In June Sony rolled out a revamped, tiered version of its long-running PlayStation Plus subscription, combining the benefits of the existing service — free monthly games, cloud saves, online multiplayer access — with an expanded version of its PlayStation Now game library. That library, an ever-growing catalog of nearly 400 PS4 and PS5 games, is available to subscribers of PS Plus’s top two tiers: Extra ($15 USD/month) and Premium ($18), the latter of which also included a Classics library from earlier consoles.We know it can be hard — stressful even — to sort through that many games and determine which may be worth your time. And so we’ve curated this list of what we consider some of the 33 best PlayStation Plus games available to subscribers of the Extra and Premium tiers, listed alphabetically. (We’re not including those Premium-tier Classics only to focus on the more recent games available to a wider group of PS Plus subscribers.)
For a full list of games that you can use to create your own custom lists and manage your backlog, check our PS Plus Premium Games and PS Plus Classic Games lists on IGN Playlist.
*How long to beat (HLTB) estimates courtesy of IGN sister site How Long to Beat. The lowest number represents the average time required to mainline the story; the higher represents the average time required to earn 100% completion.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is Ubisoft’s biggest, boldest take on the series to date. A Viking tale set within England’s Dark Ages, Valhalla “walks a fine line between historical tourism, top-shelf conspiracy theory, and veiled mysticism against the backdrop of a grounded and focused story,” according to IGN’s review. With its campaign clocking in around 60 hours, it’s the longest game to mainline on this list.
Bloodborne
What may have been the general consensus pick for best Soulsborne game before Elden Ring, Bloodborne takes the Dark Souls formula (including its punishing difficulty) and adds faster-paced moment-to-moment combat, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle. This, along with its dense, eerily gorgeous world, make Bloodborne stand apart from — and arguably above — its Dark Souls brethren.
Celeste
Celeste is one of the best modern platformers, thanks to its tight controls, excellent level design, heartfelt story, and Lena Raine’s dynamic soundtrack (which is well worth listening to whether or not you end up trying Celeste). Celeste is the first of three games on this list that IGN awarded a coveted review score of 10.Concrete Genie comes from one of the smallest studios in the PlayStation first-party suite, but Pixelopus’ latest creation packs as much heart and ingenuity as bigger first-party games. At the heart of what makes it so special is a painting mechanic that prioritizes expression over precision. Don’t worry about being the most exacting artist in the world, or even having all that much artistic talent to begin with — Concrete Genie encourages you to paint scenes and animate the environment with only a few guidelines of what to include, but it never judges you for how you approach those goals. With challenges built around art as a means to success, you literally paint a world back to life and along the way experience a beautiful story, make some genie friends, and try out some pretty clever mechanics that make Pixelopus’ next adventure one to anticipate. - Jonathon Dornbush
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