Best Western And Cowboy Games 2025

If taming the untamed lands of the Wild West appeals to you, then we’ve got you covered with the top cowboy and frontier games on PC and console. 

These games depict the old American frontier as a merciless world where benevolent folk play second-fiddle to those with the most cash and fastest trigger fingers.

In this list, we’ll highlight the finest western and cowboy games to play in 2025, including the top western games on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

We’ll be updating this list in the future with new titles, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed any of your beloved western cowboy games!

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Our first recommendation is Red Dead Redemption 2, which is regarded by many to be the finest cowboy game of all time.

RDR2’s massive open-world is chockful of fascinating sights, mysteries, and fun side activities that are further complemented by a well-crafted narrative that has you taking on the role of an aging cowboy. 

Throughout the story, you’ll find yourself grappling with tough decisions that put you at odds with your peers, rival gangs, law enforcement, and your own moral compass.

Beyond that, you’re free to explore a sprawling map as you go horseback riding, hunt exotic animals, get into bar fights, and reflect on your various crimes over a nice, long bubble bath.

The Call of Juarez series is a cowboy lover’s bread-and-butter as far as thrilling Western games are concerned, though some entries have aged better than others.

We’re recommending Gunslinger here over other popular installments such as Bound In Blood simply due to the game’s vibrant cel-shaded graphics which have held up over time.

In it, you play as a cowboy reminiscing about their old exploits and playing them out in flashback sequences that center around swift-paced shootouts and tense ‘Showdown’ duels.

The game also features a gratifyingly cinematic ‘cheat death’ mechanic that decelerates time and zooms in on the bullet that’s about to kill you, giving you a chance to dodge it and recover health.

Next up, Hard West is a turn-based tactical game about a Western outlaw that makes a pact with the Grim Reaper for a chance to avenge their family’s slayings.

Equipped with a host of extraordinary abilities unique to each playable character, you’ll fight to survive through 8 story scenarios and over 40 missions.

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Combat is modeled after games like XCOM but incorporates innovative concepts like the ‘Luck Meter’ which determines whether you take damage from an enemy’s attack.

Outside of turn-based battles, Hard West features an open world where you can buy items, visit various towns, mine for gold, and strike up conversations with shady criminals.

In this follow-up to Fallout 3, you take on the role of a cryptic stranger looking for clues to solve their own attempted murder while exploring the vast Mojave Wasteland.

During your journey in Fallout: New Vegas, you’ll encounter a host of nuclear dangers and sci-fi peculiarities alongside run-ins with highway bandits and other aggressive NPCs.

While ripe with backstabbing and treachery, the world is also filled with many unforgettable characters with unique backstories that can be a joy (or downer, depending on how you look at it) to unravel.

Lastly, if you do decide to play New Vegas, we recommend checking out the ‘Wild Wasteland’ perk, which adds peculiar mysteries ranging from discovering aliens to finding the remains of Indiana Jones in a refrigerator.

For more Western-themed strategy tactics, check out the most recent entry in the Desperados series which takes place during the late 1800s when the Wild West was at its best, by which we mean most corrupt.

In Desperados III, you play as bounty hunter John Cooper as he tracks down notorious criminals with help from legendary Western characters like the runaway bride Kate and shady hitman Doc McCoy.

The adventure spans the entirety of the American frontier, from rural towns to thriving cities and swamp-filled riverbanks all depicted accurately for the time period.

Although it may not be as swift-paced or visually stunning as many of the other games on this list, if you enjoy strategy games like Hard West and the previous Desperados entries, you’re in for a treat.

Combining twin-stick shooting with roguelikes mechanics, West of Dead has you playing as a slain cowboy on a mission to get through the desolate and gritty world of Purgatory.

Each run sees you exploring procedurally generated environments teeming with enemies and powerful rewards including new weapons and upgrades to your abilities.

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The game places a significant emphasis on using cover and devising inventive tactics using objects in the environment such as explosives and traps.

However, if that’s not enough to persuade you on West of Dead, the game’s primary character (and narrator) is voiced by none other than Ron Perlman.

Reminiscent of chaotic top-down shooters like Hotline Miami, 12 is Better Than 6 casts you as an escaped slave fleeing to the United States in 1873.

The game has a subdued hand-drawn look comprised of outlined environments lacking any hue until you start shooting holes in enemies and cause their blood to splash across the screen.

Combat is designed to capture the feeling of Wild West saloon shootouts where everyone is constantly firing guns and shouting insults from behind cover.

What sets 12 is Better Than 6 apart though is its focus on conserving ammo and sneaking up on enemies before landing a well-placed shot in their head.

For a more gloomy and dreary take on the Wild West, play Hunt: Showdown, a PvPvE first-person shooter that sees you taking on the role of a bounty hunter competing against other players to nail your target.

In it, you play solo or with a team of 2-3 exploring a humid and gloomy Louisiana Bayou filled with horrific monsters that have taken root.

Your primary objective is to track and hunt these creatures before banishing them from the world to earn experience points and unlock rewards for your character.

However, you’ll have to keep a vigilant eye out for other bounty hunters who can easily track your location and try and swoop in to steal your kill.

SteamWorld Dig 2 enhances the original steampunk Western Metroidvania in just about every way without sacrificing any of the first game’s allure.

You play as a robot named Dorothy as she tracks down the protagonist from the first game in a vibrant 2D desert setting filled with colorful NPCs and a seemingly infinite network of underground mines.

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As you dig down gathering minerals, crystals, and other resources, you’ll encounter various puzzles, foes, and traps that will hinder your progress.

The more secrets you unveil, the more you’ll discover about the SteamWorld universe and what the future holds for its robotic residents.

For a more lighthearted take on Western tropes, play West of Loathing, a comedic 2D RPG about stick figure cowboys trying to navigate an offbeat Wild West.

The game is set in a monochrome, hand-drawn open world occupied by peculiar characters with questionable moral compasses offering equally strange quests.

Combat follows a turn-based structure with plenty of humorous gags peppered in, though the real fun comes from interacting with NPCs and seeing what nonsense they have to spout.

To this point, you’re able to customize your stick figure cowboy with over 50 different hats to trigger distinct responses from unforgettable characters including the local Cow Puncher and a intoxicated horse.

One of the more recent additions on this list, Virtuous Western is a tactical game set in the Old West that sees you gunning down enemies with a limited number of bullets to recover your stolen horse.

The fact that you have a limited amount of ammo forces you to carefully plan out your route and find inventive ways to take out foes using objects in the environment.

These methods can vary from dropping crates on an enemy’s head, blowing up barrels labeled ‘TNT,’ and baiting enemies into shooting at each other.

It’s a bit more straightforward in nature than many of the games covered on this list but still worth checking out for some good ol’ Western fun. 

A classic throwback to old-school cowboy games, Wild Guns Reloaded is a revamped version of one of the more beloved SNES titles.

It tells a story about revenge and upholding your family’s honor through the lens of an arcade shooter/brawler with detailed pixel art depicting Western and steampunk aesthetics.

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The unique blend of side-scrolling action and gallery-style arcade shooting makes for a deadly combo that holds up surprisingly well in 2025.

Reloaded ups the ante by adding two new playable characters, a host of fresh stages and bosses, and expanded multiplayer support with online rankings.

Look past Westerado‘s delightful pixel art graphics and you’ll realize it’s a surprisingly dark game about gun-slinging in the name of revenge.

In it, you play as a cowboy on a quest to track down the man who killed your family by piecing together a portrait of him through conversations with NPCs.

The twist is the man you’re hunting for is randomized at the start of every new game, requiring a considerable amount of detective work to accurately sleuth out the culprit.

What’s marvelous about Westerado is it lets you accuse anyone of being the murderer before carrying out your own brand of justice with a bullet to the head (of course, there are consequences for such impulsive actions).

Another pair of exceptional cowboy games with hand-drawn art styles is Gunman Clive and its sequel Gunman Clive 2, available separately on PC or together in the Gunman Clive HD Collection for Nintendo Switch.

In both games, you take on the role of the main cowboy as he navigates an 1800s Wild West overrun by merciless thugs, outlaws, and bandits in an effort to restore order by bringing them to justice.

Gameplay is modeled after classic side-scrollers like Mega Man and Contra and tasks you with defeating a series of challenging bosses possessing unique behaviors and attack patterns.

There are several characters beyond Clive that you can play as and each one does a superb job of introducing unique skills to play around with in 20+ platforming levels.

While you won’t find much cowboy action in Turmoil, there are still plenty of obstacles to overcome in this humorous tycoon game set during the 19^th-century American oil rush.

In it, you play as a small landowner with grand ambitions of striking gold, in this case black gold, by acquiring new property and mining it for oil.

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However, to truly go from rags to riches as an oil baron, you’ll have to beat out your rivals and dominate the industry by selling at the right times to maximize profits.

It’s a lot more soothing compared to other games on this list and plays out similarly to an idle game with plenty of upgrades, tools, and shady business deals to explore.

Our final recommendation for anyone who enjoys immersing themselves in the Old West is a management-sim title about the Golden Age of Steam.

We’re not talking about Valve the company, but rather steam-powered locomotives which helped reshape transportation in America during the 19^th century.

Railroad Corporation involves starting a career as a railway tycoon endeavoring to meet agreements and complete tasks derived from precise historical train systems across America.

From laying down tracks to digging tunnels and raising bridges to connect settlements, there’s no job too big or small for your growing company.

Along the way, you’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the railroad industry and learn how to sniff out the best deals, combine resources, and establish political connections to help sway the law in your favor.