 2010 and, in so doing, built an entirely new genre of first-person-shooter-based RPG. The game took elements from other titles, like Stalker and Morrowind, and embedded them into a single title that seemed to break all the rules.

Fallout: New Vegas is set in a hypothetical post-apocalyptic American Southwest after a global nuclear war. Players assume the role of Courier, a man left for dead after being ambushed while transporting a mysterious package. As the game unfolds, it becomes clear that there is a power struggle between various factions to take control of New Vegas and set up a new fiefdom.

One faction, Caesar’s Legion, is a brutal autocratic group that wants to dominate everyone living in the area, similar to an ancient warring tribe. Meanwhile, the New California Republic is a democratic organization, looking to reestablish civilization on the barren wasteland while New Vegas, an independent group run by a local casino owner, Mr. House, wants to retain control over the city.

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in numerous open-world environments, including desert towns and the remnants of the now-lost American civilization. Combat varies between first- and third-person shooting, with players able to choose from an enormous array of firearms and upgrades.

There’s also the V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) which slows time down, allowing players to target specific body parts of their enemies. More accurate shots increase damage and help bring firefights to a conclusion faster.

Players can also enjoy extensive dialogue options throughout the game. Numerous branching quest lines and highly detailed NPC scripts make the world come alive and help players become more emotionally connected to the on-screen action.

In 2024, Fallout: New Vegas is dated. But at the time, critics loved it for its high-paced action and deep role-playing. Players could enjoy an immersive setting and experience what America might be like after WWIII.

Wrapping Up

So there you have it: the best single-player games for solo adventurers. These games draw you into their worlds and sometimes make you feel like a part of them!

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.