Holiday gift guide 2016 for PC game lovers

Relaxnews

Looking for a last-minute gift for the PC gamer in your life but don’t have time to nip to the store or even wait for the next postal delivery? Good news: it’s easy to get them a digital download code and let their own net connection do the heavy lifting. Steam, GamersGate, GameStop, the Humble Store, GOG, Amazon, and BundleStars are among established vendors of digital download codes; most will be redeemable via Steam itself, while GOG offers direct downloads and Humble supports the concept. Here’s a tip: If you can wait that long, then make it really last-minute — Steam is expected to start its 2016 year-end sale on December 22, and other retailers may well do the same.

PLANET COASTER
Age rating: ESRB Everyone / PEGI 3: Who doesn’t want to design their own theme park? “Planet Coaster” lets players do that in minute detail, if they so choose, using standard pieces, park furniture of their own designs, or custom bits, bobs, and rollercoaster sets put up by other members of the game’s community. For Windows PCs.

SID MEIER’S CIVILIZATION VI
Age rating: ESRB Everyone 10+ / PEGI 12: Now in its 25th year, the “Civilization” franchise has proven both foundational and long-lasting, offering the opportunity to steer a humble tribe to greatness.
This latest outing attempts to model notions of real-life technological,
cultural and governmental progress even more closely; computer-controlled opponents are even wilier, while the community comes up with new ways of playing — as observers of AI face-offs, or even as voting constituents of up to 60 in-game nations. For Windows PCs and Macs.

TYRANNY
Age rating: PEGI 16: The role-playing adventure, seen from an isometric point of view, has been a staple of PC gaming — recently enjoying a renaissance — since “Diablo,” “Fallout” and “Baldur’s Gate” in the mid-to-late 90s.
Here, one of the studios that can trace its lineage to the latter two provides an alternate take: this time, the hero character is not the typical character resisting an evil despot. Instead, they’re working for the despot. How things turn out depends on how the player proceeds. For Windows PCs, Linux PCs, and Macs.

STARBOUND
Explore planets alone or with friends in this open universe, build tidy homes or sprawling bases, fend off alien creatures (or collect them) and explore underground caverns that guard troves of precious loot. Available since December 2013, “Starbound” reached its retail launch version this year, and has been welcomed with open arms; community mods have helped keep it fresh.
Available for Mac, Windows and Linux and, just as fellow 2016 indie hit “Stardew Valley” arrived on consoles in December, “Starbound” is expected to make the same transition in future.