New gaming consoles come and go every few years, but PC gaming endures with some of the best hardware and software that's exclusive to that platform. This year was no exception, as PC gamers had access to imaginative and genre-bending titles, games that pushed the flexible nature of those systems in wild new directions.

While PC gaming shared many a hit game with its console brethren, for this list we're looking at the games that could only be found on this platform...with one exception. That means no Resident Evil Village and its incredibly tall ladies, no Deathloop and its masterful approach to Groundhog Day gunplay, and no Halo Infinite reviving the beloved FPS franchise. For a look at those, check out GameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2021.

In this list, it's the efforts of small studios and indie developers that took the top spots, bringing about an exciting selection of games in 2021.