2023 has been…weird. Join Mashable as we look back at everything that’s delighted, amazed, or just confused us in 2023.
Mashable’s most passionate gamers came together in a room to discuss the most burning question known to mankind: Which are the best games of the year?
This question has been known to stir internet rage, social media mayhem, and heated debates. But save the digital duels for another day. These are our selections, whether you like it or not.
In our rubric, we considered the following factors to determine the game of the year: Gameplay, Story/Lore, Visuals and Soundtrack, Innovation, and Replayability. That being said, here are the top 10 games that scored high during our deliberation.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 hits all the basic video gamey notes you want it to hit. The combat is fluid and fun, swinging around New York City feels as great as ever, it looks amazing, and the (somewhat scattered) story still has plenty of emotional heft.
But what I really want to reward Spider-Man 2 for is its commitment to fitting into the life of an adult with a job and an active social life. Sure, if I want to make time for a 100-hour epic, I can do that, but Spider-Man 2 doesn’t ask that of you. Instead, it’s a fully featured open-world adventure with lots of great side content that you can 100% complete in like 25 hours. More of those, please!
— Alex Perry
No pun intended, but Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a wonderful game to play. It’s so so wonderful, from the level design to the gameplay, and it doesn’t hurt that its an absolute treat for the senses.
I imagine scientists at Nintendo took New Super Marios Bros. and Yoshi’s Island and fused them together to create Wonder. The game is wacky in every sense of the word; it kind of reminds me of Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s House, a film written by his 10-year-old daughter Chigumi.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is akin to a fever dream, much like House, although it lacks any sense of scariness. It’s impressive to note the density of unique ideas showcased in the game. Nintendo loves Mario and it shows, and it so beautiful how the studio is able to create something that inspires creativity as the world around becomes embroiled in AI art discourse. So stop reading this and play Super Mario Bros. Wonder now.
— Chance Townsend
Coincidentally, this year I found myself in an obsessive trance to watch all the mecha anime I could find. From Code Geass and Gurren Lagen to Neon Genesis and Witch From Mecury, I was desperate to find a game to get the fixin’ for my itchin’. And then From Software graced us with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. When I say this is peak Mecha gameplay, I mean it. You will not find a game this year that matches the feeling of playing AC6.
From the moment you learn how to dash, the experience is smooth. From Software presents mecha combat not as a slow, clunky, atrocious crawl to victory, but as a blazing, high-octane hellfight to see which metal can outlast its opponent.
And while the story is lackluster compared to its predecessors and contemporaries, the sheer amount of flexibility and customization of the gameplay make for an incredible 20+ hours of your time.
— Chance Townsend
Something felt missing in our lives this year, but thankfully, Dead Space arrived to make us whole again. A worthy and faithful remake of Visceral Games’ 2008 survival horror masterpiece, Motive Studios’ take on the game is action-packed and a thoughtful improvement of its predecessor.
Almost everything about the game has been improved, from the big things like the satisfying, visceral combat to smaller quality of life changes for navigating what was once a clunky UI and upgrade system. There’s even the addition of side quests that flesh out the stories of characters like Issac’s girlfriend Nicole, who, despite being an improvement part of the original, didn’t have much of a purpose besides “protagonist’s dead girlfriend.”
The sci-fi world of Dead Space has been massively improved with the visual overhaul, allowing the game’s setting to be truly idealized in all of its gory detail.
— Chance Townsend
I’m tempted to point you toward Octopath Traveler 2’s breathtakingly bombastic boss fight music and just leave it at that.
That wouldn’t do this retro-inspired RPG justice, though. Eight different characters telling eight different stories that all sort of come together at the very end is always fun. But what makes Octopath Traveler 2 really sing is its brilliantly satisfying turn-based combat that gives you loads of ways to solve any problem. Square Enix built this game so the player could break it with just a little bit of imagination. I once did 72,000 damage in one attack to a late-game boss that had 90,000 health.
Charming characters, a world that can accommodate wide-eyed idealism, grimdark murder mysteries — and even a storyline about simply wanting to become the world’s most famous dancer — also do a lot to propel Octopath 2 onto this list.
— Alex Perry
Hi-Fi Rush accomplished the impossible: It made me, if only temporarily, not hate The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy.”
It did so by pairing a soundtrack that I don’t particularly love with dazzling panache and clarity of vision. This rhythm-based action game from Tango Gameworks understood that one way to appreciate music (even music you don’t like) is to engage with it in some way. In this case, it was as simple as designing combos around the idea of hitting attacks on beat — something that never, ever gets old throughout the course of Hi-Fi Rush’s short campaign.
And then you get to the part where everything in the environment, from exhaust vents to moving platforms, also operates on beat to whatever song happens to be playing. It’s a video game toe-tapper that also happens to have a stunning Into the Spider-Verse-meets-Jet Set Radio art style and a spunky attitude that you just don’t see enough of anymore.
If you have Xbox Game Pass, what the heck are you waiting for?
— Alex Perry
When Resident Evil 4 released in 2005, it changed the industry. Without it, we don’t have Dead Space nor Alan Wake 2, two games that, coincidentally, made our GOTY list. Yet, somehow, Capcom took an already classic, genre-defining game and created a faithful remake that, by itself, can be considered a modern, genre-defining classic.
Resident Evil 4 Remake recontextualizes its 18-year-old predecessor for modern audiences and improves its formula while also staying true to its roots. RE4 Remake is such a beautifully, well-crafted game — and that love from the developers shines in big ways and small ways (like explaining that Leon does, in fact, know Spanish or that the knife he uses is Marvin’s knife from RE2 Remake). If you haven’t played the 2005 verison, nor its 2023 remake, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
— Chance Townsend
No other game exemplifies how great 2023 was for playing video games (not so much for working in games, sadly) than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. When I rolled credits on it in May, I thought there was no way anything else could possibly wrest it from the top spot on this list.
Then the rest of 2023 happened. Still, let’s give Zelda its flowers: This is a wickedly imaginative sequel to one of the best games ever made, one that you can easily call better than Breath of the Wild (BotW) if you so choose. Being able to turn any mundane object into a working car by attaching a steering column and wheels to it opens up a wild world of possibilities for problem-solving that BotW couldn’t compete with.
I also can’t emphasize enough that they bolted a second open world that’s the same size as the first one onto this game. Hyrule’s depths add a terrifying new dimension that makes Tears of the Kingdom a worthy successor to an all-timer.
— Alex Perry
Not to sound like a broken record, but Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 in its entirety captures the essence of what it’s like to play Dungeons and Dragons. Hard-biting analysis we know, but what makes BG3 one of our top-rated games of the year is just how flexible the experience is. No two playthorughs will ever be the same, with the game itself capturing a zeitgeist of experienced, casual, and non-gamers alike that no other game on this list can do.
Playing BG3 was the moment of a good chunk of 2023, whether that be for the gameplay or its more salacious moments (we don’t kink shame here at Mashable, btw). It’s hard to make a game which is, by all intents and purposes, a sequel, a cross-cultural hit, but Larian Studios figured it out. And while it may not be for everyone, it’s flexible to everyone’s preferred playstyle.
— Chance Townsend
Alan Wake 2 is, more than anything else, extraordinarily human. This is a game that goes out of its way at every opportunity to remind you that humans made this game via prodigious use of live-action cutscenes and original music from a real Finnish band playing a fake Finnish band. Heck, the creative director and lead writer’s literal face is all over Alan Wake 2. He’s even got some slick dance moves.
Ultimately, that’s all seasoning that gives the main dish its unique, delightful flavor. Were it just a normal survival horror game, Alan Wake 2 would be fine. Its shooting feels appropriately impactful, the level design is usually just clever enough, and it paces out enemy encounters enough so that the action is tense, but never too tense.
But it’s not a normal survival horror game. It combines all of that mechanical goodness with a story that constantly keeps you guessing, a truly distinctive sense of humor that helps a lot to ease the tension, and easily the best single sequence in any video game in 2023. Nothing made me smile more often and more vigorously this year than Alan Wake 2.
— Alex Perry
So many incredible games have dropped in 2023, so we decided to acknowledge nine other games, including two honorable mentions.
Lies of P may not be the Bloodborne sequel we wanted but its the one we deserve.
Developer Round8 Studios have delivered upon us a game that takes the core gameplay of Bloodborne, double downs on it and ramps it up to 10—creating a project that is both inspired and hard to put down. When other games like Starfield are just open-world to be open-world without any of the depth involved in creating a detailed environment, it’s refreshing to play fairly linear games like Lies of P where the style and direction are focused so players can experience all killer and no filler.
If you’re a fan of the souls-like genre, you’re doing yourself a disservice not playing Lies of P, especially since it’s on Game Pass.
— Chance Townsend
Tchia is a game where you can possess a seagull and fly around a beautiful Pacific island paradise just because that’s a fun thing to do. Really, that’s the ethos behind everything in this tiny open world game: Just do stuff because you enjoy doing it.
But what makes Tchia something that will actually stick with me for years and not just a game I enjoyed playing in 2023 is its whole-hearted love for the culture that birthed it. Specifically, its fictional island is based on the lead developers’ birthplace of New Caledonia, drawing heavily from local culture and customs while also employing local voice actors and musicians. It’s a special setting that feels wholly unlike anything else I’ve seen in a game.
— Alex Perry
Topics Gaming
Currently residing in Austin, Texas, Chance Townsend is an Assistant Editor at Mashable. He has a Master’s in Journalism from the University of North Texas with the bulk of his research primarily focused on online communities, dating apps, and professional wrestling.
In his free time, he’s an avid cook, loves to sleep, and “enjoys” watching the Lions and Pistons break his heart on a weekly basis. If you have any stories or recipes that might be of interest you can reach him by email at [email protected].
Kimberly Gedeon is a tech explorer who enjoys doing deep dives into the most popular gadgets, from the latest iPhones to the most immersive VR headsets. She’s drawn to strange, avant-garde, bizarre tech, whether it’s a 3D laptop, a gaming rig that can transform into a briefcase, or smart glasses that can capture video. Her journalism career kicked off about a decade ago at MadameNoire where she covered tech and business before landing as a tech editor at Laptop Mag in 2020.
