The best games of 2026 so far offer a diverse range of experiences, from roaring across Japan's open roads to scaling impossible mountains and playing with post-apocalyptic Pokémon. Here are the highlights that will keep you glued to your chair.
007 First Light
Bond sets out to earn his licence to kill in IO Interactive's hugely enjoyable retelling of the agent's early years. Mixing the stealth and open environments of Hitman with the narrative drive of the Uncharted games, there are fistfights, cool cars and hi-tech gadgets aplenty.
Forza Horizon 6
The grand festival of car racing returns, this time bringing its automotive chaos to Japan, where bamboo forests, winding mountain roads and dense city streets play host to a wealth of driving challenges. With astonishing visuals and more than 500 beautiful vehicles, this is escapist gaming on a whole new level.
Forbidden Solitaire
Trapped in a hellish dungeon surrounded by monsters, your only way out is to play increasingly challenging rounds of solitaire while your sister figures out who made this cursed game. A brilliant puzzler housed within a clever meta conceit.
Mythmatch
Cast out by the insufferable dudebros of Mount Olympus, aspiring goddess Artemis must prove her worth by helping the mortal inhabitants of a small village. Mixing match-three dynamics with a warm narrative about kinship and perseverance, this is a multilayered treat.
Titanium Court
A fascinating combination of match-three puzzler, tower defence game and fourth-wall-breaking stage-play. You are crowned queen of a faerie citadel that you must defend from mysterious enemies, matching tiles to arrange the battlefield and exploring the court at night. Confused? You almost certainly will be, but that's almost the point.
Pragmata
When contact is lost with a lunar research station, space cop Hugh Williams is sent to investigate, only to discover a seemingly abandoned base ruled by a despotic AI. With the help of a charming android child, he attempts to shut it down, hacking robots and blasting drones. An engrossing sci-fi romp with a cute parental relationship at its core.
Resident Evil: Requiem
Rookie FBI operative Grace Ashcroft investigates a series of mysterious deaths tied to the destruction of Raccoon City. Soon, she's being stalked, spooked and kidnapped, while series hero Leon Kennedy closes in. Combining tense stealth and barnstorming action, Requiem gets to have its zombie and kill it too.
Saros
Colonists have gone missing on a distant planet. As part of the team sent to find them, you must battle cybernetic creatures, explore weird fractured environments and die over and over again. An action game with style and vision, placing uncompromising demands on brave space farers.
Cairn
Aava is obsessed with scaling places no human ought to reach. On her trip up a forbidding mountain, you control her individual limbs, searching for hand and footholds. The higher you get, the more urgent the question: why is she doing this, and what kind of person follows such an obsession?
Pokémon Pokopia
The latest Pokémon spin-off is a delightful life simulation where you restore a ruined planet by building, planting and exploring with Pokémon pals. Combining elements of Minecraft, Stardew Valley and Viva Piñata, this cosy yet complex adventure brings new dimensions to Pikachu and co.
Honourable mentions
- Mario Tennis Fever
- Mewgenics
- TR-49
- Marathon
- Pieced Together
- Life Is Strange: Reunion
