The Epic Store recently picked some of the best holiday PC games that they have to offer including some of the bigger fan favorites. There are three selections per category and here we go!
Couch Games
Local coop games are great for when you have friends or family (or both) in the same room. So, plug in your controllers and play these holiday PC games together on one screen; everyone crammed together in-game and in real life.
Goat Simulator 3
The silly sandbox allows four players to share the screen. Along with the physics carnage and overall bad goat behavior, there are multiplayer mini-games to play, like Hoofball (goat soccer) or Floor Is Lava.
Overcooked! 2
Up to four players can cram into a kitchen and cooperatively craft meals. Recipes are prepped, cooked, and plated up collaboratively while the chefs deal with shifting platforms, random portals, and, ugh, the dishes.
It Takes Two
It’s right there in the title. It Takes Two is a story of a couple trying to reconnect with each other. Basically, they’re shrunken down and have to combine their skills to complete a vast number of mini-games. There are too many to list, but from controlling a pencil to battling a squirrel atop a plane, every moment is a treat to play with someone close.
Fun Family Games
Not all games are family-friendly. This special section is dedicated to the Epic Store games you can play with every generation of your family. No jump scares here!
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Star Wars and LEGO bricks are multi-generational classics. The huge LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga turns all nine of Luke’s movies into gloriously blocky action-adventure games for up to two players. Build and bash together with Jedi-like precision through dozens of perfectly crafted movie scenes.
Jackbox Party Pack 9
For a seriously packed front room, Jackbox Party Pack 9 is a party game that’s like having an interactive game show in your home. Answer questions, play mini-games, come up with amusing stories for spooky dolls … It’ll crack grandmas and grandkids up and everyone in between.
Rayman Legends
Up to four players can play together in Ubisoft’s slick platform game. Essentially, levels are a mix of traditional running and jumping and some interesting physics puzzles that force players to sync movements and help each other.
Local Versus Games
Obviously, not everyone gets along. If you have competitive cousins, there are games that let you battle it out on a single screen using multiple controllers.
FIFA 23
The ultimate sibling silencer. The FIFA series has a long tradition of one versus one gaming showdowns, and the slick soccer series latest is no exception. Pick a team, grab a controller, and see who dribbles best and shoots worse.
Towerfall Ascension
Up to four players can cram together on a single screen in Towerfall Ascension. Versus mode pits everyone against each other as they try to shoot each other with arrows while scrambling for power-ups. It’s a scramble to survive the elements and arrows.
Brawlhalla
A multiplayer fighting game for up to eight players. Even with over 50 characters to play as and dozens of levels to fight across, it’s quite simple to pick up and play, which is perfect if you have a couch full of rowdy relatives looking to let off some steam.
Online Co-op Games
If you have the time to play, but friends and family are far-flung? Here are some great online co-op holiday PC games to play with your besties.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
At last! You can finally be a Ghostbuster and team up with other potential Venkmans and more. The original Ghostbusters had the perfect set-up for a co-op game, as players need to combine the power of the Proton Packs to wrangle the ghosts and then perfectly time a trap to grab them.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
A story-based multiplayer game with a table-top gaming backdrop and FPS action. Up to four players can gather to play Bunkers & Badasses, Tina’s role-playing game, as she crafts a ridiculous story. Multiple classes, bazillions of guns, there are hours of online fun for friends.
Elite Dangerous
Elite Dangerous has a number of modes that allow players to gather together. You simply join up as a wing of up to four players, flying in separate ships on missions, or you can multicrew, sitting together in a friend’s cockpit and filling in as a Gunner or Fighter pilot. With over 400 billion star systems to explore, that’s 100 billion systems per player. Get cracking.
Free to Play Games to Explore
Been overly generous with your presents, and now you need to keep things tight until 2023? Don’t worry! There are loads of great free-to-play games on the Epic Games Store.
Fall Guys
Beans stumble over each other to win rounds in the Blunderdome. It’s a physics-based battle royale, where elaborate levels throw everything they have at players to cause them to stumble on their way to the finish line.
Genshin Impact
A huge action-adventure game that lets players explore the vast world of Teyvat. The story-based, multiplayer RPG lets players unlock characters, take on daily quests, and dedicate themselves to mastering the complex elemental magic systems that drive the interesting battles and action.
Rumbleverse
A melee combat rumble royale, where Grapital City is host to a vast punch-up. Players fill the streets, grabbing powers and brawling together to be the last one standing. It’s a fun spin on the typically bullet-filled multiplayer genre.
Winter Wonderlands
It might be cold outside, but you can enjoy some winter cheer without having to wrap up in 12 layers. These games have the best snow you’ll ever see.
Skyrim – The Elder Scrolls
You are Dragonborn, on a quest to stop Alduin the World-Eater from destroying the planet. The Norse-inspired landscapes are stunning. It’s up to you to choose your path, across icy rivers and up frozen mountains, building up the skills to finally face the dragon that’s threatening everything.
SnowRunner
Slush never looked so good. SnowRunner’s an off-roading simulation game where you take on jobs that require driving vehicles across a snow-covered landscape. The wonderful physics makes every twist and turn of the steering wheel a real battle against the elements.
Games That Help You Escape
There’s no shame in shutting out the rest of the world and settling into a low-stakes game or two. See out 2022 with some of these chill challenges.
Subnautica
There are few survival games that immerse you as much as Subnautica, which drops you into the ocean of an alien world and tells you to get swimming. Yes, it has all the elements of a survival game–shelter, food, upgrades–but when you have a base set up, it’s like living in an aquarium: vast creatures skull the depths, ropes of seaweed sway with the currents. It’s a proper getaway.
The Outer Wilds
The sun is about to explode, and you have 20 mins to stop it. Again, not the most relaxing prospect in theory, but The Outer Wilds does all this with a languid soundtrack twanging around and a world that slowly unfolds over the same 20 minutes repeating over and over. There are few worlds as well-made or as welcoming as this.
Farming Simulator 22
It’s you against the elements as you run a farm. The latest Farming Simulator crops to grow, seasons to plan for, animals to raise, and dozens of real-world farm equipment to do it with. It’s a big task, but it’s easy to zen out as you buzz up and down the fields on a combine harvester.
Enjoy these holiday PC Games by visiting the Epic Games Store.
