I love money so much. I’d marry a banknote if it was socially acceptable, and then I’d cheat on it with coins. But I also love PC games, and oh no! They’re more expensive than ever. And don’t even get me started on console exclusives, that demand you pony up for the hardware too.
That’s why I’ve taken some of 2026’ biggest games and suggested budget alternatives. A mix of indies, underappreciated gems, and the downright bizarre. Can I persuade you to snub Forza Horizon 6 to instead play something called ‘Wreckreation’? Let’s find out!
Grand Theft Auto 6
Rockstar has supposedly spent over a billion dollars working on this long-awaited sequel. But will it really be any better than Sleeping Dogs? Ok, probably, but if you’re as miserly as me, you can still get your fix of open world crime action for a lot less than GTA 6 is likely to cost.
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The titular Samson is a low-level criminal who owes some awful people an awful lot of money. Each day you do odd jobs, usually involving punching lots of people in the head, to keep on top of that debt. That ticking clock gives crime sandbox tropes a nice new layer of tension.
It’s janky, to say the least, and some of its quirks can irritate. It’d be nice if Samson didn’t celebrate taking painkillers by throwing his melee weapon away. But there’s more than enough good, interesting ideas here. When was the last time you played a crime sandbox where a car repair payment was as terrifying a prospect as a mob hit?
It’s a wannabe gritty cops-n-crims drama where you can also knock down sandwich boards to win more nitro boost tanks for your car. We should treasure such nonsense, especially at such a reasonable asking price.
An open-world crime sandbox where you’re actually trying to stop the criminals. I ran over countless civilians in the tutorial chase and wasn’t fired for it, which is either cutting satire or a sign that the game needs a little polish (actually, I was punished for my pedestrian slaughterfest with less options to call for backup—well, I’ve certainly learnt my lesson). But I really like its commitment to gamifying the more mundane parts of police life. Are you a bad enough dude to correctly identify these parking violations?
If you’re more into GTA for the chaos, Shakedown Hawaii and Retro City Rampage are silly riffs on the early 2D games that are great fun if you just wanna indulge your inner Trevor. Not having to render 3D 4K AAAA megagraphics means it can just keep piling on the explosions, tanks, and other destructive delights. Great Steam Deck companions, these.
Resident Evil Requiem
Capcom celebrated 30 years of Resident Evil this year with an outstanding mix of tense survival horror and fun shooty bang-bang action, only slightly weakened by basically turning into The Leon of Us in its second half. But you can make yourself just as terrified alone at your desk at night for a fraction of the price with these alternatives!
This horror adventure has a lovely graphical style inspired by the PS1, though if we’re honest with ourselves, no game on that machine ever looked this good. It nails the foreboding atmosphere, as you explore a school and slowly piece together the grim tragedy that’s got it all spooked up. Its monster is a little goofy (spotlight head man isn’t going to be making Freddy Krueger lose any sleep) but it still kept me constantly on edge, and it knows how to tell a great, spine-tingling story.
An atmospheric trip to a cursed theme park that’s made no less scary by all its characters looking like they’re made of Duplo. It also puts modern controls on the analogue stick and tank controls on the D-pad so you can switch between them without ever entering the options menu, which I think deserves a round of applause from you right now.
Pokémon Pokopia
Last month’s mega hit lets you build, craft, and feel smugly vindicated if you’ve been droning on for years about how great Dragon Quest Builders is. Arguably the Switch 2’s first killer app, thanks to its innovative idea of being the first Pokémon game in forever that doesn’t run like absolute tripe. But what if you don’t want to shell out for a new handheld and then pay Nintendo game prices on top? There is another way…
The game for people who find Animal Crossing too stressful. You move to a lush island full of adorable little guys. So cute, in fact, that Pikachu and co might wanna start looking into cosmetic surgery. Instead of battles, your ooblets get into competitive dance offs, which is categorically better. It’s also got funny writing, a fabulous soundtrack, and a pastel aesthetic that’s like filling your eyes with sweets.
Pokopia is surprisingly melancholic. If you want a farming sim that does something similar, try Before the Green Moon.
It’s a love letter to Harvest Moon 64, but with a darker edge. Earth’s on its last legs and you’re trying to earn enough money to move to the moon. But after a few weeks of farming and getting to know the excellent characters, good luck abandoning them.
It also adds a welcome shot of realism to a genre that’s gotten far too people-pleasy. There’s one NPC who never likes you, no matter what you do, just like in real life. Cosy gaming and hard truths, together at last.
Forza Horizon 6
Speeding onto PC in May, this ridiculously pretty racing game might even be kind of enjoyable, if it can stop itself yelling at me about how much fun I’m allegedly having. The series peaked with Lego DLC a couple games ago, as I’m sure we all universally agree. If you’d rather not pay AAA prices for the 6th time, try one of these more humble racers instead.
This is the slightly janky Burnout Paradise spiritual successor of my dreams. Drive into oncoming traffic at 200mph while bashing into rival cars so they crash horribly. Bliss. It’s a little buggy and has an open-world overly fond of forest. But when the racing feels this exhilarating, who cares?
I love its clever tweaks of the Burnout formula, like a road rage mode where you’re penalised for taking down certain cars, that make ancient arcade racer thrills feel fresh again. If you’re a Burnout fan this is a must-play, especially because it sold about four copies on launch. Bah!
Death Stranding 2
Finally released on PC last month to excellent reviews, Kojima Productions achieved the impossible—a PS5 game ported to PC that doesn’t run like expired garbage. But it still demands that Sony premium at checkout, and when it comes to quirky sci-fi adventures, there are much cheaper alternatives out there.
This survival game definitely helped itself to some of the best bits of Death Stranding. The parts where you painstakingly explore its hostile planet make a good case that Kojima should have abandoned Earth completely.
The unique hook is that you can only survive by creating clones of yourself that represent alternative paths your life could have taken. One is from a timeline where you didn’t end up divorced, and if he humblebrags about it one more bloody time, I’m gonna make him sit through Death Stranding lore explainer videos until he begs for death.
Speaking of slightly dodgy cloning experiments, this is probably my favourite stealth game not called Metal Gear Solid V.
You have to escape a space palace which is steadily filling with clones of yourself. The lights keep cutting out, and when they come back on, you’ve got a fresh batch of You’s to deal with.
Each wave of clones is based on your recent behaviour, too, forcing you to constantly shake up your stealth strategies. A fantastic idea that’s executed brilliantly.
007 First Light
On May 27, IO Interactive will take a break from its outstanding recent Hitman games to make us play as someone slightly more heroic. But if you’re as broke as me, you may want to find your espionage thrills elsewhere.
A co-op game where one of you plays the spy and the other plays the hacker in their ear. Played online with voice chat, you have to rely on your communication skills to successfully pull off missions and try not to kill each other (though there’s achievements for doing exactly that).
I thought this would descend into me and a pal bickering about who has to be the hacker, but this terrific bit of co-op espionage actually manages to make the hacking just as exciting as being the spy on the ground.
18 game recommendations later and I’m still hungry for more. Let me know what great alternatives you’ve found to AAA gaming in the comments, and I’ll ignore them all to play more Wreckreation. I mean, add them to my wishlist. Thanks!
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