Looking for the best platform games on PC? There were countless platform games coming out for console gamers in the 90s and early 00s, while PC had a reputation for being sort of a wasteland for that particular genre. Thankfully, that stigma has eased since Commander Keen, and we owe a lot of that to the explosion of indie games that have flooded digital platforms over the past decade, which means our platform is now bursting with solid platform games.
The best platforming games on PC have earned a reputation for being mechanically proficient and honed in time, but developers continue to push the genre forward by incorporating gameplay elements from puzzle games and metroidvania. Platforming can also be a core mechanic in some of the best story-driven games, as seen in games like Celeste and Ori and the Blind Forest. Here are the best platform games on PC that you can play right now, which can also be classified as the best indie games.
Here are the best platform games on PC:
Inside
Inside is the spiritual successor to Limbo, the expressionistic, monochrome indie game from Playdead that made a splash during the indie boom of the early 2010s. It follows the same basic premise: a boy is drawn into a surreal world of silent horror, and the only way to escape is through a series of challenging environmental puzzles. While Limbo is a great platformer in its own right, Playdead builds on its solid foundation to deliver a more challenging and thought-provoking experience than its predecessor.
After a brief chase by armed guards and guard dogs, your child avatar infiltrates a strange factory with a surveillance system that would make George Orwell blush. The factory is full of mindless drone workers, dominated by the cold glare of CCTV cameras. If you are discovered, it guarantees a quick and brutal death; the only choice is to either blend in with the crowd or escape through the brutalist interior.
Some puzzles even require the use of a mind control helmet, manipulating the mind of a worker hive to do your bidding - even if it results in their own death. Inside's story is a dark portrait that explores the tension between narrative and player agency, and is likely to stay with you long after you've gotten past the final shocking moments. This game is a must-have on any list of the best platform games on PC.
OlliOlli World
OlliOlli is back and better than ever. The latest installment in the 2D skateboarding action platformer oozes style, asking you to make your way through the strange and exciting world of Radlandia, a skateboarding utopia created by (who else?) Skate Godz. How do you fit into all of this? Of course, you have to become the next skate wizard - think of it as Avatar, only for skateboarding - and to do this you have to complete each level, completing challenges and doing as many difficult tricks as possible to prove your worth to Godz and bring balance to Radland .
Every level in OlliOlli World, from the beach sidewalk to the junkyard mountain, is vibrant and beautifully executed. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but the multiple paths that seamlessly meander through the environment encourage replayability and allow for varied co-op experiences as you work to reach the top of the leaderboard. You don't have to be a pro skater to get started - OlliOlli World will give you the skills you need to master the toughest platforming tricks and climb Gnarvana.
Super Meat Boy
Edmund McMillen may be better known these days for The Binding of Isaac, one of the best roguelike games that is also a twist on the Zelda formula, but it was the Super Meat Boy platformer that made him famous on the map. Team Meat's standout work wasn't the first platform game to advertise itself at the expense of difficulty, but its irreverent tone and frankly gratuitous amount of content have made it one of the most famous and recognizable platform games.
Armed with only a jump and a grapple, you must guide the heroic Meat Boy screen after screen through a variety of brutal and treacherous obstacles to save his beloved Bandage Girl. The laid-back retro gaming aesthetic and frequent references to its 16-bit predecessors helped Super Meat Boy define the first wave of standout indie games, and its influence continues to this day, as evidenced by some of the other platform games on this list. If you don't like pixel-perfect platformers, this game is unlikely to change your stance, but if you haven't at least tried to venture into its first world, then you've missed your chance.
Celeste's
Celeste is much more than just a collection of challenging video game levels. This is one of the worthy games in the list of the best platform games on PC. Viewed as a whole, it is perhaps the most brilliant game on this list. It's filled with smart and fresh platforming mechanics, from bubbles that launch you into oblivion to clouds that give you a boost if you jump at the right moment. Each of its challenging trails offers a new level of depth for you to master.
Unlike most games in the genre, Celeste earns its extreme difficulty by being built around the struggle of the character Madeline, who must battle self-doubt and mental health issues in order to scale the titular mountain. Even apart from the game's well-designed levels, this is one of the most moving stories in the genre. Its unforgiving approach to level design isn't for everyone, but there are accessibility options that allow almost anyone to brave Mount Celeste. This gem is not just a great platformer, but one of the best games of 2018.
Hollow Knight
Like its predecessors in the metroidvania genre, Hollow Knight adds so many action elements to its core jumping and bouncing gameplay that it could be placed on another list. But underneath the kinetic melee combat and plenty of challenging bosses lies a solid platformer, with double jumps and super moves.
Moreover, Hollow Knight is a game that promotes the good old mentality, sometimes to a depressing degree. To get a map of each of its twisting turns, you need to find a worthless cartographer, which contributes to the feeling of continuous exploration. And like Symphony of the Night before it, the game doesn't have a health bar for any enemies, so you'll have to guess how badly you've bloodied your target, even against tough bosses.
For those who can live with these retro touches, there's an alluring world full of hidden treasures and elusive figures to delve into. However, don't think this is just an adventure game - if you want to get one of the "best" endings, you'll have to brave an ivory world of shiny, whirring saws and tricky platforms.
There is also a sequel in development called Hollow Knight: Silksong, where we will play as Hornet, a character from the original game. With 150 new enemies, acrobatic combat and on-the-fly healing promised so far, we're looking forward to the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
It's been quite a while, but Crash Bandicoot is finally out on PC in the form of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, which is a remaster of all three of the original games: Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, and Warped. This series of platform games includes all the basic elements you'd expect from a mid-3s 90D platformer: you defeat most enemies with an elemental spin attack or jump on them, there are plenty of hidden segments and collectibles, and there's no shortage of in conveyor levels.
The remastered trilogy even includes several new levels, including a remastered and polished version of a previously unreleased level from the first game, as well as a completely new level.
The nostalgia of replaying these classic platformers is reason enough to earn Crash's place on this list, but if you missed the adventures of the famous marsupial as a child, there's a lot to love about this series. Crash Bandicoot is a platformer with so many tricks up its sleeve that you'll always be on your toes, and memorizing devious traps always trumps time or skill.
In some levels, you'll spend hours trying to figure out the jump sequence and the location of each enemy, or wandering the beaten paths in search of the Wumpa fruit. Whenever you lose a life, you feel like throwing yourself into battle again to get over an obstacle, convinced that it only takes one try, even if it takes several.
Knytt (Series)
This is one of the more obscure games on this list, but one developer Nifflas and his Knytt series are reminiscent of another era of PC gaming, when the best indie games were transferred to free download sites or Flash portals. Unlike most of its competitors, neither Knytt nor its sequels (Knytt Stories and Knytt Underground) require incredible reflexes from the player - instead, they are calm games complemented by a stunning soundtrack.
While these strange worlds present little challenge, the Knytt series stakes its claim on the experience of pure exploration of a space defined by otherness and weirdness, with plenty of shortcuts and hidden routes. Knytt Underground is the most ambitious of the three games - given that it actually costs money, unlike its predecessors - but in our opinion, the original Knytt is a real standout platformer.
There are no villains to trample on or levels to conquer. You are just a tiny creature trying to collect the parts of the ship in order to return home. It will take only a few hours to complete the game, but this experience will stay with you for a long time.
VVVVVV
Terry Cavanagh released a lot of great games at the very beginning of the indie explosion, but his first game was bold enough to ditch the jump button entirely. Instead, you move around the environment, jumping from one gravity field to another, working your way through colorful space junk and other hazards on your way to the ceiling/floor. Since the game came out almost a year before Super Meat Boy, it can be considered the original devastatingly complex indie platformer, especially if you look for all the shiny trinkets treacherously hidden in each level.
A has in time
Fans of 3D platform games on PC have a hard time compared to Nintendo Switch. Several notable works have emerged over the years, but A Hat in Time remains the best example by a wide margin.
It's a game that wears its influences on its sleeve, with a vibrant color palette and varied movement options reminiscent of the open-level platformers of the N64 era, with air-jumping straight out of Super Mario 64. The mechanics are nothing new, but their charm helps make the game from a simple copycat to a game in its own right that is worth playing. In one level, your fearless "hat girl" has to star in different films made by two competing directors, an Elvis impersonator and a rookie DJ. Not every platformer dares to parody Murder on the Orient Express in the second level, but A Hat in Time can't help but be adventurous.
The game is about a dozen hours long, far from being the longest game on this list, but it cuts through every fiber of its being, right down to the haunted closet you battle in Act XNUMX.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The eagerly awaited sequel to the beloved game Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps takes the stunning beauty and atmosphere of its predecessor to new heights. Combat has been improved with even more abilities to use to help Ori fight the forces of evil.
Both of these games play more like a metroidvania than a platformer, with a fair amount of backtracking and plenty of abilities to unlock. Will of the Wisps has slightly less platforming than Blind Forest - instead focusing on challenging boss battles. With a stunning orchestral soundtrack and a story that's sure to bring tears to your eyes, Ori and the Blind Forest will stay with you long after the credits roll.
Sonic Mania
The original Sonic games remain iconic to this day, but you can love them or hate them, especially if you didn't grow up with the bluespot. Sonic Mania takes the best of the original trilogy and throws it into a blender, making it possibly the best game in the series ever, or definitely the best since the 90s.
Designed by fans for fans, this classic Sonic's greatest hit remixes favorite levels from the Sonic canon, as well as adding some creative levels of its own. Like no other reboot of the series, Mania knows how to satisfy your nostalgia while at the same time reinforcing the style and attitude that made the blue the hedgehog into a culturally ingrained character to survive decades of mediocre games.
The first act of each zone reminds you of the basic mechanics of a level you probably played a long time ago. Add to that a great remixed soundtrack and you have one of the best retro games of all time and the best platform games on PC.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Shovel Knight looks, sounds, and feels like a lost 8-bit game made with modern technology, and it's a marvel of retro engineering. Like the best retro games, it's not afraid to throw away some of the more dated aspects of NES-era design - "lives" are replaced by a Souls-like system where you get loot from your corpse, and the difficulty is much more balanced than some older platform games.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove includes the Plague of Shadows, Spector or Torment, and King of Cards expansions, which allow you to play as three of the original game's bosses. Each expansion is a complete game with brand new bosses, areas and stories of Shovel Knight's most memorable characters. Treasure Trove also includes Shovel Knight Showdown, a platform fighting game for up to four local players.
Shovel Knight himself is an amalgamation of some of the best heroes of the era. He can swing on his shovel like Scrooge in DuckTales, or just swing it like Link in Zelda. While the game is very enjoyable from start to finish, what really makes it stand out is its dedication to the 8-bit aesthetic. While it takes its environments to extremes that the real NES could never achieve, it serves as a love letter to an era of gaming that has been overshadowed by others in recent years, and is full of references and little touches.
It Takes Two
You'll have to invite a friend to complete It Takes Two's delightfully quirky platforming challenges and mini-games - like Hazelight Studios' previous A Way Out, It Takes Two is co-op only. Teaming up locally or online, you and your partner play as May and Cody, a married couple whose relationship is on the brink of disaster.
For some mysterious reason, their daughter's grief has turned them into puppet versions of themselves, and the pair must learn to work together to get back to normal, exploring their relationship in the process. Each ridiculously absurd level is perfectly adapted for co-op play, as well as thoughtfully exploring the various obstacles in a couple's marriage. This is one of the best platform games on the PC list.
Another World
Whether you call it an adventure game, a puzzle game, or a platformer, there's no doubt that Another World (or Out of This World in the US) is probably the standout PC platformer of the early '90s. Prince of Persia may have spawned a multimillion-dollar franchise, and Flashback had a more consistent plot, but nothing compares to the instant novelty of developer Eric Shahi's best work.
As a scientist transported to an alien world by an experiment gone wrong, you must escape the clutches of your alien overlords by outsmarting and outmaneuvering them at every turn. Some aspects of the game are showing their age - particularly its chilling, brittle platforming, which takes some getting used to - but the fact that it's constantly updated gives it a vitality that very few platformers have - it's no surprise that Another World is one of the best platform games you can get your hands on.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Spyro Reignited Trilogy revisits all three of the original Spyro games and finally brings the beloved dragon to PC with a polished new look but with the same challenging levels and beloved characters.
This 3D platform game is part of a renaissance among the best platform games on PC, as proven by the releases of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Snake Pass and Yooka Laylee. Sypro Reignited Trilogy is a nostalgic journey into the dazzling and colorful world of our fiery friend, created from the ground up by Iron Galaxy and Toys for Bob. Spyro offers new challenges, tougher bosses, but the same set of mini-games and tricky platforming that hooked us for so long.
Cuphead
Inspired by 1930s cartoons like Looney Toons and Betty Boop, this challenging platform game is no small feat. Featuring meticulously hand-drawn visuals, our wide-eyed heroes embark on a side-scrolling adventure through challenging levels and boss battles, all set to the driving beat of original jazz, early big band and ragtime music.
As you progress through the game, playing as Cuphead or Mugman (that's the second player if you're playing co-op), you'll come across strange bosses like a carrot with sonic abilities, a boxer frog, and a vicious sunflower. You will acquire new abilities, while earning HP and time bonuses that will help you progress further. Cuphead isn't on our list of relaxing games, but if you're looking for a challenging platform game on PC, then Cuphead has it all.
And here are the very best platform games on PC, from narrative adventures and heavy combat metroidvanias to platformers that completely break the rules of the genre.
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