PC Games That Grabbed Our Attention in 2021

For gamers, 2021 was a rollercoaster. The silicone shortage is still a significant factor in getting your hands on new PC hardware, and affordable RTX GPUs are hard to get your hands on. Console gaming is looking more attractive at the moment, with the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch OLED costing you less combined than buying a brand new PC battle station or even a high-end graphics card.

On the other hand, 2021 was a pretty good year for PC games. Plenty of titles managed to get our attention away from the never-ending COVID-19 pandemic and the scandals rocking the gaming industry. Here are some games that helped us get through 2021:

Valheim

Valheim took us all by surprise. We took on a role of a warrior sent into the imaginary tenth realm of the world tree Yggdrasil called Valheim. We needed to prove ourselves worthy of entering Vallhalla and sitting by Odin’s side by ridding it free of monsters and beasts that even gods themselves hesitate to challenge.

Valheim is an excellent blend of survival, exploration, and RPG elements set in a wonderful-looking world. We thoroughly enjoyed creating our first settlement and embarking on our longship to explore the fantastic procedurally-generated world.

It Takes Two

Another game that made us laugh and tear up a bit was It Takes Two. This co-op-only game that, at first glance, looks like a simple third-person platformer is much more than that.

You take on the roles of Cody and Mary, a married couple soon to be divorced that have been turned into dolls. As you can imagine, much of the humor and heartwarming moments ensue while they try to figure out what’s going on and get back their former human bodies. To say more would spoil the fun, so instead, just take our recommendation and find someone to play this wonderful game with right away!

Life Is Strange: True Colors

Life Is Strange is known for its emotional games with a strong narrative, and True Colors reminded us a lot of the critically acclaimed original title that started it all in 2015.

You take on the role of Alex Chen, a young woman coming to live with her brother and the only family she has left in a fictional mining town of Haven Springs, Colorado. The plot soon takes a dark turn, but the game is still full of outstanding and heartwarming character interactions. Also worth noting is that Alex, like other main characters in the series, has supernatural powers. We don’t want to reveal too much of the story, and we recommend playing it without looking at trailers and more extensive reviews. Just go in blind, and you’ll enjoy it more - trust us about this.

Resident Evil Village

Getting lost in the snowed-up mountains of a fictional Transylvanian setting has never been as much fun as in the latest Resident Evil title. The Village perfectly does many things you would expect from a horror game. You, as Ethan, will face many puzzles, obstacles, and hideous foes, while trying to find your lost wife. The story, pacing, and action are all top-notch, and this may well be one of the best games in the history of this acclaimed franchise.

Inscryption

If a blend of deck-building, roguelike, psychological horror, escape room, and puzzle game sounds like an impossible combination, then you haven’t tried Inscryption yet. Like with Life is Strange, we recommend going in without reading too much about the game. Don’t worry if you haven’t played deck-building games before - the game does a great job of getting you familiar with the concept. Unlike other games in the genre, it’s narrative-driven and has rightly received an overwhelmingly positive response from players on Steam.

There are plenty of other titles that we enjoyed in 2021. Halo Infinite, The Forgotten City, Forza Horizon 5, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Deathloop are some of the honorable mentions that we would like to include here.