10 Best Battle Royale Video Games - Ranked

Which will be the last one standing?

Arma 3
Bohemia Interactive

A large number of players descend into an expansive, open-world map and fight to survive with whatever they can scavenge - the winner is the last man standing. That's the crux of the battle royale genre, which takes its name from a Japanese novel wherein a bunch of students on an island are tasked with killing each other. It's a nascent subset of multiplayer titles that started out on PC, but recently exploded into the spotlight thanks to the massive popularity of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

Naturally, when a game sells over 20 million copies before it's even been officially released, developers take note. It hasn't taken long for a number of games to try and capitalise on the success of PUBG and so a number of battle royale titles have flooded the genre quickly. The games' developers range from well-known powerhouses like Epic Games, to much smaller, independent teams.

Just how good are these games though? Battle royale titles are famed for being tense affairs, with the fear of being picked off by another player looming at every moment. Each one of the games on this list brings something fresh to the genre but at the end there can be only one game standing.

10. Unturned: Arena Mode

Arma 3
Smartly Dressed Games

Unturned: Arena Mode is an official mode found in the free-to-play zombie game, Unturned. It borrows from the foundations of the battle royale genre, but cuts it down to size. Instead of the enormous 100 or so players found in other games, Unturned: Arena Mode pits you against 15 other players in one of four small maps.

The game's uniquely colourful art style - Minecraft springs to mind when looking at all those blocks - may actually prove to be a selling point among the high number of gritty, military games in the genre. Beneath the almost child-friendly exterior however lies a fiendishly hardcore experience. The game boasts a litany of different weapons and attachments and the multiple maps means you'll be learning different tactics and play styles, to adapt to the change in location.

Like a number of battle royale titles, Unturned: Arena Mode is completely free, which is always a plus. The game might look like something for a youngster, but it plays like anything but. For a nice distraction from the big boy battle royale games, Unturned: Arena Mode comes recommended.

Contributor
Contributor

Gamer, writer and still patiently awaiting Bloodborne 2.