There is simply nothing quite like Outer Wilds, a bizarre chimera of time loop structure, archeological fantasy, comedy space sim, first-person planet explorer and meditation on existence.That Outer Wilds attempts to be all of this at all is a marvel, and that it succeeds would be a miracle if it wasn’t clear how meticulously, perfectly designed it is. Discuss: The 30 best video games of the decade, ranked For decades now they've been building atop one another, borrowing each other's ideas, adding to those ideas. Altering a crucial handful of aspects from its at-times-esoteric source material, Hearthstone is easy to understand and play but difficult to master.Its single-player adventures challenge new and returning players while the ever-evolving ranked seasons offer an arena for competitive players to assert their deck-building dominance. Taking (admittedly circular) inspiration from Uncharted and expanding on it in nearly every aspect, Rise of the Tomb Raider is part action-adventure, part RPG, part Metroidvania, and all amazing. After toiling away for years on beloved, but underplayed, RPGs like the Drakengard series, a new gaming celebrity suddenly became a household name. In stripping away almost everything but the dialogue and dialogue choices, the studio was able to let the story become the single most important thing in the game, and they never did it better than in their first season of The Walking Dead.The choices you make along the way in this first and best season range from savage to heartbreaking, and the final moments are some of the most emotionally impactful in any game ever.

Dark Souls is arguably the most influential game of the decade.

But it's that gameplay that left Klei Entertainment's most distinct mark on Xbox Live Arcade. Niantic This aesthetic. Fortunately MLB itself had the same thought, and The Show will be coming to Xbox and Switch in 2021 or 2022.Many tried to crack the hero shooter over the past 10 years, but it took Blizzard to take these seeds ideas and grow something truly special in Overwatch.It's a dizzying amalgam of unique character design, stunningly realised style and compellingly dynamic gameplay that has never stopped being ludicrously fun. It's the best game of the decade. And an eye-patch.

Ultimate to solidify the franchise’s status as the definitive, all-encompassing, industry-wide celebration of video games with just three little words: “Everyone Is Here.”Ultimate brought together every single character who had ever appeared in a Smash Bros. game before and then some, connecting iconic greats like Solid Snake, Sonic, and Banjo Kazooie under one roof to beat the crap out of each other - with or without items. But, even as the term falls into disuse, Kentucky Route Zero's achievements in visual arts and writing continues to withstand any and all cynical generalizations about indie games.Even dedicated indie gamers scoffed at the notion that paperwork could be made into a thrilling game, but that's just what Lucas Pope did with Papers, Please. But out of that darkness rose MLB The Show, which has spent the better part of this decade as an elite simulation recreation of America's pastime.Ever-impressive graphics, fantastic player animations, and rock-solid pitching, batting, and fielding engines make for the total package. For more, see What started as a Kickstarter-funded pixel art action platforming game starring a knight with a shovel went on to become one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable franchises of the decade. The story and world are far more rich and detailed.Not only is the overall scope of Portal 2 much broader, it even throws in a fiendishly difficult co-op mode. For more, see Mass Effect 2 is one of the best role-playing, cinematic, story, and character-driven experiences of the last decade.

In some ways, the open-world genre is a homogeneous mess that sucks the joy out of adventuring. Final Fantasy 14 spent this decade in a state of rebirth. Hollow Knight takes the structure of Super Metroid and combines it with the atmosphere and world building of Dark Souls. It’s hard to succinctly describe how impressive a game Grand Theft Auto V is, but what’s truly amazing is that in addition to all this, it still managed to be a really fun video game.Kentucky Route Zero is a great American novel, just in video game form. The way you choose to go about your adventure doesn’t change the destinations, but the outcome of the story and monster encounters vary greatly. Sony Beautiful in general. The end result: In some ways, Breath of the Wild is lean, but it's all the better for it. You won't forget this story.

For more, see Though Five Nights at Freddy’s is mostly known today as a cult phenomenon that helped launch a million YouTube careers, the first game remains a tightly-wound little horror machine, able to evoke scares through simple, brutally effective mechanics. That it was released in 2011 and still hasn't been surpassed in its genre here at the end of the decade should give you a good idea of how high it set the bar. A living, breathing snow globe of a universe hiding a strange mystery. Shovel Knight wears its inspiration of classic NES games on its sleeve - everything from Mega Man to Duck Tales and Zelda made its way into Shovel Knight’s DNA in some way.