Best Asynchronous Play Games

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a go-kart racing game where you race against Nintendo characters around different circuits, picking up power-ups, attacks and speed boosts.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a go-kart racing game where you race against Nintendo characters around different circuits, picking up power-ups, attacks and speed boosts. It is frantic and chaotic but still requires skills to do well.

The Tomorrow Children is an online strategy game where you collaborate with other players to build, explore and develop communities.

The Tomorrow Children is an online strategy game where you collaborate with other players to build, explore and develop communities. Unusually, it uses social economics and a Soviet Union-themed post-apocalyptic dystopia as the setting.

Mirror's Edge and the follow-up, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst are free-running games where you traverse a futuristic city using aspects of urban exploration and parkour movements to complete missions and evade or fight enemies.

Mirror's Edge and the follow-up, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst are free-running games where you traverse a futuristic city using aspects of urban exploration and parkour movements to complete missions and evade or fight enemies. The focus is on this locomotion as much as combat which takes the game in a more flowing explorative direction.

Phantom Abyss is a running and jumping game where you charge through temples to get to the exit.

Phantom Abyss is a running and jumping game where you charge through temples to get to the exit. Your only tool is a whip that interacts with objects and can propel you forward.

JellyCar Worlds is a puzzle game about a car made of jelly traversing a squishy world.

JellyCar Worlds is a puzzle game about a car made of jelly traversing a squishy world. You use the physics properties of the car and the objects in the world to get from A to B.

Kinsplant is an adventure about searching for a fabled artefact buried somewhere in one of the four realms.

Kinsplant is an adventure about searching for a fabled artefact buried somewhere in one of the four realms. Play is like a retro adventure game where you move around, fight enemies and hunt for an ancient artefact.

Gran Turismo is a driving simulator that focuses on a photo-realistic driving experience.

Gran Turismo is a driving simulator that focuses on a photo-realistic driving experience. Players race real-world cars where bodywork and interiors are perfectly modelled.

Returnal is a sci-fi shooting game played in repeating rounds that slowly change the world and your character.

Returnal is a sci-fi shooting game played in repeating rounds that slowly change the world and your character. You are a pilot stranded on a mysterious planet and must investigate and fight through the world to both survive and solve the repeating problem.

Death Stranding is an exploration game where you deliver supplies across a vast shattered, post-apocalyptic America while protecting and caring for a baby.

Death Stranding is an exploration game where you deliver supplies across a vast shattered, post-apocalyptic America while protecting and caring for a baby. It's intentionally slow, sometimes excruciatingly so, which means you carefully consider your actions.

EA Sports FC 24 is a sports game designed to simulate the players, tactics and crescendo moments of top-flight football.

EA Sports FC 24 is a sports game designed to simulate the players, tactics and crescendo moments of top-flight football. Play involves picking players and setting tactics before controlling each of your team in turn on the pitch.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a kart racing game with a difference - You play on the Switch but use it to control a real-life Mario Kart that races around the floor of your living room.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a kart racing game with a difference - You play on the Switch but use it to control a real-life Mario Kart that races around the floor of your living room. You see the race from the view of the car beamed back to the screen of the Switch and must battle other racers like Luigi and Bowser while also collecting power-ups.

Sid Meier's Civilization is a long-running strategy game where you develop a society from hunter-gatherer to space travel.

Sid Meier's Civilization is a long-running strategy game where you develop a society from hunter-gatherer to space travel. There are many ways to approach this challenge; socially, militarily, politically or perhaps by building wonders to impress other nations.

Horizon Chase 2 is the latest game in the Horizon Chase series of arcade racing games with a focus on competitive fun rather than realism; its graphics make it look like it was plucked from the nineties’ arcades, with a nod to Outrun and Lotus Turbo Challenge.

Horizon Chase 2 is the latest game in the Horizon Chase series of arcade racing games with a focus on competitive fun rather than realism; its graphics make it look like it was plucked from the nineties’ arcades, with a nod to Outrun and Lotus Turbo Challenge. It balances modern affordances with retro visuals to create a brilliant way for families to race each other.

Forza Horizon 4 is a thrilling racing game where you race all manner of vehicles across a wide range of landscapes.

Forza Horizon 4 is a thrilling racing game where you race all manner of vehicles across a wide range of landscapes. This fourth iteration is set in the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh’s narrow streets, the Lake District’s hills and rainfall and the Cotswolds’ historic villages.

Eco extends the resource-collecting and building of Minecraft by introducing environmental implications to your actions.

Eco extends the resource-collecting and building of Minecraft by introducing environmental implications to your actions. Using resources like trees will erode the soil; mining might pollute the river; and each animal depends on another.

Forza Motorsport 7 immerses players in the exhilarating thrill of competitive racing.

Forza Motorsport 7 immerses players in the exhilarating thrill of competitive racing. From mastering the new motorsport-inspired campaign to collecting a wide range of cars to experiencing the excitement of driving at the limit, this is Forza reimagined.

The Past Within is a co-operative puzzle game where you solve a mystery by communicating with the past.

The Past Within is a co-operative puzzle game where you solve a mystery by communicating with the past. You play the game with another person, either in the same room or elsewhere, by communicating what your different times and perspectives reveal.

Nier: Automata is a role-playing game, that span off from the Drakengard series.

Nier: Automata is a role-playing game, that span off from the Drakengard series. It's set in an alternate future where there is a war between alien machines and human androids.

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs.

Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a puzzle game designed to test and improve your mental capacity and well-being.

Kind Words is unusual because of the main interaction.

Kind Words is unusual because of the main interaction. You write letters to real people and receive back encouraging letters in return.

Monorail Stories is a narrative adventure where two people's lives are entwined by the journeys they take on the same monorail.

Monorail Stories is a narrative adventure where two people's lives are entwined by the journeys they take on the same monorail. You make choices for each character that can impact not only people on your commute but those on the other journey.

Koala Boutique is a strategy game about running a shop on the brink of bankruptcy.

Koala Boutique is a strategy game about running a shop on the brink of bankruptcy. Unusually, it's a game designed for two players to play distinct roles.

Salt and Sacrifice (and its prequel Salt and Sanctuary) is an fighting adventure game that's intentionally difficult and dark.

Salt and Sacrifice (and its prequel Salt and Sanctuary) is an fighting adventure game that's intentionally difficult and dark. You play by exploring the side-on world, fighting enemies with swords and other weapons.

Spooky Chase is a running, jumping game where you play a ghost collecting a series of flags.

Spooky Chase is a running, jumping game where you play a ghost collecting a series of flags. However, each route you take to a flag is then followed by enemies when you go after the next one.

Game & Wario is a series of small games designed for families to enjoy.

PixelJunk Racers is racing game where the circuit is viewed from above.

PixelJunk Racers is racing game where the circuit is viewed from above. Like a slot car game (Anki Overdrive or Scalextrics) you race round the in one of the five separate lanes.

Funtasia is a racing game where you play anthropomorphic animals who have jumped in goofy vehicles to fend off their world succumbing to trash.

Funtasia is a racing game where you play anthropomorphic animals who have jumped in goofy vehicles to fend off their world succumbing to trash. You play by accelerating or decelerating to try and get through the side-on level, using the physics of the bumps and lumps to jump gaps and hopefully not land upside-down.

Different Strokes is a drawing game where you collaborate to make and rate each other's art.

Different Strokes is a drawing game where you collaborate to make and rate each other's art. You play by exploring the gallery and then adding to the art.

Kind Words 2 is an online communication game that expands upon the original Kind Words game where you wrote and received letters from an online community.

Kind Words 2 is an online communication game that expands upon the original Kind Words game where you wrote and received letters from an online community. Play is simply moving around social spaces and conversing with other players through letters to encourage, advise, laugh and learn.