Best Offline PC Games for No Internet
Power outages happen. ISPs go down at the worst possible time. Sometimes you just want to play game while traveling. Fun PC gaming experiences are becoming harder with major developers insisting on implementing DRM (Digital Rights Management) systems in an effort to curb piracy. Even single-player games increasingly require a login, a launcher check, or a persistent connection just to launch.
The good news is, there are still genuinely great offline PC games worth having installed for exactly these moments. Here are five of the best offline PC games worth keeping on your hard drive.
Baldur's Gate 3
Image: via Steam
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the most ambitious RPGs ever made and one of the few modern games that genuinely delivers on its promise. You create a character (awesome character creation system by the way), assemble a party of very well-written companions, and navigate a sprawling fantasy world shaped entirely by your choices. The combat is turn-based, the writing is exceptional, and the branching narrative means no two playthroughs feel the same.
On Steam, after the initial setup, the full campaign runs completely offline. On GOG it's entirely DRM-free, which makes it the cleanest offline option. Pro tip: if the Larian launcher gives you trouble while offline, launch bg3_dx11.exe directly from the game folder. It bypasses the launcher entirely. Fair warning: it will drain a laptop battery fast, so keep your charger nearby.
Cyberpunk 2077
Image: Dogtown
Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the most infamous launches in gaming history. However, what exists now is one of the most immersive single player RPGs of the decade.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an action-adventure game that takes place in a dystopian future where technology and crime are rampant. You play as V, a mercenary who can augment their body with cybernetics and hack into various devices. You can explore the sprawling city of Night City, interact with various factions and characters, and complete missions that can have different outcomes depending on your actions. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an expansion of the original Cyberpunk 2077 game, which was released in 2020. It adds new content, features, and fixes to the game, as well as a new storyline that focuses on V's quest for freedom from the mysterious chip in their head. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Night City is dense, neon-soaked, and completely offline. No social hubs, no shared world events, no microtransactions. Just V, the city, and hundreds of hours of content.
Starfield
Image: Starfield Anomaly
Starfield is Bethesda's most ambitious game to date. It’s a massive sci-fi RPG where you can explore over a thousand planets, build outposts, join factions, and get completely lost in the lore. Think Fallout in space with a dash of No Man's Sky. It rewards curiosity. The players who bounce off it early are usually the ones who don't give it enough time to open up.
Once installed, the full game runs completely offline. No launcher checks after setup, no always-online requirements. It's a game you can sink fifty hours into without ever touching the internet.
Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is the game you play when you want to lose an entire weekend without noticing. Set in post-apocalyptic Boston, you wake up from your cryo-sleep to a world of raiders, mutants, and factions all fighting for control of the wasteland. The settlement building system alone could eat weeks of your time if you let it.
It's been out long enough that the mod community has had years to make it even better; better graphics, new quests, quality of life improvements. Once you've downloaded your mods, the whole thing runs fully offline. No connection required.
Alan Wake 2
Image: Alan Wake via Epic Store
Alan Wake 2 is survival horror at its most cinematic. You play as both the titular Alan Wake, trapped in a nightmarish Dark Place, and FBI Agent Saga Anderson, investigating a series of ritualistic murders in a small Pacific Northwest town. The dual narrative structure is genuinely inventive and the horror atmosphere is relentless.
One honest note: Alan Wake 2 lives exclusively on the Epic Games Store, and the launcher can be finicky about offline play. You'll need to enable offline mode in Epic's settings before your internet goes down, not after. Do that ahead of time and it plays without issue.
The game is a sequel to the cult classic Alan Wake, which was released in 2010.
