Top 10 BEST Russian video games

1. Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators (Rating: 84/100, user score: 8.7/10)

It’s the 33rd century and humankind has long become familiar with flights to neighboring planets and maintains relations with four intelligent civilizations: Maloks, Pelengs, Feyans and Gaalts. Suddenly, a new threat appears for the galaxy: the free-thinking dominator robots and the ability to regenerate – accidentally created by the Maloks. The dominators want to exterminate or insubordinate all other intelligent civilizations.

In this game by Elemental Games, the player assumes the role of a space ranger, who, through strategy, needs to save the galaxy. Players must travel to different planets and solar systems, participate in dialogues and prepare attacks against the dominators, along with their allies and repair spaceships, while taking part in ground and interplanetary battles, etc. 

Space Rangers combines several genres: turn-based strategy, arcade, interactive fiction and space simulator, with elements of trade. Despite the fact that the game was released more than 17 years ago (in 2004), gameaholics still love it for its free play and indie open-world, where other ranger-bots also trade, play, upgrade their equipment and conduct acts of piracy.

The game is available on PC. 

2. Silent storm (Rating: 83, user score 8.7) 

“It’s 1943, World War II. The planet’s on fire and uncertainty lies ahead. I was there. I remember the guy, indifferent to everything, with the harmonica in the city’s ruins – he played a long-forgotten tune,” begins the trailer of one of the main turn-based strategy military games from Russian studio Nival, released in 2003.

The player creates a character, selects its country of origin (USSR, Great Britain, USA or select other countries) and profession: sniper, tank commander, intelligence officer or regular soldier. The main character commands his intelligence unit, carries out tasks and fights against a terrorist organization, which is creating a secret weapon with which it plans to take over the world.

One battle could last several hours and every choice made affects the team members’ lives and the outcome of the battle. 

The game is available on PC via Steam.

3. King's Bounty: Armored Princess (Rating: 82, user score: 8.5)

Released by Russian studio Katauri Interactive in 2009, the setting of this turn-based strategy game takes place in Tean, a fantasy world. The main character is Princess Amelie and her homeworld Endorya has been taken over by the archdemon Baal, along with his comrades-in-arms. But the only knight who can defeat him is in Tean. Amelie sets off in search for the knight.

In the new world, she’ll have to fight armies of terrible monsters and a breed of blood thirsty pangolins, along with a tame dragon who will protect the Princess in battle, look for treasure and help awaken the volcanoes. In the new world, players can easily move between continents by sea, recruit a sidekick for battles against villains and cast various magic spells on the battlefield.

The game is available on PC via Steam.

4. War Thunder (Rating: 81, user score: 5.8) 

One of the most popular games in the world of aviation, naval and tank simulators was created by Russian developers at studio Gaijin Entertainment in 2013.

Players can battle individually or with friends against various World War II ground vehicles, airplanes and military craft from different countries (for instance, the USSR, USA, Germany, Great Britain or Japan). Each battle lasts on average no longer than 30 minutes. And no more life bars on the screen! Everything is determined by the choice of projectiles, their trajectory and your crew. You can defeat your enemy with one shot, really – however, a player also has a high probability of dying from a single shot!

There are over 50 different maps available and many recreate real WWII battlefields. In War Thunder, you can also explore real historical battles, thanks to the ‘Events & Tournaments’ mode. It’s a complete reenactment of historical battles in their corresponding locations with a limited choice of equipment.

The game is available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation 4.

5. Wings of Prey (Rating: 78, user score: 7.6)

This is another successful aviation simulator made by Gaijin Entertainment in 2009. Similarly, the plot takes place during World War II. In the beginning, players assume the role of a British pilot, who is protecting his country. Then the action turns to Stalingrad and, later, to Sicily, Berlin and other cities involved in the war. All the missions merge into one storyline: pilots sink enemy ships, then protect the city from a tank attack. 

Wings of Prey exhilarates players with its realistic virtual flight models, including its duration: reaching a certain destination might take dozens of minutes, just like in the real world. Any damage to the plane influences its performance in the air and a crash resembles a real catastrophe, as often seen in modern blockbusters. 

The game is available on PC via Steam, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

6. Heroes of Might and Magic V (Rating: 77, user score: 8.8)

Russian company Nival Interactive developed this world-famous strategy-game’s fifth edition in 2006. In the Askhan universe, demons still spread chaos and the characters playing for their faction will have to defeat the enemy and restore world order.

There are over 30 missions in the game, during which you can explore and seize new territories, acquire an army, improve your characters, govern cities and fight in battles with the help of more than 200 magic spells.

The game is available on PC via Steam.

7. Beholder 2 (Rating: 76, user score: 7.8)

This game is a continuation of the first edition’s so-called “snitch stimulator”, which was released in 2018 by Russian company Alawar Entertainment. In the first part, the manager of an ordinary house in a somber, anti-utopian city needs to save his family from Big Brother by collecting dirt on his neighbors.

In the second edition, the son of a bureaucrat working in the Executive Office, becomes the main character, who is trying to build a career in the department. At first, he looks at the complaints, accusations by everyday people, but later he rises higher and hopes to take the role of Minister. Players have to decide how to reach his goals: step on others’ toes and write-up his colleague, or do honest work, non-stop, helping rebels start a revolution in a totalitarian government.

The developers warn that the game contains content that’s “not suitable for all ages or for viewing at work”.

The game is available on PC via Steam, Android, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

8. 7th Sector (Rating: 76, Player review not available)

Drones, travels through rainy streets with neon lights, deserted apartments; long tunnels with terrifying mannequins behind glass windows. This is how this indie-platformer game, released in 2019 by Russian developer Sergey Noskov, looks with its puzzles and riddles.

The game boasts a rich cyberpunk megapolis atmosphere in the spirit of ‘Blade Runner’, with many anti-utopian elements. Within the same storyline, the player goes through several characters’ plot lines. Each one has unique abilities and can connect to different devices, learning more about the world and influencing the game finale.

The game is available on PC via Steam and PlayStation 4.

9. Blitzkrieg 2 (Rating: 75, user score: 7.4)

“Americans gradually capture bases in the Pacific Ocean and while parrying Japanese attacks, they begin to take hold of their enemy’s initiative,” is how the black and white framed trailer with military helicopters begins for the strategy game by Nival Interactive. Released in 2005, the plot also takes place during WWII.

The game’s second edition closes in on the war’s main fronts from Europe to the Pacific Islands. The player chooses which country to play, e.g. the USSR, Germany, and USA. Real historical events appear with each unit, taking into consideration the weather and time of year. The player can pass around 70 different missions, command a real army of helicopters, tanks, naval vessels and ordinary soldiers and improve their experience and military rank, while simultaneously learning new combat skills.

The game is available on PC via Steam.

10. ATOM RPG (Rating: 70, user score: 8.5)

It’s an alternative 1986: the world has not yet managed to recover from a nuclear war. The only buildings left standing are abandoned, demolished by missiles from the USSR and the Western Bloc. The main character, an agent of the secret organization ATOM, is sent to the Soviet Wasteland to locate a special squad that went to explore a mysterious bunker.

Everywhere, residents of the small villages are suffering at the hands of bandits, they need to wrestle against Soviet propaganda, bottles of Stolichnaya vodka and new mutants, in order to fight ahead. In some parts, the game gets downright freaky – you can easily meet mutants who are cameramen for porn films, perverts who are crazy about kebabs and weirdos telling fables about Lenin, just to name a few.

You see, there’s loads of trash content, but ATOM fans just appreciate this crazy, vulgar, apocalyptic world with a unique Soviet atmosphere.

The game is available on PC via Steam.