While all games are fictional flights of fancy, the best of sci-fi takes self-invention, imagination and narrative to the extreme. Science-fiction takes our current reality and thrusts it into the great beyond, or sometimes even an alternative timeline, to explore the logical ends of the human endeavour. Plus, there are lasers, androids and spaceships.
While the modern sci-fi movement finds many of its roots feeding on the pulpy soil of 1950s paperback and action comics, the genre has blossomed into one of the most significant pop-culture phenomena around. The world of video games reflects this well, with hundreds of sci-fi and sci-fi-infused releases just waiting to be enjoyed.
To help you find the best sci-fi games, we’ve put together this buyer’s guide. With the games chosen, players will be able to live out their wildest Force-wielding dreams, in Star Wars JEDI: Fallen Order, escape to the retro-future in The Outer Worlds, quest epically in Mass Effect or even save Earth from machine conquest in NeiR:Automata.
Keep reading for the best sci-fi games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC.
Just so you know, while we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections.
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Platform: Multi In Mass Effect, players take up control of Commander Shepard to embark on a
2. Returnal
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Platform: PS5 Returnal is a sci-fi third-person shooter that pulls roguelike gameplay into
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Platform: Multi Coming from the developer behind cult-fave Fallout: New Vegas is the quirky
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Platform: Multi Do we all remember when the Jedi were purged in Revenge Of The Sith? As it
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Platform: Multi While the Fallen Order lets us all live out Jedi fantasies on the ground,
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Platform: Multi Developed by Remedy Entertainment, Control is a unique third-person
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Platform: Multi Much like Mass Effect, the BioShock trilogy is of huge importance, making
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Platform: Multi The player controls Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, part of a team
9. Doom Eternal
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Platform: Multi Unrelentingly brutal with gore galore, Doom Eternal is a frantic and
10. EVE Online
secure.eveonline.com
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Platform: PC EVE Online is an MMORPG that has you heading out into the Milky Way to explore
11. Gears 5
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Platform: Xbox Offering a new perspective on the Swarm-slaying series and stunning with its
12. Astral Chain
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Platform: Switch Developer PlatinumGames has Bayonetta, Vanquish and NieR:Automata to its
13. Outer Wilds
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Platform: Multi Equal parts sci-fi, mystery and open-world explorer, Outer Wilds is set in a
14. XCOM 2
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Platform: Multi For many years XCOM 2 defined PC gaming for swathes of players. Itu2019s a
15. Death Stranding
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Platform: Multi While Hideo Kojimau2019s Metal Gear Solid series falls more squarely into
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Platform: Multi Quantic Dream has made a name for itself by creating accomplished narrative
17. No Manu2019s Sky
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Platform: Multi No Manu2019s Sky offers players freedom. Not just the freedom to explore an
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Platform: Multi Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a strategic combat game with plenty of
19. Prey
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Platform: Multi Morgan Yu is exploring a space station when he encounters an alien race, the
20. Half-Life: Alyx
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Platform: PC VR A PC-powered VR headset (ideally, the Valve Index) is needed to play
21. NieR:Automata
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Platform: Multi NieR:Automata isnu2019t a game to shy away from the more complex and bizarre
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