Every Team Fortress game, ranked
All 2 Team Fortress games we hold, spanning 1999 to 2007: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 1,258,165 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Team Fortress 2 (GamingPickz Score 8.7), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Team Fortress Classic (1999) and follow the release-order timeline below.
- For the money: Team Fortress Classic gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Team Fortress games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
2 best Team Fortress games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Team Fortress 2
Best for: Trying the genre without spending anything
8.7GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceTeam Fortress 2 at a glance Released 2007 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 91% positive of 1,248,892 Critics 92/100 Price Free Steam Deck playable Install size 15 GB Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 91% shrinks to 91.0 on 1,248,892 reviews, then blends with the 92 critic aggregate, giving 8.7.
What the data supports- 91% positive across 1,248,892 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Free to download, so trying it costs only time.
Worth checking first- Carries in-game purchases. Check what they cost before committing.
- Multiplayer only. There is no solo mode to fall back on.
Team Fortress Classic at a glance Released 1999 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 87% positive of 9,273 Critics No aggregate Price $4.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 3 declared features Raw 87% shrinks to 86.9 on 9,273 reviews, giving 7.3. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- Multiplayer only. There is no solo mode to fall back on.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Team Fortress game we can score is Team Fortress 2 at 8.7. The lowest is Team Fortress Classic at 7.3, a 1.4-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Team Fortress 2 at Free. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Team Fortress Classic, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Team Fortress entries on Steam:
- Playable: Team Fortress Classic, Team Fortress 2
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 Team Fortress games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 2 |
| Xbox | 1 of 2 |
The Team Fortress series, game by game
Every Team Fortress game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 1999
One of the most popular online action games of all time, Team Fortress Classic features over nine character classes -- from Medic to Spy to Demolition Man -- enlisted in a unique style of online team warfare. Each character class possesses unique weapons, items, and abilities, as teams compete online in a variety of game play modes. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Team Fortress Classic received positive reviews, garnering a rating of 85% on the video game review aggregator site GameRankings . PC Gamer US named Team Fortress Classic the best multiplayer game of 1999, and wrote that it was "more fun and more addictive than any other multiplayer-only title released in 1999, and didn't cost owners of Half-Life a single penny". PC Gamer UK praised the multiple character classes, "sophisticated game-tactics",… (Wikipedia)
- 2007
Nine distinct classes provide a broad range of tactical abilities and personalities. Constantly updated with new game modes, maps, equipment and, most importantly, hats! (Steam)
Plot
Logo and motto of the fictional Mann Co. Although Team Fortress 2 is designed as an open-ended multiplayer experience without an active storyline, the game and additional material feature a wider narrative centered around Mann Co. The main player-versus-player gamemodes are set during the "Gravel Wars", a conflict between the rival heirs Redmond and Blutarch Mann for which the nine playable characters were hired as mercenaries . (Wikipedia)
Characters
From left: Pyro, Engineer, Spy, Heavy , Sniper, Scout, Soldier, Demoman, Medic Team Fortress 2 features nine playable classes, which are evenly split and categorized into "Offense", "Defense", and "Support". Each class has strengths and weaknesses and must work with other classes to be efficient, encouraging strategy and teamwork. Each class has at least three default weapons: a primary weapon, secondary weapon, and melee weapon. (Wikipedia)
Reception
See also: Critical reception of The Orange Box Reception Team Fortress 2 received widespread critical acclaim, with overall scores of 92/100 "universal acclaim" on Metacritic . Many reviewers praised the cartoon-styled graphics, and the resulting light-hearted gameplay, and the use of distinct personalities and appearances for the classes impressed a number of critics, with PC Gamer UK stating that "until now multiplayer games just haven't had it".… (Wikipedia)
Team Fortress, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Common questions
How many Team Fortress games are there?
We hold 2 Team Fortress games in the catalogue, released between 1999 and 2007. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Team Fortress game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Team Fortress 2 rates highest at 8.7. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Team Fortress games in?
Release order is listed below, from 1999 to 2007. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
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