Five Great Games You NEED to Play in Lockdown!

Hey all! The world is in a very weird place right now with the lockdown in place. People are going a little stir-crazy from having to stay indoors all day with little to do. Isn’t it great that video games can provide the perfect escape from our blues. so we put together a handy list of five great games you and your friends can be playing in lockdown to keep yourselves occupied!

 Animal Crossing - Casual/Lifestyle - Nintendo Switch

This couldn’t be a quarantine list without mentioning this game! For anyone unfamiliar with the series, Animal Crossing is a game about owning a house, interacting with your neighbours and various other seemingly mundane tasks like fishing, bug catching, fossil hunting and more.

 New Horizons brings new, exciting mechanics to the franchise to really customize your home and tailor your experience. Want to build a deck outside your house complete with furniture? It’s possible! Want to redesign your deserted island into a tropical paradise? That can be done too! It’s truly a game that needs to be played to understand the craze, and with the game releasing just days before the UK lockdown, it’s come at a perfect time to provide a relaxing getaway from your worries.

Doom Eternal - Action/FPS - PC, PS4, Xbox One

Frustrated at the world? Want to vent your frustrations on hordes of demons with shotguns, chainsaws and your bare fists? Look no further than Doom Eternal. The hotly anticipated sequel to the insanely popular Doom (2016) which in turn was a reboot of the 90s classic of the same name is the perfect game to rip and tear and immerse yourself in a veritable bloodbath of carnage, dismemberment and blaring heavy metal rock music.

 One of this game’s most popular aspects is the brutally cinematic executions you can pull off on the various monstrosities you encounter. Ever wanted to slice through a demon’s head before grabbing it by the horns and tearing it in two? Yep. Not a game for the faint of heart.

Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord - Fantasy/Simulation/Sandbox - PC

If strategy simulation games are more your speed, then look no further than Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord. If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to be the commander of huge armies of knights, archers and cavalry in sieges and open-field combat, this game is undoubtedly for you. Starting out with your character, you are a nobody adventurer setting off to make a name for yourself. Travel from town to town competing in tournaments to gain renown and rare gear. Form a caravan of mercenaries and traverse the silk road making your fortune or be a bandit outlaw raiding villages and travellers for their supplies and become a menace throughout the land.

 Once you make a name for yourself, you can choose to either support one of the current kingdoms as a vassal, or establish your own kingdom and claim yourself as the rightful ruler of all Calradia. This is where you roll with the big players and the game really explodes in depth. Warning: this game will devour your time in quarantine. I’ve already sunk almost 200 hours into it over the past month. PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Tabletop Simulator - Board games/Simulation - PC

If you’re a fan of board games, no doubt you’ll have heard of this revolutionary piece of software. Tabletop Simulator (TTS) is a game in which you can play almost any board game imaginable from Uno to Secret Hitler. This is a game that is perfect even for non-gamers. You could browse through the workshop and find some of the more popular games out there or even search through the lesser known games and find that hidden gem. I’ve even personally hosted multiple Dungeons and Dragons campaigns with this game. It is incredibly intuitive!

TTS also has a thriving community of players willing to teach newbies how to play many of the more complex games out there. Just the other day I had a complete stranger spend two whole hours teaching myself and two other strangers how to play an incredibly complex but entertaining game called Root, and that’s why it makes it on to this list!

Borderlands 1/2/3 - FPS/RPG - PC, Xbox 360/One, PS3/4 

The Borderlands series is one of the most unique games out there. With “Over a bazillion guns” and a combination of RPG and FPS elements as well as four unique characters with unique builds and abilities to enhance and adapt your preferred playstyle, it results in a very fast paced and replayable experience, as well as up-to 4 player co-op, it’s another game that’s perfect for a group of friends that can be difficult to get together and organize normally!

Although the storylines in Borderlands 1 and 3 are fairly lacklustre, Borderlands 2 introduces some of the most memorable characters in the whole series, including one of the most infamous and loved villains in gaming: the maniacal and hilarious Handsome Jack, making it an excellent starting point for newcomers to the series.

What games are you playing? What do you think of our list? Share your thoughts on Twitter and our Instagram!

Author:

David Beeby