Game of the Year

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 nailed everything it was going for. The concept. The world. The art. The exploration. The combat. The music. The characters. The story. The ending. It deserves all of the accolades it’s winning around the industry, and it represents a transformative piece of work for what games are and how they’re made. It’s an all time triumph and one of my all time favorite games.

From Game of the Year 2025

This is the most joyful gaming experience seen in years, from the first moments on Sky Garden to multiple epic boss battles to riveting challenge levels and finally through to the best playable credits in gaming history. For every moment, my son was either by my side or in some cases playing the game himself. This was our experience. This was our accomplishment. And this is our game of the year.

From Game of the Year 2024

This game delivered me my favorite gaming memory of 2023: being coached by my nine-year-old son to take the final boss out. Octopath Traveler II delivered a transcendent audiovisual experience, it challenged me with its mechanics and boss encounters, it moved me through its memorable characters and intertwined story, and it bonded me with my son. I don’t think any other game in history has done that.

From Game of the Year 2023

Stray is basically the perfect combination of Uncharted’s vertical world exploration, The Last of Us’s post-apocolyptic setting, and moments where a cat is just being a cat. This was a game that grabbed me from the outset with a gimmick, hooked me with its heart, and never outstayed its welcome. The six hours I spent playing Stray were among the best six hours I spent this year. I can’t wait to be a cat again.

From Game of the Year 2022

A year into pandemic life, with Zoom fatigue taking over, I sorely needed a game like this, so I downloaded it and played it with as many friend circles as I could - both in person and online. And it was pure magic. No matter who played, it was a great time. What the Dub?! reinforced the power of human connection, of humor in the darkest of times, of sheer silliness. And for that reason, it makes the list.

From Game of the Year 2021

Animal Crossing: New Horizons served both as something to do in quarantine and somewhere else to be when the world sucked. More than anything, this game gave us a reason to smile, to press on, to get through this pandemic to the other side. And even now, as I’ve gone from playing every day to checking in once a month, I relish the moments I had in Animal Crossing and will relish even more the ones to come.

From Game of the Year 2020

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Koholint island. It’s weird, it’s atmospheric, and it hooked me with its ephemeral theme. The bite-sized overworld and old-school dungeon design were exactly what I was looking for, especially the final stellar hours with Eagle Tower and Turtle Rock. I’ll be playing this one again, and I can’t wait for the next 2D Zelda - whether it be an original or a remake.

From Game of the Year, Game of the Decade

You keep climbing, even when you have died hundreds of times, are feeling exhausted, and are considering giving up. Finally, you reach the home stretch. The game starts counting down the checkpoints for you, your heart is pounding, and you make it. You reach the top and you feel the greatest rush possible. And all you want to do is bask in the glory of your accomplishment forever.

From Great Video Game Levels #2: Celeste

Mario's latest adventure joins Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy in my personal Mario Hall of Fame. While the entirety of Super Mario Odyssey was sheer concentrated joy, nothing prepared me for the exhilarating New Donk City festival. This love letter to Mario's history is so earnest and so well-executed that it's one of my all time favorite moments in gaming, period. It's perfect.

From Nintendo's Odyssey: Breath of Fresh Air

This may seem like a ridiculous choice to fans of "real" games, but nothing made me smile this year like Pokémon Go did. Despite lacking any meaningful mechanics, and despite having a leveling system that grinds to a halt after level 20, I kept coming back this year. And with new Pokémon now being added to the mix, I suspect I'll keep up with it.

From Game of the year: 2016 edition

This is a game in reality that I literally dreamed about as a child, and I can't put it down. The community continues to find new ways to make Mario fun, inventive, hilarious, challenging, and even poignant. I'll be playing this one for years. It's the peak of crowdsourced level design creativity.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

I feel like this game was designed for people like me: gameplay that doesn't trivialize or glamorize war; a small, focused story rather than an epic one; characters that have real lives that the war impacted. In today's landscape where games without combat or murder are described as having "no gameplay", I will always be thankful that someone tried something like this.

From Game of the Year, Game of the Decade

Perfectly captures and modernizes the essence of classic Zelda by bringing the emphasis back to exploration. No one can really pull off "moments" with just the right touch the way Nintendo can, like when you get the Master Sword and you're rewarded with a fanfare and remixed Hyrule overworld theme. I had chills. The game's pacing kept me going, and I'm sad that it's over.

From Game of the Year, Game of the Decade

​What a revelation! 2012 was a transition year for big budget gaming, as developers ramped up for the forthcoming releases of the PS4 and Xbox One. As a result, Telltale's The Walking Dead made waves by telling a smaller scale story, pulling back on combat filler, and introducing a timed choice mechanic that continues to be their trademark to this day. I love seeing how my choices played out differently vs. friends and the broader community.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

I loved continuing the adventures of Nathan Drake, particularly in how this story delved more into his origins and forced him to evaluate his ambitions against his friends and family. While the gameplay doesn't quite approach the heights of Uncharted 2's train sequence or Tibetan village walk, Nate's character is tested more and his arc truly develops.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

Out of the gate, I have to say that this game has some serious problems. There are major plot holes, there's a ham-fisted romance, and the recorded dialogue is clearly performed by non-Americans who are trying their best at American accents. Plus, "press X to Jason". That said, no game had ever made me feel what my controlled character is feeling as well as Heavy Rain does, even in a situation where you're a father who's trying to save his son by passing a series of Saw-like trials. At one stage you have to cut off your own finger in exchange for a clue. My heart was pounding in real life as I searched the room in-game for the instruments to accomplish this. It is, to this day, the most intense video game sequence I've ever played.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

As much as I loved Uncharted 2 (despite its over-reliance on the shooting gameplay), Punch-Out!! was the game I had been waiting on for years. It's really the perfect remake of an 8-bit classic in every way. It takes these larger than life figures and gives them voices, catch-phrases, and even more outrageous personalities. Perhaps my favorite part? That every single opposing fighter now has a remixed version of the original fight theme.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

This was the first time I'd played a game that was fundamentally built around user-generated content. While the toolkit was ultimately too complicated for me to successfully create anything, the community created some amazing experiences that persist to this day in the sequels.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

​There's not much to say about this one. It released to universal acclaim, is recognized as one of the greatest games in history, and is my favorite 3D platformer that I've ever played. It has a perfect blend of newness and nostalgia, it fundamentally changes how we view 3D space, and ultimately is a blissful gaming experience.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!

People have problems in their everyday lives. Thank goodness that there's a team of secret agents who use their singing and dancing talents to save the day! It's an amazing premise, and it comes through in one of the most charming games I've ever played. I laughed, I cried (once), I got amped up, and I bought a lot of music after I finished playing.

From Let's talk game of the year(s)!