REVIEW RANK SPECIAL · CRITICS’ CONSENSUSThe Best Games of 2018
One ranking built from 4 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 4 lists to produce its Review Rank Score. A game ranked #1 everywhere would score a perfect 100.
SOURCES: POLYGON · EUROGAMER · GIANT BOMB · TIME · COMPILED 2026-07-11 · INELIGIBLE RELEASES ON SOURCE LISTS EXCLUDED
1
POLYGON #1EUROGAMER #1TIME #1GIANT BOMB #3
ON 4 OF 4 LISTS · 398 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
2
EUROGAMER #2GIANT BOMB #4TIME #5POLYGON #6
ON 4 OF 4 LISTS · 387 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
3
TIME #2EUROGAMER #7GIANT BOMB #7POLYGON #9
ON 4 OF 4 LISTS · 379 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
4
TIME #3GIANT BOMB #5POLYGON #7EUROGAMER #22
ON 4 OF 4 LISTS · 367 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
5
POLYGON #3EUROGAMER #4TIME #6
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 290 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
6
EUROGAMER #3TIME #8POLYGON #10
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 282 PTS · BEST POSITION #3
7
GIANT BOMB #1POLYGON #4EUROGAMER #17
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 281 PTS · BEST POSITION #1
8
POLYGON #8GIANT BOMB #9EUROGAMER #11
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 275 PTS · BEST POSITION #8
9
GIANT BOMB #2EUROGAMER #5POLYGON #24
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 272 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
10
TIME #4EUROGAMER #14POLYGON #26
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 259 PTS · BEST POSITION #4
11
GIANT BOMB #8EUROGAMER #20POLYGON #23
ON 3 OF 4 LISTS · 252 PTS · BEST POSITION #8
12
POLYGON #2GIANT BOMB #6
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 194 PTS · BEST POSITION #2
13
POLYGON #5EUROGAMER #6
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 191 PTS · BEST POSITION #5
14
EUROGAMER #8POLYGON #17
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 177 PTS · BEST POSITION #8
15
POLYGON #12EUROGAMER #21
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 169 PTS · BEST POSITION #12
16
TIME #10POLYGON #33
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 159 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
17
EUROGAMER #13POLYGON #32
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 157 PTS · BEST POSITION #13
18
EUROGAMER #24POLYGON #25
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 153 PTS · BEST POSITION #24
19
GIANT BOMB #10POLYGON #41
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 151 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
20
EUROGAMER #16POLYGON #37
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 149 PTS · BEST POSITION #16
21
EUROGAMER #23POLYGON #34
ON 2 OF 4 LISTS · 145 PTS · BEST POSITION #23
22
TIME #7
ON 1 OF 4 LISTS · 94 PTS · BEST POSITION #7
23
TIME #9
ON 1 OF 4 LISTS · 92 PTS · BEST POSITION #9
24
EUROGAMER #9
ON 1 OF 4 LISTS · 92 PTS · BEST POSITION #9
25
EUROGAMER #10
ON 1 OF 4 LISTS · 91 PTS · BEST POSITION #10
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 (4), 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.