Best ninja games for stealth-slicing action in 2025

Elusive as a fleeting shadow, the best ninja games throw you into the role of a sword-swinging and kunai-flinging assassin, who sneaks over rooftops and stalks their prey in silence before striking precisely and quickly. The whole pop culture ninja stereotype is not really reflective of the historical definition, but that shouldn't stop you from getting your fill of entertainment as you satisfy your katana's thirst for blood.

Whatever kind of ninja you prefer – the sneaky ones, the slicy ones, or the futuristic shooty ones – our list of the best ninja games to play in 2024 has something in store for every taste. Unless you're one of those honorable samurai fools.

Assassin's Creed Shadows

A lot of the games in this list have "shadow" somewhere in the title, but Assassin's Creed Shadows is the only one that uses them properly. Playing as a shinobi, you snuff out lanterns and flit between shadows to get the drop on your enemies. When stealth fails, katana combat and parkour evasion work just as well. Oh, and it's one of the most gorgeous open worlds ever made, so that's nice.

Batman: Arkham Shadow

They wouldn’t have made an anime called Batman Ninja if Batman wasn’t a ninja. Anime doesn't lie. He’s got the gadgets, the stealth, the obscured face. The only thing he’s missing is a sword, but his tank makes up for that. When you’re crouched atop a gargoyle and scanning for enemies before isolating them and taking them out, it’s some of the best ninja action money can buy. VR lets you become The Batman.

Dishonored 2

It might not be the first game you think of when someone says the word “ninja”, but that’s basically what you are – a whalepunk ninja. It even started out as a ninja game set in London, but Arkane made it weirder and weirder as development went on, and this is the end result. You can finish the entire game without any NPCs even knowing you were there, or you can whirlwind your way through everyone you see, using a range of supernatural abilities, parkour, and ninja-style gadgets.

Ghost of Tsushima

At the start of this game, you play as an honorable samurai. He calls opponents out and cuts them down, even if the odds are against him. By the end, he's creeping through pampas grass, choking enemies with smoke bombs, and even committing war crimes to get the upper hand. Dead men have no honor.

Ghostrunner

What’s cooler than a ninja? A cyberninja, of course! Everything sounds much cooler when you put “cyber” in front of it, add some neon lights, shiny metal body parts, and a menacing face mask. Ghostrunner does exactly that, putting you into the perspective of an acrobatic cyborg with parkour and slicing skills. Hack and slash your way over the rooftops of a dystopian city and enjoy the challenge this first-person game is offering.

Katana Zero

Katana Zero is an indie hit that sees you use time manipulation powers to slash your way through 2D environments without so much as a scratch. Its fast-paced action will leave you satisfied with every bullet you parry and every baddie to slice clean in two as you deal with the demons of your mind.

Mark of the Ninja

Hide in the shadows, hang from ceilings, and spring traps on the sentries guarding each level. You have to earn every kill in this 2D stealth masterpiece, but that’s what makes them feel so good.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Stealth is an option in this character action game, but it’s more of a way to thin the enemy ranks before you go slicing and dicing with your sword. The most ninja thing about this one is how you can slow time and slash in any direction, cutting your enemies into whatever shape you like. Oh, and you also get to fight the President on top of a destroyed mech, so that's pretty nifty.

N++

Moving like a ninja isn’t all about speed, it’s also about precision, and by the time N++ is done with you, you will be one with your controller. You will need to navigate your little ninja through a series of increasingly deadly one-screen 2D platforming levels that keep introducing new tricks to try and screw you over. It is punishingly difficult yet infinitely rewarding, and

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

Ninja Gaiden isn’t really interested in the stealthy approach. Instead, you get right in there and pull off ridiculous combos and powered-up piledrivers, blocking and parrying incoming strikes without missing a beat. One of the best character action games ever made. If you're licking your wounds after this one, the entire series offers a similarly tough challenge.

Rise of the Ronin

A bit of a sleeper hit in 2024, Rise of the Ronin didn’t get all that much attention, but we’ve come to appreciate it for how it made the open-world formula feel fresh and engaging in a way very few games have managed recently. Yes, we know that a ronin is actually a samurai, not a ninja, the gameplay lets you almost fully go down the stealthy path, so we think it counts. Plus, it's another Team Ninja game so there.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

There’s a bit of stealth in FromSoftware’s ninja game, but the best moments here are when steel clangs against steel. Where Dark Souls asks you to dodge and block, Sekiro has you timing a succession of blocks to drain an opponent’s stamina before finishing them off with a killing blow. Perfectly timing a parry on an incoming flurry of 30 strikes is more satisfying than finally getting that piece of food out from between your molars.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

This tactical stealth game is challenging and offers a lot of creative freedom on how to achieve your objective as you command your squad of highly skilled ninjas during Japan's Edo period. Each member of the team has different abilities, which you need to use to their greatest effect to survive. Outnumbered ten to one on some missions, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun does not hold back in making things difficult for you. There's nothing more satisfying than eroding the enemy numbers from the shadows in the face of such odds.

Shadow Warrior 2

Your character is indeed called Lo Wang and there are more penis jokes here than there are on the walls of that public toilet by your local bus stop, but Shadow Warrior 2 is still a good ninja game, and one of the rare ones that show the action from a first-person perspective. Slice, dice, and shoot your way through hordes of monsters. It's okay for ninjas to have guns, you know?

Warframe

The pitch for Warframe probably went a bit like this: “You see Destiny, yeah? What if we did that, made it free, and let you play as a space ninja?” Sold. These days Warframe is bursting at the seams with content, and you can even grab your own spaceship to fly around. But you’ll feel at your most ninja-ish when you’re wall-running and slicing fools up.

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