Welcome back to our Most Wanted Games of 2026 countdown where we now enter the Top 40, as though we were counting down the top 40 songs of the week. In this list, there is a real big mix of genres with no game here quite like the other. We’ve got fighting in space, fighting in space again, fighting on the streets, fighting in the jungle, and then fighting in a cartoon. Yes, there is lots violence and some resource management ahead.
40 – Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes
PC – Q1 2026
The early 2000s Battlestar Galactica is one of my favourite TV series, even if it did lose its way towards the end. A story of humanity fleeing through space while being chased by the unrelenting Cylons, and the personal stories of the people living through it all really grabbed the attention of millions of people. There have been Battlestar Galactica games before, but Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes provides a new way to experience this universe.
You are not part of Admiral Adama’s fleet, but a Gunstar Captain who is on their own journey leading a fleet of survivors trying to join Admiral Adama. However, the journey will be tough, and the gameplay will lend to that. That’s because Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is roguelite where your choices determine how resources are allocated across the fleet, how you manage each faction’s demands, and how you survive encounters with the Cylons. With each run, you will learn which tools work for different situations and get unlocks that will provide some advantage in your future runs. Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is essentially FTL on a grander scale.
39 – R-Type Dimensions III
PS5, NSW2, NSW, PC – May 2026
R-Type Dimensions III is one that side scrolling shooter fans should be keeping an eye on. It is a game using rebuilt assets of R-Type III: The Third Lightning, allowing players to experience classic gameplay in both 2D and 3D options visual options. You can see it the announcement trailer how the two styles look.
Alongside the visual upgrade, R-Type Dimensions III will also feature local co-op multiplayer with a change in the scoring along with new survival mechanics. It will also made advanced mode available from the very beginning, and new accessibility options too.
38 – Samson: A Tyndalston Story
PC, Consoles – 2026
When one of the main creators of the Just Cause franchise announces a new game with their new studio, Liquid Swords, you sit up and listen. Just Cause built up a huge fan base for its open world where players could use their imaginations to cause havoc in various ways. Now Christofer Sundberg and the team at Liquid Swords are taking elements of that legacy to create a new, more grounded experience in Samson: A Tyndalston Story.
Samson is in a load of debt, and the people he owes are now coming to collect. To pay that money back Samson has to take on various missions from hits to getaway driving to try and pay the debt down. What is interesting about Samson is that you cannot just go and do every mission, with only so many missions that can be done in a day. There is no mission fail state either, so you have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Liquid Swords has also said that vehicle combat is going to be a key element of the game and every vehicle can be used as a weapon, as well as items in the environment when getting into street fights. We also know that the main story of Samson: A Tyndalston Story will last around 10 hours, but over double that if players choose to explore the city in depth.
37 – Hell Let Loose: Vietnam
PS5, XSX|S, PC – 2026
Hell Let Loose is one of the most intense multiplayer experiences I have taken part in. Massive battlefields with teams of 50 going against each other in battles that can be slow and suddenly have bursts of action, with players needing to communicate to really get the best of the game to complete objectives. It was a tough enough experience in the setting of World War II, so the sequel being set in Vietnam is going to add a whole new set of challenges for players.
Instead of the open battlefields of the original, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam puts you in the dense jungles where American and Vietcong forces battled a mix of open and guerrilla warfare. Players are going to have access to a lot more tools with helicopters and boats both being core vehicles to use to navigate, along with the tunnels the Vietcong constructed to bypass and ambush soldiers. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam has the potential to be one of the most ambitious and memorable multiplayer experiences of 2026.
Check out our early preview of the game from Gamescom in August.
36 – Mouse: PI For Hire
PS5, XSX|S, PC – 19th March 2026
Mouse: PI For Hire looks like the kind of game that could absolutely become a cult classic. It essentially takes the animation artstyle of the 1930s and bends it into video game form, making the whole thing set in the city of Mouseburg and making all the character mice that would fit in any early Disney cartoon. It then adds the great twist of taking that family friendly style and turning it into a noir-styled first person shooter.
In Mouse: PI For Hire you are Jack Pepper, who is being voiced by Troy Baker. Things start off with the classic damsel in distress opening that a cornerstone of a lot of noir fiction, but what is said to follow is a dive into the corrupt criminal underworld of Mouseburg where not everything is as it seems. You will be able to explore places like the city streets, the sewers, a casino, a film studio, and the docks, with each having loot and collectibles.
Five more games down, and it doesn’t take a private investigator (mouse or otherwise) to figure out that there’ll be another fistful of games coming in a list tomorrow as well!
