These are the first three games you should buy for your gaming PC this holiday

So, you’ve finally got a good gaming PC setup and you’re eager to see what that baby can do. Keeping an eye on the system requirements for each game, 2023 has been a huge year for games so make sure you take your time reading reviews and having a look at what’s out there.

However, we’re going to keep this short and sweet. I think starting with a detailed open world game is a nice way to bond with your gaming PC and get settled in. Naturally Starfield springs to mind, but other games like Baldur’s Gate 3 might be even more worth it – it depends on your vibe – are you spacey or into dragons? We’ll also go over why Lethal Company is probably the best $10 you can spend, especially if you’ve got friends to play with and a fairly low-end PC.

The best PC games you need to play this holiday season

In our review we gave Baldur’s Gate 3 a well-deserved and rare 10/10. There’s never a dull moment with a map brimming with side quests to complete and consequences for every action. From the very start, you’re immediately drawn into moral dilemmas with romances and companionship that develops along the way. We’re also recommending it because you don’t even need the best PC for Baldur’s Gate 3 – the game can run on an Nvidia GTX 970 barring a few minor issues – meaning there’s a good chance your PC is up to the task. Once you’ve bought the game, you may want to check out what the best graphics settings for Baldur’s Gate 3 would be.

The best PC game to play with friends this Christmas

Lethal Company is so much fun, will only cost you a tenner and it’s definitely better playing with friends. You are a contracted worker for the Company and must fulfill its quota by collecting scrap from abandoned industrialized moons. It’s good silly fun with incredibly low stakes (sometimes) and would be a nice way to keep in touch with friends over the holidays. The Lethal Company system requirements are pretty low, too. Make sure you have a look at the best graphics settings for the game too.

Operating System	Windows 10 64-bit
Processor	Intel Core i5-7400 CPU @ 3.00GHz
Memory	4 GB RAM
Graphics	NVIDIA GForce GTX 1050
Direct X	Version 11
Storage	1 GB available space

Starfield is another stellar PC game you should try out

Starfield was probably the most anticipated game this year from Bethesda Studios. We gave it a 9/10 in our review, sighting its impressive attention to detail and vast cosmic world to explore. It’s been largely debugged, meaning you’re left with a fantastic mixture between No Man’s Sky, Mass Effect, and Fallout. It could be worth keeping an eye on the price of Starfield on PC. Using the CamelCamelCamel price tracker – we found the game dropped to just $50 in the start of December, so there might be the chance of another deal over the next month. The only caveat is that you need an SSD to play Starfield and a chunky 16GB of RAM. See below for details. You can get it through GamePass membership via Amazon if you’re playing on Xbox.

Operating System	Windows 10 64-bit
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, Intel Core i7-6800K
Memory	16 GB RAM
Graphics	AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
Direct X	Version 12
Storage	SSD Required

Frequently asked questions

Are there any Christmassy PC games to play for the holidays?

Video games with Christmas settings aren’t exactly common, but there are a few options out there. We recommend Spider-Man: Miles Morales which takes place around Christmas, and, for something even more Christmassy, try Saints Row 4, a fun open-world game that involves saving Santa Claus from a simulation. Alternatively, there’s Batman: Arkham Origins which is set during Christmas Eve.

When is the next Steam sale?

The last Steam sale of 2023 is the Steam Winter sale that begins on December 21st and lasts through until January 4th.