What were the best games of 2016? There is no single objective winner: Overwatch won The Game Awards’ Game of the Year, while TIME ranked The Witness first on its editorial year-end list. Here are standout choices across multiplayer, story-driven action, puzzles, exploration and more, with the kind of recognition each received made clear.
How to read “best games of 2016”
Awards and year-end lists answer different questions. The Game Awards records the choices of its awards program; TIME’s list is an editorial selection, not a public consensus ranking. The PlayStation Blog also published community-voted awards: its 2017 announcement said the 2016 awards received over a half-million votes across categories. Each is a useful signal, but none proves that one game is best for every player.
Release eligibility can also depend on region or platform. The sources cited here do not establish one universal rule for what counts as a 2016 release, so check a specific edition’s release date if that distinction matters to you.
Standout games, matched to what you want to play
| Game | Best fit | Recognition or context |
|---|---|---|
| Overwatch | Competitive multiplayer | Won The Game Awards’ 2016 Game of the Year and Best Game Direction. The Game Awards’ 2016 archive. |
| The Witness | Exploration and environmental puzzles | TIME placed it first on its 2016 list and described an island exploration game built around maze-like line puzzles. TIME’s purchase prompt names PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. TIME’s list. |
| Inside | Atmospheric puzzle-platforming | Included in TIME’s list; The Game Awards recognized it for Best Art Direction and Best Independent Game. TIME; The Game Awards. |
| Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End | Narrative-focused action-adventure | Won The Game Awards’ Best Narrative. The Game Awards’ 2016 archive. |
| DOOM | Fast-paced action | Won The Game Awards’ Best Music / Sound Design. The Game Awards’ 2016 archive. |
| That Dragon, Cancer | An emotionally serious, unconventional experience | Won The Game Awards’ Games for Impact. The Game Awards’ 2016 archive. |
| No Man’s Sky | Procedural space exploration | Included in TIME’s list, which acknowledged the gap between expectations and the game as experienced at the time. That context matters when interpreting its launch-era reception. TIME’s list. |
Why these games stand out in different ways
Overwatch: a multiplayer award leader
For a list that needs a competitive multiplayer pick, Overwatch has the clearest top-level accolade: The Game Awards named it 2016 Game of the Year as well as Best Game Direction. That recognition makes it a central candidate, not a claim that multiplayer is the right fit for everyone.
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#1 Best Overall
The Witness and Inside: puzzles with different moods
The Witness is the exploration choice: TIME’s description emphasizes discovering an island and solving maze-like line puzzles. Inside is a more atmospheric puzzle-platformer, recognized by both TIME’s selection and The Game Awards. TIME’s ordering makes The Witness its top pick; it does not make that placement a universal ranking.
Action, story and sound
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the narrative-led action-adventure option, supported by The Game Awards’ Best Narrative award. For fast-paced action, DOOM earned the awards program’s Best Music / Sound Design honor—a recognition of its audio, rather than a general ranking above other action games.
Rank #2
- The Game Console 2.0: A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox
- No Starch Press
- ABIS BOOK
A different kind of impact
That Dragon, Cancer broadens the list beyond blockbuster genres. Its Games for Impact award signals a distinct, emotionally serious experience rather than a conventional action or multiplayer recommendation.
Exploration amid launch-era expectations
No Man’s Sky belongs in a 2016 conversation as TIME included it among that year’s picks and described it through procedural space exploration. TIME also noted the difference between expectations and the game as experienced at the time, so its inclusion should not be mistaken for an unqualified account of launch reception.
Rank #3
Other useful signals—and a year-label pitfall
PlayStation.Blog’s 2016 community awards offer a platform community-vote perspective distinct from an awards jury or editorial list. Its January 12, 2017 announcement reported over a half-million votes across categories. Read the announcement.
Hitman is also notable for its original episodic release approach. PlayStation.Blog described monthly releases as compact assassination sandboxes, with new targets and contracts added over time. That is a description of the release model at the time, not a statement about the game’s present-day content or availability.
Rank #4
Do not confuse a ceremony or archive year with the games being honored: the Game Developers Choice Awards archive for its 2016 ceremony explicitly says its finalists and winners honored the best games of 2015. See the 16th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards archive.
For another awards perspective, the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association maintains its Japan Game Awards:2016 page.
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