One of the more annoying aspects of PC gaming is discovering your favorite new title requires an internet connection to play, including many single-player games that require network authentication.
We’ve covered the best-looking, most graphically demanding, and even low spec PC games for weaker machines, but what about the best offline games for PC?
In this list, we’ll showcase the finest PC games to enjoy without an internet connection in 2023, including top PC action games and free PC games.
We’ll be updating this list in the future with new titles, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed any of your favorite offline games for PC!
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Subnautica: Below Zero
Subnautica: Below Zero is a follow-up to the hit first-person survival crafting game in which your spaceship crash-lands on an alien planet covered almost entirely in water.
After returning to the planet from the first game, your character discovers a new icy region on its surface and sets out to uncover all of its mysteries.
To make it out alive, you’ll have to rely on resources throughout the environment for crafting bases, submersibles, and weapons in addition to keeping your character fed and hydrated.
Similar to the original, Below Zero has a fairly open-ended structure that lets you set your own goals, whether exploring the deepest corners of the ocean, constructing bases, or simply advancing the story.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
One of the best story-driven RPGs of 2019, Disco Elysium casts you as a detective with amnesia as he investigates a murder.
Hunting down clues and potential leads brings with it plenty of dialogue interactions and opportunities to poke and prod around NPCs’ personal beliefs and biases while dealing with your insecurities.
This is where the game’s RPG mechanics come into play, allowing you to acquire an array of unique skills suited for different playstyles.
While the base game is already great, we’re recommending The Final Cut edition for its new voice-acted performances and expanded questlines.
Hades
Supergiant Games is a revered indie developer that’s known to produce some of the best story-driven experiences of the last decade, including their hit roguelike dungeon crawler Hades.
In it, you play as the son of Hades on a mission to escape an ever-shifting underworld prison guarded by powerful gods blocking your path to Mt. Olympus.
Gameplay is centered on hack and slash style combat, with Zagreus combining different melee and ranged abilities and weapons to cut down his foes.
Although the roguelike format doesn’t naturally lend itself to good storytelling, Hades manages to keep things interesting by having the world and dialogue evolve the further you progress.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar’s Western-themed open-world game Red Dead Redemption 2 is chockful of sights to see and things to do, so much so it can be easy to overlook just how well-crafted its story is.
In it, you step into the shoes of Arthur Morgan, a member of the notorious Van der Linde gang along with the protagonist from the original Red Dead, John Marston.
Throughout the game, you’ll be forced to make tough decisions for Arthur that often put him in the crosshairs of rival gangs, law enforcement, and his own moral judgment.
Outside of the main story, you can go horseback riding, hunt exotic animals, get into bar fights, and wrap things up with a nice bubble bath before hitting the hay.
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
Devil May Cry 5 takes place five years after DMC 4 and tells a brand new story from the perspective of three different playable characters.
Dante makes his grand return, this time joined by Nero, a demon hunter with a retractable arm, along with V, one of Dante’s clients who can summon animal familiars to battle on his behalf.
The trio set off on a world-spanning adventure to defeat the Demon King Urizen before he can carry out his sinister plan to destroy the mortal realm.
We’re recommending the Special Edition since it introduces a host of new content, including Vergil as a fourth playable character, new Bloody Palace and Legendary Dark Knight modes, and expanded graphics options.
Doom Eternal
The Doom series has you exploring an array of hellish landscapes overflowing with demonic monsters just waiting to be blown to bits by Corporal Flynn Taggart, aka Doom Slayer.
Doom Eternal doubles down on the ‘push-forward combat of its predecessor, Doom (2016), while encouraging players to discover new tactics as they traverse demonic battle arenas.
Level design is one of Eternal’s greatest strengths, with environments serving as sprawling jungle gyms that players can snake around to avoid incoming fire while ripping apart enemies with powerful guns.
The addition of a new grappling hook tool adds an extra layer to the game’s traversal system, with movement overall feeling more fluid than ever.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a fantastic action game that challenges players’ reflexes and maintains the steep learning curve we’ve come to expect from FromSoftware games.
In it, you take on the role of a Sengoku Era Shinobi on a mission to exact revenge against the samurai who chopped off his arm and killed his lord.
Instead of attacking health bars directly, combat revolves around targeting your opponent’s posture and balance while maintaining your own and wielding tools and abilities tied to the main character’s prosthetic arm.
While it places a bigger emphasis on stealth compared to other Souls-like titles, such as giving you a grappling hook for quick escapes, those who are skilled enough can still pull off combos using Sekiro’s technical sword mechanics.
Monster Hunter: World
Even though Monster Hunter is often portrayed as a multiplayer-driven experience, you can play through the story offline by yourself, which has the added benefit of preventing you from getting booted out of a session mid-quest.
In Monster Hunter: World, you play as a fresh-faced, inexperienced hunter exploring a new region teeming with life and most notably, an assortment of giant dragons.
Like previous entries, the game boasts a massive selection of weapons to master, including upgradeable weapon trees, charms, and decorations to hone in on a particular playstyle.
If you like what you see in the base game, then you can always move on to the Iceborne expansion, which introduces new monsters, a previously undiscovered region, additional weapons, armor, and more.
Slay the Spire
Next up, Slay the Spire is a 2D card-strategy roguelike in which players pick from one of several playable characters with unique starting conditions that affect their run.
The goal is to ascend a series of levels within a spire while encountering numerous enemies and rewards depending on the path taken.
Along the way, you’ll have a chance to rest up and heal at campfires, buy and sell cards at shops, obtain new gear via random loot chests, and gain other bonuses throughout various choice-based encounters.
If you’re a fan of offline deck-builders or just strategy games in general, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy playing through Slay the Spire and exploring each character’s playstyle.
Outer Wilds
For an immersive, story-driven single-player space exploration game you can play offline, look no further than Outer Wilds.
In it, you take on the role of the newest recruit for Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program looking to expand its knowledge of the galaxy and its ancestors’ mysterious disappearance.
The story tackles numerous sci-fi tropes including time travel, with your character trapped in a perpetual 22-minute time loop.
This is complemented by a densely packed open world consisting of hand-crafted, explorable planets with interesting backstories and distinct hazards that can be tricky to navigate.
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
If you enjoy fun and addictive cooking games you can play offline, there’s a chance you’ve already dabbled with Cook, Serve, Delicious since it’s one of the most popular series in the genre.
CSD 3 is the latest installment and sees you taking your culinary skills on the road as you travel across the US competing for the title of “best food truck.”
Along the way, you’ll get to prepare hundreds of different food creations with help from two charismatic robot crewmates as well as obtain new upgrades and decorations for your food truck.
The game includes over a hundred hours of content across 380+ levels and can typically be found for 20 bucks or less if you catch it on sale.
Civilization VI
The Sid Meier series has been around for what feels like forever and still manages to introduce small innovations and quality of life improvements with each new installment.
We’ve chosen to highlight the most recent entry, Civilization VI, which features a new “religion” condition that lets you win the game by converting the world to a single faith.
Similar to other 4X strategy games, Civ 6 is structured around turn-based actions that will affect your standing with neighboring nations over the course of hundreds and even thousands of years.
Like its predecessors, the game can be played offline in competitive matches against formidable AI opponents and has low enough spec requirements that you can probably run it on just about any PC.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Divinity: Original Sin 2 comes from beloved RPG maker Larian Studios and has achieved critical acclaim for its immersive fantasy setting and robust turn-based combat system.
In it, you assemble a party from six preset characters or create your own before venturing into the vast and layered world of Rivellon with the unbridled freedom to go anywhere and interact with everything.
Throughout your journey, you’ll also form bonds with your party and establish unique dynamics both in and out of battle, including entering relationships and combining elemental powers during battle.
One major aspect that sets Divinity 2 apart from other RPGs is its dedication to creativity, allowing players to tackle challenges in a multitude of ways, many of which border on absurdity.
Dead Cells
Fans of challenging roguelikes and pixel art can snag a fantastic offline game with Dead Cells, a run-based Metroidvania game that focuses on combat, exploration, and dungeon-crawling.
Each playthrough sees you gathering materials to craft better gear while hunting down larger-than-life bosses and minions across a sprawling labyrinth filled with countless traps and secret passageways.
Every death sees you booted back to the starting area with slightly more resources than your previous run, scratching that oh-so-satisfying risk vs. reward itch roguelikes are known for.
It should be noted that the game can be quite unforgiving when it comes to its Souls-like combat, though with some practice you’ll eventually make progress.
Grand Theft Auto V
By this point, just about every gamer is familiar with the GTA series, especially Grand Theft Auto V and its online multiplayer component GTA Online.
However, if you have no desire for street races and shootouts with other players, you’re better off sticking to the single-player campaign since it’s completely offline.
This gives you the freedom to explore one of Rockstar’s most detailed open-worlds at your leisure, spanning both Los Santos and Blaine County.
Whether you decide to focus solely on advancing the three main characters’ storylines, obsessing over side missions, or just cruising around the map causing mayhem, you’ll find there’s a lot of fun to be had.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 is another great fantasy RPG that can be played completely offline and is based on the popular book, game, and now television series.
In it, you take on the role of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter belonging to a powerful race called “Witchers” as he sets off to save his daughter from a supernatural cult.
Like GTA 5, the game features a massive open world filled with interesting characters and crafted encounters that can be a blast to experience outside of the main plot.
It’s the kind of rare game where you can log over a hundred hours and still find yourself discovering new gear, enemies, and locations.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Set 200 years after Oblivion, Skyrim sees you embarking on a quest to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, a terrifying dragon believed to bring about the end times.
Although the game looks dated by today’s graphical standards, that’s something you can easily address with the right Skyrim mods on PC.
In fact, there’s plenty of player-made content that goes beyond just making Skyrim look prettier, including new story/quest expansions, weapons and armor, and powers to wield against foes.
After you’ve downloaded and set up the necessary files for each mod, you shouldn’t run into any problems getting them to work offline.
