Today is International Singles’ Day, which got us thinking. There’s something to be said for tremendously deep single player games that you can get utterly lost in without ever seeing (or speaking to) another human soul. Sounds like bliss doesn’t it? Well, in the spirit of Singles’ Day, we’ve come up with a list of – in our opinion – the best single player games to tide you over the period and beyond. So close the curtains, dim the lights, arrange the snacks and prepare yourself for our picks of the best single player games of all time.
Cyberpunk 2077
There’s no denying that in Cyberpunk 2077, Polish developer CD Projekt RED has fashioned a spectacular Cyberpunk world for players to completely lose themselves in. Now much more polished and running better than ever before, Cyberpunk 2077’s deep story of a mercenary cyborg called “V” – who is tracking down an augmentation which seemingly bestows immortality upon its user – has never been more alluring.
With its neon-hued metropolis that oscillates between opulence and degradation, Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City and evocative cast of characters represents a world that we just cannot get enough of. Oh and it also has Keanu Reeves in it. Lots of him. What’s not to like?
Deathloop
With its tale of two assassins locked together in a time loop on the retro sci-fi island of Blackreef, Deathloop quickly became one of our favourite single player games. As Colt, you must find a way to break the titular Deathloop – a time loop in which everything resets and starts all over again at the end of each day. Think Groundhog Day (sans Bill Murray, sadly) meets Hitman and you’re kinda there. The kicker, though, is that Colt remembers everything that has happened the previous day and, bit by bit, can use that knowledge to slowly undo the time loop in an attempt to escape to freedom.
It’s this whole premise that makes Deathloop so absolutely great, as the setting of Blackreef is one that begs to be explored and provides an ample theatre for the sort of time-bending, assassin action that makes Deathloop one of the best single player PC games of all time.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
A frankly brilliant kaleidoscope of socio-political themes with a good hefty dose of nihilism chucked in for kicks, Disco Elysium is a detective RPG quite unlike any other. Waking up in your apartment with your trousers missing, vomit stains on your vest and a headache that is approximately three times bigger than your skull, Disco Elysium has you pulling yourself up from the hangover from hell as you attempt to investigate a murder in the European-styled, fictional town of Revachol.
Filled with memorable characters brought to vivid life by the voice acting in the latest Final Cut update, Disco Elysium is an endlessly-deep, character-driven RPG that respects your intelligence and allows you to be the cool, suave sleuth you’ve always wanted to be….or potentially, a dribbling, total disaster of a man. There’s just nothing like it.
Hades
Whoever knew that the gods of Greek Mythology could be so sassy? Developer Supergiant Games knew when they unleashed Hades upon the world; one of the best roguelites and hack and slash adventures ever created. Stepping into the stylish sandals of the Prince of the Underworld, you must defy the gods by attempting to break out of your distinctly hellish digs and reunite with your distant family on Mount Olympus.
With superb characters, visuals to die for and perfectly-judged roguelite mechanics that make wanting another go just a formality, Hades is a transformative dungeon crawler that will turn minutes into hours and then into days and beyond.
Red Dead Redemption 2
The thick slurry of the thoroughfare outside the Smithfields Saloon in Valentine, where mud and horse manure mix freely. The glimmering glitz of turn-of-the-century Saint Denis. More than three years on and no other open world game has managed to fashion a world quite like what Rockstar Games has achieved with Red Dead Redemption 2.
Simply put, every part of Red Dead Redemption 2’s world feels like a deeply physical, lived-in world that looks and sounds every bit like a microcosm of the Old West. Its tale of a group of paranoid, on-the-run outlaws carefully cribs from the greatest westerns of all time – from Once Upon A Time In America to 3:10 To Yuma, and more besides. Much more than just the best game set in the Old West, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a peerless, open-world epic that you’ll easily lose hundreds of hours to.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Some years before Geralt of Rivia would be filming himself building a PC and causing folks to go weak at the knees pretty much everywhere, he was the deadpan, swashbuckling star of the Witcher games. And The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is inarguably the best of them. Envisaging a sprawling dark fantasy tale that unfurls across a vast land, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is quite simply a tremendous action RPG that deftly blends superbly-written characters, great quests and terrifying monsters in such a way that you’ll never want to leave your PC, let alone your front door. Singles’ Day was basically invented for a game like this.
What will you be playing this International Singles’ Day? Head over to our Community Forum and let us know!