The other week I linked to a few “best of…” lists for 2020. On Twitter, Hampus also suggested another round-up source here https://www.cbr.com/best-video-games-2020/ I’ve since collated those lists along with the video games already listed on the Hugo Sheet of Doom. I’ll confess that I have taken a scattershot approach to deciding whether games are SFF or not. It isn’t always easy! Does a historical game count as alternate-history if you can reshape events (eg Crusader Kings III)? Is Call of Duty SFF because there is a zombie option? I don’t know! In the end I didn’t include Call of Duty but did include “Yakuza: Like a Dragon” because the second sounded more wacky. I didn’t delve into eligibility much in terms of when the game was released unless I already knew it wasn’t eligible (e.g. Among Us) and there are games here with eligibility questions (Hades) and also there are remakes which may be technically eligible but which don’t have new stories.
Finally, I ordered the games by how many lists they were on. Here all the games that were on at least three lists.
Title | LB Hugo Sheet | Polygon top 50 | Esquire top 11 | Vulture 10 Best | Time 10 Best | CBR 10 Best | Count |
Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 6 |
Hades | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | 5 | |
Final Fantasy VII Remake | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | ||
Spiritfarer | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | ||
The Last of Us Part 2 | Y | Y | Y | Y | 4 | ||
Blaseball | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
DOOM Eternal | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Fall Guys | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Ghost of Tsushima | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Star Wars: Squadrons | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |||
Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Y | Y | Y | 3 |
I’ve played only three of those but each one is in the top four. I haven’t finished playing Spiritfarer but I’ve played enough to write a review and I really like it.
Here are those same games again but with links to reviews.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons https://www.thegamer.com/animal-crossing-best-selling-switch-game/ https://time.com/5804599/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review/ https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a32079954/animal-crossing-friends-money-life-lessons/ https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/14/22166004/best-games-2020-ps4-xbox-one-switch-pc-series-x
- Hades https://www.cbr.com/hades-deserves-game-awards-win/ https://www.polygon.com/2020/12/14/22166004/best-games-2020-ps4-xbox-one-switch-pc-series-x
- Final Fantasy VII Remake https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a32035981/final-fantasy-7-remake-game-review-midgar-chapter/ https://www.polygon.com/22158953/final-fantasy-7-remake-game-of-the-year
- Spiritfarer https://www.cbr.com/tag/spiritfarer/ https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/8/18/21373518/spiritfarer-review-release-date-switch-pc-ps4-xbox-one-thunder-lotus
- The Last of Us Part 2 https://www.cbr.com/why-last-of-us-ii-story-works/ https://time.com/5847508/the-last-of-us-part-ii-review/ https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a32907593/last-of-us-part-2-review-ellie-abby/ https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/6/12/21288535/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence
- Blaseball https://www.polygon.com/22174009/blaseball-game-of-the-year-2020
- DOOM Eternal https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a30515069/doom-eternal-game-trailer-breakdown/ https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/3/17/21182306/doom-eternal-review-pc-xbox-one-ps4-stadia
- Fall Guys https://www.cbr.com/tag/fall-guys-ultimate-knockout/ https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a33509197/fall-guys-game-review/
- Ghost of Tsushima https://www.cbr.com/ghost-tsushima-deserves-game-year-award/ https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a33308985/ghost-of-tsushima-game-review/ https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/23/21333631/ghost-of-tsushima-kurosawa-films-samurai-japan-abe-politics
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/3/10/21172961/ori-and-the-will-of-the-wisps-review-xbox-one-pc-glitches-patch
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales https://www.cbr.com/tag/spider-man-miles-morales/ https://time.com/5907872/spider-man-miles-morales-police/ https://www.polygon.com/22173765/spider-man-miles-morales-game-of-the-year-2020
- Star Wars: Squadrons https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/10/1/21495929/star-wars-squadrons-review-ps4-xbox-one-pc-vr
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon https://www.cbr.com/yakuza-like-a-dragon-classic-jrpg-homage/ https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/11/4/21547663/yakuza-like-a-dragon-review-xbox-series-x-pc-ps4