Discover hidden gems! From indie hits to overlooked classics, here are 10 underrated PC games that deserve your attention right now.

The gaming market is one where best-selling games and blockbusters dominate the sales reports and headline titles. Call of Duty, Elden Ring, and The Witcher 3, for example, dominate the limelight, leaving less room for less marketed games or even games not marketed at all. Yet some great games fall through the net for not good enough ads, niche popularity, or the timing being all wrong.

Top 10 Most Underrated PC Games You Should Play Right Now 1

These hidden treasures generally hold one-of-a-kind gameplay, complex stories, or groundbreaking mechanics that set them apart from the common games. Even when the games did not sell many copies and did not become very popular, the players adore them when they discover them. Surprisingly even the platforms like Mostbet contributed their part towards bringing the popularity for the under-appreciated games. Placing the under-appreciated games under their games sections, the under-appreciated games come into the limelight for the viewers. If you adore playing the games from the traditional RPG games or the games from the indie games, playing the under-appreciated games is like rediscovering your favorite all over again.

2. Criteria for Selecting Underrated Games

Before diving into the list, however, define the word “underrated”:

  • Critical acclaim alongside underwhelming sales: Critics raved about them but sales were not great.
  • Overshadowed by triple-A games: Launched together with bigger games and pushed aside afterward.
  • Cult following: Smaller games and their loyal core audience keeping them alive
  • Unique mechanics: Mechanisms or mechanics through which they differ from the mass market.

These criteria assist in selecting games that, even though good, did not deserve the popularity they were given.

 

3. The Top 10 Most Underrated PC Games

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3.1. Game #10 – Sleeping Dogs (2012)

  • Genre: Open-world action, crime drama
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Often compared to Grand Theft Auto, but its fight mechanics, engrossing story, and Hong Kong setting set it apart.
    • The Sleeping Dogs game failed to gain widespread popularity due to the lack of adequate promotion by Square Enix.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Incredible martial arts battles and brutal takings-down.
    • Rich open-world experience drawn from Hong Kong movie magic.
    • A story filled with deceitfulness, loyalty, and redemption

3.2. Game #9 – Prey (2017)

  • Genre: Sci-fi FPS, immersive sim
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Released the year Resident Evil 7, Horizon: Dawn, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild were.
    • Many expected the shoot ’em up and were instead treated to a reflective, deliberate experience.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Deep and thoughtful writing
    • A mix of the playing style from System Shock, Bioshock, and Deus Ex
    • Creative problem-solving and experimentation under space station conditions.

3.3. Game #8 – The Saboteur (2009)

  • Genre: Open-world action, stealth
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Unique black-and-white coloration that fills in when you clear territories.
    • Released just before Assassin’s Creed II, the authentic thief-in-town.
  • Why You Should Play Saboteur:
    • A cinematic glamorous Paris during WWII
    • Stealth-action elements combined with explosive open-world style.

3.4. Game #7 – Titanfall 2 (2016)

  • Genre: FPS, sci-fi shooter
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • One of the best one-player FPS campaigns for the year.
    • Launched between Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the launch ruined its exposure.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Incredible movement mechanics (wall-running, grapple, and high-paced shooting).
    • Titan combat promises realistic and strategic FPS experience.
    • A heartfelt testimony about the relationship the pilot has towards their Titan

 

3.5. Game #6 – Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006)

  • Genre: RPG, action combat
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Released in the market when Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion ruled the market.
    • Unpolished launch made the film disappointing.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • One of the greatest ever seen during the history of RPGs.
    • Interactive physics permitted you to kick foes onto spike floors or over cliffs.
    • A dark fantasy setting with high levels of replayability.

3.6. Game #5 – Spec Ops: The Line (2012)

  • Genre: Psychological shooter, third-person action
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Marketed as being nothing more than some ordinary military shooter, when actually dark and cerebral.
    • Sold poorly despite its strong plot.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • A disturbing subversion of shooter clichés, reversing the idea of war and ethics.
    • A story you will not soon forget after playing the game

3.7. Game #4 – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012)

  • Genre: Action RPG, fantasy
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • A deep and engrossing RPG mechanic but spent not much for advertisements.
    • Released at the launch alongside Skyrim and Dark Souls.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Fantastic combat mechanics combined with RPG progression and missions modified.
    • A vibrant fantastical setting abounding in lore and discovery.

3.8. Game #3 – Alpha Protocol (2010)

  • Genre: Espionage RPG, stealth-action
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Rough launch, clumsy mechanics, and abysmal marketing ruined its potential for achievement.
    • Overlooked because the players were holding their breath for the traditional shooter, this is actually an RPG with consequences and choice.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Dialogue choices impact the overall game.
    • A mix of Mass Effect-style RPG mechanics and James Bond-like espionage.

3.9. Game #2 – Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010)

  • Genre: Action-adventure
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • Released with less publicity and overshadowed by bigger scale action games.
    • Developed by the creators of Hellblade and DmC (Ninja Theory).
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • A beautifully crafted piece of science fiction with strong character depth.
    • Stunning visuals combined with poignant narration.

3.10. Game #1 – Hollow Knight (2017)

  • Genre: Metroidvania, indie platformer
  • Why It’s Underrated:
    • While it became widespread afterward, when introduced, it wasn’t known due to the lack of exposure.
    • Overshadowed by bigger indie successes like Celeste and Cuphead.
  • Why You Should Play It:
    • Deep and immersive gameplay coupled with breathtaking hand-drawn visuals.
    • One of the best Metroidvania games ever made.

4. Why These Games Deserve More Recognition

Some of them were actually groundbreaking, and only now is the genius being appreciated for its worth. For one:

 

  • Prey (2017) has cemented its worth as the magnum opus of immersive sim design.
  • Titanfall 2 is now famed for its innovative movement mechanics and its heart-wrenching campaign.
  • Hollow Knight has become a cult phenomenon, followed by its sequel (Silksong) and cult followers.

Gaming communities funded these games by keeping them alive through audience support, streaming, and modding. Experimental games and small studios can’t compete against the enormous budget ads and thus can’t gain the exposure.

Interestingly, platforms like Mostbet also revived the popularity for the underappreciated games. In including the underappreciated games under their gaming sections, the underappreciated games find their audience for many. Whether you adore the underappreciated games or the classical RPG games, playing the underappreciated games can turn out to be even more fun like discovering the next favorite game.

5. Conclusion: The Joy of Discovering Hidden Gaming Treasures

The gaming market is vast and fluid, where dozens upon dozens of games arrive yearly. While the discussion is typically filled by blockbusters like Cyberpunk 2077, God of War, and Elden Ring, the entirety of the globe is filled with under-appreciated gems for you to discover. These games did not necessarily possess the budget for promotion or the timing for the battle against the monsters of the AAA arena, but each has something about them greater even than their larger budget counterparts.

Moreover, discovering them is like stumbling over something you shouldn’t know. There is some joy playing something not over-watched and over-hyped, something like made for you. These games also form close-knit circles of devoted fans who pass around tips, create their own customizations, and maintain the true nature of the  game many years after its release. For instance, even though the Alpha Protocol has not sold much, its devoted followers praise its branching stories and espionage mechanics even now.

It’s also worth noting that some of those underrated games only improve like fine wine over the years. These old PC games such as Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and The Saboteur were maybe disappointing when they were released, but their unique mechanics and visual style only became all the more valuable over the passing years. In the day and the age where remakes and remasters occur even more regularly, those games are testament to the genius of their makers and the durability of good design.

So, why not break from the norm of the run-of-the-mill AAA fare and explore one of these under-appreciated gems? If you need something engrossing for its plot, something groundbreaking for its gameplay, or something strange for something different, something is beneath the surface for all. And you know? Who could possibly be your next favorite game?