Every website I’ve ever worked at, even the scrappy upstart freelance sites, have eventually been blanked. Vanished. All my work, gone. Deleted and unable to be retrieved. But since now I co-own this website, nobody gets to destroy my game of the year top ten lists but me!
For now, I have to re-do them from scratch, and I don’t care if the order isn’t the same as it was back in the day. This is 2025 me making these, not 2010 me! I’m sure there are things I forgot about, indies lost in the shuffle, honorable mentions not mentioned, but I’m only human. I’m just a mere mortal — a man dedicated to chronicling what I deem to be the best games of each chunk of twelve months.
An update to these articles: I will challenge myself to write about each game with one sentence only.
2011
Honorable Mentions: “Pushmo,” “Wizorb,” “Halo Anniversary,” “Uncharted 3,” “Skyrim,” “Dead Space 2,” “Ultimate MvC3,” “Pokemon Black,” “Witcher 2,” “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” and “Serious Sam 3”
10. “Gears of War 3” — I loved the campaign and the improved multiplayer — particularly the new shotgun that only works point blank (and in a 180 degree radius).
9. “Batman: Arkham City” — It’s not as good as “Arkham Asylum,” but it’s the second best Batman game to ever come out, so that’s something!
8. “Mario Kart 7” — I feel as though this title in the series is going to be underrated and under discussed because of the success of “MK8,” but it’s still an extremely fun time.
7. “Bastion” — The start of Supergiant’s reign of terror on the industry and indies everywhere (compliment); this was my favorite of theirs until “Hades” came out.
6. “Super Mario 3D Land” — I’m very sad this will never get a port, remaster, or remake since it’s the best one of these isometric Mario platformers.
5. “LA Noire”— I was, and still am, obsessed with this game despite the flaws, but man did I appreciate so many “Mad Men” character actors getting paychecks to do good work here.
4. “Rayman Origins” — Nobody makes co-op platformers like this anymore, and I doubt we will ever see something so smart and beautiful from Ubisoft again.
3. “Portal 2” — A one-of-a-kind comedy masterpiece with maybe the best puzzles ever designed (too bad the studio behind it doesn’t make games anymore).
2. “The Binding of Isaac” — The GOAT roguelike and standard bearer for edge lord tattoo artists worldwide.
1. “Dark Souls” — My first Soulslike remains the best showcase of level design any of these games have ever had, shortcuts and all.
2010
Honorable Mentions: “AC: Brotherhood,” “Transformers: War for Cybertron,” “Bioshock 2,” “Darksiders” and “Crackdown 2”
10. “Limbo” — It’s a shame “Inside” managed to upend it as the premier dark, brooding, and wordless indie mood piece.
9. “Kirby Epic Yarn” — Maybe the best Kirby game ever made (it was until the Switch era, but I might stand by this still)?
8. “Alan Wake” — The sequel makes it look quaint by comparison, but that mid game psych-out twist sure is a doozy.
7. “Super Mario Galaxy 2” — Better than the first, which is a massive statement, but how did it take so long for a port to come out, Nintendo?
6. “Mass Effect 2” — Bioware’s best, and one of the best RPGs ever made.
5. “Call of Duty: Black Ops” — Back when “COD” games were godlike, we got wager matches and good zombie maps.
4. “Halo Reach” — The second-best Halo game and Bungie’s epic swansong.
3. “Super Meat Boy” — Gives Mario a run for his money as the best 21st century platforming icon.
2. “Fallout: New Vegas” — Obsidian’s best game, and arguably the best of the Fallout games, which is saying something.
1. “Red Dead Redemption” — Rockstar’s best game, and one of the best of the generation; a towering achievement in storytelling, fun, and magical moments.
Image Credit: “Dark Souls,” From Software
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