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Elden Ring is the clearest cross-award answer to “best games of 2022”: it won top honors from the Japan Game Awards, D.I.C.E., and Steam’s community awards. But there is no single definitive ranking. God of War: Ragnarök was TIME’s top pick and a major D.I.C.E. award winner, while each list reflects its own voters, eligibility rules, and point of view.
How to interpret “best games of 2022”
A useful list needs to say what “best” means. An editorial ranking is one publication’s judgment; an award may reflect a membership vote or a selection committee; and a Steam award records its platform community’s choice. Eligibility can also vary: a ceremony held in 2022 may honor games released in 2021. Those results are evidence of recognition, not one merged consensus ranking.
The picks below focus on titles supported by the named lists and awards. Use the category results and your own preferences—genre, difficulty, solo or co-op play, story versus systems, and willingness to take on a long game—to decide which one fits you.
Which games stood out in 2022?
| Game | Recognition | Why it stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Elden Ring | Grand Award, Japan Game Awards 2022; D.I.C.E. Game of the Year; Steam Awards 2022 Game of the Year | Its recognition spans a Japanese awards program, a professional membership vote, and a platform community award. |
| God of War: Ragnarök | TIME’s No. 1 game in its 2022 top ten; multiple D.I.C.E. achievement awards | A strong alternative to Elden Ring, recognized for achievements including animation, art direction, character, music, audio, and story. |
| Inscryption | Game Designers Award, Japan Game Awards 2022 | A notable additional pick, though its Game Developers Choice Awards result is often misread: the event labeled “2022” honored the best games of 2021. |
Why Elden Ring is the strongest cross-source pick
The Japan Game Awards 2022 named Elden Ring its Grand Award winner and lists versions for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam. The official Japan Game Awards results also identify its developer and publisher.
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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named it D.I.C.E. Game of the Year. Its results page reports five awards for the game that evening, including game direction, design, role-playing game, technical achievement, and overall game of the year. The D.I.C.E. winners were voted on by the Academy’s 30,000-plus membership base. See the official D.I.C.E. results and voting context.
Steam’s 2022 community awards also named Elden Ring Game of the Year. Steam’s official 2022 awards archive records that result. These three honors make Elden Ring unusually well-supported as a broad answer, but the awards have different voters and methods; none alone establishes a universal best game.
Rank #2
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Why God of War: Ragnarök is a strong alternative
TIME placed God of War: Ragnarök first in its editorial top ten of 2022. TIME’s list is an editorial ranking, not an award chosen by the same voters as D.I.C.E.
D.I.C.E. recognized the game in seven achievement categories, including animation, art direction, character, music, audio, and story. That breadth makes it a compelling alternative if you are comparing the two titles by the kinds of achievements award organizations recognized. It does not mean every player will prefer it, or that TIME’s ranking and D.I.C.E.’s results should be combined into a single score.
Rank #3
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Watch the year on award results
Award ceremony year and eligible game year are not always the same. The Game Developers Choice Awards archive is titled “2022 Finalists & Winners,” and names Inscryption its Game of the Year winner—but the page explicitly says the event honored the best games of 2021. Check the GDCA archive’s own year explanation before treating that as a 2022 release-year win.
That distinction is why Inscryption is included here for its Japan Game Awards recognition, not presented as a 2022 release-year Game of the Year winner. The Japan Game Awards page lists it as the recipient of the Game Designers Award alongside its other results.
Rank #4
Choose a 2022 game that fits you
- Start with the awards you value. Elden Ring has the broadest cross-source recognition among these picks; TIME’s list instead puts God of War: Ragnarök at the top.
- Check the platform and edition. The Japan Game Awards lists Elden Ring on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam. Verify the current platform and edition details for any game before buying; the cited awards results do not establish current stock, price, packaging, or edition contents.
- Match the game to your preferences. Consider genre, difficulty, solo or co-op preference, narrative versus systems-driven play, and whether you want a long open-world game. These are useful decision criteria, not claims that the award sources tested player experience.
- Read the eligibility note. Confirm whether a result honors games released in the calendar year or games from an earlier eligibility period.
What the awards can—and cannot—tell you
Award results can show which games impressed a particular editorial team, voting membership, community, or selection body. They do not settle personal fit, and the cited results are not a complete survey of every critic, region, or award program. For a practical shortlist, Elden Ring is the most widely recognized pick across the named sources, while God of War: Ragnarök is a well-supported alternative with strong editorial and achievement-award recognition.
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