This past year has seen more people at home and online than ever before. Remote work became common, online schooling was mandatory for some time and your normal nights out with friends have all but stopped. Since everyone is online more, it would only make sense to take this opportunity and party up with some Zodiac friends and get gaming.
Here are six of the best and most popular online games right now. They come from different genres and playstyles, all with something unique to offer that you should experience at least once. You are not a true gamer if you don’t play these best games this 2021!
Valorant
This completely free-to-play first person shooter isn’t a new concept. It uses the tried and true Counter-Strike style of precise aim mixed with heavy map knowledge and teamwork. As far as online gaming goes, this is definitely one you’ll want to be in Discord for as callouts can be more important than quick aiming.
FF XIV
Final Fantasy 14 isn’t the first MMORPG by Square Enix but it holds the title as the best so far. Focused on delivering amazing graphics and cinematics, this story-driven RPG sets you in the Final Fantasy universe with no up front cost.
You’ll be able to grind out to level 60 and complete the base game and first expansion before being required to start paying for a subscription. That’s easily a couple hundred hours of content to see if you like the game before buying.
Call of Duty: Warzone
One of the more popular battle royales right now is a classic. Like most gamers, you’ve likely played multiple iterations of Call of Duty games over the years. This battle royale mode takes the gunplay and customization into the arena.
The game mode is fully integrated with the newest standard games such as Call of Duty: Cold War, meaning as you use guns in either game mode, they’ll still gain xp and unlock attachments.
Apex Legends
Another battle royale makes the list today, with more of a focus on character abilities and maximizing their efficiency. You’ll be riding ziplines across lush jungles and launching off jump pads to soar over mountains or run from enemies.
The game is free to play and comes with a few starter characters, the others being locked behind in game currency. This can be farmed with no real life cost or you can directly purchase characters to save the time.
Hearthstone
Moving away from killing baddies, Hearthstone is the most popular card game out there right now. Blizzard has done an outstanding job with the newest expansion, Forged in the Barrens. This set saw rotation of the previous year’s cards to spice up the meta and bring back the fun of deck building.
You won’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars for card packs either. The team at Blizzard performed a massive rework to how standard cards, cards that can be used with any class, are obtained. As such, you’ll be able to just play in game with the starter set and unlock more and more cards at no cost.
DotA 2
Either famous or infamous, depending on how much you’ve played, DotA 2 is the standalone version of the DotA: Allstars mod made for Warcraft 3. While it’s been fully released for years now, it still draws new players from around the world thanks to its eSports scene.
The game’s developer Valve has broken the record year after year for largest prize pool at any gaming competition. Last year’s championship tournament, The International, had an insane prize pool of $40,018,195, with first play receiving around $10 million of it.
Even split between a roster of five players and one to two coaches, that’s more than enough money to get players excited. The catch? DotA 2 has one of the steepest learning curves of any game, requiring you to monitor the position of all 10 players, what items they have and when they use abilities.
Time to Get Gaming
For any online game, especially team based games like Valorant and DotA 2, hopping in an online gaming voice chat will be essential. You can use the Zodiac Discord server as a free option to start up a team or look for a group to join.
All of the above entries are completely free to play, with some having options to pay for progression or cosmetic items. Even if you haven’t tried a game of that genre, it’s always a great opportunity to learn different mechanics and apply those lessons to other games.
Now get in Discord, choose some games to try and have some fun with your friends or meet some new ones in-game!
