What a year for games. A signature year. One of those signpost years that people will talk about for a long time. I didn’t play as half as much as I would’ve liked, but out of those I did, these are my top ten of 2023. A few of these are also responsible for eating most of my time.

10 Cities Skylines 2

Despite its performance issues on launch, Cities Skylines 2 is another one of those generational games. I will play this for a decade - can I really say that about many games? No. So it gets a spot. It would be higher if it worked.

9 Stranded: Alien Dawn

3D Rimworld, but not quite there yet. Stranded: Alien Dawn is a game that hopefully has many years of support ahead of it. Its most recent DLC and free update set the tone for future content, and I’m excited for what that will bring.

8 Diablo 4

It’s such a shame that Diablo 4 doesn’t appear higher on this list. I put a lot of faith into Blizzard for this one, and that was, of course, a complete mistake. An absolutely outstanding campaign destroyed by some of the worst endgame content I’ve ever seen in a live-service title. Season 2 made some amends, but it’s too late to send it any higher. What a campaign though.

Every day until December 18th, a different member of the TheGamer editorial staff will post their own list. At the end, the scores are tallied, and the site settles on its final top ten.

7 Baldur’s Gate 3

This is a bizarre pick for me, because I’ve only played about 30 hours of Baldur’s Gate 3 - in fact, I bought the game and didn’t play it for like three months. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes you need to take a step away from subjective opinions and just go with something objective: Baldur’s Gate 3 has changed the genre forever. I just suck at it, and I’m not really into snogging virtual characters. Sorry gang.

6 Halls Of Torment

On the other hand, I’ve played Halls Of Torment for over 100 hours this year. It’s a Vampire Survivors-like. I hope that explains to you what sort of gamer I am.

5 Lethal Company

If this had come out earlier in the year it would probably end up being my GOTY. I just haven’t had the time to get stuck into it yet, appreciate its oddities, or get to grips with its spooky monsters. I did, however, scream so loud that my housemate came upstairs to check that I hadn’t accidentally cut my hand off.

4 Dredge

This was my fishing year. I can’t really explain that: it just is. Dredge is a wonderfully atmospheric game that is as spooky as it is charming, and compelling. I hope it receives all the love and support it deserves from players, so that the developers can keep releasing more content for it.

3 Dave The Diver

See? I told you. It’s my fishing year. Dave The Diver is a titan of its genre, with a fine-tuned gameplay loop that might be one of the best I’ve ever found myself sucked into, like a whirlpool at the bottom of a deep gully, full of beautiful fish and glittering treasure. And sushi. Man. So much sushi.

2 Bramble: The Mountain King

Pipped to the post is Bramble: The Mountain King. This game is chillingly good. The music, the monsters, the atmosphere. I loved the production of this: it felt like stepping right into a fairy tale with an enormous pig butcher, and a boiling cauldron of guts. Love it.

1 BattleBit: Remastered

I’m a shooter guy, always have been. When I’m not fishing, at least. BattleBit: Remastered takes everything I love about the genre and boils it down to one key fundamental trait: this game is just so much fun. With Battlefield 2042 now but a distant, faintly sad memory, despite its recent content updates, BattleBit: Remastered filled a gaping hole in my heart with full-scale chaos. Hearing over 100 players screech battle cries at the start of the round is probably my top gaming moment of 2023.