20 Best & Popular Games on Origin you should play [2021]

Unravel 1 & 2

Yarny is a tiny character made out of red yarn, exploring a world that seems huge in comparison to Yarny.

The journey ahead is long and full of challenges and the further Yarny gets from the beginning of a level, the less twine makes up its body. Some yarn also has to be spent to solve puzzles and clear obstacles. Thankfully, there are some balls of yarn lying around to make you full again.

While the first Unravel features one Yarny, in Unravel Two…you have, indeed two, linked by their yarns to support each other. By extension, the second game can be played in cooperative multiplayer. But whether solo or in multi, Unravel games are charming, friendly, and surprisingly solemn at times. Definitely worth checking out for both the story and the gameplay.

Unravel

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Unravel Two

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A Way Out

A rare exclusively co-operative game, A Way Out is a highly cinematic story about two criminals teaming up to escape from prison and help one another complete their immediate goals.

What follows is a trip through the USA of 1970s filled with many dramatic scenes and many quiet moments giving the characters time to interact and have their personality and goal shine through.

As we’ve mentioned, A Way Out explicitly requires two people to play, gameplay is designed around two controllers and characters doing things separately at the same time. Often, you’ll need to agree with the other player on the order of operations, or who is going to do what in the given scene, and things might change a lot based in that choice. It’s a really interesting game, well worth a look.

A Way Out

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A Plague Tale: Innocence

Taking place in France during the Hundred Years’ War, A Plague Tale: Innocence follows the story of Amicia de Rune, a young noble trying to take her younger brother to safety.

Although the locations are populated by English soldiers looking for someone to kill, the true threat are extremely deadly rats, capable of instantly swarming and killing anyone not protected by a source of light.

The story skilfully mixes history and fantasy, adding sinister magical undercurrent to the plague that ravages the land. The gameplay is mostly stealth-oriented, because Amicia can’t do much to enemies in open combat. There’s also an important crafting element, including, for example, special ammo for Amicia’s sling. It’s an interesting game with solid story, engaging gameplay, and great atmosphere.

A Plague Tale: Innocence

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Opus Magnum

Opus Magnum is a neat puzzle game about being an alchemist in a steampunk world.

Instead of crushing plants in a mortar and dropping them into a cauldron of boiling reagents, you’re programming a machine assembling particles out of alchemical elements. Complex particles can have complicated arrangement of bonded elements, and you have to design your engine to accomplish that.

You have a varied array of manipulators, which can rotate, extend, and retract, or move along a rail. The game quickly becomes complex, but Opus Magnum’s big strength is not JUST the satisfaction you get from creating an efficient loop generating and endless stream of particles, but also because the game creates a gif of your engine working, so you can show it off to your friends.

Opus Magnum

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It Takes Two

Another game from Hazelight Studios, after A Way Out, which forces a co-operative gameplay.

It really DOES take two to complete the game. Unlike the cinematic crime story that was A Way Out, this game is more action-packed and cartoonish in style. It’s also designed specifically for splic-screen and many of the puzzle-platforming challenges require learning to work together.

The theme of co=operation is important to the story, which is about a married, but soon-to-be-divorced couple, Cody and May, learn to be a couple again…as tiny dolls their daughter made and accidentally willed their parents’ consciousness into. The story is touching, the characters are well defined, and the gameplay is well integrated into its themes. It’s an excellent adventure.

It Takes Two

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Apex Legends

Apex Legends capitalised on two popular modes of modern shooters: hero shooter and battle royale.

By default, AL is played in squads of three characters chosen from a cast of over a dozen different “Legends”, each with unique abilities, design, and backstory. Finding a trio that complements each other’s skills and their players’ playstyle is very useful, and cooperation is crucial.

A feature that does a great job supporting co-operation, even between randomly grouped players, is the excellent, contextual ping system. Ir can convey all kinds of useful information without the players ever saying a word. Apex legends has something for fans of fast-paced shooters, tactical co-operation, and even fans of Titanfall-verse lore will find plenty to enjoy about it.

Apex is free to play game.

Apex Legends Lifeline Upgrade

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STAR WARS™: Squadrons

It’s been far too long since the previous dedicated Star Wars-themed space combat sim.

The starfighter modes in The Old Republic and Battlefronts wouldn’t have been enough forever. And then Star Wars Squadrons came, it turned out to be a really good, immersive and lore-faithful space combat sim. And it even has a singleplayer campaign, if you’re not ready to go into multiplayer right away.

Each ship featured in the game has a detailed and dynamic cockpit which conveys a lot of useful info, including the energy distribution. Indeed, you can decide you need all energy routed to blasters, or to shields, if you’re in a pickle and want to survive. Star Wars: Squadrons is class-based, so you’ll have the fighters, bombers, interceptor and supports, populated with ships you know from the movies.

STAR WARS™: Squadrons

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Jedi: Fallen order is a rare treat: a singleplayer Star Wars game.

It follows the chronically unlucky Cal Kestis, a padawan who managed to survive Order 66 thanks to his master and an escape pod. Through no fault of his own he becomes a target for Empire’s inquisitors trying to completely eradicate all remnants of the Jedi Order. And then things start getting more complicated.

Fallen Order features complex, non-linear large maps spread across several planets, and their design encourages coming back every so often when you get new abilities to access previous blocked paths. Combat is pleasant and will feel familiar to people who played Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, although it’s not quite as demanding…until you get into the challenges, they WILL test your skills mercilessly.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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FIFA 21

FIFA hardly needs introductions, this series has been present since 1993 with annual releases, gradually perfecting the football simulation.

As of the FIFA 21 edition, the series has become the most complete, engaging way to enjoy simulated football, unless you’re more interested in management than playing, in which case Football manager would be more to your liking.

FIFA 21 feature the Volta mode, for fans of small-scale football, and career mode, if you want to take a team from humble beginning to a championship. You can even set up a match with a custom set of rules, if you’re feeling the flavour of the day is utter chaos. Just be mindful that performing complex tricks and outmanoeuvring your opponents is typically easier with a gamepad!

FIFA 21

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Battlefield V

While the previous entry, Battlefield 1 (this is not a mistake) was about World War I, Battlefield V takes place during World War II.

It improves on the many ideas of the predecessor, especially the Operations mode, which is called “Grand Operations” here and has, appropriately, a larger scale of conflict. There’s also Firestorm, which operates on battle royale rules, in case you like that.

There’s also an anthology of singleplayer stories depicting events from various battlefields of WW2 presenting a few different perspectives. One way or another you’re in for many tactically challenging scenarios. Especially the multiplayer modes require good cooperation with your squad and performing your class’ duty rather than chasing kills. Work together or die alone.

Battlefield V

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Mass Effect Trilogy

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a remaster of the universally acclaimed science fiction RPG trilogy created by BioWare.

Launched in the Xbox 360/PlayStation3 era, the games got a bit long in the tooth and it was a good time to bring them up to speed for newer generation of hardware…and players. Legendary Edition is an across-the-board technical upgrade, which is especially clear in ME1.

New, nicer textures, faster loading times, better faces. This edition also has all the DLC and expansions integrated, giving you not only a bunch of cosmetic options, but also the story-heavier DLCs you might have missed, like Arrival or Leviathan. It’s certainly the best way to (re)experience Mass Effect in the 2020s. Now go help Commander Shepard fight a war the galaxy hasn’t seen for an age.

Mass Effect Trilogy

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Need for Speed Heat

The Need for Speed series is almost as venerable as FIFA, but while the football series has been releasing steadily for thirty years, NFS tends to experiment often, so there are many subseries, spin-offs and themes.

In all cases, however, you get to drive cool sports cars against other racers. Often you can customise your cars, from decals to engines, and some series have you race against the police, too.

Need for Speed Heat is about racing around the clock. Legal races take place during the day and offer money rewards. Illegal races, on the other hand, take place at night, and not only give your reputation, but also present a risk of drawing the attention of cops who can mess up your race. Your Heat level increases your Rep gains, however, so you need to find a good balance.

Need for Speed Heat

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Dragon Age: Inquisition

Produced by BioWare, Inquisition is the third full instalment of the Dragon Age series of great, modern RPGs taking place in a very dark world where magic is inherently dangerous to its users, non-human races face prejudice and are prejudiced themselves and the threat of world ending is ever present. Even the player characters and their companions can do only so much.

As the leader of the newly resurrected Inquisition you’ll deal with nobles and address threats that require precise approach, while your diplomatic, military, and espionage forces are delegated to address smaller crises popping up on the map. Combat is both more action-packed than in Origins and more tactical than in DA2, and the tactical pause can almost double as a photo mode if you want it to.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection

Command & Conquer is a long and famous series of strategy games characterized by one interesting defining feature: live action performances conveying the story in cut-scenes.

It mostly consists of two separate entities: the Tiberian series and Red Alert series, the first one taking place in a fictional sci-fi setting where a renegade terrorist organization attempts to take over the world (of course), and the second one being about alternate history where the Soviet Union incorporated Tesla’s designs and the Nazis went back in time. Yeah. It’s that kind of game.

The Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection consists of a whopping 17 games and even includes the FPS spin-off of the Tiberian series. These games are campy, fun, and at times very innovative with mechanics entirely unique to the series. Additionally, the collection includes the OST from all the games, which is a nice touch since the music in those games is definitely good on the ears. It is quite the bang for your buck if you know what I mean.

Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection

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Spore

Spore is… many things.

Designed by Will Wright, the brain-man behind the Sims series, Spore takes the idea of simulating life to the next level by allowing you to handcraft a species, beginning with a single cell, going through a multicellular organism and getting it as far as the galactic stage where you’ll be able to design spaceships for your civilization and roam around the great void. While it’s far from scientifically accurate, it’s nothing if not expansive.

The driving force behind Spore’s popularity is the sheer depth of customization, especially at the creature stage. There’re hundreds of different limbs, mouths, eyes and other body parts you can mix and match, you can contort the spine, and sculpt the body mass according to your imagination. While the game itself can get repetitive, it’s also a classic that is certainly worth looking into and an especially great gift for a younger member of your species.

Spore

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Dead Space

Dead Space was by all accounts an excellent science fiction horror game leaning heavily on body horror.

The necromorphs you encounter as spaceship repairman Isaac Clarke are corpses reanimated and reconfigured in ways that would make Carpenter’s The Thing reconsider its life choices. Thankfully, they are vulnerable to dismemberment with a good, reliable plasma cutter and heavy heel.

The story develops over three games and supplemental materials, and it delves into the origins of necromorphs, the weird cult that surrounds them, and Isaac Clarke’s constant bad fortune. If you want a horror game that’s mixing the style of Alien, body horror of The Thing, and weird cultist stuff of the Lovecraft mythos, give Dead Space a chance, you won’t be disappointed.

Dead Space

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SimCity: Complete Edition

SimCity is a series of city builder games, where you can create a full metropolis, starting from but a humble plot of land.

These cities are inhabited by, well, Sims, cute little people who will go on about their daily business, oblivious to the hand of God hovering above them, both keeping them safe and ready to destroy their lives at a moment’s notice.

SimCity 2013 launched with some issues, but they were ironed out over time and now it’s a great, engaging city builder, with a special affinity for road management. It even has several tools designed specifically for tracing roads. Of course, you can still make dedicated districts, and this specialisation can apply to the entire city, too. Just remember to listen to the Sim inhabitants for useful feedback.

SimCity: Complete Edition

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Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)

Battlefront 2 improved on many aspects of its immediate predecessor, EA’s reboot of the series.

Battles are more engaging, graphics are somehow even nicer, and, to top it all off, there’s a pretty cool singleplayer story campaign showing some of the events taking place between Episodes VI and VII, providing some context for the sequel trilogy.

As for the multiplayer, you can play a variety of classes on both the sides of the Empire or the Rebellion and you can sometimes (depending on the mode) step into the skin of famous characters, like Darth Vader or Land Calrissian. There are many different game modes, some focused on infantry, others on spaceship dogfighting, there’s even a co-op, PvE mode, if that tickles your fancy.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)

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Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 is a sequel to a highly ambitious title, which boasted the ability to switch between on-the-ground FPS combat (highly focused on mobility via parkour) and the ability to summon a mech-suit and level the battlefield with excessive firepower or fight other mech-suits.

The first game was a success, and its successor expands and improves upon that base in every aspect.

The total number of different mechs has been increased from 3 to 6 and they have been tweaked to be more unique and fill different roles, for example, the Katana-wielding Ronin excels in close quarters, while the majestic Northstar can target distant threats with its powerful rifle. Additionally, a full singleplayer campaign, which is really, really good and teaches you all the tricks. Play Titanfall 2!

Titanfall 2

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The Sims 4

The Sims 4 is so far the latest incarnation of the long-running series of life simulation games.

Specifically: it simulates the lives of cartoonish titular Sims, whom you get to design in a very comprehensive Create-a-Sim system. You can play around with their appearance a whole lot and add some personality and goal as a cherry on top, to make the Sims more autonomous.

You also design a house for the family, from the foundations to the décor. After that all that’s left is letting the Sims loose on the world and watching them live their lives, pursue their hobbies, grow old… You have indirect influence over their actions by giving them commands, but their AI is usually in control. The plentiful DLCs enrich the experience greatly, adding new places, jobs, hobbies…

The Sims 4 DLC

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