Best PC Games To Play With A Controller [2025 List] - GamingScan (2024)

While most PC gamers prefer to use a mouse and keyboard, some PC games benefit from being played with a standard gamepad.

This is especially true for genres like racing, fighting, platformers, and third-person shooters as well as any game that was originally designed for consoles.

To help narrow down your options, we’re highlighting the finest PC games to play with a controller in 2025, including PC games that support Xbox and PlayStation controllers.

If you have any other proposals for controller-friendly PC games, make sure to leave a comment and check back for future updates!

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Although a racing wheel will always be the preferred choice for immersive driving sims, a standard controller is suitable for arcade racing games like Forza Horizon 5.

You’ll find that cars in these games are a lot easier to steer using joysticks rather than a keyboard and mouse, and the control layout feels more intuitive on a controller.

Forza Horizon 5 is a great game to test this theory simply for the fact it’s a very chill and relaxing game that lets you explore the open world at your own pace.

It also offers a wide array of racing events, unlockable vehicles, and gorgeous environments based on real-world locations in Mexico.

Next up, Psychonauts 2 is a 3D platformer that benefits from using a controller as players can more easily pull off precise jumps, attacks, and maneuvers.

To this point, the game features a robust combat system that requires you to react quickly and swap between different Psi-powers on the fly via an in-game menu wheel.

While this is achievable on a mouse and keyboard, after spending just a few minutes with Psychonauts 2, it becomes obvious the game was meant to be played with a controller.

This allows you to take better advantage of Raz’s abilities and quickly navigate environments to collect new items and memories to advance the story.

Sports games are typically meant to be played with a controller, including the indie snowboarding simulator Shredderswhich launched for Xbox consoles and PC in March 2022.

So much so that the game includes a disclaimer stating that a controller is vital to play since keyboard and mouse aren’t supported.

In it, you take on the role of an up-and-coming snowboarder looking to break into the scene by competing at the biggest event of the year.

Outside of its story mode, Shredders features open-ended and online multiplayer modes where you and your friends can practice tricks as you carve up mountains.

Considering Metroidvanias got their start on consoles, it makes sense that the overwhelming majority play better with a conventional gamepad.

One of our favorites has to be Unsighted, a top-down indie action RPG that sees you playing as a cyber-enhanced automaton in a post-apocalyptic universe taken over by machines.

The game offers challenging combat with grueling bossfights, precise platforming, and a deep arsenal of wieldable weapons that handle best with a controller.

If not for anything else, Unsighted is worth playing through to be rewarded with gritty sci-fi visuals and storytelling that’s further complimented by stunning pixel art.

Despite launching in a rather unpolished state, Horizon Zero Dawn‘s PC port runs a lot smoother these days thanks to a slew of patches addressing the technical hiccups players were experiencing.

However, one thing that hasn’t changed is the game’s core design, which encourages you to play with a controller as it was originally intended on PlayStation 4.

In it, you play as a hunter inhabiting a post-apocalyptic world where humans and machines strive to coexist in equilibrium with each other.

Throughout the game, players can unlock new weapons, gadgets, and tools that allow Aloy to tackle challenges, befriend the machines, and help her tribe.

Conceived as a console action RPG, the Monster Hunter series has always played better with a controller though there are some benefits to using a mouse and keyboard.

This includes being able to smoothly navigate through the game’s intricate menus as well as increased accuracy with ranged weapons like the light and heavy bowguns.

However, if you’re playing with any melee weapons, you’re better off using a controller as it allows you to pull off combos and deal consistent damage more easily.

There are currently two Monster Hunter games available on PC: Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise, with the latter being the newer entry.

Cuphead is a brutally difficult 2D platformer with expressive hand-drawn visuals and gameplay inspired by the hardcore run-n-gun games of the 1980s.

As such, it features some particularly challenging boss fights that require quick reflexes and paying close attention to your enemy’s attack animations.

Furthermore, it’s best played with a controller as the timing for attacks, jumps, and parries can be quite challenging for anyone using a mouse and keyboard.

Even then, players can expect each boss to take numerous attempts to fell as they go through multiple attack phases that ramp up in difficulty and chaos.

Although Assassin’s Creed is typically associated with its console releases, the series has been accessible on PC as far back as 2008.

So while each entry may support both input types, there’s no benefit to playing Assassin’s Creed with a keyboard and mouse over a controller.

This is due to the streamlined nature of each game’s stealth and movement systems that don’t generally call for the kind of precise accuracy afforded by a gaming mouse.

Most missions in the earlier games boil down to trailing targets, eavesdropping, scaling buildings, and hiding bodies.

Hades is a narrative-driven, roguelike dungeon crawler that’s better suited for a controller with a few exceptions.

Much like Monster Hunter, some ranged weapons in Hades benefit from using a mouse and keyboard, especially if you’re the type of player who prefers not to use automatic aiming.

Outside of that, it’s best recommended you play the game using a standard gamepad as it makes both combat and traversal feel more fluid and responsive.

This comes in handy during later levels where enemies are a lot more relentless and require you to frequently dodge and maneuver just to keep Zagreus alive.

Combining rogue-lite progression with Metroidvania exploration and souls-inspired combat, Dead Cells is a superb suggestion for PC gaming with a controller.

In it, you’re tasked with venturing into daunting pixel art environments filled with aggressive enemies, deadly traps, and secret pathways.

Each demise sees you returning to where you began only with a bit more resources and expertise to push forward and make it even further on your next attempt.

The game’s 2D design naturally lends itself to being played with a controller where you can more easily dodge enemy attacks and capitalize with your own.

Another third-person action stealth franchise that can be comfortably enjoyed with a controller is the Batman: Arkham series consisting of four games where you play as the DC hero.

The primary reason why these games play better with a controller is due to their auto-targeting mechanics which allow for seamless combat and traversal.

During battles, controller players can rely on Arkham’s smooth-flowing fighting system to pull off remarkable combos using Batman’s punches, kicks, and powerful gadgets.

This is much harder to achieve using a mouse and keyboard, especially if you want to be effective in battle while looking like a cool superhero.

FromSoftware has a strong track record for including keyboard and mouse support with each game they produce and Elden Ring is no different.

With that said, the game’s challenging nature lends itself to being played with a controller as you can more easily anticipate and evade incoming attacks.

Add to this your character’s health and mana meters which must be replenished using potions at the drop of hat, and it’s apparent to see why accessible controls are desirable.

PC players can take things even further by installing a host of Elden Ring mods that enhance the controller experience with UI modifications.

Of course, Elden Ring is far from the only Soulslike title to support controllers along with pretty much every peripheral known to man if you’re dedicated enough to try.

While some players swear by mouse and keyboard, the vast majority will prefer using a conventional controller to play through the Dark Souls series.

Aside from being more comfortable to hold during intense boss battles, a controller gives you quick access to your character’s equipment, attack, and dodge buttons.

By no means does this make the gameplay any less difficult but rather provides the player with a few conveniences that make for an overall better experience.

Deep Rock Galactic is one of the few first-person shooters that we would much rather play with a controller than mouse and keyboard for the sake of flexibility.

Over the years, developer Ghost Ship Games has refined the game’s UI and controls to create a welcoming atmosphere for those who prefer to use a gamepad.

Additionally, since it’s strictly a PvE title, you don’t have to worry about being at a disadvantage against other players using a standard mouse and keyboard setup.

In it, teams of up to 4 players explore complex cave systems in search of valuable minerals and ores while battling waves of alien bugs using class-based weapons and gear.

Next on our list is the critically-acclaimed indie 3D platformer A Hat in Time, which draws its influence from iconic console games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie.

Much like the titles it’s mimicking, A Hat in Time is meant to be played with a controller but still recognizes mouse and keyboard inputs.

The story centers on a young pilot tasked with traveling from planet to planet collecting magical hourglasses to power her spaceship.

Gameplay revolves around manipulating objects and performing precise platforming maneuvers that are tailor-made for controller inputs.

Built from the ground up for co-op, It Takes Two is a third-person action platformer where two players control a husband and wife in an unsatisfying marriage.

Shortly after, the couple is miraculously transformed into their daughter’s toys and must set aside their disagreements to return to their usual human forms.

This is done by overcoming a wide range of obstacles across several levels that include platforming challenges, environmental puzzles, and bossfights.

It’s advised players use a controller for It Takes Two as certain character actions are much more difficult to pull off using a mouse and keyboard.

Tomb Raider’s PC legacy dates back to the mid-nineties through to the more recent rebooted trilogy that concluded with Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

While each game supports standard mouse and keyboard controls, the advantages of playing Tomb Raider with a controller cannot be disputed.

From basic actions like walking, swimming, and climbing to firing weapons and hiding behind cover, Tomb Raider is a controller game through and through.

The game does an excellent job of conveying this to the player by assigning each of Lara’s weapons to a different direction on the D-pad by default.

Our final recommendation for PC games to play with a controller is Psyonix’s well-known soccer-with-cars sports game Rocket League.

While the game has always supported mouse and keyboard, you’ll find most players prefer to use a controller.

This can be attributed to Rocket League’s close association with the PlayStation platform, which is where it was originally released.

Playing with a controller makes a lot more sense too since it provides better control for aerial maneuvers and 360-degree rotations.