Despite being one of the most popular genres across all the home console generations, it isn’t often platformers are mentioned on lists of the best PC games. Normally, the conversation centers around the best FPS games on PC, the best Metroidvanias on PC, or the best co-op games on PC. Aside from a few key exclusives, mainly from Nintendo, the PC is home to all the best platformers. These can be delightful frolics through colorful worlds or tough-as-nails tests of skill and perseverance. We looked at all the 2D and 3D platformers across the years to pick out the best ones you should jump into.
If you somehow already played all our top choices, check out the list of upcoming PC games to see which one you will play next.
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Pizza Tower
84%
Platforms
PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Tour De Pizza
Publisher
Tour De Pizza
Release
January 26, 2023
Mario clones are a dime a dozen on PC, but Wario clones are almost non-existent. Pizza Tower isn’t just a ripoff of that momentum-based style but wraps it in a ’90s cartoon art style that gives it a fever-dream-like tone in all the best ways. You will charge through levels at a break-neck pace, never fully feeling in control and reacting on pure instinct most of the time as you ram through enemies and use your various moves to traverse obstacles. Then, at the end, you need to race all the way back through the level backward before a giant pizza catches you. It is a crazy experience that has to be played to understand but is already a classic among its fans.
A Hat in Time
84%
Platforms
PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Gears for Breakfast
Publisher
Gears for Breakfast, Humble Games
Release
October 05, 2017
Speaking of Mario clones, A Hat in Time is the closest thing you can get to a 3D Mario game that has just as much charm and mechanical depth as the originals. You play as a girl who has lost all her Time Pieces and must venture to various worlds to collect enough of them to get back home. The levels are all places you’ve never quite been to in any other platformer, like a creepy forest inhabited by a soul-stealing creature known as The Snatcher, or an island in the sky inhabited by birds, cats, and goats. Just like any good collectathon, you can progress by picking up only a portion of the Time Pieces, with getting them all being an extra challenge. Plus you can take on plenty of even harder bonus areas for those who really want to master all the movement options.
Super Meat Boy
83%
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Linux, Wii, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Team Meat
Publisher
BlitWorks, Team Meat
Release
October 20, 2010
Some of us come to platformers for a more chill experience, but Super Meat Boy is not that kind of game. Unless you thrive on a game that demands pixel-perfect reactions, you’re going to have a bad time. If that is you, though, this game makes it downright addictive to try dozens of times to perfectly navigate a level and finally reach the goal so you can watch a replay of all your attempts play out at the same time. This was one of the original breakout indie games and its quality played no small part in getting the mainstream more interested in smaller games. The controls are simple but tuned so tight that you never have anything to blame but yourself for a missed jump. Average players can expect to beat the game with enough effort, but doing all the challenge levels and getting the highest ranks is a task even the most skilled 2D platformers struggle to accomplish.
Celeste
87%
Platforms
Google Stadia, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Extremely OK Games
Publisher
Maddy Makes Games
Release
January 25, 2018
On one hand, Celest can be just as brutal as Meat Boy, but also accessible to nearly anyone. Celeste is a heartfelt and touching story about a girl named Madeline and her quest to climb the titular Celeste Mountain, but also a deep and introspective tale of depression and mental illness. That part is better left experienced firsthand without spoiling anything, but nothing can ruin just how good the game is to play. What’s even more amazing is that it can cater to everyone from people who have never touched a platforming game before to the most hardcore speed-runners. In terms of 2D platformers, Celeste feels about as tight as any game ever could. You have just the right amount of weight and air control, plus the ability to cling onto walls, climb them, and dash either on the ground or in the air. Like the best platformers, Celeste takes these limited options and devises creative, challenging, and even puzzle-like obstacles for you to solve using those tools. Then there are the secret strawberries for additional challenges, along with the B-side levels to give people who really want to master the game’s mechanics a place to test their skills. On the other hand, the number of accessibility options the game has means you can tweak the game so that just about anyone can enjoy it without getting frustrated.
Penny's Big Breakaway
Platforms
Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Evening Star
Publisher
Private Division
Release
February 21, 2024
After the team proved it knew how to make a 2D Sonic game arguably better than Sega itself, those same developers decided to take on a 3D platformer with a new IP called Penny’s Big Breakaway. This could easily be a lost Sonic game with a different protagonist, except that it is nearly flawless. Your main method of attack and movement is a yo-yo you can use to swing across gaps and ridden to increase speed. Speed is the name of the game here. You’re encouraged to try and blast through each stage as fast as possible while never losing momentum. If you ever wondered what an amazing 3D Sonic game could look like, this is your answer.
VVVVVV
79%
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Ouya, Linux, Nintendo 3DS, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Puzzle, Adventure, Indie, Arcade
Developer
Distractionware, Terry Cavanagh
Publisher
Nicalis, Inc., Distractionware, Terry Cavanagh
Release
January 11, 2010
How about a platformer where you can’t even jump? VVVVVV is a platformer where you can only shift gravity to flip your character from the floor to the ceiling to navigate and manages to do a lot with that one mechanic. It is a smaller game but creative from start to finish and even has user-created levels if you want to see just how challenging things can get.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
85%
Platforms
PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Linux, Nintendo 3DS, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Adventure, Indie
Developer
Yacht Club Games
Publisher
Yacht Club Games, Nintendo
Release
December 09, 2019
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is yet another homage to classic 16-bit platformers but has outclassed just about every source of inspiration it was taken from. If you have a fondness for classic platformers like Mario, MegaMan, and Ducktales, Shovel Knight is somehow able to surpass even your most nostalgic memories. The base game alone would make it a contender for this list, but all the extra content that has been added just makes this retro-style platformer stand even taller. You get the original adventure with the titular hero, three additional character campaigns, and co-op and competitive modes. Each additional character has its own abilities and playstyle that feel distinct from one another, along with hand-crafted levels that take full advantage of each individual character’s move set. Once you use your shovel to pogo bounce on enemies to clear obstacles while the amazing soundtrack bops in your ears, you’ll be glad to have dug up this treasure trove of a game.
N++
88%
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Genre
Platform, Puzzle, Indie, Arcade
Developer
Metanet Software
Publisher
Metanet Software
Release
July 28, 2015
The N games started out as humble Flash games that became some of the earliest viral hits. N++ is the third and last game in the series that really just evolved the game with more stages and slightly improved visuals. The stage-based loop of going through levels to collect all the gold and reach the exit in one fluid run clearly inspired others like Super Meat Boy but is still worth playing the hundreds of bite-sized levels.
