Best online games

published 16 October 2019

Tired of playing games alone in your living room? Do you crave the angry taunts of 14-year-olds and the lure of bank-balance-draining loot boxes? Even the best online games come with these dangers, but out top picks are worth the risk.

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We’ve collected some of the best and most popular online games for you to try out. They span a whole range of genres, from fantasy RPGs to military shooters and a car game that is categorically not a racer.

Some you can try for free. Others you’ll need to buy. But where possible we’ll show you how to get started with a freebie trial. No-one wants to pay for something they might not enjoy.

Upvote your favourite online game to send it soaring up the ranking. And let us know if you think it is criminal we left out “game X” from this list in the box at the bottom.

Next, read about the best game consoles

Best online games

If you played Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013, it probably seems a long, long time ago. You might be surprised to hear how much publisher Take-Two Games made off of its online segment, GTA Online, recently. Thanks to it, GTA 5 has generated more than $6 billion.A few seconds of GTA Online gameplay looks like Grand Theft Auto V, but loads of modes have been added to it since 2013. These include racing sections inspired by Tron, Rocket League and Hot Wheels. This isn’t the most accessible online game to dive into so many years after its inception, but there’s a lot to try if you already own GTA V.

best open-world games. But it naturally feels different, as a MMORPG.Its core elements are similar to World of Warcraft's. You explore, level-up, head into dungeons and eventually take part in larger-scale raids. But Elder Scrolls Online offers better visuals, superior storytelling and arguably a more fleshed-out world that seems less of an empty vehicle for its play mechanics.You don’t have to pay as much either. Elder Scrolls Online is not a free download, but you can play without a monthly subscription. There is a “Plus” membership that grants access to DLC chapters, and quicker progression, but you don’t have to sign up to it. You can even treat ESO like a single-player game if you like.

Blizzard is a master of online games. It made World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch, which belongs to one of the classic online multiplayer sub-genres, the team-based first-person shooter.It can seem like fast-paced chaos to the newcomer. But each player has a class that all-but mandates a particular style of play: the support, tank, offence and defence.Overwatch becomes more fun once you know what you’re doing, so be prepared to put some time in to get through the initial confusion (and likely scorn from other players).

Riot Games’s League of Legends is our MOBA pick of the day. That stands for multiplayer online battle arena. And in this case you see the action from above, as two or more teams duke it out, often using finely honed strategy to take down each other’s bases.You might not glean all that from watching a YouTube video of play, but League of Legends is one of the most popular competitive esport games. It’s quite intimidating to start, as the importance of strategy can quickly see you under fire form other players if you don’t know what you’re doing.However, there is now a practice mode that lets you have a play without dealing with angry teenagers. Phew.