The best Western Cowboy style role-playing games.

Western Cowboy games are interesting games because they’re specific to a specific niche of people, the people who love shooting things and love Western culture. Not everyone loves cowboy games but most of us can say we’ve played one. What makes these games fun is the characteristics of the game, being in the West, having a funky hat, boots and pistols. It’s fun because role-playing as a cowboy in the West with no rules is something most people role-play as when they’re kids. 

Why are these games fun? Because cowboys are fun.

1. Fallout New Vegas (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Trailer: 

Set in the year 2281, four years after Fallout 3, 204 years after the bomb fell. You are transporting a package from the Mojave Desert to New Vegas. Whilst travelling you get robbed, shot and buried alive, and ultimately saved. The main objective after that, kill your killer. 

Fallout New Vegas is a 2010 single-player PEGI 18 developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Steam reviewers state that this game has a pleasant wild West atmosphere and that this game has lots of great side quests that branch off into other great side quests.

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/22380/Fallout_New_Vegas/

Fallout New Vegas Logo Image

 

 

2. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Trailer: 

Set during the decline of the American frontier in the year 1911. Your protagonist is John Marston, a well-known outlaw whose family gets taken hostage by the government as a ransom for his services. Your real enemy is the people who run the system. 

A single-player and multiplayer 2010 PEGI 18 developed by Rockstar North and Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games, awarded VGX Award for Best Original Score, Best Song in Game, Game of the Year and Best Original Game. 

Metacritic reviewers state that this game is like GTA but better and set in the wild West and that it’s a nearly perfect game. 

Metacritic rating: https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/red-dead-redemption

Red Dead Redemption Remastered Logo Image

 

3. Red Dead Online (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia)

Trailer: 

 Set in 1898, one year before the plot of Red Dead Redemption 2. You take on the role of a silent protagonist arrested for murder and imprisoned in Sisika Penitentiary. Your prison transport is intercepted by the widow of the husband you murdered claiming your innocence and setting you free to find proof. 

A multiplayer 2018 PEGI 18 game developed and published by Rockstar Games.

Steam reviewers state the story is great but the gaming company is the worst and the game gets hacked a lot. 

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1404210/Red_Dead_Online/ 

Red Dead Online Logo Image

 

4. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Trailer: 

Your cowboy protagonist is Silas Greaves an American bounty hunter and your setting is in the American West during the middle of the 19th century. An old Silas Greaves is telling his many bountiful tales and adventures to a bunch of saloon patrons. You get to listen and relive his adventures. 

A single-player 2013 PEGI 16 game developed by Techland and published by Techland and Ubisoft.

Steam reviewers state it’s a great and awesome game, it’s surprising that it’s free.

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/204450/Call_of_Juarez_Gunslinger/ 

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Logo Image

 

5. Desperados III (PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, Macintosh operating systems)

Trailer: 

This game is the sequel to Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive and explores John Cooper’s backstory. Your protagonist is John Cooper himself on a quest for vengeance, pursuing Frank, the leader of a notorious group of bandits responsible for killing John’s father James. 

A single-player 2020 PEGI 18 game developed by Mimimi Games GmbH and Mimimi Games and published by THQ Nordic.

Steam reviewers state this game is a gem and they wish more games were like it and that you don’t need to have played the previous games to enjoy it.

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/610370/Desperados_III/ 

Desperados III Logo Image

 

6. This Land is My Land (Microsoft Windows)

Trailer: 

 This Land is My Land is a stealth action game that is set in the 19th century in America. The game features a native American protagonist who is fighting against the white settlers. The game is all about protecting your land from the invaders who threaten it.  

A 2019 multiplayer game developed and published by Game-Labs.

Steam reviewers state they died of thirst in the pouring rain which is hilarious but this game could use more time in the oven.

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069640/This_Land_Is_My_Land/ 

This is My Land Logo Image

 

7. Hard West (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Macintosh operating systems)

Trailer: 

A supernatural game about a man called Warren who has to hunt down all of those who have wronged him, plunging his soul into darkness. You will have hard choices to make and even greater consequences to deal with. If you’re a fan of spooky ghost stories, cowboys and Western culture then boy you’ll enjoy this game.

A single-player 2015 PEGI 16 game developed by CreativeForge Games and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment.

Steam reviewers state this game has a few annoying bugs but the turn-base system is awesome and the dark plot is cool. 

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/307670/Hard_West/ 

Hard West Logo Image 

 

8. West of Loathing (Nintendo Switch, Linux, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia, Macintosh operating systems)

Trailer: 

 Set in the universe of Asymmetric's Kingdom of Loathing, a fantasy Western frontier. You play as a simply designed character who leaves home in the search of fortune, heading West on a trek to the city of Frisco.

A 2017 single-player PEGI 7 game developed by Asymmetric and published by Asymmetric and Limited Run Games

Steam reviewers state this game is surprisingly complex when it comes to the plot, dialogue and side quests and is as great as everyone says. 

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/597220/West_of_Loathing/ 

West of Loathing Logo Image

 

9. Hunt: Showdown (PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One)

Trailer: 

 You and two other friends hunt giant monsters across the fantasy region of 1890s Louisiana swampland. Your agenda is to stay alive whilst locating bounties and killing whatever monsters stand in your way, be they man or beast. If your hunter dies, that’s the end of the road for that hunter.  

A 2018 PEGI 18 multiplayer game developed by Crytek and published by Crytek and Koch Media.

Steam reviewers state that playing solo there’s no lag or frame-rate issues and you’ll never play the same game twice, each round is completely different.  

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/594650/Hunt_Showdown/ 

Hunt Showdown Logo Image

 

10. Westerado: Double Barreled (Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, Xbox One)

Trailer: 

 Set in the old West, it’s your main characters goal to seek revenge for their family’s murder by a mysterious Desperados. You travel with your brother to hunt down their killer and exact your vengeance. 

A single-player and multiplayer PEGI 12 2015 game developed by Ostrich Banditos and published by Adult Swim Games.

Steam reviewers state they love the clues, it’s fun to play, it has a great soundtrack and they love the different ways it can be played.

Steam rating: https://store.steampowered.com/app/275200/Westerado_Double_Barreled/ 

Westerado: Double Barreled Logo Image