The 10 Best PS5 Games Under $20 in 2024
The Playstation 5 has become the leading console of this generation, outselling its rival Xbox Series equivlent by more than 2:1. As it matures, more great games get released, but also become cheaper year-on-year.
If you’ve recently picked up a PS5 and are looking for some brilliant games on a budget, or you’re just looking to expand your collection, here are the best games you can pick up for under $20:
10. Hades
Hades is, simply put, one of the best rogue-like’s ever made. You take the role of Zagreus, son of Hades, and traverse your way through the layers of the Underworld in an attempt to get to the surface. With each failed attempt you get stronger, unlocking more abilities, whilst simultaneously discovering more of the story and the mystery surrounding the characters.
No game manages to intertwine a narrative and gameplay quite like Hades. The writing and voice acting is the best in the industry, and the gameplay loop is hopelessly addictive. The visuals are a cartoonishly vivid treat, and the music is catchy without becoming annoying.
Hades is as close to an essential purchase as it gets.
Check the price on Amazon here.
9. Demon’s Souls
The game that started the Soulsbourne genre has been rebuilt from the ground up for PS5, and holds up remarkably well today. The updated graphics are still some of the best on the console, with the moody medieval aesthetic superbly rendered on the PS5 hardware.
Make no mistake though – the game is tough. Probably even more unforgiving than the later entries into the grenre from FromSoftware, Demon’s Souls will test your patience as much as it tests your reflexes. Still, if you’re willing to grind through the difficulty curve, there are few more rewarding games out there.
Check the price on Amazon here.
8. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
The LEGO Star Wars game to end all LEGO Star Wars games. Skywalker Saga broke the mould and deviated from the usual template of LEGO games to deliver a package thats much more open and grander in scope – a design choice fitting for the subject matter. Skywalker Saga spans the entire 9 films, feautring multiple expansive open levels from each, with the likes of Hoth, Tattooine and Naboo crafted brilliantly in brick form.
In keeping with the LEGO tradition, it’s a massive collect-a-thon at heart, with more characters, ships and coins to collect then ever before. It also looks gorgeous on PS5 hardware. Simply a must for LEGO or Star Wars fans.
Check it out on Amazon here.
7. Need For Speed Unbound
It may not have been released to much fanfare, but make no mistake – NFS Unbound is the best non-Forza arcade racer since Burnout 3. And it’s no coincidence either, as Burnout creators Criterion are behind this one.
Driving feels fantastic – its arcade-y, but also has a generous skill learning curve that means there’s depth to be had in its controls. It also leans heavily into it’s NFS Underground roots, featuring a surpsingly length and in-depth plot full of love, betrayal, and late-night gangster shenanigans.
If you miss Burnout, get this.
Check it out on Amazon here.
6. Jedi: Fallen Order
The second Star Wars game on the list, and it’s one of the best of the last two decades. Fallen Order is a delightful mish-mash of genres, taking inspiraiton from Dark Souls, Metroid, Zelda, God of War and several other gold-standard franchises and mizxes them together to create a wonderful single player experience.
Kal is a Jedi that’s escaped the clutches of Order 66, and seeks revenge for his fallen family. The lightsaber combat is possibly the best it’s ever been in any videogame, and it’s a satisfying endeavour levelling up Kal’s abilities and becoming a beast of a Jedi.
An absolute must for Star Wars fans, and anyone looking for a meaty single-player experience.
Check it on Amazon here.
5. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
The first true ‘next-gen’ Assassin’s Creed is an absolute monster of a game, dwarfing even Odyssey and Origins that came before it. The Viking aesthetic is applied this time around, and the heavily Witcher 3-inspired design is pushed to the limit.
You’ll traverse medieval Norway and Anglo-Saxon England as you pillage your way through a massive adventure, doing the usual Assassins’ Creed things like scaling buildings, collecting things and checking off icons on a massive map.
It’s come down a lot in price lately, and under for $20 it’s a bargain.
Buy it on Amazon here.
4. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
Widely regarded as the pinnacle of the MK series, MK11 shines as a golden example of how to make an accessible, yet deep, fighting game.
You can have fun with MK11 without having to remember huge input-string combos, but mastering a character takes a lot of time and patience. Even though the fighting is slightly more tactical and measured than its predeccessors, the trademark over-the-top gore and violence is still in tact.
There’s also a surprisngly compelling story – something often lacking in fighting games – which puts to shame many other narrative-heavy games.
If you’re looking for a fighter for your PS5, you can’t go wrong with MK11 Ultimate.
Check the price on Amazon here.
3. Sifu
One of the lesser well-known games on this list, Sifu is nonetheless more than worthy of your attention.
A traditional beat-em-up at first glance, but peel back the layers and Sifu has a lot more up its sleeve. The titular main character has over 150 moves, most of which can be strung together and combined to make your character flow and dance through the levels, and the more adept you get, the more fun it becomes.
Set in modern-day China, your character ages each time you die, and learns more moves. But when you become too old, you star over as the younger version, but on the same level you reached. It’s yet another addictive rogue-like loop, and why not? it’s damn fun.
Check it out on Amazon here.
2. Spiritfarer
Spiritfarer is a game like no other – you embark on a boat journey with some colourful animal characters, and it’s soon revealed that your job as the ‘Spiritfarer’ is to ship spirits of the deceased across to the afterlife.
As you progress, you can build upon and improve your boat, serving more interesting animals and characters. It sounds so simple, yet it’s so compelling – it’s a slow, measured affair of a game, but it draws you in gradually until it’s all you can think about.
1. Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds is one of those games that the less you know about it going in, the better. The spoiler-free premise is that youre a character who’s solar system is stuck in a 22-minute time loop, at the end of each loop the star goes supernova and resets everything. As you play through loop after loop, you uncover secret upon secret, hopping across planets and moons, until the grand mystery is revealed…
Just play it!