Rolling into battle in a vehicle that weighs the same as ten elephants and can raze entire buildings with a single shot never gets old, but finding the best tank games that deliver in every key area is not always easy. Sometimes, the thrill of vulnerability is vital to the whole experience: the agony of reloading, the snail's pace, and the fact that you're the enemy's priority target - and not a small one at that.
Just like the best war games, the best tank games are brilliant because they're all about making you, the player, feel both overpowered and invulnerable. But the tank in some of the best free PC games is also synonymous with tense firefights and immense claustrophobia. From hyper-realistic, control-laden sims to arcadey, point-and-explode shoot-'em-ups (and maybe even a sneaky anime RPG or two), there's a tank game for every type of player.
Here are the best tank games:
1. Metal Slug
Metal Slug is very different from the other tank games on this list. It's a 2D arcade run-and-gun fun with tons of explosives, top-notch animation, and a catchy soundtrack. We recommend the first game here, but the entire Metal Slug series is a delightful pool of war game mayhem, ideal for single and multiplayer gaming sessions.
This side-scrolling shooter puts you in the shoes of Rambo-style heroes who tear through the enemy army single-handedly. Bullets, bombs, and explosions burst from all directions, and you're the reason for most of them. During some levels, you can hijack one of the titular Metal Slug tanks, and they're an absolute blast! It may not be a long game, but this is retro fun at its best and most charming-we love it.
2. Valkyria Chronicles 4
Tanks denote a feeling of power. You burst through battlefields encased in metal, blowing various buildings to smithereens. Not every game lets you get away with that, though. Valkyria Chronicles 4 leaves you feeling exposed if you charge in all willy-nilly - making for an alluring blend of power and strategy.
Sega's tactical RPG puts you in the trench coat of an army officer tasked with guiding his unit through the grim reality of war. As you engage foes in turn-based battles, one of the units you call upon is a tank. Play it smart, and you'll blast them to bits in a cunning flanking maneuver; put a step wrong, however, and you'll find your tank shut down by a Lancer.
Europe's pre-WWI political climate inspires the setting of Valkyria Chronicles 4. Visually, however, it looks closer to an anime game, giving it a visual charm compared to other tank-based games.
3. Panzer Corps 2
Besides the substantial visual upgrade, the WWII strategy game sequel expands on the tank battle game experience, including over 1,000 unique units (up from Panzer Corps' 800) and an expansive campaign including 60 scenarios.
The multiplayer offerings are also numerous, with several ways to take the battle online against - or in cooperation with - your friends, and with extensive modding support and a powerful scenario editor, you'll be able to orchestrate the tank-on-tank showdowns of your dreams.
4. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Strictly speaking, this is a mech game, but it's very much something that tank fans will enjoy due to the level of customization it gives you. Essentially, you can make your mech a tank and trundle around blowing up your foes just like you would in any of the other games on this list. When you think about it, what is a mech but a futuristic evolution of a tank anyway?
Where Fires of Rubicon really shines is in its replayability - you can approach every challenge in a number of different ways due to the huge swathes of customization available for your mech. Do you prefer going in guns blazing, or taking things slow and strategic? You're continuously unlocking new weapons and augmentations, so you could essentially re-build with each new level. The Armored Core 6 story has multiple endings too, so there's a lot of incentive to go through multiple times, trying alternative approaches each time. Read our full Armored Core 6 review.
5. Armored Warfare
While the tags of 'MMO', 'free-to-play', and 'tank' apply to Armored Warfare as well as they do to World of Tanks, some key differences ensure both are worth the time of a tank games veteran. Transporting World of Tanks' remarkably approachable gameplay to the more modern era, Armoured Warfare provides tankers with more equipment, newer tanks, and a selection of versatile tank tech that adds much more variation to the core gameplay.
Additionally, Armored Warfare brings PVE to the fold, allowing you to team up with friends to take on AI enemies and progress through the ranks of tanks without constantly losing out to highly skilled foes in PVP. As a live game, Armored Warfare's new tanks arrive frequently with updates that enhance and expand the game. You'll never be short of a boomstick on wheels.
6. Battlefield 6
After a bit of a fallow period, Battlefield is back, and it's back in a big way - hectic boots-on-the-ground combat is all well and good, but we're talking about tanks here, and there are plenty on offer here. Check out our Battlefield 6 review if you want more details, but we have 32v32 FPS goodness, complete with a bunch of armored vehicles at your disposal.
Destruction is a huge part of what makes Battlefield 6 so immersive, and no aspect of it takes advantage of it more than the tanks. Player hiding inside a building? Simply bring it down around them. A wall in your way? Well, that's okay, because you're driving a several-ton metal monster.
7. Steel Armor: Blaze Of War
What's more fun than blowing stuff up and driving through buildings? Carefully micromanaging its crew and innards to the point where you forget you're actually in a tank and instead, begin to believe you're a machinist in a factory… obviously.
Steel Armor: Blaze of War offers new perspectives on tank games, focusing on the battlefields of the 1980s Iran-Iraq conflicts. Tank enthusiasts will adore the game's rampant attention to detail - there are only two tanks in the game, but both are rendered in staggering detail, inside and out. Despite being fiddly and sometimes inaccessible, Steel Armor's dry ardor for military hardware makes it a must-play for tank game veterans and fans of war games who want a more modern setting.
8. Panzer Elite Action: Gold Edition
Bundling two classic Panzer titles into one Steam release, Panzer Elite Action: Gold Edition is hours upon hours of driving tanks around World War II battlefields and blowing stuff up - and that is precisely what we need sometimes. Incredibly user-friendly but full of engaging mechanics and unlockables, Panzer Elite Action is a tank game all about surviving famous historical campaigns to fight another day.
Playing on either the Allied or Axis side in various famous conflicts, Panzer Elite Action gives you control of four to five tanks. It sets you on your merry way, blowing stuff up and cowering behind hedgerows for some semblance of cover. While it lacks the realism of its originator, Panzer Elite, the need to look after your crew and upgrade your equipment makes for a compelling experience from start to finish.
9. Arma 3
A 170-mile pristine military sandbox awaits players heading into Arma 3 - it's a massive open-world game that lends your tanking an overwhelming sense of scale. Gone are the days of distressing close-quarters encounters in bombed-out cities.
Arma 3 gives players a new source of anxiety: constantly scanning the horizons for new threats. Buildings and natural cover are scarce, meaning survival and victory rely upon identifying and destroying the enemy before they know you are there.
While not strictly a tank game, Arma 3 possesses an incredible level of realism that brings the concept of modern tank warfare to life. Indeed, its realism has led news organizations to mistake it for actual war footage.
Playing as the armored arm of a massive army is what Arma 3 does best: aiding ground assaults, hunting down enemy tanks, and wreaking havoc on strongholds. Besides, when you hop out of the heavy armor, you still have one of the best sniper games.
10. Steel Division 2
Steel Division 2 is another game for armchair generals. This strategy game is set during the events on the Eastern Front during World War II. You take charge of the entire Soviet army fighting back against the Nazi regime in real-time skirmishes across 25 maps and multiple game modes.
When we say maps, we're talking battlefields up to 150×100 kilometers big, with over 600 unit types that you can use to achieve victory in solo or coop campaigns and even in multiplayer matches with up to ten players on each side.
Unlike other RTS games, Steel Division 2 emphasizes resource gathering less. Instead, it has you commanding tanks and blowing up enemies - the fun stuff. If you want to see 20 generals have at it across a massive map, then this is the game for you.
11. Company of Heroes 3
Company of Heroes 3 is an RTS that encourages tactical ingenuity and the fullest use of your tanks. Cover, line-of-sight, and suppression are the keys to success in Company of Heroes 3, meaning you will have to direct your resources using genuine battlefield tactics to repel the Axis threat.
Packing a devastating punch and able to turn the tide of any battle, the tanks of Company of Heroes 3 are a joy to send guns blazing toward enemy infantry units and watch as the casualties mount up. Like all good tank games, Company of Heroes 3 acknowledges the vulnerabilities of a tank, punishing players who send their armored units into the fray without due caution. Take a look at our Company of Heroes 3 review to read our impressions of the strategy game.
12. Panzer Corps
Panzer Corps is old-school turn-based strategy gaming at its absolute finest. Putting you in the boots of a Wehrmacht general, it's your job to oversee and manage operations across 26 grueling Axis campaigns.
Ignoring the fact that you are fighting for the bad guys, the focus of the Panzer Corps is firmly on leading your units to victory. Over 800 unit types are spread among 20 unit classes, resulting in an endless array of attacking options for both sides. If that is not convoluted enough, every unit has roughly 20 parameters by which its strengths and weaknesses are judged - it is all a battlefield mathematician could ask for, making it one of the best strategy games around.
13. Battlezone
Previously a VR-exclusive title, Rebellion, the developers behind the Sniper Elite series, have resurrected the Battlezone series with all the bells and whistles you could wish for. The game is now playable outside of VR, but you also have the option of putting on a headset if you want to take your experience one step further. Step into the cockpit of a Cobra, the most powerful tank of all time, and crush anything that stands in your way with various weapons and power-ups.
Stand down, commander: your training is now over. You know all the best tank games you can play on PC and are ready to run your campaign of destruction. If you'd like a bit of out-of-tank action, you may also be interested to know we have training in the best WW2 games. But until next time, keep your eyes on the road and a shell in the barrel, and have fun tanking it up.