The Best Action Games for 2026

December 11, 2025: With this update, our lineup of recommended action games remains unchanged. The existing picks have been vetted for currency and availability.

The action genre is surprisingly tricky to define. Action games contain a lot of combat, but they aren’t fighting games or beat ’em ups. An “action-adventure” game may incorporate narrative, exploration, or puzzle-solving elements, but it often straddles the line between the role-playing game and adventure game genres….