If you’ve been on Twitter in the last week, you might have seen a lot of tweets in your timeline where people listed their favorite games from the past decade and a half. The “15 Years of GOTY” trend has highlighted a lot of great games going all the way back to 2004, but what does the Video Game Canon have to say about some of the choices?
Using Version 3.0, I was able to sort out the best game from each of the last 15 years as ranked by their C-Score (how each game is ranked by the 53 Best Games lists that currently make up the Video Game Canon).
As you might have guessed, in some years the answer was obvious (Half-Life 2 in 2004, The Last of Us in 2013), but in other years it wasn’t (Braid barely squeaked above Fallout 3 in 2008 while Okami leapfrogged The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2006). In the end, Sony and Capcom shared the trophy for most-honored publisher, as both can lay claim to the “Game of the Year” in three separate years.
Take a look at the game with the highest ranking from each of the last 15 years (and the runner-up) after the break.
Zoom in on specific portions of the Video Game Canon and explore alternate sorting options from the Version 3.0 Update with Listology 3.0.
This Listology article is based on an earlier Version of the Video Game Canon. Visit the Top 1000 to see the most recent changes to the full list.
Video Game Canon (Version 3.0): Game of the Year – 2004-2018
(Each game title is followed by its C-Score in parentheses)
2004 GOTY: Half-Life 2 (33.70)
2004 Runner-Up: World of Warcraft (62.55)
2005 GOTY: Resident Evil 4 (36.40)
2005 Runner-Up: Shadow of the Colossus (58.97)
2006 GOTY: Okami (137.05)
2006 Runner-Up: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (156.68)
2007 GOTY: BioShock (49.23)
2007 Runner-Up: Portal (58.20)
2008 GOTY: Braid (121.53)
2008 Runner-Up: Fallout 3 (121.76)
2009 GOTY: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (83.71)
2009 Runner-Up: Minecraft (92.97)
2010 GOTY: Red Dead Redemption (51.73)
2010 Runner-Up: Mass Effect 2 (68.83)
2011 GOTY: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (66.83)
2011 Runner-Up: Dark Souls (96.50)
2012 GOTY: Journey (76.82)
2012 Runner-Up: The Walking Dead (114.10)
2013 GOTY: The Last of Us (42.50)
2013 Runner-Up: Grand Theft Auto V (64.94)
2014 GOTY: Mario Kart 8 (155.50)
2014 Runner-Up: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (156.75)
2015 GOTY: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (53.73)
2015 Runner-Up: Bloodborne (89.82)
2016 GOTY: Inside (92.25)
2016 Runner-Up: Overwatch (146.88)
2017 GOTY: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (27.43)
2017 Runner-Up: Divinity: Original Sin II (137.00)
2018 GOTY: Monster Hunter: World (293.00)
2018 Runner-Up: None