Polygon's 100 Best Games of the Decade

Polygon recently put out its picks for the 100 top games from the 20-aughts. I know we're all suckers for big lists, so I thought this was interesting, if only to look back on just how many games and series came out in the last 10 years.

We all love lists and fighting over how wrong they are, so here it is:

https://www.polygon.com/features/2019/11/4/20944265/best-games-2019-2010-ps4-switch-xbox-pc-100-51

I certainly have some thoughts on the rankings (is KIM KARDASHIAN: HOLLYWOOD REALLY better than Cuphead?), but I think it's just cool to see the variety of games and series included.

I thought the list read more like most "important."

@liquiddragon: Like..sort of? But only when convenient. A top 100 is too long of a list from too many people to keep any sort of throughline like that.

Yeah, I dunno. Lists like these are always very silly and highly subjective. This one's so all over the place that it kinda just reads like "here is a random sample of 100 games that came out within the last 10 years that you've probably heard of".

No one is ever going to agree when it comes to something as broad and intangible as the top 100 [insert literally anything here] of a DECADE, so it's good to have some healthy distance from your personal investments. As a reader, the only things I really care about regarding a list of this scope (both in terms of the number of games and the number of years covered) are:

A) Did they get the right games on the list?
B) Does the reason they chose what they chose for No. 1 make sense?

By this criteria, Polygon's is a pretty well-rounded list. A lot of the heavy hitters you'd expect to see land near the top. Some fun surprises keep the list moving (GTA Online getting its own spot with no Grand Theft Auto 5 in sight).

I'm SO glad P.T. is in their top ten. And I think Minecraft is a perfectly suitable "Game of the Decade," even if it feels a little like the diplomatic choice.

Yeah, I'll not get hung up on placement but there's one re-release in there. Amateurs.

Also and like this isn't super important and arguments can be made why it doesn't matter much but..

Minecraft is only absolutely BARELY within the decade.

Man the top 10 turn took a real sharp turn into "the 10 most basic bitch ass games of the decade" real quick.

Also one entry is just..both Red Deads?

Best quote in the article is pulled from their Red Dead Redemption 2 review: "Safe to say, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the weirdest, slowest, most confounding big-budget game of this decade — if not any decade.”

Death Stranding says hello.

I remember back in the day when these lists would have Diablo and Fallout 2 in the top 10.

The big takeaway I have so far is that 100 just seems like way too many for a list like this. It just feels like an incoherent mess at times.

These Top 100 lists are always funny to me. PC Gamer puts a out a "Top 100 PC Games of All Time" list every year. While a top 100 of the decade is certainly more reasonable, it's still too big to make any sense.

This list just reminded me to check and see if Kentucky Route Zero is actually finished yet...it is not.

Especially when it seems like they're all over the place with their reasoning. This one is 40 because it is a ton of fun to play! This one is 39 because it tried amazing new things! This one is 38 because it was super popular! This one is 37 because it was culturally significant!

Even the top 10 is like this utterly bizarre scattershot of games with reasoning that is completely inconsistent. Expand that out to 100 and it just becomes absurd.

Also, that Minecraft write up is the most cringe-inducing thing I've read in a bit.

While Virginia has a neat style with dramatic crash cuts, i just can't see how that's among the best games of the last 10 years. Kim Kardashian Hollywood's description is weird too. Like it acts as if people were saying that it would be crazy to expect a mobile game based around Kim Kardashian to be financially successful. I don't remember that at all. Naturally a mobile game with a big celeb endorsing it has the potential to make a ton of money and this one did. That doesn't mean the mobile game in question is among the best games made though. Candy Crush Saga opened the doors to a bunch of similar games and made a ton of money but that doesn't appear on this list, while Flappy Bird & Kim Kardashian do. League gets praised for it's events and the growth of twitch, yet games like Hearthstone, Dota 2 & Starcraft 2 are disregarded. The internal logic is lost on me.

Also, where's super meat boy at?

Lists like these should just be called '100 Games from the past decade we want to highlight '. You get to put any game on there without 100 assholes like me trying to find reasoning behind everything and it makes the whole thing much clearer.

The order's wonky, but that's a whole lot of fantastic games.

I can get behind the top 3, however.

Skimming through it at first doesn't seem too bad.

You can easily make a case for Minecraft, LoL, Pokemon Go, and Fortnite through sheer numbers alone. PT is kind of weird...but whatever I can put up with one gimmick entry. Dark Souls and Witcher are easy pills to swallow.

But I don't think Zelda and Spelunky need to be so high up, probably not Kentucky Route zero either.

Witcher 3 in the top 10? This list is alright, at a glance.

It reads more like the most important games.

Well, this is a real mess of a list...

Gravity Rush 2 isn't top 5 and The Last Guardian isn't even on the list so throw this list in the trash.

😤😭😤😭🙅🏻‍♂️🙅🏻‍♂️🙅🏻‍♂️🙅🏻‍♂️

it's an interesting thought-exercise- but yeah, there are defo questionable choices there.

i kinda wish the bombers got around to doing their 'best of a generation' they kicked around for awhile. GOTY is fun, but it would be cool to try new things.

@liquiddragon: @icoangel: I'd buy that argument if they made a point of it being unranked but as it is I'm not getting that vibe. Skyrim, which, love it or hate it, is easily one of the most influential and important games of the decade, is ranked beneath FIFA 17 and NBA 2k12 and a Persona 4 rerelease on a DOA handheld. Same for Last of Us. Like...c'mon.

I think they should have done the same format as their movies article and just have the staff rank their individual personal favorites with longer impressions...but then again we probably wouldn't be having this discussion if they'd done it that way and they probably wouldn't have as much article engagement, so more power to them, I suppose.

Anyone see what the original Red Dead text was that caused them to change it to "align with their editorial values"?

Also wow why is Civilization VI on there instead of V, that's A Choice.

Also there is a distinct lack of Crusader Kings II and Hitman and now I'm upset and I'm going to go lie down and pout.

@banefirelord: Yeah, there are just too many instances where it seems like they chose influential here, and then popular there, and then well regarded here, underrated there...it's just all over the place.

Got to number 59, saw it was Last of Us and was like "nope, I'm out."

Why is Limbo and Inside on the same entry. Similar in style and tone but do they really need to be one entry. I would rather knock another game off the list and have them both on.

I dislike every game in their top ten except for Kentucky Route Zero and Breath of the Wild. Also, making this list seems impossible.

@frodobaggins: Idk how to read this. You think it should be higher or not on the list?

It feels like a list of 'Most Important' games (how else would Kim Kardashian get on there?!) smashed together with personal indie games. Her Story would make my personal list, but was it really all that important or ground-breaking or whatever?

Edit: Also the decade isn't over yet.

@liquiddragon: higher!

@ultimo_mulho: You know how it goes. 'No John, we don't have 2 indiespots left, we still need to put 2 mobile games on here and choose an idlegame of the decade. You get 1 spot.'. 'Okay , but Kevin did the works of Michael Brough and Kelly went for the Red Dead collection, so can i just put both games on the same spot?' 'Sure'.

There are some glaring omissions from this, in my opinion, and some crazy inclusions. Death Stranding only just released and I don't think a brand new game really should be held in the same regard as games that have been as overexamined as Dark Souls. Persona 4 Golden is a rerelease of a PS2 game and thus shouldn't count, otherwise large portions of this list need to make way for some older stuff that got rereleased this decade. And I seriously place little faith in a reviewer who puts Kim Kardashian's licensed phone game in the middle of a "best of" games list.

But overall it's pretty good? Put all of these in a hat and draw a random one to play and you're almost certain to have a fantastic game to play.

My most pressing question, though, is why is CSGO on here but not Rainbow Six Siege? I can't think of a multiplayer shooter of this decade I'd rather play. Oh well, opinions and subjectivity and all.

Her Story at 18? I liked it but come on Polygon, you are trying too hard to be edgy.

I'll never understand why people like KRZ so much. I guess I'm stupid or something, it gets such high praise from every critic but it just came off as pretentious artsy-fartsy BS to me. I wish steam had refunds back when I bought it.

"Although based on a series of books, previous Witcher games were never that convincing from a narrative perspective, stringing together missions based on the usual archetypes and cliches."

I dunno man. The Witcher 3 is my favorite game of all time, but that reads like someone who never actually played the other games.

Fantastic to see Spelunky so high on any list though. I'll say it anytime I get a chance: That game is perfect.

@luchalma: Yeah I've only played The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and that quote doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.