If you’re a Warhammer fan, you’ve probably been counting the days until Henry Cavill’s Netflix show drops. It’s a project we’ve been waiting to hear more about, but Games Workshop and Amazon Studios have been radio silent since the initial announcement. And while Cavill paints minis in real life like the rest of us mortals, you don’t have to spend the wait hunched over a paintbrush.
There are plenty of Warhammer games worth diving into right now. Some put you in charge of massive armies, others shove a chainsword into your hands and tell you to start swinging. Either way, these are the best digital battles to keep the Emperor’s light burning until Cavill arrives.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
- ESRB
- T Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Owlcat Games
- Publisher(s)
- Owlcat Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 90 Hours
I remember the first time I played Rogue Trader, the sheer weight of my character’s title felt crushing. You aren’t some grunt fighting for the Imperium. You’re a scion of a dynasty. It’s an RPG that feels like Baldur’s Gate wandered into 40K’s grimdark nightmare and stayed for the bolter fire.
This is a game about the kind of choices that tabletop players love to make. I spent what felt like an entire day wrestling with a single decision: do I align with a heretical cult for a short-term gain, or do I stay true to the Imperium and risk everything? It’s this constant push and pull between profit and piety that truly sells the experience.
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters
4.0/5
- ESRB
- t
- Engine
- Unity
- Platform(s)
- PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 25 Hours
- Developer
- Complex Games
- Publisher
- Frontier Foundry
This one’s basically XCOM, but with Grey Knights instead of squishy humans. Every mission feels like you’re walking into a hopeless fight, but that’s exactly the point. Warhammer’s universe doesn’t do “easy wins.”
There’s a constant mission timer that forces you to make decisions sooner rather than later. You can’t sit around and ponder each decision. You’ll often be forced to make high-stakes decisions about what squad member to sacrifice. It’s a constant struggle, but every time you manage to overcome the odds.
Warhammer 40,000: Battlefleet Gothic – Armada 2
Naval combat, but make it space and add gothic cathedrals glued to battleships the size of skyscrapers. Battlefield Gothic: Armada 2 lets you play space chess with kilometer-long murder boats, and honestly, it’s glorious. It’s a space chess game on a massive scale, but with a real-time pause feature that gives you time to make all the grand, galaxy-shaking decisions you’ve always wanted to.
The game captures both the grandeur and the stupidity of 40K perfectly, because yes, in this universe, “ram the enemy with a cathedral ship” is a legitimate tactic.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Auroch Digital
- Publisher(s)
- Focus Entertainment
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 10 Hours
Playing Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun feels like being transported back to the golden age of PC gaming, a time when all you needed was a chaingun and a reason to use it. This is a game of pure, unadulterated catharsis. It’s a retro shooter in the style of Doom, but instead of a shotgun, you get a holy boltgun that makes enemies explode into chunky salsa.
The first time I pulled the trigger on a boltgun and watched a cultist explode, I knew this was peak 40K gaming. It’s less about strategy and more about pure catharsis, like stress relief for heretic extermination.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Hulk – Deathwing
I still remember the oppressive feeling of stomping through the claustrophobic corridors of a space hulk, my heavy Terminator armor clanking with every step. Then you hear it: the unmistakable skittering of genestealers in the vents above. That’s Space Hulk: Deathwing. It’s not the most polished game, but few capture the feeling of being a lumbering Space Marine in a genestealer-infested maze.
The constant threat of being overwhelmed, and the tense atmosphere make you feel every inch of your armor. It’s a horror experience and exactly the kind of claustrophobic horror 40K does best.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
If Left 4 Dead had a grimdark cousin who never showered, it’d be Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. You and three buddies hack, shoot, and pray your way through endless swarms of chaos-worshipping nightmares. The real fun, for me, comes from the team dynamics. You have an Ogryn who can’t stop getting stuck in doorways, a Zealot who is a little too excited about killing, and a Psyker who keeps “testing” their powers mid-horde.
It’s an experience that’s built on desperate teamwork, where you’re constantly a few bad decisions away from being overrun. The mix of satisfying gunplay with frantic melee combat is exactly what makes a great Warhammer game.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence
- Developer(s)
- Saber Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Focus Entertainment
- Engine
- Swarm Engine
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
The upcoming Space Marine 2 is a testament to the power of a good sequel. It’s all about doubling down on what made the original great: satisfying, meaty melee combat and enough Tyranids on-screen to make your GPU cry.
The game isn’t just about mowing down bugs, but about the brutal elegance of a Space Marine in action. As soon as you get into the action, you’ll soon see that this is a true successor to the original.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine
- Released
- September 5, 2011
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Relic Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- THQ
- Engine
- havok, phoenix engine
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
Before the sequel hype, Space Marine was the game that proved you could make a third-person shooter out of Warhammer without ruining it. It’s not a cover shooter; it’s an aggression shooter. When I revved a chainsword and charged into a mob of Orks, I felt completely unstoppable.
You regain health by performing brutal executions, which encourages you to be aggressive and get up close and personal. It’s a simple but effective mechanic that perfectly captures the power fantasy of being a Space Marine.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War
Systems
- Released
- September 20, 2004
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Relic Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Relic Entertainment
- Engine
- essence engine
- Platform(s)
- Microsoft Windows
- How Long To Beat
- 12 hours
If there’s one game every Warhammer fan swears by, it’s Dawn of War. Released back in 2004, it’s still the gold standard for RTS in the 40K universe, and the recent remasters make it easier than ever to dive in. The campaigns were great, but the real joy came from skirmishes where ork boys could outnumber and overwhelm you in seconds.
The game does a great job of balancing the macro-strategy of building a base and managing resources with the micro-tactical control of individual squads. To this day, it is still one of the best digital Warhammer experiences.
