Buying a game that's in its Early Access phase is a risk. For a lot of very good reasons, you're probably better off just waiting until it leaves that phase and fully launches. That's not true for every Early Access game though. In fact, there are a number of games you can find that still feel incredible to play, before they're 'finished.'

This list is just 10 examples of games that will surely be great purchases when they've fully released, but are already more than worth jumping into right now.

10 Lethal Company

The Company is hiring!

Lethal Company is a game that, even if you haven't heard of it, there's a good chance you've already seen its gameplay. Because it was absolutely everywhere in live streams of content creators and pretty much anyone with the power to record their own gameplay and upload it. Even just in Early Access, Lethal Company is already a hilarious and well-put-together game that creates the foundation for players to laugh hysterically and terrified simultaneously.

This deceptively simple, co-op multiplayer game gives you and a few friends a simple directive. Collect some scrap from an abandoned industrial moon. Grab enough scrap to meet the company's quota, and don't worry too much about why the planet you're exploring was abandoned. Just grab your friends and get out there, for the Company!

9 Path of Exile 2

Move over, Diablo.

Developer Grinding Gear Games has taken the world of action RPGs by storm with Path of Exile 2. With a more granular, challenging experience to offer, a number of Diablo fans have seen the light of PoE. So much, in fact, that it's one of the top played games on Steam to kick off the year.

Grinding Gear Games is outdoing Blizzard in Blizzard's own game, and even though it's still just in Early Access, it's more than clear that Grinding Gear Games has something powerful here. If you're a fan of action RPGs at all, then it's worth jumping into Path of Exile 2 right now.

8 Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Rock and stone!

You might already be familiar with Deep Rock Galactic, the co-op first-person shooter that uses procedurally-generated levels, excellent lighting techniques, swarms of bugs, shiny gems, and camaraderie to keep players returning to the mines. Well, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor takes much of that into its own spin.

Survivor is a roguelite auto-shooter that'll have you continuing to mine the universe of Deep Rock Galactic, but this time, you're on your own. While the goal is still to come back with riches galore, the gameplay focus is shifted towards how you can use your character class and the weapons you're presented with to hold back the swarms.

7 The Rogue Prince of Persia

Back to basics with a modern team.

The Rogue Prince of Persia takes the franchise back to its 2D roots like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown did last year, but this time, it's not coming from an internal Ubisoft team. It's Evil Empire, the studio that previously worked on Dead Cells, taking the lead here with another roguelite, action-platforming adventure.

This is an example of an Early Access game you jump into right away because you know the team behind it has the ability to craft something truly incredible. Evil Empire isn't just the team that worked on Dead Cells expansions after Motion Twin moved on. It's a team of former Motion Twin developers, all of whom worked on Dead Cells when it was first being developed, who just kept working on Dead Cells for years after its launch. The Rogue Prince of Persia is the first time they're branching out beyond Dead Cells now that support for that game has ended.

All that to say, Evil Empire is a team to watch, and The Rogue Prince of Persia, being as good as it is, even just in its Early Access phase, shows why.

6 Witchfire

Fight for salvation.

Witchfire has the distinction of being the best-looking game on the list. This first-person shooter puts you in the boots of someone who made a career out of making mistakes in their life. Now, trying to make amends through witch hunting, you'll blast yourself along a path, with firearms and fire coming from your arms to salvation.

From developer The Astronauts, Witchfire looks to be the kind of intense magic shooter that Immortals of Aveum was trying to be. After launching in Early Access in September 2024, Witchfire quickly established itself as one of the best Early Access games on the platform to watch. But of course, it's on this list, which means you should do more than just keep an eye on it.

5 Phasmophobia

I ain't afraid of no ghosts!

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Phasmophobia isn't an Early Access game because it's already out on console platforms alongside its PC version. And it's been around since 2020. But it is still in Early Access, and even though it's already such a complete experience, the developer and publisher Kinetic Games doesn't yet feel ready to slap the 1.0 on it. So it stands tall on this list as a game that is still technically in Early Access, but one that feels like it has graduated beyond that label in spirit.

If you've not played Phasmophobia yet, then get ready to jump into one of the most terrifying experiences you can have, either alone or with friends. Jump into the shoes of a ghost-hunter in the Phasmophobia world, and gather as much evidence as possible before you're chased out by the lurking spirits.

4 Sledders

Time to catch some powder.

Switching to something entirely different, Sledders offers what I'd personally call a dream experience — catching incredible powder in a snowmobile down a huge mountainside. Sledders is a realistic snowmobile driving simulator that uses realistic physics and some pretty incredible graphics to deliver whatever kind of sledding experience you could want, whether that's a casual, slow trek through some nice mountainside snow or an intense downhill adventure, where your only objective is for this run to be more thrilling than the last.

It launched in Early Access right at the end of 2023 and has accumulated thousands of positive reviews, so much so that it's one of the few games even on this list that has the "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating on Steam. If you like winter sports like me, then you'd be doing yourself a favor by jumping into Sledders as soon as possible.

3 Crab Champions

Commando crabs.

Ever thought the war games you played needed more crabs? While that is a weird thought, you can take comfort in the fact that you're not alone because developer Noisestorm had the same thought, which is where Crab Champions comes in.

This fast-paced, over-the-shoulder third-person shooter puts you in the six legs of a crab and gives you every gun under the sun. It's a platformer, an action game, and it's even got some rougelite elements to shake things up even more. It doesn't take more than a peek at 10 seconds of gameplay to see how fluid the movement and action of Crab Champions are. You can run through the different locales of Crab Champions on your own, or you can do it with two of your friends, as it also supports a three-player co-op.

Also, if looking at these crabs reminds you of the song Crab Rave, then you might be tickled to learn that this game is actually a solo-dev project from the creator of Crab Rave. The world of crabs is more connected than you might think.

2 TCG Card Shop Simulator

Stack shelves, sell booster packs, and rake in the cash.

If you're someone who loves card games, namely trading card games, then you're aware of just how much money there is to be made, by running a card shop nowadays. You're aware of that because you know how much you've spent on cards, and it's a number that shocks you, even now.

TCG Card Shop Simulator lets you live out the dream of running your own card shop without the real-life risk of opening a new business in 2025. You'll sell cards that are legally distinct from Pokémon and other popular brands while running every aspect of the shop, from ordering in stock from vendors, setting prices, and hosting events. Pretty much anything you can think of that you would want from your local trading card shop, you can make happen here.

It's definitely the most laid-back experience on this list, but like everything else here, even in just its Early Access state, you should jump into it sooner rather than later.

1 Hades II

Supergiant just doesn't miss.

Even though this list technically isn't in any particular order, there was only ever going to be one game at the very top of it. Hades II is the sequel from developer Supergiant's smash success, Hades, a game that's been recognized as one of the best games ever made, period. It's the first time in developer Supergiant's history that it's making a direct sequel to something rather than moving on to something entirely different, and it's frankly unbelievable that Supergiant seems to already be crafting a better game than what it created with Hades.

As a developer, Supergiant simply doesn't miss. In the same way that you should pay attention to Evil Empire's games, you should be paying attention to whatever Supergiant is doing. Just like the first Hades game, Hades II is going through its Early Access phase before it jumps into its 1.0 state, but even ahead of that, you should already be playing Hades II.

Head back to the Underworld in the shoes of a totally new character, with new abilities and fighting styles at your fingertips and a whole new expansive narrative to uncover. And, of course, the music is, once again, absolutely stunning.

Don't just look at the Early Access sign as a warning.

At its core, any game marked as "Early Access" is marking itself as a warning to players — a message that they'll probably experience technical issues or parts of the game that don't feel complete.

But this list of 10 is each an example of why you shouldn't always view the "Early Access" marker as a warning. Instead, you should run right by that sign and download any of these games onto your PC as soon as possible.

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