Epic Games, the developers of Fortnite, launched their digital gaming store —the Epic Games Store— in December 2018. The company quickly purchased exclusivity for numerous games, which may have rubbed a lot of PC gamers the wrong way.

However, the frustration with PC exclusivity aside, the Epic Games Store has a lot of great games to play. It's clear that the company isn't messing around and has successfully provided robust competition in the market. If you're wondering whether it's worth checking out, we've curated some of the best games you can get right now on the Epic Store.

The games on this list are not numbered in a particular order and as a whole represent the best offerings on the Epic Games Store to date.

Updated January 5, 2024 by William Quick: Happy holidays and season's greetings from one of the gaming outlets that's been with you throughout the year. As we start the new year, we like to think about how far we've come and all the things that have happened in our lives. Some events may not have been the best, while others may have been truly epic.

Hey, speaking of which, Epic Games continues to add more games to their library, and it's getting harder to keep track. That's why we're here, and we'd like to share with you some of the best titles that we've found on the platform to play on your own or with others this season and beyond.

The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria

Following the commercial and critical failure of The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum, the jewelry-based epic has left a bitter taste in many of our mouths. Yet never fear, as there is hope coming over the horizon just like the reinforcements of Rohan in the form of The Lord Of The Rings: Return To Moria.

Whether it's in a medieval fantasy setting or Deep Rock Galactic, fantasy dwarves are frequently viewed quite fondly. They're fun to play in numerous contexts, and they are one of the most prominent people in The Lord Of The Rings universe.

The original story follows a group of them trying to reclaim their home and treasure from the evil dragon Smaug and now comes the hard part, rebuilding Moria. Create your dwarven artisan and explorer as you explore the depths of Moria on your own or with fellow dwarven players to explore what is now a foreign series of mines, caves, and caverns as you take whatever you can to aid your survival on a quest to make Moria feel like home.

Control

After magic, the concept of psychic powers dominates a lot of fiction stories with a heavier emphasis on the science aspect of things. All of us at one point or another have thought about thought-powers and wondered about the responsibilities that come with them, which is why Control gives us some insight into that.

The game starts you on a literal high note as you, as Jesse Faden, are promoted to the head of a clandestine organization specializing in the supernatural. It doesn't take too long before an unknown threat makes itself known, and you are tasked with finding a way to think it out of existence. On top of being able to rely on your training as an agent, you'll get to play around with a bunch of different psionic powers to solve problems and destroy enemies. Don't forget that you'll also have a team of fellow agents to aid you in your story.

Hi-Fi Rush

Seeing the release line-up so full of sequels and similar titles can make you lose hope for creativity and innovation in the gaming market. That's why when something dons a rainbow romper and a hat made of salted caramel stardust, we must make sure to burn it into our memories, which brings us to Hi-Fi Rush

.

In an unexpected maneuver, Bethesda lent its publishing power to a game about an aspiring rock star named Chai signing up for an experimental cybernetic procedure in hopes of becoming a better musician. Through a series of events, the process fuses his music device into his heart, allowing him to perceive a rhythm throughout the entire world to which he can sync up all his actions.

He does this by creating a guitar out of junk and then surprising everyone by using it to smash robots into pieces rather than carry a tune. He'll team up with a colorful and ragtag group of rebels to take down the cybernetic company in a series of platforming action levels with great music and a wonderful sense of humor.

RoboCop: Rogue City

Picture this: It's the 80s and crime dominates the streets to the point where even the police are afraid to do their jobs. Seeing this, a tech company decides to invest in a project to create a new type of law enforcement officer, one without fear and a body made to withstand anything that criminals can get their hands on. This is RoboCop, and he's the star of RoboCop: Rogue City.

Even though many would say that the good of RoboCop doesn't go past the first movie, Rogue City has helped to redeem the character. What made the movie stand out was that it pulled no punches in depicting violent criminals and a robotic police officer who responded with a similar level of violence. The game gives you the chance to experience things from RoboCop's perspective as he fights a one-cyborg war against crime with all the machine power and firepower he can wield while trying to minimize collateral damage.

Witchfire

Witch hunts have made their way into history, social situations, and various forms of media. There are plenty of games where you play as a witch or as someone who hunts witches with Witchfire going for the latter. This modern dark fantasy FPS has you hunting not to save the world, but to save yourself.

You may be some tough guy with a number of firearms, but that's not all you've got. The witch you're going after isn't the only one who can use magic since you've also been gifted with dark powers that you can turn against the witch's forces. To better aid your hunt, you can pick up materials to craft ammo and enhance your weapons as you try to master your new powers. If there is such a thing as a Gun Mage, this game gets you pretty close to being one.

Mordhau

From all the movies and shows, we often accept that fighting in medieval battles was no different from fighting today. However, unless you've covered yourself head to toe in chunks of metal and carried around a large piece of metal, you haven't experienced the daunting and challenging combat of Mordhau.

Enter another version of the past where one of the main pastimes was fighting in large-scale battles with armored soldiers. When you get a feel for the sluggish movement and the weight of the different weapons, you realize just how important skill and timing are to victory. You'll fight hordes of other warriors, sometimes in groups, other times alone, but all of them charging into the fray. Build a warrior to suit your play style complete with armor, shield, weapons, and tactics to stand tall on the battlefield.

Farming Simulator 22

Many people grew up thinking that they would never set foot on a farm let alone learn how one actually works. Yet, farming games are among the most popular in the market because of the sense of satisfaction they provide that comes from building something from nothing, and Farming Simulator 22 adds a lot of layers to it.

With the word "Simulator" in its title, you can bet that you're in for an immersive if not engrossing experience. Rather than controlling an individual running a farm, you are overseeing an entire farm's functions and productions. You don't start with much, but you get to play around with all the different areas of farm work from planting seeds to feeding the animals. You'll start to earn profits so that you can expand, upgrade, and establish new systems on your farm in the name of efficiency.

Loop Hero

Stories about time travel are always a little tricky, especially when you start overlapping timelines and alternate universes that someone's got to track. Still, stories about time loops and experiencing the same events over and over again have proven to be quite popular and that's the setting for Loop Hero.

This odd title drops you into a colorful but doomed world that an ominous figure named the Lich has trapped in a loop. Unfortunately, no one is able to escape it, but you and the hero are going to try your hardest. As you head out into the randomly generated world created by the loop, you'll face many dangers and collect loot in the form of cards that can be used to change the environment in various ways. You can change elements about the land and its inhabitants in order to strengthen your hero so that they may get a little bit closer to breaking the loop.

Remnant 2

There are some games that have thriving communities, but many of us don't hear about them and Remnant: From The Ashes is one of those games. It introduced a challenging universe that was fun to tackle with friends and the team behind it has expanded on this idea into the recently released sequel that is Remnant 2.

Continuing on from the previous game, an evil plant-like entity known as the Root has started to die off in a post-apocalyptic Earth but still poses a threat in mutated creatures and a disease known as the Rot. As one of many archetypes, you'll come to learn that there are multiple universes all under the threat of the Root so you and your team need to fix it. That means you'll use your complementary abilities and weapons to fight your way through these universes and take down the biggest and baddest bosses that you can find.

Dead By Daylight

When it comes to slasher movies, a lot of us don't take them seriously because they seem overly dramatic and at times campy. Even so, they're very entertaining to watch, and they've created a lot of memorable characters, many of whom can be found in the online slasher game that is Dead By Daylight.

Enter a universe where killers and unsuspecting survivors are trapped in contained and otherworldly environments. As a Survivor, your objective is to sneak around and use your skills to outsmart the Killer so that you can repair Generators that will allow you to escape safely. As a Killer, you serve a dark and hungry being known as the Entity, and you must feed it by hunting down the Survivors with your dangerous abilities and devious traps. Will you hunt or run?

God Of War (2018)

One of the hardest things to do with an IP is trying to reboot it, with many going unnoticed or failing to live up to expectations. The ones that do succeed do so for a reason, and we can learn a lot from them. A great example would be the new God Of War which was rebooted in 2018 and continued into God Of War: Ragnarök.

Following an ambiguous ending at the end of God Of War 3, Kratos has escaped Greece and made his way to Midgard where he started a family. The game begins as he and his son Atreus set off on a quest to scatter his mother's ashes in a most sacred place. Through a whole new combat system and RPG mechanics, Kratos will wield his boomerang-like ice axe called Leviathan as he fights gods and monsters associated with the always-popular Norse mythology.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

If you were lucky enough to own a PS2 back in the day, you likely came across a comical and colorful sci-fi adventure called Ratchet & Clank. Who knew this cat-fox-wold alien and his little robot buddy would go on to have such a prolific career? With the arrival of the PS5, the duo continued their journey into Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

Rejoin the adventurous Ratchet and the analytical Clank as they find themselves in a scenario that literally crosses worlds. With an all-new threat threatening not just one universe, the team will find themselves crossing dimensions and teaming up with a universal counterpart named Rivet. Build up another extensive arsenal of huge and outrageous weapons as you fight the threats of each universe, meet new friends, and confront a powerful and ambitious villain.

Dying Light

You may not like zombies, but it's hard to deny that they provide some great fodder for a lot of games. You've got the undead playground that is the Dead Rising series, but also the intense adrenaline-pumping experience of the Parkour-based zombie game Dying Light.

Join special agent Kyle Crane as he parachutes into a city that has been quarantined due to the rapid spread of a zombie virus. After becoming infected, he allies himself with the other survivors trapped in the city as he tries to learn more about the virus and fight against other humans trying to take control of the situation. Use Kyle's Parkour skills and resourcefulness to run and jump over rooftops as you craft different weapons to carve up the zombie hordes and the mutated monsters among them.

Tchia

There's a type of game that has all the elements of an epic adventure but has a very passive or relaxed approach to taking down the big bad guy. This takes a lot of the pressure off so that you can appreciate everything that the game has to offer and Tchia definitely has a lot of that.

Tchia has you playing as the titular character, exploring a series of islands inspired by New Caledonia. She's on a quest to save her father from a villain with scary powers but Tchia has some powers of her own. Specifically, she can possess animals and inanimate objects to gain their powers and use them in wonderfully creative ways.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

Although the SpongeBob SquarePants show is not what it once was, it still possesses a lot of charm and wackiness that it brings across multiple mediums. The fun-loving yellow sponge has enjoyed a decently successful gaming career and makes a big splash once again in The Cosmic Shake.

Just like most of the things in SpongeBob's life, this adventure revolves around providing fast food, and this time it's the Cosmic Shake that has captured attention. This 3D platformer makes use of the character's trademark moves and personality to tell a silly yet sizable and enjoyable cartoon adventure with recognizable friends and villains along for the ride.

The Outlast Trials

When Outlast first appeared, it captured the hearts of horror lovers and thrill-seekers everywhere. Though it was followed by the less popular Outlast 2, the series has not been deterred because its fear is something potent. It can be felt once again in the recently released Outlast Trials.

While the first two games had you roaming a dangerous environment alone, this time you're working alongside other hapless victims. You and the others are trapped in a test-like facility with monstrous beings hunting you in the dark. All you have is each other, but you need to do everything you can to survive and hopefully escape.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

With Spider-Man 2 to expect down the line, it's a good reason to revisit all the current Spider-Man games still available. The 2018 game is quite the experience, and it was followed by the newest NY hero, Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

As young Miles, you'll be in charge of looking after New York while Peter Parker is away. You'll have all the freedom of swinging and falling through the city mixed with combat encounters and stealth gameplay. To add some sugar on top, you get access to all of Miles's trademark invisibility and Venom skills.

Dead Island 2

The first Dead Island is one of the most notable examples of having an amazing game trailer but lacking gameplay. The devs seemed to have learned their lesson with the recent release of Dead Island 2.

That's right, you're back in a holiday paradise where the zombie outbreak returns in full force. Sure, you're welcome to follow the story and take on missions for the various survivors around the island. The thing is, this is a zombie game with an entertaining setting, refined gameplay, crafting, and plenty of squishy undead to take out your frustrations.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

The Star Wars franchise fluctuates when it comes to success in gaming, especially when it involves using lightsabers and the force. Though, it seems the team has taken some notes from other action-adventure games to create the Jedi series, with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor being the latest entry.

You return as Cal, the Jedi in hiding as he continues his campaign against the Empire. He's a bit more seasoned, but he's still got plenty of allies and planets to visit. Using soulslike mechanics, it's a challenging experience with all the features of the Star Wars universe. You'll need skillful lightsaber tactics and creative use of the Force in order to get far and see more.

Horizon Zero Dawn

There are many theories and ideas as to how the world will transform as technology gets more advanced. An interesting and impressive take can be seen in humankind's return to the old ways and robots becoming part of the wildlife in Horizon Zero Dawn.

As the young and special woman Aloy, you quickly integrate with a piece of tech that allows you to see the behaviors of all the robotic beings roaming the world. This helps with understanding, avoiding, hunting, and riding them as you're taken on an epic journey. Use a combination of survival crafting and technological tinkering to make and use the best gear available.