Kerbal Space Program's freeform rocket-building sandbox has attracted modders since the beginning, and after seven years they've crafted hundreds of additions—everything from planetary bases to ion drives. In this environment, what can Making History, KSP's first official expansion, offer players that hasn't already been done? 

Not its collection of real-life spacecraft, which is a curious inclusion given that space history is one of the most popular subjects for mods. For example, the expansion offers a pretty good version of the famous Apollo 11 lunar lander module, but this mod has had a picture-perfect recreation available since 2014. The expansion adds the slender, tapering Soviet R7 rocket fuel tanks, but this mod made them available almost four years ago. All of these new additions retread ground covered by free mods for years and years.

No, in keeping with what already makes KSP great, Making History's best addition is not an object, but a tool—a new way to experiment and create. The Mission Builder, which players can use to script and plan missions and stories using simple drag-and-drop tools, makes the expansion worth the money.

History making

For most of its life, KSP was a sandbox game. The only missions were the ones I made for myself: Hey, I should go to the Mun. I should build a Munbase. Contracts that reward players with money, science, and prestige in career mode were a late addition, and I've always found them to be the weakest part of KSP. Instead of focusing on big-picture goals like taking my first steps on distant planets, contracts have me duct-taping and kit-bashing single-use spacecraft to take a new landing gear to a certain height and speed, checking off a box to get paid. 

Contracts provided some goals and direction in the open world Kerbal arena, but they were never about telling stories. The new Mission Builder and History Pack (a set of pre-built missions based on space race launches) change that. For the first time, I can fly and build missions that follow a script.

In one of the first included missions, my Soviet spacecraft is suffering from a cascading electrical fault, and my only hope is to rendezvous with a nearby satellite and use its diagnostic systems to reboot. As I carefully fly over to the satellite, random systems explode, and my time begins to run out. After I finally get the computers to reboot, mission control throws me a curveball: Is there any way I could deorbit that satellite so the R&D team can see how get a look at the computer logs? Suddenly, I'm on a white-knuckle solo flight home in a satellite that wasn't meant to fly.

For long-time KSP players, improvisation and surprises only happen as a result of our own incompetence. Thanks to Making History, space can be an inherently dangerous place again: random failures a la Apollo 13 might cut a mission short; a freak micro meteor shower might puncture all of my solar panels, leaving a deep-space mission stranded until help arrives.

All of these variables are available to use in the Mission Builder, which is an excellent tool for scripting your own stories, as if you're a sci-fi dungeon master running a deep-space tabletop RPG. 

Everything in the Mission Builder is drag-and-drop. To script a mission to the Mun, drop a Spacecraft Launched icon and a Spacecraft Landed icon and draw a line to connect them. Start at Kerbin, land at Mun. Drop a score bonus and a time limit, and draw new lines to wire them in to the script. Start at Kerbin, land at Mun in less than 3 days. Zoom in a bit and tweak a menu option to make the objective more specific. Add a scripted event. Give the player a choice between salvaging precious data and saving a stranded Kerbal. Start at Kerbin with a ship weighing less than 40 tons, land at Mun in less than 3 days and plant a flag in the East Crater and your thruster tanks exploded so you can only thrust to the left.

The building blocks are simple, but there's no limit to how deep you can stack all the Mission Builder's scripted emergencies and radio messages. I've been astounded by KSP modders' technical skill and devotion to historical engineering minutiae, and I'm sure that will all be applied here—perhaps with minute-to-minute recreations of Apollo 11 driven by actual radio transcripts. These tools are powerful enough to do that.

There's also a lot of comedy baked into KSP. When you're telling a story about the Kerbals—slapstick doofuses that they are—the explosive incompetence of amateur rocket designs makes it hard for KSP not to be funny. Mission write-ups are common on the subreddit, and these chronicles, especially those that revel in constant missteps, are often charming and sweet. Given tools to catalog, share, and have other players replay their epic missions (or painful failures), this same community could become expert story scripters as quickly as they've become expert rocket scientists.

Despite the huge number of free mods, KSP's developers found a way to make their expansion valuable: They built a new set of tools that the community hasn't provided for itself. The KSP community is fantastic, and more ways to create and share space adventures is exactly what it needed. For the price, it's nice to also get the big dump of new, historical parts, but Making History is great for the making, not the history. 

Gaming history is flush with oddball controllers. Mech diehards were enamored with Steel Battalion and its custom controller, an imposing collection of sticks, thrusters, buttons, and LED lights across a multi-sectioned, two foot frame. What do you do when your favorite game doesn't offer such lavish, customized options, though? You build your own.

Enter Kerbal Space Program, a game perfectly crafted to spark a custom cockpit-building obsession. The deep, complex simulation, in short, finds players building an alien space program, learning rudimentary astrophysics, and eventually launching their ships toward the stars.

For the dedicated, playing Kerbal means recreating reality. Forget Steel Battalion and buying an elaborate control plank—Kerbal die-hards concoct their custom electronics for the sake of total authenticity. Some base their designs on actual NASA hardware. Others reach for cardboard frames to get started, looking for anything to improve their Kerbal sessions. Finding a better way to play, in this case, means whatever it takes.

What's remarkable is the technical diversity of the creators. They don't have much in common, outside a shared interest in space from a young age (and Kerbal, of course). Some come from engineering backgrounds. Others happened upon a build tutorial and gave it a go without any prior electronic experience. It's a hobby for any and all skill levels. All for what's now a seven-year-old sim.

As a freshman in college at the time, Nikolas Gamarra began his build quest after a few years of Kerbal play. A frequent builder of DIY projects, Gamarra found the retro look pleasing. “I am a huge fan of the Apollo program and of 1970s Lego space sets. A lot of the aesthetic choices were drawn from those things. ... I extensively researched past KSP controllers, actual spaceship panels, and switches I wanted to use because I wanted mine to really have that wow factor.”

Gamarra put together a lengthy album of his build progress, which you can see here.

Josh Brown, a licensed plumber, found his inspiration from the 218,000 strong Reddit Kerbal community. “Didn't think anything like this was possible until I saw one posted. Then I looked up KSP serial io and that got me rolling.”

IT architect Hugo Peeters also found a hook in the community, but wanted something more his own style. “Many folks try to replicate Apollo controls, but I didn’t. I tried to make it useful to my style of playing. It’s very functional. And I just had to include some of those sexy safety switches. Those make every launch so much more fun.”

Looking over the plethora of designs, building one of these controllers seems costly. A bevy of LED lights, an Arduino open source board, switches, and on and on. Many of these pieces look impressive by themselves. Gamarra's beautiful edges and clean faceplate work looks professional. Peeters' fetching design evokes practicality and looks with laser cut lettering as the topper.

Those who responded stated costs ranging from $150-$300 US dollars, some of that spent on soldering irons and such for the new DIYers. If you're adventurous, it's possible to cut down on that total.

“The case is a recycled educational computer from the 70s,” says Gamarra. “Things like that are one of a kind and sell for a lot online but if you are a hoarder and know the right people you can get them free.” Take a peek at thrifts stores, any second hand shops, or anywhere aging electronics reside. It's worth a shot for any hobbyist. Parts exist everywhere if online prices are a shock to the wallet. 

The actual time involved in building a custom Kerbal controller varies wildly. Joyce Mayorga built her current cardboard prototype in her spare time off from her Netflix-based day job. “I took about 2-3 weeks to order all the parts and put what I have together. I wasn’t working on it constantly, just every now and then. Right now, I just have a cardboard prototype with only a few controls hooked up. I probably have a week or so of work until the whole thing is done, barring issues with it.”

Peeters, who stated he never tried anything of this nature before, spread his project out long term. “I got a prototype (built in a shoe box) working in September 2017, working on it several nights a week. Then came a 2-month period of designing the final layout and enclosure, learning how to create a design for laser cutting by watching tutorial videos and ordering parts. In December and halfway into January I built the final controller, again working on it several nights a week and thinking through the remaining steps every waking moment.”

The builders I talked to consistently referenced community resources. Peeters posted his process to Instructables, and so did Gamarra. “I made my design freely available on instructables.com so others can re-build it. It seemed only fair since I could never have built this without others sharing their work before me. … I shared my parts list, design files for laser cutting, and code to make it easier for others to attempt. It’s still going to require some problem solving of your own, but that’s half the fun,” says Gamarra.

In addition to the standard Kerbal subreddit, an entire Reddit community formed around the controllers themselves, with more than 1,000 members. There, users can ask questions, browse the processes, or even gain the courage to hoist up their soldering iron.

Is it worth it for the longtime Kerbal player? It was for Josh Brown. “It makes the game that much more enjoyable, it not only makes the game easier, but way more immersive and as a result way more fun," he said. And if you're interested in making your own controller, Kerbal community members are there to help, dedicated not only to enhancing their own journeys to the Mun, but also the journeys of others. "It was not that difficult and the community is very helpful in troubleshooting problems," said Brown.

Making History, the first expansion for stellar space sim Kerbal Space Program, is due out March 13, 2018. 

Originally announced in March 2017, Making History makes two big additions to the base game. The first, and arguably most exciting, is a mission builder enabling players to create, edit and share custom scenarios. "Players can customize their own missions to include launches, landings, rescues, malfunctions, explosions, repairs and much more," the studio says. Right, that's the making sorted, and we're guessing it won't be long before someone creates a mission to launch an electric car into orbit.

The expansion's other major feature is where the history comes in: a 'history pack' containing pre-made missions based on mankind's actual extraterrestrial excursions. The history pack also comes with new parts and astronaut suits inspired by the Space Race—that time the United States and the Soviet Union competed to see who could shoot a rocket the farthest. 

The Making History expansion will go for £10/€13/$15. In a Tumblr post, the devs confirmed that "all players who purchased the game in or before April 2013 will receive the expansion for free."  

Between Steam's daily and weekly deals, not to mention a few well-timed individual sales, a lot of indie games are cheap right now. The sales aren't bundled together and therefore will end at different times, but they're all good deals on good games. Here's a rundown, sorted by when they end:

Friday, December 15 

Ruiner - $13 at 33 percent off (same price on GOG)

Saturday, December 16

Kerbal Space Program - $20 at 50 percent off 

Tacoma - $10 at 50 percent off

Monday, December 18

Ultimate Chicken Horse - $9 at 40 percent off 

Battle Chasers: Nightwar - $20 at 33 percent off

Wednesday, December 20

To the Moon - $4 at 60 percent off 

Thursday, December 21 

Gorogoa - $12 at 20 percent off (same price on GOG) 

Gorogoa is celebrating its launch week, by the way. Our review went up earlier today (spoilers: Philippa was quite taken with it). It's worth noting that the Steam winter sale also starts on Thursday, December 21, so more and likely steeper discounts are sure to follow. 

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Black Friday is over, but that just means it's time for Cyber Monday. Tons of sales on digital PC games are still going on, including the big Steam sale, and we'll be updating this page with the best deals we can find. Some of the fall's biggest games, just a few months old, are already nearly half price.

Now is a great time to save on PC hardware, too. Find the best hardware deals in our Cyber Monday deals list, where you'll find discounted GPUs, monitors, RAM, SSDs, cases, keyboards, mice, headsets and everything else you need for the perfect setup. 

Deals on 2017's biggest games

Nier: Automata is $36/£24 on Steam (save 40%). It's one of our favorite RPGs of the year, and it's weird in all the right ways (there are a lot of sad robots).

Tacoma is $11.99/£8.99 on GOG (save 40%) and Steam. It's the somewhat overlooked sci-fi game from the creators of Gone Home that we liked a lot.

Resident Evil 7 is $30/£20 on GMG (save $30/£20) and is similarly discounted on the Humble Store and Steam. That's, like, 1.4 scares per buck. 

The Evil Within 2 is $30 on Amazon (save $30) and £16.99 on Amazon UK.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is $15 on Steam (save $15).

Assassin's Creed Origins is $49.79 on the Ubisoft Store (save $10.20). On the UK store it's £41.49. You can get the same deal on Amazon, too.

Tekken 7 is $25/£20 on the Humble Store (save $25), and is similarly discounted on Fanatical and Steam.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is $40.49 on GOG. It's only $4.50 off, but it's one of our favorite games of the year, and favorite RPGs of all time, so it deserves a shout. 

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is $40.19 on Steam (save $19.80).

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on GMG (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is £26 (save 53%) at GamesPlanet.com, which we called "the definitive PES on PC" in our review.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is $23 on Newegg ($7 off) if you use the promo code EMCBBCE32 at checkout.  [Expired]

Prey is only $20/£12.99 on Amazon, and while it's a boxed copy, at 67% off this might be its lowest price since release. It's a very good game, too. [Expired]

Great games under $20

Pillars of Eternity is $12/£9.19 on the Humble Store (60% off). That's a lot of old school isometric adventuring for that money.

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.39/£16.99 on Steam (66% off). OK, that's a few cents over 20 bucks, though in the UK you can shave some off the price by buying from GMG for £15.30.

Dirt Rally is $11.99/£7.99 on Steam (80% off), which is a great discount on a respectable Rally game that, coincidentally, we gave a score of 80 at review.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is $15/£11.50 on Amazon (save $15), which gets you a Steam key. It only came out around six months ago, so it's a quick discount and comes just before a big update. On Amazon UK it's £11.50 (save £7.49).

Overwatch is $19.99 on Battle.net (50% off). In the UK it's £17 (save £13).

Titanfall 2 is $10/£12.49 on Origin (50% off), which is a great price for a great shooter, especially if you like a good singleplayer campaign.

Cities: Skylines is $7.49/£5.74 on Steam (save 75%), which an absolute steal for the best city-building sim on the market right now.

Tyranny is $17.99/£13.99 on Steam (save 60%) and Fanatical, if you want a deep cRPG that lets you be the bad guy. 

Stellaris is $16/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical. A good discount on a beautiful, absorbing 4X.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is $12 on Amazon. That's cheap!

Planet Coaster is $18/£13.49 on the Humble Store (save $18/£13.49). It's one of the best theme park sims around, and adorable with it. 

Ruiner is $13.39/£10.04 on Steam (save 33%) and is one of our favorite recent games.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Fallout 4 is $14.99/£10.00 on Steam (save 50%). The rest of the Fallout franchise is also on sale: Fallout 3 is 50% off, and both the original Fallout and Fallout 2 are 75% off.

Great games under $10

Shadowrun Complete Collection is $9.55 on Steam (save 86%). 

Rocket League is $9.99/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming and Steam (save 50%)   

The Sexy Brutale is $9/£6.74 on Fanatical (save $11/£8.25), a good price for a clever adventure game (we gave it an 82%). 

Dead Space is $5/£3.79 on GOG (save $15/£12.20).

Dragon Age: Inquisition is $5/£4.49 on Origin (save $15/about £12), and at that price it's definitely worth a go—it was one of our favorite games of 2014.

Great games under $5

Age of Empires II HD Edition is $4.99/£3.74 on Steam (75% off). Ah, nostalgia.

This War of Mine is $4/£3 on GMG (80% off). Play as a civilian struggling to survive in a warzone.

Oxenfree is just $5/£2.99 on GOG (80% off) it's a moody adventure game about a bunch of ghost-hunting friends.

Divine Divinity is $0.60 on GOG (90% off) if you've found the time to finish Divinity: Original Sin 2 and want to go back to where the series started.

Wuppo is $3.80 on GOG (75% off), which is a decent price for a hidden gem.

Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign is $3/£2.32 on the Humble Store (save $17/£12.67 off its price on Steam). It's one of our all time favorite war strategy games.

System Shock Pack is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $16/£12), and includes System Shock Enhanced Edition and System Shock 2. 

Psychonauts is $1/£0.69 on the Humble Store (save $9/£7.19). Nice.

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is $2/£1.69 on the Humble Store (save $8/£6.40) and we consider it one of the all time best PC metroidvanias. So, not a bad deal. 

Insurgency is $1.00 on Fanatical (save 90%). It's a multiplayer shooter that we rather liked.

Dustforce DX is $2.25/£1.57 on Green Man Gaming ($7.74/£5.42). 

Theme Hospital is $1.49/£1.19 on GOG (save $4.50/£3.40). 

Lords of the Fallen is $4.79/£3.83 on the Humble Store (save about $25/£20).

This War of Mine is $4/£3 on GOG (save $16/£12) and includes the soundtrack. 

Necropolis: Brutal Edition is $4.49/£3.44 on the Humble Store (save $25.50/£19.55). It isn't the best dungeon crawler out there, but it's fun with a friend.

Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1 is free on the Microsoft store, though note there are bonus episodes you'll need to pay for if these five free ones aren't enough.

Sanctum 2 is also free over at the Humble Store, though only for a limited time.

Amazon

Amazon doesn't have many game deals yet, but we expect more to pop up throughout the week. Many of Amazon's PC game sales get you a Steam key, but we'll mention if the deal is for a physical edition or a download from Amazon.

Killing Floor 2 is $15 on Amazon (save $15).

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is $12 on Amazon.

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on Steam and Amazon (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game. 

GOG

If you spend at least $15 USD during GOG's Black Friday sale you'll get StarCrawlers free.

Tacoma is $11.99/£8.99 on GOG (save 40%). It's the somewhat overlooked sci-fi game from the creators of Gone Home that we liked a lot. 

Oxenfree is just $5/£2.99 on GOG (80% off) it's a moody adventure game about a bunch of ghost-hunting friends. 

Dead Space is $5/£3.79 on GOG (save $15/£12.20).

Kerbal Space Program is $23.99/£18 on GOG (save $16/£12) and is one of the best games of all time by our measure.

Owlboy is $18.69/£14.19 on GOG (save $6.30/£4.80).

The Heroes of Might and Magic bundle is down to just $8.95/£7.05 for five games, if you buy them all.

The Ultima bundle is $8.94/£7.14 on GOG, and includes Ultima 1-9 as well as Ultima Underworld 1 and 2. That's a lot of Ultima for less than $10.

The Tomb Raider bundle is $5.97/£4.77 on GOG (save $24) and includes Tomb Raider 1-3, The Angel of Darkness, The Last Revelation and Chronicles.

The Wing Commander bundle is $10.43/£8.33 on GOG (save $31.50/£23.80) and includes Wing Commander 1-5, Academy, Armada, and Privateer. 

Humble Store 

Humble is running its Fall Sale, and all purchases get you a Steam key for the game. The sale is huge, and there's a lot in the mix, so we've sifted through it to pick out some favorites:

Pillars of Eternity is £9.19 on the Humble Store (60% off). That's a lot of old school isometric adventuring for that money. 

Fallout 4 is $15 on the Humble Store (save $15).

Civilization VI is $30 on the Humble Store (save $30).

Call of Duty: WWII Digital Deluxe Edition is $90 on the Humble Store, for a saving of $10. It's not much but we guess you could use that $10 to buy one of the games below.

Planet Coaster is $18/£13.49 on the Humble Store (save $18/£13.49). It's one of the best theme park sims around, and adorable with it. 

Tekken 7 is $24.99/£19.99 on the Humble Store (half price). We called it "a smart, blisteringly fun" beat 'em in our review, and frankly it's worth buying to smash up the roster as a martial arts panda. 

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag is $6.79 on the Humble Store (save $13.20)

Valkyria Chronicles is $5/£3.74 on the Humble Store (save $15/£11.25). [Expired]

Lichdom: Battlemage is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $36/£26).

Green Man Gaming

Green Man is having a Black Friday blowout as usual, though you won't be able to see all of the discounts unless you register and sign in. Where it often diverges from competitors is with small (15% or so) discounts on popular or brand new games, and there are already a few available:

XCOM 2 is $19.80/£11.55 on Green Man Gaming (save 67%). 

No Man's Sky is $24/£16 on Green Man Gaming (save 60%). 

Prey is $20 on Green Man Gaming (half off).

Assassin's Creed Origins is $51/£41.49 on Green Man Gaming (save $9/£8.50). The Official Ubisoft Store slightly beats this at $40.19. UK store has it for £41.49.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $30/£20 on Green Man Gaming (save 50%).

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is $51 on Green Man Gaming (save $9), though the Official Ubisoft Store beats it with $45. UK edition is £37.50.

Rocket League is $9.99/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming and Steam (save 50%) and if you ask Tyler, it's the best game.

Absolver is $20.09/£16.74 on Steam (33% off)

Star Wars Battlefront 2 is $50/£43 on Green Man Gaming (save $10/£12). It isn't a huge discount, but it's a brand new game, so you may as well save the $10 if you wanted it. [Out of stock]

Fanatical 

Fanatical (formerly Bundle Stars) gives you Steam keys when you buy, and right now they're offering an extra 10% off on some games when you use the code BLACKFRIDAY10. Here are a few highlights from the sale so far:

Mad Max is $5 on Fanatical (save $15). It's surprisingly good!

The Metro Redux Bundle is $6/£4 on Fanatical (save $24/£12), the same as Humble's deal.

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 is $18.74/£14.24 on Fanatical (save $6.25/£4.75), a small discount on this collection of absurd games to play with friends live or over a stream.

Dead Cells is $12.74/£10.50 on Fanatical (save $4.25/£3.50).

Overcooked is $8.49/£6.50 on Fanatical (save $8.50/£6.50); a great couch co-op game.

Tabletop Simulator is $10/£7.49 on Fanatical (save $10/£7.50).

Steam

The annual Steam Autumn Sale is live and will run from November 22 to November 28. Here are the best deals on the PC's biggest games marketplace.

Batman: Arkham Knight is $6.79 / £5.43 on Steam (66% off). It had port problems at launch which still aren't entirely fixed but. If your rig runs it well, it's a decent and very pretty Batman game that's worth a try at this price.

Dishonored 2 is $19.99/£14.99 on Steam (half price). A decent price for one of the best games released last year.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is $8.99/£5.99 on Steam (85% off) and GMG. Worth it just to wander around Adam Jensen's futuristic apartment. 

Dirt Rally is $11.99/£7.99 on Steam (80% off), which is a great discount on a respectable Rally game that, coincidentally, we gave a score of 80 at review. 

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.39/£16.99 on Steam (66% off). In the UK you can shave some off the price by buying from GMG for £15.30. 

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is $40.19 on Steam (save 33%).

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on Steam and Amazon (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game. 

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is $15 on Steam (save $15). 

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is just $7.49 on Steam (half off).

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is $10 on Steam (save $10).

Prey is $20/£15 on Steam (half off).

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $30/£20 on Steam (save 50%).

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is $35.99/£27.00 on Steam (save 40%).

Dark Souls 3 is $23.99/£16.00 on Steam (save 60%).

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.49 on Steam (save $20/£22), and its DLC is discounted, too.

Endless Space 2 is $20/£17.49 on Steam (save $20/£17.49) and just got a big update.

SteamWorld Heist is $4.94/£3.62 on Steam (save about $10/£6), and SteamWorld Dig 2 is $15/£11.42 on Steam (save $5/£3.75).

This War of Mine is 80% off on Steam, coming to just $4/£3. You can find the same deal on GOG.

Origin 

EA ran a Black Friday sale on Origin last year and it's at it again, with some decent discounts on its 2016 lineup, and even some markdowns on 2017 games. Here's the best of what's on offer now:

FIFA 18 is $36/£36.66 on Origin (save $24/33%) and is a definite improvement on previous PC FIFA releases.

Need for Speed Payback is $40/£36.66 on Origin (save $20/about £19), though it's worth noting we didn't exactly care for it.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is $20/£17.49 on Origin (save $20/17.50), and the Deluxe Edition is $25/£22.49 on Origin (save $25/£22.49). Despite all our issues with Andromeda, you're getting a lot of open-world space adventuring for your dollar at those prices. Unless you really want the soundtrack, though, we don't recommend the Deluxe Edition which mostly includes special armor and extra multiplayer items. There won't be any singleplayer DLC.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is $5/£4.49 on Origin (save $15/about £12), and at that price it's definitely worth a go—it was one of our favorite games of 2014.

Ubisoft Store

Ubisoft has some light deals on PC downloads, including for some brand new games. Just make sure you're looking at the PC download edition, as the console discounts are different.

The Division is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 in the UK.

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.40 on the Ubisoft Store (save $39.59). It's £17 in the UK.

Far Cry Primal is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 for UK buyers.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $20). For UK readers, it's £17.50.

Battle.net

Blizzard brings us discounts of up to 50% off on three of Battle.net's biggest games: Destiny 2, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft.

Paradox Plaza

Paradox has knocked a lot of money off the best titles in its catalogue, including Cities: Skylines and Tyranny. If you already have these games be sure to check out the smaller but still significant discounts on expansion packs.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Paradox Plaza (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.50 on Paradox Plaza (75% off), it's still one of the best story generators ever.

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Bookmark this page for the best PC game deals: We'll be posting all the best bargains here as they roll out on Black Friday and throughout the next week, and adding more retailers soon. 

Throughout Black Friday weekend and beyond we'll be scouring the web for the cheapest PC games and discounted software from Steam, GOG, Humble, Amazon, and more, with an eye for new games being discounted for the first time and big limited-time sales where you can snag our favorite games for pocket change. Come back to this page throughout the week, because you never know when a big discount will drop—we'll put the best stuff at the top.

The holidays are a great time to save money on PC hardware, and we're collecting the best deals on graphics cards, CPUs and much more in our best Black Friday PC gaming deals hub—but what good is new hardware without discounted games to play?  

Deals on 2017's biggest games

Tacoma is $11.99/£8.99 on GOG (save 40%) and Steam. It's the somewhat overlooked sci-fi game from the creators of Gone Home that we liked a lot.

Resident Evil 7 is $30/£20 on GMG (save $30/£20) and is similarly discounted on the Humble Store and Steam. That's, like, 1.4 scares per buck. 

The Evil Within 2 is $24.99 on Amazon (save $35) and £16.99 on Amazon UK.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is $15 on Steam (save $15).

Assassin's Creed Origins is $49.79 on the Ubisoft Store (save $10.20). On the UK store it's £41.49. You can get the same deal on Amazon, too.

Tekken 7 is $25/£20 on the Humble Store (save $25), and is similarly discounted on Fanatical and Steam.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is $40.49 on GOG. It's only $4.50 off, but it's one of our favorite games of the year, and favorite RPGs of all time, so it deserves a shout. 

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is $40.19 on Steam (save $19.80).

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on GMG (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is £26 (save 53%) at GamesPlanet.com, which we called "the definitive PES on PC" in our review.

Great games under $20

Pillars of Eternity is $12/£9.19 on the Humble Store (60% off). That's a lot of old school isometric adventuring for that money.

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.39/£16.99 on Steam (66% off). OK, that's a few cents over 20 bucks, though in the UK you can shave some off the price by buying from GMG for £15.30.

Dirt Rally is $11.99/£7.99 on Steam (80% off), which is a great discount on a respectable Rally game that, coincidentally, we gave a score of 80 at review.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is $15/£11.50 on Amazon (save $15), which gets you a Steam key. It only came out around six months ago, so it's a quick discount and comes just before a big update. On Amazon UK it's £11.50 (save £7.49).

Overwatch is $19.99 on Battle.net (50% off). In the UK it's £17 (save £13).

Titanfall 2 is $10/£12.49 on Origin (50% off), which is a great price for a great shooter, especially if you like a good singleplayer campaign.

Cities: Skylines is $7.49/£5.74 on Steam (save 75%), which an absolute steal for the best city-building sim on the market right now.

Tyranny is $17.99/£13.99 on Steam (save 60%) and Fanatical, if you want a deep cRPG that lets you be the bad guy. 

Stellaris is $16/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical. A good discount on a beautiful, absorbing 4X.

Planet Coaster is $18/£13.49 on the Humble Store (save $18/£13.49). It's one of the best theme park sims around, and adorable with it. 

Ruiner is $13.39/£10.04 on Steam (save 33%) and is one of our favorite recent games.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Fallout 4 is $14.99/£10.00 on Steam (save 50%). The rest of the Fallout franchise is also on sale: Fallout 3 is 50% off, and both the original Fallout and Fallout 2 are 75% off.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is $20 on Amazon. It's been that cheap on Steam before, but if you've been meaning to pick it up now's the time. [Expired]

Great games under $10

Shadowrun Complete Collection is $9.55 on Steam (save 86%). 

Rocket League is $9.99/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming and Steam (save 50%)   

The Sexy Brutale is $9/£6.74 on Fanatical (save $11/£8.25), a good price for a clever adventure game (we gave it an 82%). 

Dead Space is $5/£3.79 on GOG (save $15/£12.20).

Dragon Age: Inquisition is $5/£4.49 on Origin (save $15/about £12), and at that price it's definitely worth a go—it was one of our favorite games of 2014.

Great games under $5

Age of Empires II HD Edition is $4.99/£3.74 on Steam (75% off). Ah, nostalgia.

This War of Mine is $4/£3 on GMG (80% off). Play as a civilian struggling to survive in a warzone.

Oxenfree is just $5/£2.99 on GOG (80% off) it's a moody adventure game about a bunch of ghost-hunting friends.

Divine Divinity is $0.60 on GOG (90% off) if you've found the time to finish Divinity: Original Sin 2 and want to go back to where the series started.

Wuppo is $3.80 on GOG (75% off), which is a decent price for a hidden gem.

Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign is $3/£2.32 on the Humble Store (save $17/£12.67 off its price on Steam). It's one of our all time favorite war strategy games.

System Shock Pack is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $16/£12), and includes System Shock Enhanced Edition and System Shock 2. 

Psychonauts is $1/£0.69 on the Humble Store (save $9/£7.19). Nice.

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is $2/£1.69 on the Humble Store (save $8/£6.40) and we consider it one of the all time best PC metroidvanias. So, not a bad deal. 

Insurgency is $1.00 on Fanatical (save 90%). It's a multiplayer shooter that we rather liked.

Theme Hospital is $1.49/£1.19 on GOG (save $4.50/£3.40). 

Lords of the Fallen is $4.79/£3.83 on the Humble Store (save about $25/£20).

This War of Mine is $4/£3 on GOG (save $16/£12) and includes the soundtrack. 

Necropolis: Brutal Edition is $4.49/£3.44 on the Humble Store (save $25.50/£19.55). It isn't the best dungeon crawler out there, but it's fun with a friend.

Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1 is free on the Microsoft store, though note there are bonus episodes you'll need to pay for if these five free ones aren't enough.

Sanctum 2 is also free over at the Humble Store, though only for a limited time. [Expired]

Dustforce DX is $2.25/£1.57 on Green Man Gaming ($7.74/£5.42). [Expired] 

Amazon

Amazon doesn't have many game deals yet, but we expect more to pop up throughout the week. Many of Amazon's PC game sales get you a Steam key, but we'll mention if the deal is for a physical edition or a download from Amazon.

Killing Floor 2 is $15 on Amazon (save $15).

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is $20 on Amazon (save $20).  [Expired]

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on Steam and Amazon (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game. 

Prey is only $20 on Amazon, and while it's a boxed copy, that might be its lowest price since release.  [Expired]

GOG

If you spend at least $15 USD during GOG's Black Friday sale you'll get StarCrawlers free.

Tacoma is $11.99/£8.99 on GOG (save 40%). It's the somewhat overlooked sci-fi game from the creators of Gone Home that we liked a lot. 

Oxenfree is just $5/£2.99 on GOG (80% off) it's a moody adventure game about a bunch of ghost-hunting friends. 

Dead Space is $5/£3.79 on GOG (save $15/£12.20).

Kerbal Space Program is $23.99/£18 on GOG (save $16/£12) and is one of the best games of all time by our measure.

Owlboy is $18.69/£14.19 on GOG (save $6.30/£4.80).

The Heroes of Might and Magic bundle is down to just $8.95/£7.05 for five games, if you buy them all.

The Ultima bundle is $8.94/£7.14 on GOG, and includes Ultima 1-9 as well as Ultima Underworld 1 and 2. That's a lot of Ultima for less than $10.

The Tomb Raider bundle is $5.97/£4.77 on GOG (save $24) and includes Tomb Raider 1-3, The Angel of Darkness, The Last Revelation and Chronicles.

The Wing Commander bundle is $10.43/£8.33 on GOG (save $31.50/£23.80) and includes Wing Commander 1-5, Academy, Armada, and Privateer. 

Humble Store 

Humble is running its Fall Sale, and all purchases get you a Steam key for the game. For a limited time, Sanctum is discounted by 100%—which is to say that it's free—and a bunch of other games are available at steep discounts. The sale is huge, and there's a lot in the mix, so we've sifted through it to pick out some favorites:

Pillars of Eternity is £9.19 on the Humble Store (60% off). That's a lot of old school isometric adventuring for that money. 

Fallout 4 is $15 on the Humble Store (save $15).

Civilization VI is $30 on the Humble Store (save $30).

Call of Duty: WWII Digital Deluxe Edition is $90 on the Humble Store, for a saving of $10. It's not much but we guess you could use that $10 to buy one of the games below.

Planet Coaster is $18/£13.49 on the Humble Store (save $18/£13.49). It's one of the best theme park sims around, and adorable with it. 

Tekken 7 is $24.99/£19.99 on the Humble Store (half price). We called it "a smart, blisteringly fun" beat 'em in our review, and frankly it's worth buying to smash up the roster as a martial arts panda. 

Assassin's Creed: Black Flag is $6.79 on the Humble Store (save $13.20)

Valkyria Chronicles is $5/£3.74 on the Humble Store (save $15/£11.25).

Lichdom: Battlemage is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $36/£26).

Green Man Gaming

Green Man is having a Black Friday blowout as usual, though you won't be able to see all of the discounts unless you register and sign in. Where it often diverges from competitors is with small (15% or so) discounts on popular or brand new games, and there are already a few available:

XCOM 2 is $19.80/£11.55 on Green Man Gaming (save 67%). 

No Man's Sky is $24/£16 on Green Man Gaming (save 60%). 

Prey is $20 on Green Man Gaming (half off).

Assassin's Creed Origins is $51/£41.49 on Green Man Gaming (save $9/£8.50). The Official Ubisoft Store slightly beats this at $40.19. UK store has it for £41.49.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $30/£20 on Green Man Gaming (save 50%).

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is $51 on Green Man Gaming (save $9), though the Official Ubisoft Store beats it with $45. UK edition is £37.50.

Rocket League is $9.99/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming and Steam (save 50%) and if you ask Tyler, it's the best game.

Absolver is $20.09/£16.74 on Steam (33% off)

Fanatical 

Fanatical (formerly Bundle Stars) gives you Steam keys when you buy, and right now they're offering an extra 10% off on some games when you use the code BLACKFRIDAY10. Here are a few highlights from the sale so far:

Mad Max is $5 on Fanatical (save $15). It's surprisingly good!

The Metro Redux Bundle is $6/£4 on Fanatical (save $24/£12), the same as Humble's deal.

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 is $18.74/£14.24 on Fanatical (save $6.25/£4.75), a small discount on this collection of absurd games to play with friends live or over a stream.

Dead Cells is $12.74/£10.50 on Fanatical (save $4.25/£3.50).

Overcooked is $8.49/£6.50 on Fanatical (save $8.50/£6.50); a great couch co-op game.

Tabletop Simulator is $10/£7.49 on Fanatical (save $10/£7.50).

Steam

The annual Steam Autumn Sale is live and will run from November 22 to November 28. Here are the best deals on the PC's biggest games marketplace.

Dishonored 2 is $19.99/£14.99 on Steam (half price). A decent price for one of the best games released last year.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is $8.99/£5.99 on Steam (85% off) and GMG. Worth it just to wander around Adam Jensen's futuristic apartment. 

Dirt Rally is $11.99/£7.99 on Steam (80% off), which is a great discount on a respectable Rally game that, coincidentally, we gave a score of 80 at review. 

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.39/£16.99 on Steam (66% off). In the UK you can shave some off the price by buying from GMG for £15.30. 

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is $40.19 on Steam (save 33%).

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is $30 on Steam and Amazon (save $10). It's an amazing expansion for a great game. 

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider is $15 on Steam (save $15). 

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is just $7.49 on Steam (half off).

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is $10 on Steam (save $10).

Prey is $20/£15 on Steam (half off).

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $30/£20 on Steam (save 50%).

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is $35.99/£27.00 on Steam (save 40%).

Dark Souls 3 is $23.99/£16.00 on Steam (save 60%).

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.49 on Steam (save $20/£22), and its DLC is discounted, too.

Endless Space 2 is $20/£17.49 on Steam (save $20/£17.49) and just got a big update.

SteamWorld Heist is $4.94/£3.62 on Steam (save about $10/£6), and SteamWorld Dig 2 is $15/£11.42 on Steam (save $5/£3.75).

This War of Mine is 80% off on Steam, coming to just $4/£3. You can find the same deal on GOG.

Origin 

EA ran a Black Friday sale on Origin last year and it's at it again, with some decent discounts on its 2016 lineup, and even some markdowns on 2017 games. Here's the best of what's on offer now:

FIFA 18 is $36/£36.66 on Origin (save $24/33%) and is a definite improvement on previous PC FIFA releases.

Need for Speed Payback is $40/£36.66 on Origin (save $20/about £19), though it's worth noting we didn't exactly care for it.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is $20/£17.49 on Origin (save $20/17.50), and the Deluxe Edition is $25/£22.49 on Origin (save $25/£22.49). Despite all our issues with Andromeda, you're getting a lot of open-world space adventuring for your dollar at those prices. Unless you really want the soundtrack, though, we don't recommend the Deluxe Edition which mostly includes special armor and extra multiplayer items. There won't be any singleplayer DLC.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is $5/£4.49 on Origin (save $15/about £12), and at that price it's definitely worth a go—it was one of our favorite games of 2014.

Ubisoft Store

Ubisoft has some light deals on PC downloads, including for some brand new games. Just make sure you're looking at the PC download edition, as the console discounts are different.

The Division is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 in the UK.

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.40 on the Ubisoft Store (save $39.59). It's £17 in the UK.

Far Cry Primal is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 for UK buyers.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $20). For UK readers, it's £17.50.

Battle.net

Blizzard brings us discounts of up to 50% off on three of Battle.net's biggest games: Destiny 2, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft.

Paradox Plaza

Paradox has knocked a lot of money off the best titles in its catalogue, including Cities: Skylines and Tyranny. If you already have these games be sure to check out the smaller but still significant discounts on expansion packs.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Paradox Plaza (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.50 on Paradox Plaza (75% off), it's still one of the best story generators ever.

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Bookmark this page for the best PC game deals: We'll be posting all the best bargains here as they roll out on Black Friday and throughout the next week, and adding more retailers soon. 

Throughout Black Friday weekend and beyond we'll be scouring the web for the cheapest PC games and discounted software from Steam, GOG, Humble, Amazon, and more, with an eye for new games being discounted for the first time and big limited-time sales where you can snag our favorite games for pocket change. Come back to this page throughout the week, because you never know when a big discount will drop—we'll put the best stuff at the top.

The holidays are a great time to save money on PC hardware, and we're collecting the best deals on graphics cards, CPUs and much more in our best Black Friday PC gaming deals hub—but what good is new hardware without discounted games to play?  

The hottest deals right now

Tekken 7 is $24.99/£19.99 on the Humble Store (half price), and is similarly discounted on Fanatical and Steam.

Tyranny is $17.99/£13.99 on Steam (save 60%) and Fanatical, if you want a deep cRPG that lets you be the bad guy.

Cities: Skylines is $7.49/£5.74 on Steam (save 75%), which an absolute steal for the best city-building sim on the market right now.

Stellaris is $15/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical. A good discount on a beautiful, absorbing 4X.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Steam (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Fallout 4 is $14.99/£10.00 on Steam (save 50%). The rest of the Fallout franchise is also on sale: Fallout 3 is 50% off, and both the original Fallout and Fallout 2 are 75% off.

XCOM 2 is $19.80/£11.55 on Green Man Gaming (save 67%).

Dark Souls 3 is $23.99/£16.00 on Steam (save 60%).

Battlefield 1 is $20/£17.49 on Origin (save $20/£17.50), though we'd recommend the Battlefield 1 Revolution Edition for $30/£27.49 on Origin (save $30/£27.50) as it includes all the DLC.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is $15 on Amazon (save $15), which gets you a Steam key. It only came out around six months ago, so it's a quick discount and comes just before a big update. On Amazon UK it's £11.50 (save £7.49).

Overwatch is $20 on Battle.net (50% off). In the UK it's £17 (save £13).

Titanfall 2 is $10/£12.49 on Origin (50% off), which is a great price for a great shooter, especially if you like a good singleplayer campaign.

Assassin's Creed Origins is $49.79 on the Ubisoft Store (save $10.20). On the UK store it's £41.49.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $51/£34 on Green Man Gaming (save $9/£6).

No Man's Sky is $24/£16 on Green Man Gaming (save 60%).

Rocket League is $10/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming (save 50%).

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is just $12 on Amazon (save $28). It's been that cheap on Steam before, but if you've been meaning to pick it up now's the time. It's a mere £9 on Amazon UK too (save £21).

Kerbal Space Program is $23.99/£18 on GOG (save $16/£12) and is one of the best games of all time by our measure.

The Metro Redux Bundle is $6/£5 on the Humble Store (save $24/£20) and includes two of our favorite shooters, Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light.

Planet Coaster is $18/£13.49 on the Humble Store (save $18/£13.49). It's one of the best theme park sims around, and adorable with it. 

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is $2/£1.59 on the Humble Store (save $8/£6.40) and it's a fantastic metroidvania. Well worth a couple bucks.

The Sexy Brutale is $9/£6.74 on Fanatical (save $11/£8.25), a good price for a clever adventure game (we gave it an 82%).

Ruiner is $13.39/£10.04 on Steam (save 33%) and is one of our favorite recent games.

Amazon

Amazon doesn't have many game deals yet, but we expect more to pop up throughout the week. Many of Amazon's PC game sales get you a Steam key, but we'll mention if the deal is for a physical edition or a download from Amazon.

Killing Floor 2 is $15 on Amazon (save $15).

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is $12 on Amazon (save $28).

GOG

At the time of writing you've got a couple days to get MDK completely free on GOG, and if you spend at least $15 USD during GOG's Black Friday sale you'll get StarCrawlers free, too.

Dead Space is $5/£3.79 on GOG (save $15/£12.20).

Kerbal Space Program is $23.99/£18 on GOG (save $16/£12) and is one of the best games of all time by our measure.

This War of Mine is $4/£3 on GOG (save $16/£12) and includes the soundtrack.

Owlboy is $18.69/£14.19 on GOG (save $6.30/£4.80).

Theme Hospital is $1.49/£1.19 on GOG (save $4.50/£3.40).

The Heroes of Might and Magic bundle is down to just $8.95/£7.05 for five games, if you buy them all.

The Ultima bundle is $8.94/£7.14 on GOG, and includes Ultima 1-9 as well as Ultima Underworld 1 and 2. That's a lot of Ultima for less than $10.

The Tomb Raider bundle is $5.97/£4.77 on GOG (save $24) and includes Tomb Raider 1-3, The Angel of Darkness, The Last Revelation and Chronicles.

The Wing Commander bundle is $10.43/£8.33 on GOG (save $31.50/£23.80) and includes Wing Commander 1-5, Academy, Armada, and Privateer. 

Humble Store 

Humble is running its Fall Sale, and all purchases get you a Steam key for the game. For a limited time, Brutal Legend is discounted by 100%—which is to say that it's free—and a bunch of other games are available at steep discounts. The sale is huge, and there's a lot in the mix, so we've sifted through it to pick out some favorites:

System Shock Pack is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $16/£12), and includes System Shock Enhanced Edition and System Shock 2.

Valkyria Chronicles is $5/£3.74 on the Humble Store (save $15/£11.25).

Lichdom: Battlemage is $4/£3 on the Humble Store (save $36/£26).

Necropolis: Brutal Edition is $4.49/£3.44 on the Humble Store (save $25.50/£19.55). It isn't the best dungeon crawler out there, but it's fun with a friend.

Lords of the Fallen is $4.79/£3.83 on the Humble Store (save about $25/£20).

Psychonauts is $1/£0.69 on the Humble Store (save $9/£7.19).

Green Man Gaming

Green Man is having a Black Friday blowout as usual, though you won't be able to see all of the discounts unless you register and sign in. Where it often diverges from competitors is with small (15% or so) discounts on popular or brand new games, and there are already a few available:

XCOM 2 is $19.80/£11.55 on Green Man Gaming (save 67%). 

No Man's Sky is $24/£16 on Green Man Gaming (save 60%). 

Assassin's Creed Origins is $51/£41.49 on Green Man Gaming (save $9/£8.50). The Official Ubisoft Store slightly beats this at $40.19. UK store has it for £41.49.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is $51/£34 on Green Man Gaming (save $9/£6).

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is $51 on Green Man Gaming (save $9), though the Official Ubisoft Store beats it with $45. UK edition is £37.50.

Rocket League is $10/£7.50 on Green Man Gaming (save 50%) and if you ask Tyler, it's the best game. The best game that there is. (He plays way too much Rocket League.)

Absolver is $25.49/£19.54 on Green Man Gaming (save $4.50/about £3.50).

Dustforce DX is $2.25/£1.57 on Green Man Gaming ($7.74/£5.42).

Fanatical 

Fanatical (formerly Bundle Stars) gives you Steam keys when you buy, and right now they're offering an extra 10% off on some games when you use the code BLACKFRIDAY10. Here are a few highlights from the sale so far:

Mad Max is $5 on Fanatical (save $15). It's surprisingly good!

The Metro Redux Bundle is $6/£4 on Fanatical (save $24/£12), the same as Humble's deal.

The Jackbox Party Pack 4 is $18.74/£14.24 on Fanatical (save $6.25/£4.75), a small discount on this collection of absurd games to play with friends live or over a stream.

Dead Cells is $12.74/£10.50 on Fanatical (save $4.25/£3.50).

Overcooked is $8.49/£6.50 on Fanatical (save $8.50/£6.50); a great couch co-op game.

Tabletop Simulator is $10/£7.49 on Fanatical (save $10/£7.50).

Steam

The annual Steam Autumn Sale is live and will run from November 22 to November 28. Here are the best deals on the PC's biggest games marketplace.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is $35.99/£27.00 on Steam (save 40%).

Dark Souls 3 is $23.99/£16.00 on Steam (save 60%).

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.49 on Steam (save $20/£22), and its DLC is discounted, too.

Endless Space 2 is $20/£17.49 on Steam (save $20/£17.49) and just got a big update.

SteamWorld Heist is $4.94/£3.62 on Steam (save about $10/£6), and SteamWorld Dig 2 is $15/£11.42 on Steam (save $5/£3.75).

This War of Mine is 80% off on Steam, coming to just $4/£3. You can find the same deal on GOG.

Origin 

EA ran a Black Friday sale on Origin last year and it's at it again, with some decent discounts on its 2016 lineup, and even some markdowns on 2017 games. Here's the best of what's on offer now:

FIFA 18 is $36/£36.66 on Origin (save $24/33%) and is a definite improvement on previous PC FIFA releases.

Need for Speed Payback is $40/£36.66 on Origin (save $20/about £19), though it's worth noting we didn't exactly care for it.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is $20/£17.49 on Origin (save $20/17.50), and the Deluxe Edition is $25/£22.49 on Origin (save $25/£22.49). Despite all our issues with Andromeda, you're getting a lot of open-world space adventuring for your dollar at those prices. Unless you really want the soundtrack, though, we don't recommend the Deluxe Edition which mostly includes special armor and extra multiplayer items. There won't be any singleplayer DLC.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is $5/£4.49 on Origin (save $15/about £12), and at that price it's definitely worth a go—it was one of our favorite games of 2014.

Ubisoft Store

Ubisoft has some light deals on PC downloads, including for some brand new games. Just make sure you're looking at the PC download edition, as the console discounts are different.

The Division is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 in the UK.

Watch Dogs 2 is $20.40 on the Ubisoft Store (save $39.59). It's £17 in the UK.

Far Cry Primal is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $30). It's £16 for UK buyers.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is $20 on the Ubisoft Store (save $20). For UK readers, it's £17.50.

Battle.net

Blizzard brings us discounts of up to 50% off on three of Battle.net's biggest games: Destiny 2, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft.

Paradox Plaza

Paradox has knocked a lot of money off the best titles in its catalogue, including Cities: Skylines and Tyranny. If you already have these games be sure to check out the smaller but still significant discounts on expansion packs.

Hearts of Iron IV is $15.99/£13.99 on Paradox Plaza (60% off) and Fanatical for the WWII generals out there.

Crusader Kings 2 is $10/£7.50 on Paradox Plaza (75% off), it's still one of the best story generators ever.

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Every week, we ask our panel of PC Gamer writers a question about PC gaming. This week: what game would you recommend to a complete non-gamer? We also welcome your answers in the comments. 

Samuel Roberts: Rocket League

What if football, but with cars? Rocket League took off precisely because it's so easy to pick up and play, with fast matchmaking, intuitive controls and short matches. Within one game, any player of any skill will get it. 

And then the obsession begins. Cars fly overhead in your dreams. You wander through the streets imagining what would happen if that BMW over there did a backflip to score a goal. You haven't spoken to your parents in weeks because you're trying to climb the ladder in ranked. You started playing in January, but now it's August and you've played nothing else, and you've had Prey sat on your hard-drive for months. Maybe you should stop? "I think we should see other people," your partner says. "No problem." you reply. But did you say that, or were you merely selecting a quick chat option in yet another game of Rocket League? You're 80 years old and dead, and you only ever reached Gold II rank.  

Anyway, yeah, Rocket League. Great game, regardless of skill level. 

Phil Savage: Kerbal Space Program

Technically Kerbal Space Program is a very difficult game. Just ask the many Kerbals who are stuck endlessly orbiting the various moons and planets I have tried to visit. But, while hard, its difficulty isn't abstract. Kerbal Space Program is difficult because going to space is difficult. By basing itself on real-world, observable concepts, its challenge makes sense. That makes it an incredibly effective starter game. Also the fact that, if in doubt, you can usually just add more rockets.

It's also good because its success is scalable. In sandbox mode, you're never punished for failure. Instead, you're given an opportunity to learn, tweak and reassess. It's a great teacher, not just of the physics of rocket science, but also of how games can support experimentation and play on the path to a greater goal.

Andy Kelly: L.A. Noire

Basically prestige TV in game form. A compelling series of mysteries to solve, proper actors bringing the characters to life, and a larger narrative of corruption and scandal to get swept up in. You don't even have to drive anywhere: just get your partner to do it for you. And if you're having trouble with the action sequences—gunfights, car chases, and so on—the game lets you just skip them. It has some problems, sure, but if you don't 'get' games, L.A. Noire will immediately make sense. Everyone loves a good detective mystery, and Rockstar's game presents its varied, mostly well-constructed cases with the lavish feel of a US TV drama.

Tim Clark: Hearthstone

I know, I know, but probably Hearthstone. I've been teaching my nephew on holiday and they've done a ton of work to make the new player experience more friendly. Until you start getting serious about trying to climb ladder, it's also a free-to-play game that you can genuinely have fun goofing around in without having to drop dollars. Tavern Brawls, Arena Runs, even just administering kickings to the Innkeeper AI are all a fine way to spend a few hours on your PC when you're supposed to be working. I should know.

Tom Senior: Her Story

You don't need any knowledge of game genres or complicated control schemes to play through this fascinating mystery. If you can Google, you can play Her Story. The game is a database of videoclips showing police interviews with a woman—is she a suspect, a witness, a victim? You search for key phrases to bring up new clips containing fresh clues to search for. The format is surprisingly good at delivering twists, and the game is particularly fun if you have friends around to help put the pieces together.

Chris Livingston: Plants Vs Zombies

It's bright, it's colorful, it's amusing, and there's just about the most perfect learning curve in a game I can think of, where you're given just enough time to figure how to best use a new plant when a new zombie shows up, and you're just about on the brink of having your home invaded when the final zombie falls. There's also plenty of extra modes and activities that are fun to play around with. It's also addictive as hell, so even if it's their first game it won't be their last.

PC games are full of arcane artifacts spurring on ancient civilizations, Nazis riding dinosaurs, and Ghandi nuking the entire planet. Historical accuracy isn’t always a priority, and even the ones that try to get it right have to take some liberties with the facts modern scholarship hands down to us to be, you know, a fun game. But there is a definite divide between games that offer a mere nod to history (or use some vague, pop culture-informed stereotype of it as a jumping-off point) and those that actually put in enough research time to get at least some of the important facts straight.

It’s hard to measure a variable like “historicity” when it comes to games—and yes, that is a real word. Games that put history first tend to wind up overly complicated rather than fun, so I've highlighted genuinely great PC games that go out of their way to include some historical accuracy. In particular, I chose games that accurately and ably depict a facet of history that is often misrepresented or ignored in other, ostensibly historical games.

In chronological order based on their setting, here are the most historical PC games.

Total War: Attila - Most historical game about the collapse of the Western Roman Empire 

Attila pulled Total War’s tired campaign formula out of its slump and gave us a living map that portrayed the cultural, political, and environmental challenges facing Rome in her twilight years. Rather than playing into the stereotype of angry, marauding barbarians showing up out of nowhere to sew chaos, the map really put you in the middle of why these invasions were happening—the oncoming of climate change making northern regions progressively less supportive of large populations, and the migration of the Huns into Eastern Europe.

It was also the first Total War game to model the fact that not all societies have permanent cities, and how tributary relationships could form between cultures as a pressure valve against open war.

Assassin’s Creed series - Most historical depiction of ancient cities 

There is very little about the plot of any Assassin’s Creed game that could be regarded as staunchly historical (though we do get some cool nods here and there—the Siege of Masyaf in AC1 is a thing that really happened). However, they’ve gone to great lengths to depict, in full scale, what it would be like to walk the streets of Renaissance Florence or medieval Jerusalem. From the crowds, to the architecture, to the small details, there is a lot of history to experience just by wandering the environments. My personal favorite is Revelations’ post-Ottoman-conquest Constantinople, perhaps one of the most interesting cities in world history snapshotted at one of its most interesting ages.

Crusader Kings 2 - Most historical modeling of medieval Western European politics 

With expansions highlighting Satanic cults and fanciful, “What if?” Aztec invasions, there is plenty of ahistorical nonsense kicking around CK2 these days. But at its core is a system that does an excellent job of modeling how politics worked in Western Europe from about 1000 to 1400 AD. We take for granted the concept of a nation state in our modern world, but if you lived in Auvergne, France in 1150, you were probably loyal to a person, not a flag or a constitution. All of CK2’s titles have holders, and it is they who interact and play the grand game against one another.

A strong realm can crumble under a weak king just as a poor realm can rise to glory under a great king. And while the hierarchical depiction of feudalism it presents is highly disputed in modern scholarship, excellent expansions like Conclave have added more weight to the lateral bonds that many historians argue were the greater driving force among the nobility of the age.

Expeditions: Viking -  Most historical Viking game

I was impressed immediately by how apparent it was that the designers of Expeditions: Viking put stereotypes out of their mind and hit the books. As my primary historical interest area, I have a high standard for games about the Viking Age, and this one really has you doing a lot of the things a viking ruler would have actually found him or herself doing.

There are kinship-based blood feuds to manage. There is the emphasis on the necessity of presenting yourself as both a strong and a just ruler, not taking for granted that people will follow you based on your name. It even models the effects those notorious raids had on Scandinavia—bringing back captives and wealth that would help build infrastructure and birth three of the most influential kingdoms in European history.

Banished - Most historical game about frontier settlement

Banished is a fairly simple game. I might even argue that it’s too simple, but the mechanics it chooses to focus on are very much the sorts of things that say, an English settler in the 17th Century Virginia Colony would have been concerned with. Keeping your people warm, fed, and healthy are your main goals. You have to use the resources in your environment and trade with distant lands to provide for a growing population. A harsh winter or a disease outbreak can be utterly disastrous and end your whole settlement—as they often did for early European settlements in the New World.

Sid Meier’s Pirates! - Most historical pirate game 

While Pirates! does allow itself to indulge in some buccaneer stereotypes, it also models a lot of the genuine realities a privateer captain during the Golden Age of Piracy would have to be concerned with. A crew is a ragtag collection of malcontents picked up from all across the Caribbean who will only stay with you as long as they feel like there’s a monetary reward in it. The political interplay between the Spanish, English, French, and Dutch is an ongoing conundrum, and you’ll usually be working for at least one of them. And of course, its modeling of naval combat with wind direction, hull size, decks, guns, and even shot type really gives you a glimpse of all the skills necessary to be a naval officer in that era.

Victoria 2 - Most historical game about the Industrial Revolution 

Vicky 2 is probably the most intimidating and inaccessible game on this list, but it deserves its spot for hanging its top hat on aspects of history that often get ignored. The level of literacy among your population matters. More literate societies will become more productive… but they also gain Consciousness, which can lead them towards social movements like communism and demanding an end to slavery, universal suffrage, and labor rights. You know, pesky commoner stuff. It also models industrialization, war profiteering, and the advantages and disadvantages of free markets versus command economies. If you have the patience to learn it, it's well worth the investment.

The Oregon Trail - Most historical game about the Oregon Trail 

An oldie but a goodie. The various iterations of The Oregon Trail that have been released since 1971's HP 2100 version (how’s that for some history!) have all been lauded for their educational value. And with good reason. If a modern person tries to imagine the struggles faced by an American pioneer making the journey from Independence to the Willamette Valley in the mid-1800s, they probably wouldn’t give much thought to how many spare wagon tongues you’d need to bring. But that was the reality, and The Oregon Trail put us in the middle of it. It probably also made us a little more afraid of dysentery than we have cause to be in an era of modern medicine and sanitation, but no game is perfect.

Ultimate General: Civil War - Most historical game about the Civil War  

I know I’ll take my share of hard tac for failing to call out some hex-based, in-depth wargame that features the weight and height of every soldier who fought at Gettysburg compiled from census records, but Ultimate General is the perfect midpoint between attention to historical detail, accessibility, and fun. Its combat engine realistically models terrain, movement, casualties, and morale in real time. The recently released campaign mode even gets into how generals in this era had to prove themselves to the political leadership if they wanted to be well-supplied and have weight given to their strategic advice.

Steel Division: Normandy 44 - Most historical game about tactical combat in World War 2

A truly impressive feat to a military history nerd, Steel Division’s maps are built from actual aerial reconnaissance photographs taken during the Normandy invasion, down to the village layouts and placement of hedgerows. It also features realistic ranges and damage modeling for all of its vehicles and weapons, and even the relative speed and maneuverability of its air units. It limits heavier units to spawning later in a battle to simulate the simple fact that they would have taken longer to get there after first contact with the enemy.

Possibly most notable of all, though, is that it does an uncommonly good job stressing the importance of ground-based reconnaissance on the battlefields of World War 2, and the idea that engagements could be won or lost based on which side had better information.

IL-2 Sturmovik series - Most historical combat flight simulator 

I think most flight sim enthusiasts remember the first time they tried to do a backflip in IL-2 and saw the screen start to fade out, wondering if there was something wrong with their monitor. Not only are the controls and handling in this classic historically accurate, but it simulates the effects G-forces have on a fighter pilot maneuvering at high speeds. Force too much blood into your head and you’ll experience redout. Force too much into your feet and you’ll experience blackout. In addition, the titular IL-2 was depicted in meticulous, 3D detail and the combat missions presented plausible scenarios.

Verdun - Most historical World War I shooter 

Move over, Battlefield 1. Verdun sets out to accurately depict trench warfare on the Western Front, and does a pretty good job of it for a multiplayer shooter. Its inaccuracies are forgivable sacrifices to scale, rather than in the details. it would be very difficult to get enough players on a single server to really depict some of the bigger battles of The Great War, and a lot more time was spent waiting around hoping not to get blown up by a shell than was spent taking aim and firing at the enemy—which isn’t really fun if you just have an hour a night to jump in the mud with your buds. Particularly impressive is the detail that goes into the uniforms, with items as small as buttons being painstakingly reproduced from period photographs.

Kerbal Space Program - Most historical game about the space program 

With its science-based modeling of orbital mechanics, propulsion, and aerodynamics, Kerbal Space Program is a great platform to teach about the history of spaceflight. In fact, the developers at Squad agree, and are working on an official Making History expansion. But if you don’t want to wait, the community has already beaten them to the punch. A number of mods, including the Historical Missions Pack, allow you to experience launches spanning from the first German V2 rocket tests all the way up to SpaceX and beyond. 

Deus Ex series - Most historical game about… the future?

So this one is mostly my own speculation based on observation of current trends, rather than anything backed up by in-depth scholarship. But I’ve always been impressed with how well Deus Ex depicts what I see as humanity’s likely next steps. Huge strides are being made in brain-computer interfaces, prosthetics, and artificial intelligence, while advancements in fields like spaceflight and laser swords are becoming increasingly hard to come by. Were I a betting man, I’d put my money on the assumption that we’ll see the world of Adam Jensen come to pass long before the world of Captain Picard.

We wrote yesterday that Valve had hired on an undisclosed number of developers from the Kerbal Space Program team, a noteworthy occurrence because when Valve hires indie dev teams, games like Counter-Strike and Portal are sometimes the result. Valve confirmed the hire but revealed nothing about the details, saying only that a proper announcement would be coming soon. 

In a statement issued shortly after the hiring came to light, however, Kerbal studio Squad clarified that these were employees that had left Squad, then later joined Valve. This isn't a Portal-like situation, in other words, where Valve has absorbed up a full, existing dev team. Further eliminating any confusion, Squad added that it's still operating, and maintaining KSP, as an independent outfit. 

"There was news today that former KSP developers have joined Valve. We want to clarify that Squad is not joining Valve, and we continue to be an independent studio with the core KSP team remaining at Squad, hard at work on the improved KSP for consoles port,  Update 1.3 and the Making History Expansion. The KSP community shouldn't be concerned about this news having any impact on the game," the studio said.   

"Regarding the developers joining Valve, it is important to note that we have had several people working on our team over the years, and it is common among development studios for team members to come and go. If some of them joined Valve, it is on their own behalf and we wish them good luck and success in their current and future endeavors. So do not worry, everything continues normally with KSP." 

In an email, Squad clarified that no current KSP developers had left the studio to move to Valve. "These people departed Squad prior to joining Valve," a rep said. "We do not know who they are exactly or how many there are, either." 

Valve's pickup of former KSP developers remains interesting because whatever they're working on is apparently big enough to warrant its own announcement, and any new Valve project (if that's what it turns out to be) is worth keeping an eye on. But I'm actually glad to hear that Squad is remaining independent, too. Kerbal Space Program, in design and execution, is about as indie as it gets, and you can call me sentimental if you like but it's nice to know it's going to stay that way.