Looking to join the glamorous (note: not so glamorous) world of e-sports tournament organizing? Well, it’s quite the hefty task. Tournament organizers don’t start setting up multi-million dollar events first thing. They start on the local level, hosting meet-ups and smaller tournaments for amateurs.
While the step-by-step process for running a tournament will vary wildly from game to game (and we will cover that in other articles down the line) this article will provide tips that are applicable for most first time organizers. Check them out before you even post your first sign-up page.
Why Run a Tournament?
There are tons of people out there running multi-million dollar tournaments. Why do you have to get your hands dirty?
Well, you probably aren’t going to be running anything on the scale of the DOTA2 International any time soon, but major tournaments like that can only exist because of small tournaments on the local level. Running local tournaments not only helps you build a community for your game of choice, it gives amateur players a critical opportunity to hone their skills against other players of a professional skill level. It’s a crucial step in fielding new talent in any e-sport.
It’s also a fantastic way to meet new people and get your name out there as an organizer. Many local tournament organizers have gone on to be prominent streamers and eventually professional broadcasters in the e-sports world.
It’s a great way to help support a local business while simultaneously granting moneymaking opportunities to small time professional gamers.
But most importantly, it’s the best thing you can do to support an e-sport you love. The more people you get playing, the bigger the sport grows, and people can only play when they have an outlet to do so.
The Golden Rules of Tournament Organization
Before we even get started, remember these five simple rules.
- Don’t panic! – Any problem has a solution; you just have to find it.
- Plan ahead… way ahead – Enough planning will help you stop problems before they start.
- Ask for help – Throw pride out the window. If you don’t know what to do, ask for help.
- Don’t be a jerk – Running a tournament involves doing a lot of work for a lot of people without a lot of direct reward. Humble yourself and you’ll have a better and easier time. This is also good advice for life in general.
- Seriously, don’t panic! – Yes, this piece of advice was so important we listed it twice.
Choosing the Game You Want to Run
You might think this is the easiest part of tournament running. Just choose the game you want and you are done! Right?
Nope. Even choosing a game requires a lot of forethought. Different games and different genres require vastly different amounts of time, equipment, and space. A small fighting game tournament can run off one TV set up on a folding table, but a small first-person shooter tournament requires multiple computers at multiple tables all connected to the internet. A single Hearthstone game can finish in a few minutes, but a single Starcraft II game can last a half hour or more. Try to not only choose a game that you like, but also choose a game that fits the resources you have available to you.
Consider the nature of the game you want to run a tournament for as well. Games with large online communities will probably be looking to have online tournaments, while arcade-style games will thrive better in meat space. The game you choose will also have an effect on how you advertise your tournament and what communities you reach out to. Even the mindset of your tournament participants will vary wildly from game to game.
While you might not want to run a tournament for your favorite game given the above considerations, I would recommend at least running a tournament for a game you know something about. Do not try to run a tournament for a game you have never played. This may seem obvious, but many first-time tournament organizers choose a game because they think running a tournament for it would be easy, and then start to panic when they realize they have no personal experience with the rules, tournament formats, or even station setup for that particular game.
In short, this whole section is a long way of saying, “don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Choose a game that you have passion for, but also that you have the resources for.
Finding a Venue
Every tournament needs a venue, but first-time tournament organizers won’t have access to huge stadiums. Luckily, there are lots of other alternatives to get your local tournament off the ground.
Houses and Apartments
The most basic tournament space is someone’s living space. It’s free. It’s easily manageable. It requires no paperwork or bureaucracy of any kind. But it’s also kind of inconvenient. You’ll likely have very limited space, depending on the size of the home. Not to mention this requires letting a large amount of strange gamers with dubious character into your personal living space. Still, if your tournament is small enough, this is probably the way to go.
Game Stores
What better place to host a video game tournament than a place that sells games. Game stores are great venue picks because they will usually help you advertise, which will get your tournament an impressive turnout. They also usually have equipment you can use, reducing the need to source equipment yourself. Most average size game stores will have space to spare even after you set up your equipment. Don’t limit yourself to video game stores either. Card and board gaming shops are usually more than happy to bring foot traffic to their door.
Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to using a gaming store for your venue. First of all, their event dates are limited, since they will be running their own promotions. They will likely impose a ton of guidelines on you, which may interfere with the way the tournament is run. They also tend to ask for gigantic venue fees to be added into the tournament registration fee, which may make your tournament financially untenable. Finally, they usually won’t let you give away actual cash as prizes for legal reasons. You’ll have to settle for store credit or something similar.
Eateries and Bars
Why not grab a burger and play a round of Street Fighter V? Food establishments are a great place to hold your tournament because they are usually OK with no or low venue fees, keeping tournament entry fees low as well. The foot traffic alone will help them make money on food sales, which is a benefit to everyone. They also tend to have plenty of space to set up, but they usually aren’t equipped for gigantic turnouts, and they certainly won’t allow your tournament to run if it interferes with normal business. They also tend to have a packed schedule with limited event dates and many lack access to the internet, which could mess up certain styles of tournament. Also, forget running any PC game at a restaurant unless it’s being run on a laptop. They are one of the few venues that will absolutely refuse to let you set up a local area network of desktops. They just don’t have the space or the infrastructure.
Public Event Space
If you want to run a massive tournament, you are going to have to look into public event space. This includes hotels, convention centers, and any place that rents space specifically for tournaments and events.
The good news is that these facilities are amazing. You will get tons of space, a dedicated staff to help you out, easy internet access, and even equipment provided by the venue. The bad news? It costs an arm and a leg. To make a tournament at a public event space worthwhile you have to make sure that you have enough people coming to cover the cost. Many people have taken to Kickstarting or otherwise crowdfunding tournaments in public event space simply to make sure they have enough money before the tournament even begins.
It’s also worth noting that public event spaces are huge. Running a tournament in one will require a lot of teamwork between a dedicated group of tournament organizers in order to run well. I strongly caution against running your first tournament in a public event space, but once you have a few smaller tournaments under your belt, think about volunteering to staff a major or two. This will give you enough experience to eventually run a massive scale tournament of your own.
The Internet!
If none of the above venues sound like good options to you, consider holding your tournament on the internet. Online tournaments provide a ton of advantages. Everyone already has the equipment. No one has to drive out to the venue. Streaming them is super easy. So much of the work is already done for you.
But for as many advantages as it gives you, it comes with equally as many disadvantages. You need a totally different set of skills to run tournaments online than you do in meat space. For example, match reporting becomes much more important since you won’t necessarily just be able to watch the match yourself. Ringing players for their match becomes harder because you can’t just shout their name at the venue. Enforcing a schedule becomes super important, since one delayed match can set your entire tournament off, which will cause more players to drop since they don’t have time to wait around for their matchups. Using the internet as a venue essentially means you have to micromanage every single competitor to make your tournament a success.
But How Do You Even Get a Venue?
This section has gone over the pros and cons of each different venue, but has said little about actually nailing one down. This might seem simple, but the best way to get a venue is to just cold call them. Say you are looking to run a tournament and see if the venue is interested. Even better, go in person, give a nice firm handshake, and explain how much traffic your tournament might bring to the venue. You are essentially selling yourself and your e-sport to the venue owner, so make the best impression that you can.
Equipment and Set Up
No tournament is run without equipment, but luckily there is a simple three letter cheat to help small tournaments go off without a hitch: BYO.
Bring Your Own… everything really. Desktop, Laptop, Keyboard, Mouse, Controller, Monitor, heck you can pretty much ask gamers to bring just about everything except tables and chairs. Of course, when your tournament gets big enough you probably can’t juggle everyone bringing their own PC. At this point it helps if you have volunteers bring equipment that other people can play on. Usually you can offer something like a waived venue fee or otherwise reduced entry into the tournament for asking them to go through the trouble of lugging equipment out. Also, be willing to bring your own TV, console, or computer. You can’t really expect others to volunteer their equipment when you aren’t bringing your own.
Before the tournament even begins, lag check everything. EVERYTHING! Monitors, computers, controllers. Check everything that you are providing to players (even volunteered setups). www.displaylag.com is a great resource for monitor latency, and most games have their own utility that determines whether or not they are running at a smooth FPS. Set every game on every setup to the same settings. If this means that the awesome gaming rig that was brought has to run your game of choice at low settings, so be it. You don’t want anyone to complain about possible unfair advantages. “His rig had shadows on! He was able to see characters at the edge of the map a split second before I could!”
After you lag check everything, check to make sure everything is tournament legal. Be incredibly wary of turbo buttons or keyboards that can program in macros. Be equally as wary of wireless controllers. I’d personally suggest banning them all together. Never enforce the usage of a specific controller, just ban the usage of controllers that aren’t legal. If you are running the tournament on a console, make sure that every console is the same version (don’t mix up PS4s and PS4 pros) and make sure it’s the same brand (don’t run a tournament on both PS4 and Xbox One at the same time) because different consoles run games slightly differently.
Once you are certain all your equipment is kosher, label it. Everything. Every monitor, controller, and keyboard. No one will come back to your tournament if they lose their controller or, worse, their monitor in the setup shuffle.
And do all of this before the tournament even starts! The venue should be totally set up an hour or two before the game playing begins. This will give you enough time to handle any last minute problems that arise. It also gives competitors time for some casual matches before the tournament begins. You might even want to dedicate some extra setups to allow spectators to play casual matches all throughout the tournament.
If you are streaming your tournament, be sure to calculate stream setup time into this. How to set up your own stream is a topic for another article, but if someone is setting it up for you just ask them how long they need.
The rest of equipment setup is a matter of logistics. Make sure players have enough room to play and spectators have enough room to spectate. Try not to have spectators hover over competitor’s backs if possible. Instead, dedicate one setup for running major matches and feed that match onto a big screen. Spectator mode works just fine in most shooters and any other game works just fine with a HDMI splitter running the video output to a second monitor or projector.
Keep paths to important areas open. The most important areas for your tournament are probably the front desk, cash register, food locations, tournament sign up, game setups, and of course, the bathroom. Do not make players cross through a gameplay area to get to their gameplay area. That could screw up a match in progress.
Finally, if this is the first time you are running a tournament, take it from me. Take however much time you think it will take to set-up the venue and double it… at least. Trust me, you’ll need it.
Tournament Pricing – The Root of All Evil
Much of what I mentioned above can be used to run friendly tournaments all you like, but when your tournaments grows you might want to consider offering your winners some of that sweet, sweet e-sports money. Just remember this one thing: gamers are cheap!
If your tournament costs too much to enter, lower skilled players won’t show up. Meanwhile, if the prize pool is too low, pros won’t show up. No one signs up for a tournament that costs an amount of money they don’t want to lose.
You should split your entrance fee into a pot fee and venue fee. Venue fees go directly to, appropriately enough, the venue. It’s the cost of having your event at their place. If you paid for the venue ahead of time the venue fee should be 0.
Pot fees are essentially the money that is up for being won. Remember, laws for what constitutes gambling vary state by state, so you might have to use the pot fee to purchase something else, a gift card, store credit, a console, or something like that. Even then, there are usually loopholes, like offering a new console which the winner can then immediately sell back to the game store for full price. Just be smart and you shouldn’t get in trouble.
Your goal is to make your venue fee plus your pot fee equal to an amount of money people are comfortable paying just for the experience of being in a tournament. In general, you never want to make the venue fee higher than the pot fee. A 2 to 1 ratio of pot to venue fee is a good start, but you’ll find that cost/worth ratio varies greatly based on different games and communities. You just kind of have to feel it out. Look to other local tournaments in your area for an idea of what a fair entrance fee is.
Once you have the money, it is now your responsibility to hold onto it. Once again, if you lose the pot, no one will come back to your tournament. You’ll have to decide how to split the payout between the winners of your tournament. The easiest method is to pay it all to the first place winner, but that discourages people from entering. Consider splitting the pot between first, second, and third place in such a way that third place will at least break even. 70%/20%/10% and 60%/30%/10% are some very common splits for first, second, and third place, but larger tournaments will sometimes split the pot down to 16th place and beyond. Once again, this is something you have to feel out, but can look to other tournament for an example.
Rules – Contrary to Popular Belief, Not Made to be Broken
Every game except for the newest of the new has a commonly accepted tournament ruleset. If this is your first time running a tournament, use it. You can find it with a quick and simple Google search. If you can’t find tournament standards, then use the game’s default settings whenever possible. Note that this is just for your first few tournaments. Feel free to get creative after you have a couple under your belt.
Be careful about changing rules based on personal preferences. Don’t ban characters, weapons, or other options. Don’t change the time limit. Don’t change health or damage settings. Don’t do anything unless A) the tournament community agrees with it or B) you inform everyone coming to your tournament of these changes well in advance. It doesn’t matter how cheap you think Fox is. He is tournament legal.
Be very careful about format changes that could piss off your entire tournament roster. A simple change from double to singe elimination could cause half of your players to drop out. The same is true for doing things like giving matches infinite time just because you think they are fun, or providing copies of games with partially locked rosters. Try to fall in line with community accepted standards as much as possible.
Running the Bracket – Seriously Don’t Change the Bracket
There are many different tournament styles to choose from, but most small tournaments run best in single or double elimination style. Once again, consult your community standards to see which is right for the game you have chosen.
Once you have figured out what bracket you will be running, you’ll need a way to run them. The simplest way is paper or hardcopy, which is useful as a backup but, come on, we aren’t savages.
Perhaps the best browser-based tournament software out there is Challonge.com. Not only can the entire bracket be edited from any mobile device, it is also viewable via the internet to the spectating public. Challonge even gives you tools to help ring players when it’s time for their match.
You might also want to invest in a third-party tournament running software, such as ALJ Tournament Maker, or Tio. While these don’t have the useful online interface of Challonge, they do have other features, such as keeping track of entry fees and doing the prize split automatically.
Whatever service you choose, it’s important to let entrants see the bracket. This is why internet services like Challonge are so useful. You can just provide a website link and you are done. However, it doesn’t hurt to go a step beyond. A separate monitor or projector goes a long way toward making the bracket accessible to the masses, but simple poster board will do in a pinch.
How you seed the bracket will, again, be different from game to game, but if there aren’t easily accessible standings to help you seed then random seeding is always a good fallback. But whatever you do, do not shift the bracket around. Not if someone is going to have to play his or her teammate. Not if someone feels they have a harder path to victory than most. Not even if a meteor falls in the parking lot. Do not, do not, DO NOT shift the bracket around. Shifting the bracket around will cause you a world of headaches as your bracket software goes on the fritz and you have no idea who won what.
Minimize situations which might affect your bracket in any way. Don’t let people in late. Force people to come up to you to report match wins. Make sure BOTH players agree so you don’t get a misrepresented win. Don’t let players take breaks for no reason. Enforce your schedule! If a player doesn’t show up for their match, make an attempt to contact them. If they hold up your tournament for more than a few minutes, disqualify them. In fact, don’t be soft on anyone who does something to be disqualified. The DQ is your most powerful tool for keeping players in line.
Final Tips and Words of Encouragement
For tournament organizing, the devil is in the details and unfortunately there are few details that apply universally to every game. But here are a few last tips to help you out.
- Separate your venue fee and tournament fee for easy bookkeeping
- Make sure the rules for your tournament are visible and known before the tournament starts
- Consider having people sign up with their phone number or some other form of contact to keep track of entrants that have disappeared
- Advertise your tournament on social media, community sites, and even with fliers and posters.
- Find sponsors if you can. Sponsors will help you run your tournament and will even provide prize support for a little bit of advertising. Once again, cold calling is perhaps the best way to get sponsors to work with you, other than making your tournament big enough that they take notice.
- Have a zero tolerance policy toward sexist, racist, or violent behavior. No one will go to a tournament that isn’t a safe space for all gamers.
- Be creative! The tournament running experience should be fun for you as well as your players. Consider running fun retro game tournaments or obscure gaming tournaments. Feature wacky matches like hot sauce money match exhibitions. Make your tournament unique and different so people have a reason to come back.
Finally, here is one sad truth that will haunt your first tournament running experience. All these tips? All these rules? You will likely break every single one of them in your first tournament in an attempt to make everyone happy. You will encounter problems, piss off players, and make mistakes. You will not be perfect.
Just remember, don’t panic, and don’t be discouraged. Scenes can only thrive due to dedicated tournament organizers like you.
This article originally appeared on GamerTerra and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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50 great tames you don’t need a PS5 to play
Now that the PS5 is available, players enjoy the console’s high speeds, better processing, and exclusive games. The problem is that the PS5 is very difficult to find due to a chip shortage that has slowed manufacturing.
This means as soon as the systems become available at a retailer, they sell out instantly. You might be disappointed by this, but we’re here to tell you that you don’t need a PS5 to enjoy fantastic games.
Sure, the PS5 is a great piece of tech, and if you can get your hands on one, we’d highly recommend it. But there are still many fantastic games across the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch — all of which can be easily purchased right now.
Here, we’ll go through 50 of the best games you can buy right now without needing a PS5. This list will be sorted by category, so it’s easier to take in — and we’ll provide links so you can get your hands on many of the games that make up this list. Let’s go!
gorodenkoff / istockphoto
One of the most popular genres in recent memory is action-adventure, which is home to many of the most beloved games. It’s a broad category that features open-world games, action games and pretty much any single-player adventure that features some sort of exploration and combat. These games may have mechanics from other genres and prioritize combat, exploration and/or story.
DepositPhotos.com
Red Dead Redemption 2 may very well be one of the most ambitious games of all time. Its gameplay is a bit slower and deliberate, adding to the realism and immersion. It’s not for everyone, but the fact that RDR2 even exists is a small miracle.
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Serving as a follow-up to the hit 2018 game from Insomniac, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales sends you on a journey as a different hero. That’s right, you play as Miles Morales, not Peter Parker, and it’s a refreshing take on the character, offering new abilities and tasteful representation of Black and Hispanic culture.
Insomniac Games, Inc.
What more needs to be said about Grand Theft Auto V? It’s one of the most influential games ever, going on to sell a whopping 140 million units since its launch in 2013. It’s great for messing around, exploring and causing chaos, but it also has a captivating story to enjoy as well.
ROCKSTAR
If you ask a random person what their favorite Nintendo Switch game is, they’ll likely say The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s often regarded as not only the best Zelda game but one of the best launch titles in history and most certainly among the top echelon of open-world action-adventure.
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A game that arguably does not get enough love is Sea of Thieves. This game puts you in the shoes of a pirate with a massive world to explore. You can set sail with your crew or solo, partake in voyages and even take on the deadly Kraken … if you dare. It also includes some intriguing live service elements to keep you coming back for more.
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No Man’s Sky is truly incredible. In it, there are 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets for you to explore — which would take you over 500 billion years to see all of. But aside from exploring the wonders of space, there’s combat, ship battles, base building, crafting and so much more.
Hello Games
Often regarded among the top PS4 games ever, God of War is a more mature take on the franchise — giving us a more believable narrative with weight and consequences. This reboot turns Kratos into a likable character and tells the entire story in one camera shot, which gives it a more personal feeling.
SIE Santa Monica Studio
On paper, a first-person Resident Evil game might not sound appealing, but the seventh installment is absolutely incredible, particularly because it takes risks. After an hour of play, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard definitely evokes the same feelings introduced with the originals — and does so even better than the installments introduced in the mid to late 2000s.
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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is FromSoftware at its best. This game isn’t Dark Souls or Bloodborne, and that’s okay. It focuses more on hand-to-hand combat and traversal, giving us a more fluid experience full of wild encounters that are memorable to this day. Though, don’t expect it to be easier than the games FromSoftware is known for.
FromSoftware / Activision
One of the best things about Hitman 3 is its design — giving you endless ways you can tackle each objective. It truly is an open-ended sandbox game, thanks to the impeccable design. But aside from that, it’s absolutely gorgeous and is the best stealth game in recent memory.
IO Interactive
Continuing the story from the 2013 survival horror game, The Last of Us Part II sets a storytelling benchmark. To be frank, its narrative was divisive, not because it was bad, but because it took risks and subverted expectations. It would have been easy to tell a safe story, but this game goes way beyond that, and we applaud Naughty Dog for doing something different.
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It’s easy to dunk on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for “not being finished,” but what’s there is so good; it doesn’t matter much that chunks of its story aren’t there. Sure, we would have loved to see Kojima get all the time in the world to finish the project, but the fact remains that MGSV has some of the best gameplay of the past generation.
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Resident Evil 2 (2019) is without question the exact way a remake should be done. It simultaneously keeps the integrity of the 1998 original while implementing modern ideas that allow it to be experienced in a modern context. Gone are the static cameras and wonky controls. Instead, this feels exactly like you’d expect from a contemporary game, and it’s definitely worth playing.
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Perhaps The Last of Us is a bit too heavy for you. Thankfully, Naughty Dog has a bit more of an approachable game with Uncharted— a game that puts you in the shoes of a treasure hunter, Nathan Drake. Aside from the fun exploration and combat, the Uncharted series is best known for its fantastic writing and dialogue, particularly with the fourth installment, though all are worth checking out.
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Technically, Grounded isn’t out yet, but it’s part of Xbox Game Preview as developer Obsidian continues to work on it. It’s a survival game, but the twist is that you are the size of an ant. That means you’ll need to gather resources from the backyard to ward off bugs, spiders, and other creatures that you come across.
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Ah, good ol’ Minecraft. Say what you’d like about this game; there’s no denying its importance. It’s up there with Super Mario Bros. and Fortnite as one of the most influential games in history, appealing to a wide audience regardless of skill level. In it, you can build, survive, or just mess around, giving you many options for playing. It has certainly come a long way in the past 10 years and is still an absolute blast.
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While action-adventures are fun, role-playing games (RPGs) often have a bit more depth, at least in character building. These games typically allow you to enhance your character by applying upgrades, experience points and leveling up to navigate a skill tree or other means of improving stats. Simultaneously, some action-adventures have RPG elements, the games below lean heavily on character customization and leveling.
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Horizon Zero Dawn’s idea is so unique, which is why it’s a fan-favorite PlayStation game. The main character, Aloy, is a powerhouse, but arguably as important were and when the game takes place: A post-post-apocalyptic setting isn’t something you see often, but Horizon nails it — offering a mashup of futuristic robot dinosaurs with a nature-filled environment.
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There are so many Assassin’s Creed games, and while all of them are at least good, Origins is the most memorable. It sends you to ancient Egypt, featuring Giza’s famous pyramids and breathtaking locales for you to explore. It’s a game that offers a compelling story and includes satisfying gameplay, full of things to unlock and places to uncover.
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There isn’t anything quite like Bloodborne. Part Victorian gothic, part Lovecraft, this game builds upon Dark Souls’ foundation, but with a greater emphasis on movement and fluidity. It still features the same core RPG mechanics but with a few added twists. Our favorite inclusion is the creature designs that look like something you’d see only in your nightmares.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the quintessential action RPG, featuring a long and fascinating story, tons to unlock and explore, a satisfying gameplay loop and a beautiful art style that makes it pop. This game is dense and can easily take up 100 hours of your time, but it’s well worth it.
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Much like Resident Evil 2 (2019), Final Fantasy VII Remake does right by the original, offering an ideal mixture of classic and contemporary ideas.
Though Final Fantasy VII Remake almost feels like a reimagining thanks to the number of changes added. While it only covers a small portion of the original, there’s still a lot to unpack with this remake.
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Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it will go down as the turning point of the series, totally changing the gameplay on its head. The previous Yakuza installments are beat ’em up adventures, but Like a Dragon is a turn-based RPG with a ton of heart. The story is surprisingly deep and has kept us on the edge of our seats from the start. We highly recommend checking this game out.
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Monster Hunter: World takes the gear-based progression system to the max — offering gobs of creatures to take down and even more equipment to unlock. The process of hunting a gigantic monster — especially with friends — is oh so satisfying, and with all the quality of life improvements added to World, there’s never been a better time to jump in.
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Fire Emblem has taken on the mantel of being the prime turn-based tactics series, and we’re glad it has. With Fire Emblem: Three Houses, there’s even more to do, thanks to the three factions you can join — each with different characters and storylines. A lot is going on with this entry, meaning you’ll have hundreds of hours of playtime ahead of you if you pick it up.
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While the base version of Persona 5 is fantastic, the Royal edition is even better — offering extra content and quality of life improvements. It still has the wild story, funny writing, engaging turn-based combat and catchy music from the original, but with a few twists and turns here and there. Even if you’ve played the base version, Royal has enough to warrant a second playthrough.
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Not many people asked for a follow-up to 2010’s NieR, but Automata came out and blew many of us away. It’s partly due to the variety in gameplay, music, and story and how it offers tons of different endings that all intertwine throughout one another. The overall theme of the game is poignant and thoughtful, making it well worth your time.
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The newest generation of Pokémon sends us to a version of the United Kingdom in Sword and Shield. It includes a healthy blend of new and old mechanics, great for veterans and newcomers alike. What’s really neat is the new Dynamax mechanic, which allows your Pokémon to grow gargantuan in size.
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Action-adventure games and RPGs are popular, sure, but there’s something so approachable about a platformer. These are games that — as its name suggests — focus on movement and traversal as the main mechanic, just like Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog. Many modern platformers often blend other mechanics into the formula, creating an interesting amalgamation of genres.
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Kicking things off in the platformer category is Shovel Knight — a game that tastefully pays homage to classic 8-bit NES titles of the past. You can tell its developer, Yacht Club, knows the NES library inside and out, as evidenced by Shovel Knight’s level design, beautiful visuals, and a phenomenal soundtrack.
Yacht Club Games
For some reason, Super Mario Odyssey seems like it’s often forgotten about, despite being one of the most joyous experiences in recent memory. This 3D Super Mario game features open, expansive levels, an interesting new mechanic that allows you to take the form of your enemies and a musical number during the New Donk City section that is sure to leave a smile on your face.
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Celeste pretty much transcends the actual game. It’s literally about climbing a mountain, and the entire premise is about overcoming challenging obstacles. It exemplifies this by featuring difficult — yet fair — platforming segments that push the idea of achieving your goals. But above all else, it feels good to play, which is one of the most important aspects of a platformer.
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While Super Mario takes most of the recognition for being Nintendo’s top platformer, the Donkey Kong Country series quietly is home to quality games — many of which surpass the Mario series in many ways. With Tropical Freeze, you get tight controls, challenging boss battles, catchy music, and insanely beautiful visuals that rival many of the best platformers of all time.
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Speaking of Super Mario, what if Nintendo made a 3D Mario game with cats? Well, that’s exactly what you get with Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — an enhanced edition of the 2013 Wii U game. It has a unique camera perspective, along with adorable cat outfits that grant special abilities. Plus, it comes with the superb side game, Bowser’s Fury.
Nintendo
Super Mario 3D World featured side levels that put you in the shoes of Captain Toad. These diorama-like levels were refreshing because Toad cannot jump. Fans loved these levels so much, Nintendo made an entire game out of them, and that’s what you get with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It’s a unique premise since the main character must reach the end without jumping, and it works better than you might expect.
Nintendo, Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
Crash Bandicoot was the face of PlayStation in the 90s but disappeared after a few lackluster entries. Thankfully, Toys for Bob created Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, a game built for older fans and those who have never played a Crash game before. It’s got a healthy blend of new and old, with a ton of personality and tight gameplay.
Toys for Bob
Cuphead is truly one of a kind. No other game looks like it, partially why it blew up when it launched in 2017. It features a 1930s cartoon aesthetic that we cannot even fathom how Studio MDHR created — along with notoriously challenging platforming gameplay. It might be a little too tough at times, but in some ways, that’s what makes it so satisfying.
Studio MDHR, Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc.
In Super Mario Maker 2, you have nearly endless possibilities for creating your own 2D Mario levels, with lots of different art styles to choose from. Even if you aren’t the creative type, you can browse the thousands of levels others have made, with varying degrees of difficulty for all types of play styles.
Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
Sometimes, you might want a more relaxing video game experience with no combat or overly complex mechanics. That’s where driving/sports games come into play. While we won’t be including licensed sports games on here like MLB The Show, Madden NFL or NBA 2K, we will cover the less traditional entries that aren’t talked about as much.
DepositPhotos.com
The Wipeout series is wildly exhilarating but never stressful or unfair. With Wipeout Omega Collection for PS4, you get remasters of the first two games, along with the contents of the Vita game Wipeout 2048. It offers many customization options with plenty of courses to experience, making it a top choice for racing fans.
Psygnosis, Creative Vault Studios
This might seem like a weird entry, but hear us out. Everybody’s Golf is a wonderfully enjoyable experience, with tons of personality and quirks that make it memorable. Even if you aren’t normally a golf fan, this game sinks its hooks in you, and before you know it, you’ve put 20 hours into it.
ForwardWorks Corporation, Sony Interactive Entertainment
There’s a reason why Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the bestselling Nintendo Switch game. It’s a fun kart racer that appeals to players of all skill levels — perfect for gatherings or online ventures against players all over the world. Its accessibility is one of its shining factors, meaning you can pop in and do a few races with friends with little to no investment.
Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
When it comes to open-world driving games, few even compare to Forza Horizon 4 (except Forza Horizon 3, another excellent video game). Unlike the mainline Forza Motorsport series, the Horizon games are a bit more arcade-like, ditching realism in favor of fun. This entry features changing seasons and takes place in the UK, which gives it an immersive touch.
Playground Games, Turn 10 Studios
But perhaps you’re looking for something a bit more realistic with simulation elements. That’s where Gran Turismo Sport comes in, a game with more traditional tracks and mechanics. Sport focuses more on competitive online play but still offers single-player modes and tons of customization options for you to tinker with.
Polyphony Digital
Finally, let’s take a look at one of the most popular genres out there, shooters. These can range from first to third-person, with many different subgenres across the board. Whether you like single-player adventures or competitive multiplayer modes, there’s bound to be something for you here.
Prostock-Studio/ istockphoto
Rainbow Six Siege has evolved tremendously since 2015. What started as a barebones online shooter turned into a class-based tactical FPS with so much content that it might be overwhelming. This game takes a page out of Counter-Strike’s book, giving you round-based competitive game modes that require you to have a high degree of skill to come out on top.
Ubisoft Montreal, Sperasoft Studio, LLC
When it comes to tone and atmosphere, no other game comes close to the original BioShock. The nice thing is that you can play the original trilogy on modern hardware, thanks to BioShock: The Collection. This compilation preserves the first three games and reminds us that even 13 years later, BioShock is still ahead of its time. BioShock 2 and Infinite are worth playing, as well — but the original remains the best.
2K Games, Take-Two Interactive
While you might roll your eyes at the mere mention of Fortnite, there’s no denying it’s an important and influential game. Aside from it featuring tight and satisfying gameplay, the way Epic Games has introduced in-game events is unprecedented — giving players a reason to continuously check-in. It revolutionized the multiplayer space by popularizing the battle pass monetization system while also doubling down on the battle royale mode that remains popular.
Pexel
The good news is that if you’re looking for a battle royale game that’s more mature-looking than Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone might be more up your alley. It borrows many of the ideas popularized in Fortnite but features the satisfying gameplay Call of Duty is famous for. With a slew of twists that give it a more tactical feel, Warzone absolutely stands on its own and is — in many ways — ahead of the curve in the battle royale space.
Activision
Halo isn’t the series it once was, but at least we can play many of the classics with this compilation. Halo: The Master Chief Collection features the first four games, along with spinoffs — all in one convenient package. Game preservation is often a problem, but with compilations like this one, it proves we can continue to experience the classics even if they’re 20 years old at this point.
Xbox Game Studios
There’s no shortage of battle royale games, but Apex Legends did something different — not only in its gameplay and characters but with its marketing. In fact, there wasn’t much marketing at all. It just came out and surprised everyone. Most importantly, Apex features a diverse cast of characters with lots of bold representation, all of which feel distinct from one another.
Respawn Entertainment
When DOOM (2016) was announced, fans were skeptical. FPS games like the original DOOM came and went, but thankfully the reboot reminded us why the series is so beloved while offering new ideas that push the genre forward. It effectively blends the fast-paced FPS mechanics with a satisfying amount of exploration, power-ups, and a heavy metal soundtrack that ties it all together.
id Software, Bethesda Game Studios Austin
Sadly, Titanfall seems to be shelved for the time being, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go back and play Titanfall 2 — a game that in many ways feels like is fondly remembered by a small portion of the community. This game features a robust story mode and online pillar, with fantastic traversal and movement mechanics that make it so much fun to play.
Respawn Entertainment
Gear 5 is a great example of risks paying off. While it still features the beloved moment-to-moment gameplay, it has many new ideas like an open world and a greater emphasis on story.
It never loses sight of what Gears fans want: A weighty cover-based shooter with tremendously gratifying gameplay. And shout out to the main character, Kait Diaz, for being a deep protagonist who carries the torch and surpasses Marcus Fenix’s likes in more ways than one.
The Coalition
And with that, you should have a better idea of games you can still play without a PS5. Sure, the PS5 is well-worth the purchase, but seeing as how they’re near-impossible to find right now and come with a hefty price tag, you can still enjoy an impressive lineup of games without having the newest hardware.
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This article originally appeared on YourMoneyGeek.comand was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Featured Image Credit: gamerterra.com.
