The Best Adventure Games to Play on PC

Best adventure games at a glance

How these adventure games were selected

A strong adventure game needs a journey worth following. Combat can be part of that journey, but discovery, story, puzzles or player decisions should provide more than a route between fights.

This list considers:

• The quality of exploration or narrative progression
• Whether locations feel meaningful rather than decorative
• Puzzle, choice or traversal systems that support the adventure
• Variety across short stories, open worlds and co-op campaigns
• How clearly each game serves a different kind of player
• Availability on PC

The ranking favors games that make the journey itself memorable rather than relying only on scale.

1. Outer Wilds

Best overall adventure game

Outer Wilds places a new astronaut inside a small solar system trapped in a repeating time loop. The planets change during each cycle, but the player’s knowledge remains, turning information into the main form of progression.

There are no traditional character levels or equipment upgrades. Reaching a difficult location depends on understanding when a path opens, how a planet behaves or what an earlier civilization discovered. A clue found on one world can explain an obstacle somewhere else.

The solar system is open from the beginning, so curiosity determines the route. Its planets are compact but mechanically distinct, including collapsing terrain, shifting sand and extreme gravitational conditions.

Choose Outer Wilds if you want exploration that rewards observation rather than quest markers. Avoid walkthroughs where possible because learning the answer is often the same as completing the challenge.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2

Best open-world adventure

Red Dead Redemption 2 follows Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang as pressure from law enforcement and internal conflict pushes the group across the American frontier.

The open world matters because travel creates much of the experience. Hunting, random encounters, camp conversations and quiet rides support the story rather than functioning only as optional distractions. Arthur’s behavior can also affect how people respond to him and how parts of the journey are framed.

Missions include robberies, pursuits and large shootouts, but the game’s strongest moments often come between them. The pace is deliberately slower than a conventional action game, with detailed animations and systems that make everyday activity part of the setting.

Choose Red Dead Redemption 2 if you want a long journey through a richly observed world. It requires substantial storage and works best for players comfortable with its measured pace.

3. The Last of Us Part I

Best focused story-driven adventure

The Last of Us Part I follows Joel and Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. Its linear structure keeps the story focused while still allowing players to search ruined environments for resources, optional conversations and background details.

Combat combines stealth, limited ammunition, crafting and direct confrontation. The scarcity of supplies encourages players to evaluate each encounter instead of approaching every room as a shooting arena.

The relationship between the two central characters develops through travel, conflict and small interactions rather than exposition alone. Environmental storytelling also shows how communities responded differently after the collapse.

Choose The Last of Us Part I for a directed dramatic journey with survival tension. Players who want freedom to choose the route should start with Outer Wilds or Red Dead Redemption 2.

4. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Best treasure-hunting adventure

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person adventure set in 1937. Its journey moves through historical locations as Indiana investigates a mystery connecting sites around the world.

Exploration and puzzles share attention with stealth and improvised combat. The whip supports traversal and interaction, while disguises can provide another way through restricted areas. Larger locations contain optional mysteries and fieldwork beyond the main route.

The first-person perspective makes physical exploration feel immediate without turning every encounter into a shooter sequence. Players can examine documents, photograph discoveries and solve environmental puzzles before deciding how to handle guards.

The PC version has continued receiving technical and accessibility improvements, including additional graphics options and a lighter action difficulty for players who want to emphasize puzzles and exploration.

Choose it for a modern cinematic treasure hunt. UNCHARTED offers more third-person action, while Outer Wilds provides less directed mystery solving.

5. It Takes Two

Best co-op adventure game

It Takes Two is designed exclusively for two players. Cody and May are transformed into dolls and must combine different abilities to move through a changing series of platforming, puzzle and action challenges.

Every major section introduces a new mechanic. One player may manipulate time while the other creates a duplicate, or the pair may receive two tools that only work effectively together. The game avoids letting one participant solve everything while the other follows.

It supports local and online co-op. Friend’s Pass allows one owner to invite another player without requiring a second full copy. The pass supports cross-generation play within the same platform family, but not cross-platform play.

Choose It Takes Two if you have one reliable partner and want constant mechanical variety. It cannot be played alone, and it is not designed for groups larger than two.

6. UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection

Best blockbuster action-adventure collection

UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection includes Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Both are single-player adventures built around treasure hunting, traversal, puzzles and large action set pieces.

Uncharted 4 follows Nathan Drake through a personal final journey involving a lost pirate colony. The Lost Legacy places Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross at the center of a separate expedition in India.

The games use climbing and environmental navigation to keep movement active between fights. Combat supports shooting and stealth, while larger areas provide some freedom to choose the order of exploration.

Choose the collection if you want two cinematic adventures with polished pacing and character interaction. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle places more emphasis on first-person puzzles, while UNCHARTED delivers more third-person spectacle.

7. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Best adventure for movement and traversal

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 lets players switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales while exploring an expanded version of New York. Web swinging and Web Wings make traversal one of the game’s main pleasures rather than time spent moving between missions.

The two playable Spider-Men have different abilities. Peter gains symbiote powers, while Miles uses bio-electric attacks and his own stealth tools. Shared equipment and separate skills provide several ways to handle combat.

The story connects personal responsibilities with threats from Kraven, the Lizard and Venom. Optional activities provide upgrades and smaller neighborhood stories outside the main campaign.

The PC release includes adjustable graphics options, ultrawide support and several ray-tracing technologies. Its storage and memory requirements are comparatively high, so check the hardware information before installing.

Choose Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for fast movement, superhero action and a focused open-world campaign.

8. The Wolf Among Us

Best choice-driven noir adventure

The Wolf Among Us follows Fabletown sheriff Bigby Wolf as a murder investigation exposes conflict inside a hidden community of fairy-tale characters living in New York.

Dialogue choices shape relationships and can alter how characters respond to Bigby’s authority. Investigation scenes involve examining evidence and questioning suspects, while action sequences add pressure without becoming the central system.

The episodic structure gives each chapter its own immediate question while developing a larger mystery. Its visual style reinforces the noir atmosphere through strong color, shadow and urban interiors.

Choose The Wolf Among Us if decisions, dialogue and mystery matter more than mechanical exploration. Players wanting stricter deduction should choose a detective-focused game, while Heavy Rain offers a more cinematic branching thriller.

9. Firewatch

Best short atmospheric adventure

Firewatch is a first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness. Henry works as a fire lookout and communicates with supervisor Delilah through a handheld radio while investigating unusual events.

The radio relationship is the center of the game. Dialogue choices affect the tone of conversations, while exploration reveals information about the forest, the characters and the developing mystery.

There is little conventional action. The player navigates trails, reads maps, climbs through the environment and decides which observations are worth reporting.

Firewatch is a strong starting point for players new to narrative adventure games because its controls are simple and its campaign is focused. Choose it for atmosphere and conversation, not puzzles or combat depth.

10. What Remains of Edith Finch

Best experimental narrative adventure

What Remains of Edith Finch follows Edith as she returns to the Finch family home and uncovers stories about relatives who lived there.

Each room acts as a preserved piece of family history. Discovering a relative’s story changes the style and interaction model, so the game can shift perspective and mechanics without losing the larger narrative.

The house itself provides the main exploration puzzle. Hidden passages, sealed rooms and unusual extensions reveal how the family adapted the building across generations.

The campaign is short and almost entirely focused on storytelling. Choose it if you want an imaginative narrative that can be completed without a long mechanical learning curve.

11. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Best historical open-world adventure

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey places the player in Ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War. It combines exploration, naval travel, combat and role-playing choices across a large map of cities, islands and wilderness.

Players choose a mercenary and develop abilities across warrior, hunter and assassin paths. Dialogue choices can alter quests and relationships, while naval combat expands the journey beyond land-based exploration.

The scale is its main strength and its main warning. There is a large amount of optional content, so players who prefer a focused campaign may find the map overwhelming.

Choose Odyssey if historical locations, long progression and freedom to explore matter most. Red Dead Redemption 2 offers a more grounded character study, while Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 provides faster movement through a smaller city.

12. Heavy Rain

Best branching interactive thriller

Heavy Rain follows four characters connected to the search for the Origami Killer. Decisions, successful actions and failures can change which scenes occur and whether characters survive.

The game mixes investigation, dialogue, exploration and quick-time events. It is less interested in allowing players to solve every mystery through formal deduction than in creating pressure around difficult choices.

Failure does not always produce a conventional game-over screen. The story can continue with missing information, altered relationships or a different character path.

Choose Heavy Rain if you want an interactive thriller where outcomes can diverge noticeably. The Wolf Among Us offers sharper episodic dialogue, while Firewatch provides a calmer and more focused mystery.

Which adventure game should you play first?

Choose based on the kind of journey you want:

• Exploration and discovery: Outer Wilds
• Large open-world story: Red Dead Redemption 2
• Focused dramatic campaign: The Last of Us Part I
• Puzzles and treasure hunting: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Two-player cooperation: It Takes Two
• Blockbuster action: UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection
• Superhero traversal: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Noir choices and mystery: The Wolf Among Us
• Short atmospheric story: Firewatch
• Experimental narrative: What Remains of Edith Finch
• Historical open-world journey: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Branching thriller: Heavy Rain

Outer Wilds is the best first choice if the genre’s exploration and puzzle identity appeals to you. Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch are easier starting points for players who want shorter stories, while It Takes Two is the clear choice for a pair.

Adventure games versus action-adventure games

Traditional adventure games emphasize story, exploration, puzzles and choices. Action-adventure games add more frequent combat, traversal challenges or stealth.

The categories overlap. Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch sit close to narrative adventure, while Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey are action-heavy. Outer Wilds uses exploration and knowledge as its main progression system.

The useful distinction is not whether a game has combat. It is whether the journey, mystery or world remains meaningful without judging the game only by its fighting systems.

Best adventure game for co-op

It Takes Two is the strongest co-op pick because every stage requires two players and gives both participants complementary abilities. One person cannot carry the complete mechanical experience alone.

Players who want a broader selection of two-player and group experiences can continue with other co-op guides, but the adventure list stays focused on games whose story and journey are central.

Best short adventure games

Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch are the easiest recommendations when time is limited. Both can be completed without a large open-world commitment and keep their mechanics focused on the story.

The Wolf Among Us and Heavy Rain require more time but remain structured around chapters rather than open-ended exploration. Outer Wilds can be completed relatively quickly once its mystery is understood, although discovery time varies widely between players.

Final adventure game recommendations

Outer Wilds is the best adventure game for discovery, Red Dead Redemption 2 offers the richest large-scale journey, and The Last of Us Part I provides the strongest tightly directed drama.

For co-op, choose It Takes Two. For puzzles and cinematic treasure hunting, choose Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. For a short narrative experience, begin with Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch.

The best adventure game is ultimately the one that matches how much freedom you want. Some players want to uncover a mystery without guidance, while others prefer a carefully paced story or a world large enough to inhabit for weeks.