Choosing the best video games of 2022 is a little like choosing the best snack at a party where someone brought pizza, sushi, nachos, and one mysterious dip that somehow becomes everyone’s personality for three weeks. It was a crowded, strange, surprisingly emotional year for gaming. Blockbuster studios delivered massive adventures, indie developers stole hearts with cats, foxes, cult-leading lambs, and spacefaring workers, and one tiny auto-shooter proved that sometimes all you need is a garlic aura, a timer, and the will to survive.
The year belonged to variety. Elden Ring turned open-world design into a communal treasure hunt. God of War Ragnarök reminded players that axe-throwing can coexist with tender parenting. Vampire Survivors transformed five-dollar chaos into a global obsession. Immortality, Tunic, Citizen Sleeper, Stray, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Horizon Forbidden West all made strong arguments for why “Game of the Year” should probably be a group project.
This guide looks back at the best video games 2022 gave us, not only by awards and critical praise but by lasting impact, originality, replay value, accessibility, and how loudly players told their friends, “No, seriously, you have to try this.”
Why 2022 Was Such a Memorable Year for Games
After several years of delays, production shifts, and hardware shortages, 2022 felt like a release valve for the gaming industry. Major titles finally arrived, while smaller games filled the calendar with bold ideas. It was a year where a massive fantasy RPG and a minimalist indie survival game could both dominate conversations. That is not normal. That is gaming doing jazz.
The best games of 2022 shared one important quality: confidence. They knew exactly what they wanted to be. Elden Ring trusted players to wander into danger without a glowing arrow explaining every blade of grass. God of War Ragnarök leaned into cinematic storytelling without forgetting the joy of smashing monsters into decorative pottery. Vampire Survivors asked, “What if leveling up happened every six seconds?” and then answered, “Great, now do that for 40 hours.”
Players also embraced a wide range of genres: open-world RPGs, narrative mysteries, action-adventures, platformers, strategy games, horror, roguelites, mobile card battlers, and cozy-but-suspiciously-deadly indies. In other words, 2022 was not a one-flavor year. It was the buffet, and everyone went back for seconds.
The Best Video Games of 2022
1. Elden Ring
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
Elden Ring was the towering achievement of 2022, a game so enormous that “I found a weird cave” became a full evening plan. FromSoftware took the punishing combat and cryptic storytelling of its Soulsborne legacy and expanded it into the Lands Between, an open world full of ruined castles, underground cities, terrifying bosses, and birds that clearly had unresolved anger issues.
What made Elden Ring special was not simply its size. Many open-world games are big; some are big in the way a warehouse is big. Elden Ring felt dense, mysterious, and alive with secrets. A suspicious elevator might lead to a forgotten kingdom. A harmless-looking chest might teleport you into a nightmare. A distant tree, tower, or dragon was not just scenery; it was a dare.
The game also became a social event. Players swapped discoveries, builds, boss strategies, and tragic stories about losing runes in ways that should qualify for emotional damages. It won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2022 and remains one of the defining action RPGs of the modern era.
2. God of War Ragnarök
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
God of War Ragnarök had the unenviable job of following one of the most beloved PlayStation games ever made. Instead of shrinking under the pressure, it picked up the Leviathan Axe, looked destiny in the eye, and said, “We are doing family therapy with boss fights.”
Santa Monica Studio expanded the Norse saga of Kratos and Atreus with bigger realms, more characters, sharper combat, and a story about fate, parenting, grief, anger, and letting people become who they are. Christopher Judge’s performance as Kratos gave the character a wounded warmth beneath all the mythological muscle. Atreus, meanwhile, grew from curious boy into complicated teenager, which may be scarier than any god in the Nine Realms.
The combat remained crunchy, stylish, and deeply satisfying. Every axe recall still felt like catching lightning with your hand. Every boss encounter carried cinematic weight. While Elden Ring represented freedom and discovery, God of War Ragnarök represented craftsmanship and emotional polish. It was one of the best story-driven video games of 2022 and a must-play for anyone with a PlayStation console.
3. Vampire Survivors
Platforms: PC, Xbox, mobile; later expanded to more platforms
Vampire Survivors looked like a tiny arcade throwback and played like someone had weaponized popcorn. The premise was almost absurdly simple: move your character around, survive waves of monsters, collect gems, upgrade weapons, and try not to become a snack. You do not aim. Your weapons fire automatically. Your job is movement, positioning, and making increasingly questionable upgrade decisions.
Then, somehow, thirty minutes vanish. Then another thirty. Then you are explaining weapon evolutions to someone at dinner while they slowly realize you have joined a garlic-based religion.
Its brilliance came from pacing. Vampire Survivors understood reward loops with frightening precision. Every level-up offered a tiny thrill. Every unlock teased another run. Every screen-filling explosion of enemies made you feel both powerful and one bad step away from disaster. It was one of the best indie games of 2022 because it proved that innovation does not always require photorealistic pores. Sometimes it just requires perfect timing and a swarm of skeletons.
4. Immortality
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, mobile
Immortality was less a traditional game and more a haunted film archive with a controller attached. Created by Sam Barlow and Half Mermaid, it asked players to investigate the disappearance of fictional actress Marissa Marcel by scrubbing through clips from three unreleased movies. The interface was simple: watch, pause, click on an object or face, and jump to another related clip.
That simplicity hid something extraordinary. Immortality became a layered mystery about performance, identity, cinema, obsession, and the strange power of looking too closely. It rewarded curiosity instead of reflexes. The more players searched, the more unsettling the story became.
In a year filled with swords, gods, and monsters, Immortality stood out by trusting silence, editing, and human faces. It was one of the best narrative games of 2022 and a strong reminder that games can borrow from film without becoming passive. Here, watching was playing.
5. Tunic
Platforms: Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation
Tunic looked adorable at first glance. A small fox in a green tunic explores a colorful world inspired by classic adventure games. Cute, right? Surely nothing terrible will happen. Then the game hands you a sword, hides half its rules, and lets you discover that this charming little fox quest has teeth.
The magic of Tunic was its in-game manual. Players collected pages that looked like an old-school instruction booklet, filled with maps, diagrams, strange language, and hints. The result was a rare sense of discovery. You were not just exploring the world; you were learning how to read the game itself.
It blended Zelda-like exploration with Souls-like caution and puzzle-box design. Secrets hid in plain sight. Shortcuts folded the world back on itself. That little fox carried one of the smartest adventure games of the year on its tiny heroic shoulders.
6. Stray
Platforms: PlayStation, PC; later expanded to Xbox
Stray won attention immediately because, yes, you play as a cat. Not a cat-person, not a magical warrior with cat ears, not a mascot with sneakers. A cat. A regular orange cat wandering through a decaying cyberpunk city full of robots, neon lights, strange creatures, and conveniently placed shelves.
But Stray was more than internet catnip. Its world was melancholy and beautifully designed. The animations captured feline movement with impressive care, from casual stretching to the sacred art of knocking objects off ledges because gravity needs supervision. The adventure was short, focused, and atmospheric, making it one of the most accessible and memorable games of 2022.
It also understood something important: novelty opens the door, but mood keeps players inside. Stray had both. It was charming, lonely, occasionally tense, and surprisingly emotional for a game where one of the best features was a dedicated meow button.
7. Horizon Forbidden West
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Horizon Forbidden West gave Aloy a bigger, richer, and more visually dazzling world to explore. Guerrilla Games improved nearly every part of the original formula: traversal, combat, side quests, character animation, and environmental detail. If you wanted to fight robot dinosaurs in landscapes so pretty they made your screenshot folder beg for mercy, this was your game.
The sequel’s strength was abundance. There were underwater ruins, desert tribes, lush forests, snowy peaks, massive machines, and emotional character moments. The combat remained tactical and satisfying, especially when players used traps, elemental weaknesses, and precision shots to dismantle towering mechanical beasts piece by piece.
It had the misfortune of launching close to Elden Ring, which swallowed gaming discourse like a dragon eating a cheese cube. But taken on its own, Horizon Forbidden West was one of the most polished open-world action games of 2022 and a technical showcase for PlayStation hardware.
8. Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Kirby and the Forgotten Land was pure joy with suspicious post-apocalyptic scenery. Nintendo’s pink puffball finally entered a full 3D platforming adventure, and the result was one of the most delightful Switch games of 2022.
The star attraction was Mouthful Mode, in which Kirby stretched around objects like cars, vending machines, traffic cones, and other items that definitely did not consent to becoming fashion. It was silly, inventive, and instantly readable. More importantly, it supported clever level design rather than existing as a gimmick.
The game balanced accessibility with depth. Younger players could enjoy the colorful worlds and friendly pacing, while completionists could chase secrets, rescue Waddle Dees, and tackle tougher challenges. In a year full of grim gods and cursed lands, Kirby reminded everyone that sometimes the best game is the one that makes you smile like an unsupervised child near a cake display.
9. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 delivered a massive Japanese RPG full of emotional stakes, giant landscapes, philosophical questions, and enough systems to make menu lovers weep with gratitude. It told a story about soldiers trapped in a cycle of conflict, forced to question the purpose of their short lives and the powers controlling them.
The game’s combat combined real-time positioning, party roles, class changes, and spectacular special moves. Its world felt enormous, even on Switch hardware, and its characters gave the story a strong emotional center. For fans of deep RPGs, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was one of the best video games of 2022 because it offered scale without losing sincerity.
It was not a small commitment. This is the kind of game that looks at your free time, smiles politely, and moves in permanently. But for players who wanted a sweeping adventure with big ideas and big feelings, it delivered.
10. Citizen Sleeper
Platforms: PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch; later expanded to PlayStation
Citizen Sleeper was one of 2022’s most thoughtful indie RPGs. Set on a space station called Erlin’s Eye, it placed players in the role of a synthetic worker trying to survive after escaping corporate ownership. Instead of flashy battles, the game focused on dice-based decisions, relationships, labor, community, and the pressure of limited resources.
Each cycle, players assigned dice to actions: work, investigate, repair, help, survive. The simple structure created constant tension. Do you earn money, help a friend, pursue a lead, or secure medicine for your failing body? There were no easy answers, only meaningful trade-offs.
Citizen Sleeper stood out because it made survival feel personal. Its writing was sharp, humane, and politically aware without becoming a lecture. It was one of the best RPGs of 2022 for players who like stories about people living on the edge of systems that do not care whether they make rent.
Honorable Mentions from 2022
Neon White
Neon White mixed speedrunning, first-person shooting, card mechanics, and anime attitude into one of the fastest and strangest games of the year. It was built for players who hear “try shaving 0.3 seconds off your time” and respond, “Cancel my evening.”
Marvel Snap
Marvel Snap made digital card battles quick, clever, and dangerously snackable. Its short matches, lane-based strategy, and snap mechanic gave mobile gaming one of its sharpest competitive hits of 2022.
Norco
Norco delivered a surreal Southern Gothic adventure full of industrial decay, family mystery, religious unease, and unforgettable writing. It was strange in the best possible way.
Pentiment
Pentiment turned medieval manuscripts, religious politics, murder, and typography into a brilliant narrative mystery. It was proof that Obsidian could make a game about history feel intimate, funny, and quietly devastating.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Legends: Arceus refreshed the Pokémon formula with open-zone exploration, direct creature encounters, and a stronger sense of discovery. It was rough around the edges, but it felt like a meaningful experiment for the series.
What Made the Best Games of 2022 Stand Out?
Exploration Became More Personal
Many of the best video games 2022 produced trusted players to find their own stories. Elden Ring, Tunic, Horizon Forbidden West, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus all encouraged curiosity. The difference was in tone: one game might reward you with a hidden shrine, another with a boss who folds you like laundry.
Indie Games Competed with Blockbusters
2022 was not only about big budgets. Vampire Survivors, Citizen Sleeper, Norco, Neon White, Tunic, and Immortality proved that smaller teams could produce some of the year’s most memorable experiences. These games did not try to outspend AAA studios; they outmaneuvered them with focus, style, and risk-taking.
Storytelling Took Many Forms
God of War Ragnarök told a grand cinematic story. Immortality asked players to assemble meaning from film fragments. Citizen Sleeper built emotion through routine and scarcity. Pentiment used historical detail and conversation choices. The result was a year that expanded what “best narrative game” could mean.
Best Video Games 2022 by Player Type
Best for Open-World Fans: Elden Ring
If you want freedom, mystery, challenge, and the occasional giant hand trying to ruin your afternoon, Elden Ring is the essential 2022 pick.
Best for Story Lovers: God of War Ragnarök
If you want emotional performances, cinematic set pieces, and combat that feels like mythological percussion, choose God of War Ragnarök.
Best for Quick Sessions: Vampire Survivors
If you have “only ten minutes,” congratulations, you have enough time to start Vampire Survivors and accidentally play until midnight.
Best for Mystery Fans: Immortality
If you enjoy piecing together stories and noticing details hidden in plain sight, Immortality is one of 2022’s most original experiences.
Best for Nintendo Switch Owners: Kirby and the Forgotten Land
For charm, polish, co-op fun, and pure platforming joy, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a standout Switch title.
Best for RPG Fans: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
If you want a long, emotional RPG with complex combat and huge landscapes, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a feast.
Personal Experiences with the Best Video Games 2022
Looking back at the best video games 2022 offered, what stands out most is how different each experience felt in actual play. Some years have a clear mood, but 2022 was more like a playlist with no shuffle discipline. One night could be spent creeping through a poison swamp in Elden Ring, questioning every life choice. The next could involve guiding Kirby through a sunny level while he becomes a car, which is not a sentence anyone expected to write with complete seriousness.
Elden Ring created the strongest sense of shared discovery. Part of the fun was not just playing it, but talking about it. Everyone had a story: the boss they beat on the first try, the boss that humbled them for three evenings, the hidden area they found by accident, or the NPC quest they absolutely ruined because the game did not believe in babysitting. It made players feel like explorers, not checklist managers. Even failure became entertainment. Losing to a dragon was annoying; telling the story afterward was priceless.
God of War Ragnarök, by contrast, felt like sitting down for a premium television season where every episode also lets you throw an axe through a monster’s face. Its emotional rhythm was impressive. The quieter conversations between Kratos and Atreus often mattered as much as the huge battles. The game understood that maturity is not about making Kratos less powerful; it is about making restraint feel powerful too. That emotional weight helped the adventure stay memorable long after the credits.
Then there was Vampire Survivors, the tiny game that behaved like a time thief in a Halloween costume. It was perfect for players who wanted instant fun without tutorials longer than a tax form. The joy came from escalation. At first, you are dodging bats with the confidence of a nervous intern. Twenty minutes later, your screen is a fireworks factory, your weapons are evolved, and you are convinced you understand the universe. Then death arrives anyway, usually wearing a cape. Naturally, you start another run.
Tunic offered a different kind of satisfaction: the pleasure of understanding. It recreated the feeling of being a kid with an instruction manual, except the manual was fragmented, cryptic, and possibly smarter than you. Discovering what a symbol meant or realizing that a familiar area hid a secret path produced a special kind of joy. It was not loud; it was clever. The game trusted players to be patient, and that trust made every discovery feel earned.
Stray succeeded because it gave players a perspective that felt fresh immediately. Moving through a cyberpunk city as a cat changed how spaces felt. Pipes, rooftops, shelves, and tiny gaps became natural paths. The meow button was funny, of course, but the world itself had sadness and texture. That mix of novelty and atmosphere made it more than a meme-friendly adventure.
Horizon Forbidden West was the comfort-food blockbuster of the year: polished, gorgeous, generous, and full of robot dinosaurs waiting to be dismantled with extreme technical prejudice. It was easy to appreciate the craft in every environment and machine design. Meanwhile, Citizen Sleeper and Immortality showed how games could create tension without traditional combat. One made every dice roll feel like survival. The other made every clip feel like a clue you were almost afraid to understand.
That is why 2022 remains such a strong gaming year. It had prestige, weirdness, beauty, challenge, comfort, experimentation, and a surprising number of animals doing award-worthy work. Whether you wanted a hundred-hour adventure or a thirty-minute run, the best video games of 2022 had something worth remembering.
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Best Video Games 2022
The best video games 2022 produced did not all succeed for the same reason. Elden Ring became a landmark because it made open-world exploration feel dangerous and mysterious again. God of War Ragnarök succeeded through emotional storytelling and blockbuster precision. Vampire Survivors proved that a small idea, perfectly tuned, can become enormous. Immortality, Tunic, Citizen Sleeper, Stray, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Horizon Forbidden West each added their own flavor to a year that refused to be boring.
If 2022 taught players anything, it is that greatness in games can look like many things: a golden open world, a father and son at the end of prophecy, a fox with a manual, a cat in a neon alley, a worker surviving in space, or a tiny hero surrounded by thousands of monsters and just enough garlic to keep hope alive.
