Part 1: Highest-scoring games of the 2010s
This section will be updated periodically throughout the end of the year.
Last update: January 4, 2020
These games have the highest Metascores out of all titles released from 2010-19. Games must have reviews from at least 15 critics to qualify for inclusion. If a game was released on multiple platforms, we are only including the version with the most reviews in our database.
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Games released between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019 with 15 or more reviews in Metacritic's database were eligible for inclusion. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). Titles are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding.
iOS games are excluded due to the limited number of reviews available for those games.
Part 2: Best-of-the-decade top ten lists
This section will be updated as new lists are published throughout the end of the year.
Last update: February 10, 2020
While the list above reflects reviews published at the time of each game's original release, we have also aggregated best-of-the-decade lists published by a variety of game and entertainment publications in late 2019. Individual lists are displayed at the bottom of the page, but in the table below, the most frequently mentioned titles are ranked according to our points system (which gives bonus points for being ranked at the top of a list):
- 3 points for each 1st place ranking
- 2 points for each 2nd place ranking
- 1 point for being ranked 3rd - 10th, or for being included on an unranked list of 10 or fewer titles
- 0.5 points for being included on an unranked list of 11-20 titles
- No points for titles included on unranked lists of more than 20 games (or for games ranked worse than 20th)
Game (Original Year) | # 1st Place | # 2nd Place | # Other | Points | |
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1 | ▣ The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) | 18 | 4 | 16 | 78 |
2 | ▣ The Last of Us (2013) | 3 | 9 | 14 | 41 |
3 | ▣ The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) | 2 | 2 | 21 | 31 |
4 | ▣ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) | 1 | 1 | 23.5 | 28.5 |
5 | ▣ Dark Souls (2011) | 1 | 1 | 21 | 26 |
6 | ▣ Grand Theft Auto V (2013) | 1 | 0 | 19.5 | 22.5 |
7 | ▣ Mass Effect 2 (2010) | 0 | 2 | 18 | 22 |
8 | ▣ God of War (2018) | 0 | 1 | 19.5 | 21.5 |
9 | ▣ Minecraft (2011) | 1 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
10 | ▣ Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) | 1 | 2 | 11 | 18 |
11 | ▣ Portal 2 (2011) | 0 | 1 | 15 | 17 |
12 | ▣ Fortnite (2017) | 1 | 0 | 12 | 15 |
13 | ▣ Bloodborne (2015) | 1 | 1 | 8.5 | 13.5 |
14 | ▣ Pokemon Go (2016) | 1 | 0 | 8.5 | 11.5 |
15 | ▣ Journey (2012) | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
16 | ▣ Red Dead Redemption (2010) | 0 | 0 | 10.5 | 10.5 |
17 | ▣ Super Mario Odyssey (2017) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
18 | ▣ Nier: Automata (2017) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
19 | ▣ DOOM (2016) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
▣ Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
Individual top ten lists
Below are the 50 individual top ten lists used to calculate the standings above. Some publications may list titles without ranking them; such lists are displayed below, without numbers, in alphabetical order. We are only including one list per publication. If a publication has published multiple lists (e.g., by genre or platform), we have attempted to select the most generalized list.
Areajugones View full list |
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Business Insider View full list |
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BuzzFeed Andy Golder View full list |
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CNET View full list |
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Den of Geek [US] View full list |
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DualShockers View full list |
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EDGE [from Issue 339] |
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Escapist Patrick Lee View full list |
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entertainment.ie View full list |
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Everyeye.it View full list |
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Fanbyte View full list |
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Female First View full list |
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Fortress of Solitude View full list |
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Gamer.nl View full list |
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GameSpew View full list |
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GamesRadar+ View full list |
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Gaming Age View full list |
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GAMINGbible View full list |
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GamingBolt View full list |
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Geek.com Jordan Minor View full list |
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Goomba Stomp View full list |
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GQ View full list |
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Hobby Consolas View full list |
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The Hollywood Reporter View full list |
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Mashable View full list |
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Metro GameCentral View full list |
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mxdwn View full list |
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National Post View full list |
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Nintendo Life View full list |
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NME View full list |
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Paste View full list |
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Polygon View full list |
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Push Square View full list |
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San Jose Mercury News View full list |
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Slant View full list |
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Stuff View full list |
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TechRadar View full list |
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The Telegraph Tom Hoggins View full list |
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Thrillist Brittany Vincent View full list |
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Time View full list |
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TNW (The Next Web) View full list |
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Tom's Guide View full list |
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Twinfinite View full list |
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VG247 View full list |
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The Washington Post View full list |
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WhatCulture View full list |
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Windows Central Jez Corden View full list |
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Wired View full list |
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Wired UK View full list |
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The Young Folks View full list |
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More best of the decade coverage
Check out our lists of the best films, albums, and TV shows of the 2010s.
What about your list?
What are your favorite games of the decade? Give us your list in the comments section below.
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