GameReviewRankMANY REVIEWS · ONE SCORE
REVIEW RANK SPECIAL · CRITICS’ CONSENSUS

The Best Games of 2018

One ranking built from 7 major year-end lists. Every list awards points by position — #1 earns 100, #2 earns 99, and so on — then each game’s points are averaged across all 7 lists to produce its Review Rank Score. A game ranked #1 everywhere would score a perfect 100.

SOURCES: POLYGON · EUROGAMER · GIANT BOMB · TIME · ARS TECHNICA · THE GUARDIAN · VARIETY · COMPILED 2026-07-11 · INELIGIBLE RELEASES ON SOURCE LISTS EXCLUDED

ALLPCSWITCH
1
God of War
POLYGON #1EUROGAMER #1TIME #1VARIETY #1GUARDIAN #2GIANT BOMB #3ARS TECHNICA #3
ON 7 OF 7 LISTS · 695 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
99.3RR SCORE
92
2
Red Dead Redemption 2
GUARDIAN #1EUROGAMER #2VARIETY #3GIANT BOMB #4TIME #5POLYGON #6ARS TECHNICA #11
ON 7 OF 7 LISTS · 675 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
96.4RR SCORE
94
3
Marvel's Spider-Man
TIME #2VARIETY #4ARS TECHNICA #5EUROGAMER #7GIANT BOMB #7POLYGON #9GUARDIAN #14
ON 7 OF 7 LISTS · 659 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
94.1RR SCORE
4
Into the Breach
TIME #3GUARDIAN #3GIANT BOMB #5ARS TECHNICA #6POLYGON #7VARIETY #9EUROGAMER #22
ON 7 OF 7 LISTS · 652 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
93.1RR SCORE
90
5
Tetris Effect
GIANT BOMB #1ARS TECHNICA #2POLYGON #4GUARDIAN #5VARIETY #7EUROGAMER #17
ON 6 OF 7 LISTS · 570 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
81.4RR SCORE
91
6
Dead Cells
GIANT BOMB #2VARIETY #2EUROGAMER #5GUARDIAN #10ARS TECHNICA #13POLYGON #24
ON 6 OF 7 LISTS · 550 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
78.6RR SCORE
89
7
Celeste
ARS TECHNICA #1POLYGON #5EUROGAMER #6GUARDIAN #8VARIETY #8
ON 5 OF 7 LISTS · 477 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
68.1RR SCORE
92
8
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
EUROGAMER #3TIME #8ARS TECHNICA #8POLYGON #10GUARDIAN #13
ON 5 OF 7 LISTS · 463 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
66.1RR SCORE
9
Hitman 2
VARIETY #5GIANT BOMB #8ARS TECHNICA #16EUROGAMER #20POLYGON #23
ON 5 OF 7 LISTS · 433 PTS · BEST POSITION #5
61.9RR SCORE
83
10
Florence
POLYGON #3EUROGAMER #4TIME #6GUARDIAN #9
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 382 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
54.6RR SCORE
11
Return of the Obra Dinn
POLYGON #2GIANT BOMB #6ARS TECHNICA #9GUARDIAN #15
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 372 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
53.1RR SCORE
90
12
Monster Hunter: World
GUARDIAN #6POLYGON #8GIANT BOMB #9EUROGAMER #11
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 370 PTS · BEST POSITION #6
52.9RR SCORE
13
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
ARS TECHNICA #7GUARDIAN #7POLYGON #12EUROGAMER #21
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 357 PTS · BEST POSITION #7
51.0RR SCORE
92
14
Astro Bot Rescue Mission
EUROGAMER #8ARS TECHNICA #12GUARDIAN #12POLYGON #17
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 355 PTS · BEST POSITION #8
50.7RR SCORE
89
15
Subnautica
TIME #4EUROGAMER #14ARS TECHNICA #15POLYGON #26
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 345 PTS · BEST POSITION #4
49.3RR SCORE
87
16
Forza Horizon 4
GUARDIAN #4ARS TECHNICA #20EUROGAMER #24POLYGON #25
ON 4 OF 7 LISTS · 331 PTS · BEST POSITION #4
47.3RR SCORE
90
17
Donut County
TIME #10VARIETY #10POLYGON #33
ON 3 OF 7 LISTS · 250 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
35.7RR SCORE
82
18
Dragon Ball FighterZ
GIANT BOMB #10ARS TECHNICA #14POLYGON #41
ON 3 OF 7 LISTS · 238 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
34.0RR SCORE
86
19
Moss
GUARDIAN #17POLYGON #18
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 167 PTS · BEST POSITION #17
23.9RR SCORE
84
20
Shadow of the Colossus
GUARDIAN #11POLYGON #29
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 162 PTS · BEST POSITION #11
23.1RR SCORE
89
21
Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee!/Pikachu!
EUROGAMER #13POLYGON #32
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 157 PTS · BEST POSITION #13
22.4RR SCORE
22
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
GUARDIAN #18POLYGON #27
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 157 PTS · BEST POSITION #18
22.4RR SCORE
23
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
EUROGAMER #16POLYGON #37
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 149 PTS · BEST POSITION #16
21.3RR SCORE
80
24
Moonlighter
EUROGAMER #23POLYGON #34
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 145 PTS · BEST POSITION #23
20.7RR SCORE
81
25
Frostpunk
GUARDIAN #19POLYGON #47
ON 2 OF 7 LISTS · 136 PTS · BEST POSITION #19
19.4RR SCORE
26
Beat Saber
ARS TECHNICA #4
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 97 PTS · BEST POSITION #4
13.9RR SCORE
90
27
Life is Strange 2: Episode 1
VARIETY #6
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 95 PTS · BEST POSITION #6
13.6RR SCORE
78
28
Super Mario Party
TIME #7
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 94 PTS · BEST POSITION #7
13.4RR SCORE
75
29
Dandara
TIME #9
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 92 PTS · BEST POSITION #9
13.1RR SCORE
72
30
Graveyard Keeper
EUROGAMER #9
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 92 PTS · BEST POSITION #9
13.1RR SCORE
73
31
F1 2018
ARS TECHNICA #10
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 91 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
13.0RR SCORE
61
32
Far Cry 5
EUROGAMER #10
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 91 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
13.0RR SCORE
80
33
BattleTech
POLYGON #14
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 87 PTS · BEST POSITION #14
12.4RR SCORE
79
34
Detroit: Become Human
EUROGAMER #15
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 86 PTS · BEST POSITION #15
12.3RR SCORE
84
35
Minit
POLYGON #15
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 86 PTS · BEST POSITION #15
12.3RR SCORE
36
Iconoclasts
GUARDIAN #16
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 85 PTS · BEST POSITION #16
12.1RR SCORE
84
37
Sea of Thieves
POLYGON #16
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 85 PTS · BEST POSITION #16
12.1RR SCORE
74
38
Mega Man 11
ARS TECHNICA #17
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 84 PTS · BEST POSITION #17
12.0RR SCORE
82
39
Battlefield V
EUROGAMER #18
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 83 PTS · BEST POSITION #18
11.9RR SCORE
40
Hollow Knight
ARS TECHNICA #18
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 83 PTS · BEST POSITION #18
11.9RR SCORE
90
41
Jurassic World Evolution
EUROGAMER #19
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 82 PTS · BEST POSITION #19
11.7RR SCORE
42
A Way Out
POLYGON #22
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 79 PTS · BEST POSITION #22
11.3RR SCORE
43
Two Point Hospital
EUROGAMER #25
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 76 PTS · BEST POSITION #25
10.9RR SCORE
85
44
Gris
POLYGON #28
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 73 PTS · BEST POSITION #28
10.4RR SCORE
87
45
The Red Strings Club
POLYGON #31
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 70 PTS · BEST POSITION #31
10.0RR SCORE
46
A Case of Distrust
POLYGON #35
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 66 PTS · BEST POSITION #35
9.4RR SCORE
77
47
The Gardens Between
POLYGON #38
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 63 PTS · BEST POSITION #38
9.0RR SCORE
82
48
Nintendo Labo
POLYGON #39
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 62 PTS · BEST POSITION #39
8.9RR SCORE
49
Wreckfest
POLYGON #40
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 61 PTS · BEST POSITION #40
8.7RR SCORE
81
50
Fallout 76
POLYGON #42
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 59 PTS · BEST POSITION #42
8.4RR SCORE
58
51
The Messenger
POLYGON #43
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 58 PTS · BEST POSITION #43
8.3RR SCORE
52
Mario Tennis Aces
POLYGON #44
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 57 PTS · BEST POSITION #44
8.1RR SCORE
74
53
My Child Lebensborn
POLYGON #45
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 56 PTS · BEST POSITION #45
8.0RR SCORE
54
Octopath Traveler
POLYGON #46
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 55 PTS · BEST POSITION #46
7.9RR SCORE
55
Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
POLYGON #50
ON 1 OF 7 LISTS · 51 PTS · BEST POSITION #50
7.3RR SCORE
METHODOLOGY & SOURCES

Points follow position: pts = 101 − rank on each list. The Review Rank Score is a game’s total divided by the number of lists surveyed (7), so missing a list counts as zero — consensus beats a single high placement. Ties break by list appearances, then best single position. Positions were captured to each list’s published depth shown below. Games released outside 2018 that appeared inside longer eligibility windows keep their slot on the source list but are excluded here.

Polygon — top 50 ↗Eurogamer — top 25 ↗Giant Bomb — top 10 ↗TIME — top 10 ↗Ars Technica — top 20 ↗The Guardian — top 20 ↗Variety — top 10 ↗
Best of 2018 by Metacritic score →Best of 2025 →Best of 2024 →Best of 2023 →All years →