Best Classic Games on Steam
Older games, remasters, or designs rooted in enduring genre traditions.
Browse all Classic →
1The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition - Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition brings the epic fantasy to life in stunning detail. The Special Edition includes the critically acclaimed game and add-ons with all-new features.
Oct 27, 2016
In this game, you can…
- turn into a werewolf or vampire lord, feed on enemies, blot out the sun, then summon a skeleton horse and a zombie dragon.
- join a crime syndicate, sell your soul to an evil god, kill the boss, then enlist in a hitman cult.
- join one side of a civil war, change your mind midstream, switch sides, and help wipe out your old allies.
- start on an execution block, then escape when a dragon attacks.
- marry someone, adopt kids, build a house, then head out to fight dragons again.
- go to a magic college, find a dangerous artifact, stop a power grab, and end up running the place.
- shout with dragon power to blast enemies apart and even ride dragons.
2Half-Life 2 - Reawakened from stasis in the occupied metropolis of City 17, Gordon Freeman is joined by Alyx Vance as he leads a desperate human resistance. Experience the landmark first-person shooter packed with immersive world-building, boundary-pushing physics, and exhilarating combat.
Nov 16, 2004
In this game, you can…
- use a gravity gun to turn junk into weapons, tools, and stepping stones mid-fight.
- launch a saw blade and slice an enemy clean in half.
- pick up a random can, throw it at a guard, and watch him chase you down.
- carry one specific object for ages because the world stays physically consistent.
- drive a buggy across huge stretches of coast and ruins while the same looming tower stays in sight.
- storm a fortified prison complex as a full-scale set-piece assault.
- walk into a chapter the game treats like horror, with zombies howling and shadows jumping rooftop to rooftop.
- solve small puzzles by moving real objects through water, fire, and weight, instead of hitting switches.
3Halo: The Master Chief Collection - The Master Chief’s iconic journey includes six games, built for PC and collected in a single integrated experience. Whether you’re a long-time fan or meeting Spartan 117 for the first time, The Master Chief Collection is the definitive Halo gaming experience.
Dec 3, 2019
In this game, you can…
- swap between the 2001 and anniversary visuals instantly, mid-mission, while everything else keeps playing normally
- get blindsided when a straight sci-fi shooter mission suddenly turns into claustrophobic survival horror
- build custom maps and modes, then jump into weird community-made games people invented in the browser
- storm a beach, then spill into a huge open battlefield where you choose the route, vehicles, and targets for the assault
- dual-wield guns and turn a normal firefight into a two-weapon rushdown
- play the entire campaign in 4-player co-op as your own spartans, start to finish, with everyone in the same missions
- remix the whole campaign with skulls that change how combat works, turning familiar levels into totally different challenge runs
- fight 16-player multiplayer battles with tanks, aircraft, and alien weapons all on the same map
4DOOM - Now includes all three premium DLC packs (Unto the Evil, Hell Followed, and Bloodfall), maps, modes, and weapons, as well as all feature updates including Arcade Mode, Photo Mode, and the latest Update 6.66, which brings further multiplayer improvements as well as revamps multiplayer progression.
May 12, 2016
In this game, you can…
- fire a single BFG shot that clears an entire room of demons.
- snap together and share custom maps and game modes, including editing the rules and logic behind them.
- rip a demon apart up close to instantly refill health and ammo.
- upgrade a chainsaw into your emergency ammo dispenser mid-fight.
- double-jump across vertical arenas, bait shots, and stay alive by never stopping.
- turn a basic shotgun into an explosive launcher with a mod, then keep upgrading it into a specialized tool.
- get locked in an arena while portals spawn waves of demons, and the doors only open after you wipe them all out.
- find secret rooms, hidden weapons, and even classic DOOM secret levels, then fast-travel back to grab what you missed.
5Resident Evil 2 - A deadly virus engulfs the residents of Raccoon City in September of 1998, plunging the city into chaos as flesh eating zombies roam the streets for survivors. An unparalleled adrenaline rush, gripping storyline, and unimaginable horrors await you. Witness the return of Resident Evil 2.
Jan 24, 2019
In this game, you can…
- board up first-floor windows so zombies stop climbing in for good.
- walk instead of run because some enemies track you by sound, and sprinting can get you jumped.
- cripple zombies by cutting their legs with a knife, then pull that same knife back out of them to reuse it.
- be hunted through the police station by Mr. X, who can show up mid-map-check and force you to run.
- shoot enemies until limbs come off and bodies pile up physically, with other zombies stumbling over the mess.
- spin items in your inventory to reveal hidden mechanisms, turning a "key item" into something usable.
- watch rooms turn blue on the map when you've collected everything inside, so you can route-plan with confidence.
- play two campaigns where Leon and Claire get different weapons, characters, scenes, and unique final bosses.
6Sid Meier's Civilization® V - Create, discover, and download new player-created maps, scenarios, interfaces, and more!
Sep 21, 2010
In this game, you can…
- open your borders to Gandhi, then watch him pillage your land, annex cities, denounce you, and launch nukes anyway.
- send a nuclear fleet across the world, punch through a submarine blockade, fire the warheads, then drop XCOM squads to seize the top superpower's capital before the space race ends.
- absorb a nearby city-state instantly, then trigger a chain-reaction war where your allies help wipe out an empire.
- start in 4000 BC with one settler and build a world empire.
- win wars by pure positioning, using terrain choke points while cities shoot enemies from two tiles away.
- bribe leaders and city-states into alliances until a few denouncements turn into a globe-spanning world war.
- fight late-game resource wars where uranium decides everything, nuclear subs blockade coasts, cruisers break through, and XCOM drops capture capitals.
- race two victories at once, then lose one turn before winning because another nation hits a different win condition first.
- build famous wonders in completely wrong places, like the Great Pyramids in Honolulu or the Great Wall of Portugal.
7Portal - Portal™ is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal has been called one of the most innovative new games on the horizon and will offer gamers hours of unique gameplay.
Oct 10, 2007
In this game, you can…
- fall into a portal to build speed, then explode out the other across impossible gaps.
- watch a simple cube become a lifesaver when it blocks a deadly energy ball for you.
- solve fights without shooting by redirecting enemies and danger through portals and props.
- place a blue portal and an orange portal to make an instant entrance and exit.
- use portals to turn a drop into a slingshot, launch onto a ledge, grab a cube midair, and land on a button before a hazard triggers.
- hear an AI narrate and taunt you the whole time, like the facility is watching and lying.
- tip over a turret that looked terrifying and it just collapses and stops.
- rip pieces off the final boss, carry each one to an incinerator, and repeat the cycle three times to finish it.
8Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - 42 Civilizations, 229 Campaign Missions, Singleplayer, Co-Op, Multiplayer, In-Game Editor, Mods, Cross-play...It is good to be the king.
Nov 14, 2019
In this game, you can…
- watch a monk convert your knights mid-fight, and they instantly switch sides.
- tell AI teammates what units to train, where to build, and what target to attack.
- play voice-acted historical campaigns like Saladin or Joan of Arc, and even run some of those missions in co-op.
- auto-explore the map with your scout.
- collapse buildings into rubble when they're destroyed, instead of just disappearing.
- queue unit production and technologies at the same time, so upgrades don't pause your momentum.
- skip the early setup and jump straight into fighting with a mode that starts after the opening minutes.
- race a campaign mission timer by destroying every castle in a city in under 30 minutes.
9Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition - Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Armed with an alien nursery-worth of zombie-zapping plants like peashooters and cherry bombs, you'll need to think fast and plant faster to stop dozens of types of zombies dead in their tracks.
May 5, 2009
In this game, you can…
- play a mode where you control the zombies, choose your horde, and break through cardboard plants to eat the brains.
- create your own custom zombie and sometimes see it wandering around in the actual attacking hordes.
- beat the final boss, then watch the zombies you fought all game perform a full ending music video together.
- plant sunflowers to generate sun, then spend it to build a defensive lineup before the next wave reaches your house.
- fight on lawns that turn into night fog, pool lanes, and a rooftop, forcing you to rethink where every plant goes.
- drop a cherry bomb to instantly erase a packed lane and flip a losing wave into a win.
- replay the whole campaign with the full plant roster, but have three of your plant picks randomly chosen for you.
- smash open vases to reveal hidden plants and zombies, then rebuild your defense on the fly based on what you found.
10Black Mesa - Relive Half-Life.
Mar 6, 2020
In this game, you can…
- spend roughly a quarter of the campaign in a rebuilt Xen that plays like its own ecosystem, with new creatures and reimagined spaces.
- get hunted for a long stretch by a giant alien behemoth, then finally turn and fight it when there's nowhere left to run.
- trigger an experiment that rips open reality and starts an alien invasion, all while you stay in control and the story never cuts away.
- step through a teleporter into Xen and emerge in a vast, fully alien border-world with huge new areas to explore.
- survive firefights where enemy soldiers flank, use cover, and throw grenades aggressively, forcing you to keep moving and switch tactics.
- walk into a smoking battlefield where humans and aliens are actively fighting across wreckage, and you can get caught in the crossfire.
- solve physics-based obstacles by moving and stacking objects to reach switches, routes, and safety.
- pick up new iconic gear and watch it snap into place in your hands with full first-person animations.
