The Best Single-Player Games On Steam (2024)

Being an adult is rough. With so many people juggling work life and other responsibilities, finding others to play video games with can be tricky. Thankfully, there's a diverse library of single-player games on Steam that you can play right now.

Steam is the best place to look for fun PC games you can play alone. Thanks to its versatile catalog of titles, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Whether you're looking for a cozy life simulator, a thrilling psychological horror, a story-rich open-world adventure, or something else, there's bound to be a one-player game to suit your tastes.

Updated on June 30, 2024, by PJ Molloy: It's summertime, and many people are looking for new games to play while waiting for the weather to cool down. We've added a few recommendations to help you get through the heat wave, including a must-play triple-A title and some excellent hidden gems.

23 Elden Ring

An Epic Open-World Soulslike

Elden Ring took the world by storm in 2022 thanks to its vast open world, Soulslike gameplay, and world-building from Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin. You control the Tarnished, a warrior searching for the shattered pieces of the titular Elden Ring to become the Elden Lord.

You explore the Lands Between, an expansive fantasy world rich with secrets, treacherous dungeons, and colossal bosses. The main campaign can easily last over 100 hours, with about 40 hours of additional content from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

22 Paper Trail

A Puzzle Game Based On Origami

Paper Trail is a top-down puzzle game with origami-inspired brain teasers. The world is an illustration on a page, which you can fold and contort to connect paths, reveal secrets, and much more.

The story is a heartfelt journey about a girl named Paige who runs away from home to escape her controlling parents. As she searches for her place in life, you learn more about her mysterious childhood and the devastating tragedy that tore her family apart. Clever, heart-wrenching, and visually stunning, Paper Trail is a must-play puzzle game on Steam.

21 Ex-Zodiac

A Loving Homage To Star Fox

If you miss the Star Fox series, Ex-Zodiac provides the same rail-shooter gameplay with a charming art style reminiscent of the Super Nintendo games. You play as Kyuu, who travels from planet to planet battling an intergalactic terrorist group called Zodiac.

The gameplay is everything you'd want from a modern Star Fox game. You'll be barrel-rolling to deflect bullets, boosting to avoid collapsing buildings, locking onto hoards of enemies, and tackling massive bosses at the end of each stage. You can even ride a motorcycle. What more could you ask for?

20 Crow Country

A Spooky Throwback To Classic Horror Games

Inspired by PS1 games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Crow Country updates classic survival horror mechanics while maintaining the look and feel of the era. Two years have passed since theme park owner Edward Crow mysteriously vanished, and journalist Mara Forest must venture into the now-abandoned park to solve the case.

With a handgun as your only defense, you must explore the monster-infested area, solve puzzles, manage scarce resources, and unravel the tragic mystery behind the park's closure. If you like retro horror games, don't sleep on this one.

19 Pepper Grinder

A 2D Pixel Platformer About Drilling

Pepper Grinder brings a twist to the platformer genre with its drill mechanic. In addition to running and jumping, the gameplay involves digging through tunnels to navigate around obstacles, find collectibles, and discover hidden paths. Thankfully, drilling is fast-paced, responsive, and easy to control.

You play as an adventurer named Pepper, who must take back her stolen treasure from an army of narwhals. Needless to say, the tone is very silly. While it's a short game, the diverse level designs and unique platforming make it an easy recommendation.

18 Persona 3 Reload

A Faithful Remake Of A Beloved JRPG

Persona 3 Reload remakes a classic Atlus JRPG with stunning visuals and quality-of-life updates. You play as a group called S.E.E.S., who investigate a mysterious 25th hour of the day called the Dark Hour, when monsters named Shadows awaken and turn people into zombies.

The gameplay is a mix of social simulation and dungeon crawling. During the day, you attend high school, explore the city, and get to know your peers. At night, you climb a tower named Tartarus, made of randomly generated floors. The turn-based combat offers plenty of room for strategy, ensuring battles are fun and engaging.

17 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

A Hilarious Yet Thrilling Yakuza Adventure

As part of Sega's Yakuza series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth provides hilariously over-the-top turn-based combat and a beautiful open world. The plot follows former Yakuza members Ichiban Kasuga and Kazuma Kiryu as they travel to Honolulu to solve the mystery of the former's long-lost mother.

While battles are turn-based, you can freely move characters within a radius. Strategically placing your party members in different positions can grant several advantages. The best part is how comical the fights are, allowing you to beat a giant clown with a surfboard and many other delightfully silly scenarios.

16 Baldur's Gate 3

An Epic Dungeons & Dragons RPG

Set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Baldur's Gate 3 is a Game of the Year-winning turn-based RPG that takes you on a vast journey across the Forgotten Realms. Like the renowned tabletop game, BG3 has you create a character, form a party, explore the world, and take on quests.

You assume the role of a shipwrecked adventurer who scours the land in search of a cure for a parasite infection. However, this makes you a target of a vicious cult named 'Absolute.' While the game can be played co-op, the single-player mode gives you more freedom to explore at a comfortable pace and make your own decisions.

15 Stardew Valley

A Cozy Farming Simulator

Often considered the coziest game on Steam, Stardew Valley is a delightful farming simulator with RPG mechanics. The story begins with you moving to the charming village of Pelican Town to inherit your late grandfather's farm. There's just one problem — the place needs some tidying up.

To breathe new life into your land, you must harvest crops, go fishing, craft items, and explore the nearby caves to mine resources. In your free time, you can mingle with the NPCs, learn their stories, and even get married. Thankfully, the game is not too taxing for computers, making it perfect if you’re playing on an older PC.

14 Cocoon

A Breathtaking Puzzle Platformer

From the minds behind Limbo and Inside, Cocoon is a 3D puzzle platformer that involves jumping between and combining different worlds to solve puzzles. You play as a winged bug creature who discovers various orbs, each containing a world that can be explored to solve brain-teasers and fight bosses.

The twist? You can carry the orbs, move them around, and even bring them inside other orbs to combine worlds and solve puzzles. This unique concept is presented with a breathtaking art style of vibrant colors, making every second pure eye candy. Overall, Cocoon is an underrated gem and one of the most fascinating single-player PC games.

13 Resident Evil 4

Survival Horror At Its Finest

Initially launched in 2005, Resident Evil 4 revolutionized the survival horror genre by combining crisp third-person shooter combat with resource management and bone-chilling scenarios. The remake on Steam adds a fresh coat of paint with gorgeous HD graphics and even tighter gameplay.

You play as a former police officer, Leon Kennedy, who is sent to a remote village in Spain to find the President's kidnapped daughter. Things turn deadly when he discovers a cult named Los Iluminados, run by zombie-like parasites. Since horror titles are scarier as a single-player experience, Resident Evil 4 is a phenomenal game to play alone.

12 Dave The Diver

A Relaxing RPG And Management Simulator

Dave the Diver is a lovely casual game that mixes management simulation with deep-sea exploration and RPG elements. You play as the titular Dave, a diver and owner of a sushi restaurant. During the day, you explore a mysterious body of water called the Blue Hole to catch fish, take on side quests, find lost items, and photograph sea life.

At night, you run the sushi bar and use the fish you've caught to create new recipes for your customers. Any profits you make or treasure you find in the ocean can be used to upgrade your diving equipment. Everything is complemented by a comedic tone to ensure Dave the Diver makes you smile from start to finish.

11 Lies Of P

A Classic Tail Revived As A Soulslike

Lies of P puts a spin on the classic fairy tale of Pinocchio by placing the beloved wooden doll in a gritty, soulslike action RPG. As strange as that sounds, this game excels thanks to its dark fantasy world, challenging boss fights, and captivating story.

Pinocchio is famous for lying, and Lies of P cleverly incorporates that into the gameplay with the Lying System. At various points in the story, you're given the option to lie or tell the truth. You need to choose wisely because these decisions impact the dialogue, quest paths, the rewards you get, and even the ending.

10 Vampire Survivors

An Action-Packed, Gothic Roguelike

In Vampire Survivors, you're placed in randomly generated levels and surrounded by hoards of monsters. As a roguelike, the goal is to play multiple runs and try to survive longer each time. You do so by finding weapons, upgrading items, and mowing down armies of demons with hack-and-slash and shoot-em-up combat.

Don't let the simplistic pixel graphics fool you; this game offers a decent challenge. Thankfully, the longer you live, the more characters, weapons, and relics you unlock for subsequent playthroughs. While it has a co-op mode, Vampire Survivors is a blast to play by yourself, thanks to its rewarding gameplay loop and fast-paced action.

9 Doki Doki Literature Club

A Cute Visual Novel With A Psychological Horror Twist

If you're looking for a terrifying horror game on Steam, Doki Doki Literature Club is the way to go. Things seem innocent enough when your classmate, Sayori, invites you to join her after-school club. Little do you know that this seemingly cutesy group is hiding a blood-curdling secret. Come for the poems; stay for the murders.

Doki Doki Literature Club uses psychological horror to create thrilling suspense without relying heavily on gore or jump scares. Since it's a visual novel, the gameplay is very dialogue-focused. Still, the gripping mystery and many plot twists make it hard to put down until you've discovered the shocking truth.

8 Portal

An Innovative Sci-Fi Puzzle Game

Portal has become one of the most famous puzzle games ever, thanks to its innovative Portal Gun mechanic. To solve brain-teasers, you must shoot portals onto the walls and floors to teleport objects and yourself around various rooms.

The game begins with Chell waking up in a mysterious test chamber run by a sad*stic, yet hilarious, AI named Glados. You explore the laboratory from a first-person perspective, solve physics-based puzzles, and unravel the dark secret of why you were brought here. With a perfect blend of mystery and sarcastic comedy, Portal is the ideal single-player puzzle game.

7 The Sims 4

A Cozy Life Simulator Where Anything Is Possible

Need a PC game to help you relax? The Sims 4 has your back. It's a cozy life simulator where you design Sims, build them a house, help them find true love, and watch them raise a family. Or you can lock them in the basem*nt and burn the place down. The world is yours to create or destroy to your heart's content.

It's easy to spend hours furnishing your dream home, designing Sims, and managing their lives. However, many fun and bizarre things can happen if you want to spice things up. For instance, you might turn into a vampire or have an affair with the Grim Reaper. The best part is that the base game is available for free.

6 Hades

A Thrilling Mythological Roguelike

Take Greek mythology, combine it with anime-esque action, and you get Hades. This roguelike follows Zagreus, the son of Hades, who hack-and-slashes through hoards of demons in an attempt to escape the Underworld.

Just like any other roguelike, you play multiple runs and try to get further each time. What makes Hades stand out is its compelling story, which progresses with every playthrough, whether you win or die. To top it off, the stellar voice acting and well-fleshed-out mythological characters will keep you enthralled throughout each run.

5 Hollow Knight

A Visually Stunning Metroidvania

There's no better Metroidvania on Steam than Hollow Knight. You play as a mysterious knight who explores the eerily gorgeous caverns of the fallen kingdom, Hallownest. Each area feels like stepping into a gothic painting, thanks to the stunning hand-drawn art style and beautiful, yet macabre, atmosphere.

Hollow Knight offers a delightful challenge as you explore its open world. The game will put your platforming skills to the test with its many well-hidden secrets and tough bosses. With so much to discover, you can easily sink dozens of hours into this haunting adventure.

4 Undertale

A Must-Play Turn-Based RPG

Inspired by the cult classic game Earthbound, Undertale challenges every RPG trope with its thought-provoking spin on turn-based combat. Each battle gives you the choice to fight or settle things peacefully. These decisions are crucial since they affect the story, ending, and how the NPCs perceive you.

The plot begins with your character falling into an underground cave where monsters have built a society. You explore the world from a top-down perspective, encountering many hilarious enemies, charming characters, and clever puzzles along the way. Better yet - there's even some excellent LGBTQ+ representation.