Some people preferrelaxing, easy gamesto unwind, while others prefer sweaty, edge-of-your-seat competition. Now, how does one get into, or convince their friends to join, the competitive fun? With the right games, of course.
Not allcompetitive multiplayer gamesare made equal. Some games are ruthless in terms of how fierce the competition can be, take hours to learn, or just aren’t that interesting for new players. Sure,Counter-StrikeandDota 2are massively popular, but I wouldn’t use them to introduce someone to competitive gaming.
Thankfully, there are more forgiving games that can make anyone a fan of some friendly competition.
10Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
Classic Pew Pew
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Call of Dutycan be divisive, but few competitive shooters are easier to get into. Its strong skill-based matchmaking, which is controversial, should ideally place a new player into matches with other new players.
It’s also very straightforward, with classes not having an extreme effect on performance. The instant respawn times will keep you constantly in the action, giving you more time to learn the ins and outs.
But, whileCall of Duty: Black Ops 6is easy to get into, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a high skill ceiling. At the highest level of play, Call of Duty is extremely competitive, and the game becomes more about winning various game modes than simply getting the most kills.
9Marvel Rivals
Be A Hero, Or Villain
Marvel Rivals
Fextralife Wiki
Hero shooters are great introductions to competitive multiplayer gamesas they tend to be heavily streamlined, and the easiest to get into has to beMarvel Rivals.
It has flashy characters that you probably already know and love, like Spider-Man and Wolverine. Each character only has a few abilities to keep track of, so the game doesn’t take long to learn. And, like much of its competition, it’s also free-to-play.
However, while it is easy to get into, that doesn’t mean it’s less competitive than other shooters. At the highest levels, Marvel Rivals can be as competitive as other hero shooters likeOverwatch 2.
The Gods Will Teach You
MOBAs hold several of the world’s most popular competitive multiplayer games, like Dota 2 andLeague of Legends. However, the genre can be a bit difficult for new players to get a hold of. They have an extremely unique gameplay loop, and there’s a lot you need to know before playing competitively.
Smitehas to be the easiest MOBA to introduce yourself to the genre with. It functions much like a third-person hero shooter, but with MOBA tropes like minions, towers, jungles, and traditional MOBA roles.
That means that if you can handle basic third-person shooting mechanics, you can easily be introduced to MOBA mechanics through playing the game and not studying. The game also comes with a variety of alternate, simpler game modes to assist in learning.
Of course, there are over a hundred characters to choose from, and dozens of items, so there is a lot to master. Thankfully, it’s free-to-play, so you can test the waters with no risk.
7Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X
Thinking Can Be Fun Too
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X
While not the easiest game to get into, the amount of creativity and endless strategies allowed inTom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Xcan be immensely compelling, even to new players.
While there are plenty of tried and true strategies, there’s nothing wrong with coming up with new ones. Perhaps it’s putting a hole in a wall at a weird angle, or placing traps somewhere people will never expect.
Once you’re used to the leaning, clunky movement, and one-shot headshots, the real game of outsmarting your enemy introduces itself. There is a lot to memorize at the highest levels of play, but the game doesn’t make it miserable to learn.
Rainbow Six Siege X is also partially free-to-play, meaning it won’t cost you a dime to learn the ropes.
6Hearthstone
The Game Shuffles For You
Hearthstone
Card games, while extremely competitive, can also be very slow-paced and monotonous at times. A deck of playing cards doesn’t hold a candle to video games in terms of exciting visuals and complex gameplay mechanics. However, some games merge the two.
Hearthstone, with its fast pace and colorful visuals, has all the competition of playing cards in the most cutthroat retirement home, but in a more attention-grabbing format. Matches often last less than 10 turns, but they still have an immense amount of complexity with the game’s 11 different classes andthousands of cards.
It’s free-to-play, easy to pick up, and fun to learn, but with depth that makes it great for both beginners and experts of the genre. And, unlike many old-school collectible card games, you don’t have to keep track of your cards. That game does that for you.
5Rocket League
Rocket League
Soccer, football, or whatever you want to call it, is notoriously competitive. Playing the sport with rocket-powered cars doesn’t make it any less competitive, and it can make it more exciting.
That’s essentially whatRocket Leagueis. Two teams fight to get a ball into the opposing team’s goal, and they use rocket-powered cars to do so. It isn’t bogged down by complex rules, so anyone can pick up and play it right away. And I do mean anyone, since it’s free-to-play.
The silly moments that rockets can create make the game a ton of fun, whether you’re good at it or not. And, the more you play it and have fun, the better and more competitive you will inevitably get.There’s a reason it’s lasted for over a decade.
Asymmetrical Horror
Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylightis competitive, but in a different way than most games. It’s asymmetrical. There are multiple survivors on one team, and a single killer on the opposing team. This creates an interesting twist that can suck in people who are otherwise uninterested in competitive games.
The gameplay is straightforward to understand, with survivors attempting to repair generators to escape, and the killer trying to prevent them from escaping. Most of the gameplay revolves around movement and quick-time events, making it very easy to learn.
That said, there are still complexities to the game that make it difficult to master, such as the various skillsof each killer.
Whether you’re good at it or not, teaming up with your friends to try to outsmart a rampaging killer is a great gateway to competitive games.
3Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Beat Up Your Friends, Kindly
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Playing asNintendo’s fan-favorite characters like Kirby and Pikachu can be a good enough reason for many to get into this fighting game, but that’s not the only reason to play.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis a simple game with a deceptively high skill ceiling. More importantly, it’s a ton of fun that can be shared with up to seven other people at once.
It’s easy to get into, but with 82 fighters and 103 stages, it is hard to truly master. This combination will quickly suck you into the loop of getting better and better so that you can beat your friends and be king or queen of the living room.
2Apex Legends
Battle Royalty
Apex Legends
Battle Royalescan be extremely intimidating, with even the more kid-friendly titles likeFortnitebeing excruciatingly competitive. Because of its building mechanics, Fortnite probably isn’t the best game for a newcomer to introduce themselves to the genre anymore.
Apex Legends, however, is very straightforward. It’s a Battle Royale but with a hero-shooter twist. Sure, there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to knowing every ability, but the most important skills of looting and shooting are easy to pick up.
Since twenty teams are competing for victory, you can look at it as having a one in twenty chance of winning, but don’t expect to win any time soon if you’re new. However, regardless of winning, the gameplay loop is a lot of fun.
Counter Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is one of the most popular games of all time. However, it’s also one of the most arduous games to get into of all time. From the outside in, you might think it plays like a standard shooter.
However, it has a confusing aiming mechanic: accuracy is drastically reduced if you’re moving at all. This can be immensely disorienting for players accustomed to running and gunning, as is often done in most shooters.
A very similar, but more forgiving game isValorant. It’s much like Counter-Strike, but with a friendlier player base, hero-shooter mechanics, and overall more relaxed play style.
That said, the nature of the game is still fiercely competitive, but that’s what makes it fun. If you can get past the initial difficulties of learning the game, it will quickly become addictive as you try to get better and better.
