The issue is that I think there are Steam bundles that can’t be gifted, such as the Valve pack and that kind of thing. That also makes something like Civ 6 less likely, just because of the DLC bundles. I can also use Fanatical or Humble but frankly the region thing might be an issue.
This guy has played every console-available game under the sun before around 2020. So I’m focusing more on what he’s not likely to have played. He’s more of a soulslike/fighting game guy and I’m more of a simulation and eurojank enjoyer, so the recommendations don’t always carry across.
That said, I’ve been thinking newer games like Animal Well that are sure to be received well, but it’d suck if he already played it on something else. Would be a funny inclusion as well, a 35 megabyte 2D platformer for his new gaming desktop.
Any suggestions?
For PC I would go for the avan-garde stuff
e.g. Cold line
Most popular indie titles are already on console as studios will port stuff to increase the sales.
I would go to look for stuff that can’t be sold. Dream like avan-garde surrealism or under 2h experiences on itch.io and newgrounds.com
also RTS require mouse so it could be a fun stuff to get into.
Avant-garde is my jam, it’s just hard to convince people who aren’t into that kind of game to play. I love the Cosmo D games, for example, but I know most of my friends wouldn’t enjoy them if I recommended them.
Get them a month (or 3) of PC Gamepass so they can play everything and find out what they like.
This is probably the best way to go. You won’t be able to beat the flexibility for the price.
Outer Wilds is one of my favorite games. If he likes the explorey/other worldly feel of souls games, he might like it, but it certainly doesn’t have any combat.
As for fighting, I’ve recently started replaying Returnal, and I really enjoy that. It’s a well known console game, but I think it came out after 2020. It’s a roguelike format so slightly different from souls, but I love it.
Unfortunately he’s never been able to get into Outer Wilds despite it being one of my favorite games that I always shill. I’ll still push for him to play it.
So, most of my recommendations are going to be FPS or first person. For Valve related stuff:
- Half-Life 2 is pretty much a must have along with Episodes 1 and 2.
- Black Mesa is a remake of the original.
- Entropy : Zero 2 is a fantastic fan made mod that’s a good follow up after finishing Half-Life 2 and the episodes.
- The original Entropy : Zero is pretty good, but the default difficulty is hard as hell.
- Portal 1 and 2 are also a must have
- Portal: Revolution is an independent mod that’s a good follow up after 2.
As for non-Valve games and related:
- Crab Champions - fast paced, third-person, rogue-like shooter.
- Talos Principle 1 and 2 - first-person puzzles with a serious philosophical scifi story. It actually gets a bit heavy when it discusses mortality and death. 1 is being remade into a “definitive edition”.
- Untitled Goose Game - Honk!
- Gnorp Apologue - fun little game
- Pineapple on pizza - it’s free. I would describe it as games-as-art.
- Any of the Serious Sam games. They were made for PC.
- Fallen Aces is still in early access, but a good story driven retro FPS with sprites and multiple ways of navigating each level.
- Trepang2 - a bit of an odd FPS with bullet time.
- Roboquest - rogue like FPS
- Exit 8 - horror walking simulator. Kinda short once you figure it out.
- APE OUT - Ape smash! Top down “shooter”.
- Hotline Miami 1 and 2 - top down shooters with fast deaths and excellent soundtracks
- The Binding of Isaac - has always been popular if a little dated
- Gunpoint - stealth puzzle third person. Came out a decade ago, but a good game.
- Party Hard - little indie murder-everyone-and-don’t-get-caught.
- The Stanley Parable - walking simulator with some interesting dialog and interactions. 9-to-5 office people can relate.
- Dusk - awesome boomer shooter
- Antichamber - came out a decade ago, but it’s mind bending first-person puzzles.
- Hades and Hades 2 which is in early access. Third person isometric rogue-like.
- The Invincible - Story driven walking simulator based off the book of the same name. Good story.
- Firewatch - story driven walking simulator
- Deep Rock Galactic - wasn’t my pint of beer, but a lot of people like it.
ROCK AND STONE!!!
Games with lots of mods for sure. It may be a generic recommendation but Minecraft with mod packs and gorgeous shaders is an amazing experience for someone who never got around to trying them.
Also if he’s a souls-like fan, I highly recommend Elden Ring’s convergence mod and Dark Souls 3’s convergence mod (they’re by the same team). It adds like a hundred new spells, new weapons and equipment, overhaul of some mechanics like having actual classes with game-changing effects, completely overhauls areas with new geometry, adds new enemies and bosses, etc. It’s a very fun time.
The souls games weren’t on sale, but I’ve passed the message along about the mods. I think he’s taking a break after pushing those games to the absolute limit but I’m glad something like that exists.
Hunt Showdown & Doom Eternal
Warms my heart to see Hunt on here.
Man, for a console gamer coming over this thread has a bunch of pretty terrible recommendations. I can’t imagine a better way to send somebody back to console gaming than immediately dumping a bunch of fiddly mods and janky old stuff on them so they can play their OS for a while before having any fun.
I mean, if they’re into competitive, hardcore console stuff they probably will want to decide if they want to go down the rabbit hole of competitive PC gaming. Checking out a couple MOBAs or fast mouse and keyboard shooters is probably a good way to start (for Steam ease of use I suppose DOTA2 and CS2 are the obvious choices). That’s the fighting game equivalent stuff they’re unlikely to have played already. I’d say if they aren’t feeling it, it’s fine to step away, though.
Depending on how beefy their gaming PC is, it may be fun to go for crazy console-crushing visuals. Path traced games like Indiana Jones or Cyberpunk may be fun to check out even if they’ve played the console versions, if they have a current-gen expensive GPU in there.
There are a couple of genres that are also cross-over but play best on PC, like survival sims and the like. I’m a PC controller player, but I’ll switch to mouse and keyboard for, say, Satisfactory, although that’s less action-packed and timing-based.
And of course there’s upcoming stuff. VF 5 REVO is coming out in January, and that seems like a good chance to jump into a new thing on a gaming PC instead.
I agree. People keep suggesting Factorio, which leads me to believe that they have not actually read the post since his friend is into souls-likes and heavy combat games. Factorio is the antithesis of that! I don’t personally play those games (Factorio is one of my most played games), so I can’t make suggestions aside from Monster Hunter.
They didn’t specifically say it needed to be a souls-like. In fact, if you had read the whole thing, they’re considering including a 2d platformer.
They want new experiences for their friend. They probably don’t want a game that their friend has already played on console.
Yeah, that’s why Satisfactory is probably a better choice (I mean, it’s mostly “what if Factorio didn’t look like a 1999 Flash game”).
Honestly in 2025 (hey, happy new year!) things are platform-agnostic enough that the biggest thing to do when you switch to PC gaming is go check how all the games you know play when you run them at 200 fps or whatever. But even if you’re an action game guy I do think it’s work taking a few minutes to decide if you’re going to be a sweaty mouse and keyboard guy and it’s time to start browsing online stores for mice with ten grams shaved off the mouse wheel or whatever.
Space Marines 2
Skyrim for the mods.
I’d also add a lifetime subscription to Nexus, that alone can add so much life to so many games. Hell, if I’m checking out a game, I see what kind of mod support it has first.
Or do they not offer that anymore?
I think I got it way back when for $50 or so.
Gift him a Starsector code or share your own if already have one.
Gift any super moddable games he likes. If he enjoys Bethesda games on consoles, he will definitely love PC only mods. Also explain to him what Big Picture Mode on Steam is. I wish I knew it existed when I started. Get the same console experience and seamless controller integration even if the game doesn’t officially support it.
Edit: Also any super pretty games would probably be a nice gift. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the first I installed. Really nice realizing how much better looking games can be with a powerful computer.
Shower With Your Dad Simulator
That sounds disturbing
Came here to post this! Every new Steam account gets a copy, it’s the law.
It was the first game I was gifted! My second recommendation is “I Love You Colonel Sanders!: A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator”. Who needs more satisfaction than that?
Oh that game is CRAZY. Free too!
Total war: Warhammer 3? Baldurs Gate 3? Maybe those are available on console as well…
I thought the old homeworld games were great. Kind of RTS in space ships. They’re old now but still good.
Teardown is good chill fun
Might consider getting something that only plays well on keyboard/mouse. Factorio comes up off the top of my head. Shooters also generally translate poorly to controllers, so perhaps that?
