Game Of The Year Editor’s Pick, 2023

This was the most challenging Game of the Year list I’ve written in my time here. Not because I struggled to find ten games I adored from 2023, but because so many were equally good that it was difficult to decide how to rank them. In short, ignore the ranking. Play them all.

My Time At Sandrock

My Time at Sandrock launched in full this year, offering an in-depth farming/life sim experience with combat, crafting, farming, and more. It’s full of charming characters and quaint little stories set in a sprawling Wild West landscape, so you can easily get lost in your new desert life, exploring, making friends, and romancing your fave (it’s Fang, by the way). If you loved My Time at Portia, you’ll love Sandrock just as much.

Dave The Diver

Dave the Diver is a mash-up of a business simulator with deep-diving, fish-catching mechanics as you source fresh produce to use in your sushi restaurant. What more do you want? Cute pixel graphics? Yep, it’s got those too.

Pharaoh: A New Era

Pharaoh, much like its sequel Zeus: Master of Olympus, was my jam during my childhood. I would spend endless hours cultivating and designing the perfect city, and I would replay it year after year. The Pharaoh: A New Era remake means I can maintain this habit but with the benefit of gorgeous new graphics and enhanced features that came later in the series.

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

Another throwback for me is the A Wonderful Life remake. I love farming and life sims, and we certainly had a lot this year, but if you want something a little different that you’ll remember for all the right reasons, make it this. Unlike other titles in the genre, including its own series, A Wonderful Life isn’t timeless and endless. It features a town that changes over the years, with characters growing old and passing away. Arguably, it’s my favourite out of the entire series.

Videoverse

If you ever found yourself obsessing over online forums and communities like Miiverse, making friends, sharing art, and chatting about your favourite games, then Videoverse is for you. It’s full of nostalgia and so many quirky nods. You play as Emmett, a 15 year old boy, and you choose how he responds to situations, posts, trolls, and friends. With different endings depending on your choices, there’s replay value too.

It gave me so many flashbacks to spending far too long on DeviantArt or chatting with friends on PlayOnline, eagerly waiting for them to appear online and using silly avatars and usernames. It’s a unique little indie that will feel familiar if you were a teen in the ‘00s.

Honourable Mentions That Didn’t Make The Final Cut

Like A Dragon: Ishin!

Ishin has long been proclaimed as one of the best games in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series despite being a spin-off. I was so desperate to play it that I imported the Japanese exclusive PlayStation 4 version years ago, but who was I kidding? I don’t understand Japanese. Fortunately, this launch fixed that problem.

Set in the Bakumatsu era, the characters are still familiar as they share appearances with our favourites from the mainline games. This remake-remaster hybrid adds new content and characters to encompass some of the newer titles in the series, bringing it up to date in more ways than one and retaining its signature charm, impressive storytelling, and humour, despite being set in an entirely different period.

Baldur’s Gate 3

You don’t need me to tell you about Baldur’s Gate 3. It has dominated the internet for months now. All you need to know is that if, like me, you love fantasy RPGs and you’re not sure whether you’ll gel with the D&D elements, trust me, you will. Even if you don’t get all the ins and outs of each encounter, the game is so impressive, so hilarious, and can be played in so many, many ways that you will adore it.

Final Fantasy 16

Cid. Need I say more?

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Two Like a Dragon games in one year? Sega is spoiling us. Despite being a smaller digital-only title (at least for us Westerners), it’s a must-play for Yakuza fans, especially those who miss the action combat. It hits all the right points — brilliant new characters, an emotional story that’ll leave you in tears, and hilarious side content. It’s surprisingly good for something you might have dismissed as filler given it was originally going to be DLC.

Just please don’t make this the first Yakuza game you play.

Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

In a year where any of my top four could have feasibly been number one, Paranormasight snatched the crown purely because it was such an unexpected surprise. I knew I would love FF16 and LaD (both of them), and BG3 was a safe bet, but Paranormasight was a complete wildcard.

Paranormasight is a mystery visual novel with a compelling story and incredible puzzle mechanics, and an ending that had me reeling for all the right reasons. Going in with no expectations meant I enjoyed it all the more, leaving an unforgettable impression. I’ve recommended it all year to anyone who will listen, and I’ll keep doing that for a long time to come.

Next

Why Baldur’s Gate 3 Should Win Game Of The Year

Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t just a great threequel – it elevates the genre. Even in a year of great releases, it’s the only choice for Game of the Year.