Top 10 Best Video Games to Play Right Now

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

As a majority of the world’s population continues to practice social distancing as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19, there exists a subset of quarantined individuals who feel as if it’s never been a better time to play some video games. Whether you’re looking to establish a new society on a remote island paradise, explore the Star Wars Universe while in search of a new Jedi Order, or carve your way through an endless horde of demons, it’s a fact that video games can offer you a variety of worlds outside the confines of wherever you’ve chosen to weather the ongoing storm. And so, in the interest of escaping our reality and projecting ourselves into new ones, I present to you a list of the 10 Best Games You Can Play Right Now!

(The following list is presented in alphabetical order)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Pack snacks and make tracks over to your new deserted island home. As a Canadian resident who's on the tail end of a mandatory isolation after having returned from international travel, Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons could not have come at a better time. Arriving as the fifth game in the main Animal Crossing series, New Horizons manages to combine 19 years worth of creative content into one adorable and addictive package. As the Resident Representative of your own island, it's your job to build the economy, liaise with your neighbors, and generally create like the tiny kingpin you so desperately want to be. Historically speaking, the Animal Crossing series is all about making friends, helping others, and developing your skills at resource management. In other words, it's the perfect title to satisfy your socializing needs without breaking quarantine.

Available Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Ninetendo Switch Lite

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Call of Duty: Warzone

While elaborate role-playing games, 3D platformers, and story-driven adventures each serve as a great way to blow off a bit of steam, sometimes, all you really want to do is gather your squad, arm yourselves to the teeth, and shoot some digital bad guys in their collective faces. Thankfully, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare provides you a variety of ways in which you can quench your thirst for blood, action, and tactical gameplay that's as often exhilarating as it is rage-inducing. Not only does the game feature what's arguably the franchise's best campaign in years, it also includes a robust variety of online modes that offer several ways to play with or without your friends. Additionally, Modern Warfare's newest feature, a battle royale mode titled Warzone, is now available to play online and free-of-charge. With so many methods of mayhem to choose from, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a frenetic first-person shooter that's bound to help take your mind off the outside world.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

This one might hit a little too close to home, given that we're currently experiencing a real-life pandemic, but there's also lots to love about Tom Clancy's The Division 2. Taking place seven months after an outbreak of Smallpox Variola Chimera (commonly known as the Dollar Flu or Green Poison), players are dispatched to Washington D.C., where a cure for Green Poison is reportedly located. Whether you choose to brave the streets of D.C. alone or with a team is up to you, though if I may, firefights can turn sour real quick, and so I strongly recommend assembling a team before you venture out. In addition to featuring three episodes of bonus content, the game's new Warlords of New York Expansion Pack takes the fight back to the Big Apple, where a biological weapon called Eclipse is poised to destroy what remains of the city. If loot-based shooters are your bag, and you're looking to engage with enemies that constantly adapt to your play-style, Tom Clancy's The Division 2 could be the quarantine time killer for you.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows

Doom Eternal

Even if Doom Eternal isn't as solid as its predecessor, Doom (2016), there's still plenty to enjoy about this punishing first-person shooter that propels you headlong into an Earth that's become overrun by demonic forces. As the Doom Slayer, you literally rip and tear your way through hordes of hellborn creatures that've wiped out 60% of the planet's population to make way for the Hell Priests, a band of all-powerful magicians who must prepare for the arrival of their leader, the Khan Maykr. As you traverse a variety of landscapes that've been corrupted by evil's poison touch, you'll have to rely on your powerful weapons, platforming skills, and lightning-quick reflexes if you expect to survive. While the game does play host to a number of issuesb — such as platforming sequences that can sometimes hinder the game's break-neck pace, and a story that's not quite as compelling or irreverent as id Software's 2016 installment of the series — there's no denying that Doom Eternal delivers some of the most satisfying action in videos games so far this year. If heavy metal music, big fuckin' guns, and winking humor is your jam, you might want to conjure yourself a copy of Doom Eternal.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, IBM PC compatible, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch TBA

Dreams

When the puzzle-platformer video game Little Big Planet was released in 2008, Media Molecule had handily established themselves as a developer who thinks outside the box. They're a studio that specializes in giving power to the players, by allowing them access to a myriad of tools that can be used to create new worlds where the only limits to the fun reside in the extent of the user's imagination. With Dreams, Media Molecule has given fans of their brand a truly unique VR-capable experience that allows you to create video games of your very own. Using the in-game tools, players can model, paint, animate and create anything their heart desires, all within a virtual space with seemingly limitless possibilities. Take heed though, friends. To create something truly amazing in Dreams, you're going to have to summon a lot of patience. There's a big difference between playing video games and making them, and chances are that you're going to need help. Thankfully, Dreams lets you connect with other players, and through the power of collaboration, you and other creators can compare notes, trade skills, and work alongside one another to design any game scenario that you can dream up. If being stuck in quarantine has got you feeling cooped up, and you've always wanted to try your hand at game design, Dreams is a great way to turn your wildest whims into an interactive reality.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 5 (upon console release)

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

Released in 2017 for consoles, and shortly thereafter for PC in 2018, Monster Hunter: World is an action role-playing game that simulates the thrill of the hunt. Here's the hook though, you're not sporting for a typical member of the animal kingdom, you're actually testing your mettle against massive monstrosities that have no intention of ending up as a trophy on your wall. As a hunter, your job is to aid the Research Commission in providing support for the establishment of the New World. Together with your assistant handler — an anthropomorphic cat (Palico) that keeps your weapons sharp and your sustenance piping hot — you set out for adventure amidst a variety of environments in search of kaiju-sized beasts to slay. Upon defeating any of the giant beasts, hunters use the felled enemy's parts to construct new weapons and armor, thus giving the player an advantage over their next target. In September of 2019, Monster Hunter: World introduced a massive expansion titled Monster Hunter World: Iceborne that picks up where the core game left off. For the expansion, players are given access to new quests, weapons, and monsters that will contribute to them achieving the new 'master rank!' You'll have to remain fleet-footed and keep your mind sharp if you hope to survive this expansion's new challenges, as even the slightest error can see a hunter becoming a monster's next meal.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Nioh 2

If escapism is what you crave, and the art of strategic-yet-frenzied melee combat sets your soul on fire, you need look no further than Nioh 2, an action role-playing game from developer Team Ninja. Famously known for bestowing the Ninja Gaiden video game series upon players, Team Ninja has thrown every advancement they've ever made into creating this brutally challenging and gorgeously rendered interactive experience. Set in a mythical Sengoku-era Japan, Nioh 2 acts as a prequel to 2017's Nioh, after the epic Battle at Osaka. For Nioh 2, players control a half-yokai nicknamed Hide. As you traverse an array of nightmarish landscapes, Hide comes into contact with all manner of mythical beasts and possessed warriors that are ripe for a good slicin' with his trusty assortment of weapons. Throughout your journey, His is introduced to a diverse list of upgrades and abilities that make you feel just as powerful as you are deadly. The experience feels as if Dark Souls and Dynasty Warriors got into the Emperor's stash of nose candy and snorted the whole damn pile of snow. The gameplay is quick, the enemies relentless, and you'll get your ass handed to you, time and again, lest you learn to bend the world of Nioh 2 to your desire. Have fun storming the castle!

Available Platforms: Playstation 4

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

To put it plainly, I recently updated my Xbox One for the first time since 2015 just so that I can play this game. As a sequel to 2015's Ori and the Blind Forest, the new game takes everything I loved about the original and cranks the volume up to eleven. For starters, the world of Ori and the Will of the Wisps is three times the size of the one presented in its predecessor. The combat is far more complex, and there are plenty of abilities and upgrades that offer you different ways to play. The game is also overflowing with personality, thanks to the action platformer's massive cast of strange and mystical characters. Speaking of characters, players are once again in control of Ori throughout the journey. After becoming separated from their owl friend Ku, Ori embarks on an epic odyssey through strange and dangerous lands to be reunited with their friend. The road toward Ku is dark and full of terrors, each one waiting to extinguish Ori's light before they can can return home to their forest spirit family. While I have experienced a few minor glitches while playing the Xbox One version of the game – such as harsh loading times and several-second freezing during some combat scenarios – none of them have been game-breaking or have caused me to lose interest in completing the game. For my money, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is one of the best games of 2020 so far. It's like if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and The Dark Crystal had a gorgeous child. If that doesn't rope you in, I don't know what will.

Available Platforms: Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield

Welcome to Galar, where the parents are terrible, the Pokémon are gigantic, and there are adventures to be had for the collector among you. In addition to introducing a host of new Pokémon for you to procure and befriend, the game also features Wild Areas, which are overworld territories where scores of new pocket monsters can be discovered. Sword and Shield introduce their own new legendary Pokémon of course, in addition to establishing a new Gigantamax system, allowing your Pokémon to become kaiju-esque, with powerful moves and a larger HP gauge to match. Like other games in the series, Sword and Shield are addictive AF. Currently, I've logged over 147 hours in Pokemon Sword, and have recently completed my Pokédex. Gotta catch 'em all!

Available Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Cards on the table here, folks. I have something of a love/hate relationship with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. On one end of the double-sided lightsaber, this game from Respawn Entertainment does a fantastic job of making you feel like a bonafide Jedi. To begin, you're granted access to Force Powers galore. You even get your own band of Rebel scum to keep you company while traversing familiar planets known throughout the Star Wars Universe. There are even times when the story that involves recovering a list of known force sensitives feels like the most important mission ever, even in a galaxy far, far away. However, the narrative eventually has a way of making you feel as if you've been stripped of your accomplishments, and that much of your time spent completing the journey was all for naught. The game also suffers from a distinct lack of polish, an aspect that led me to experiencing a plethora of hilarious bugs – none of them game-breaking, thank goodness. That said, even with all of its flaws – including the worst map I've encountered in a video game this generation – I had a blast while playing this game. The combat is solid, the planets distinct and populated by strange creatures, and it all simply screams Star Wars. In other words, if you're looking to feel connected to the Force, even while stuck inside your home, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will certainly take you where you need to go. May the Force be with you, even if the godforsaken map is not.

Available Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows