Live ranking

The full ranking.

The best games of all time, ranked by community votes. Filter by genre, decade, platform or period.

59 games Reset

  1. 1 Spy Hunter 1983 · Racing 1,604
  2. 2 Golden Axe 1989 · Beat 'em up 1,584
  3. 3 Paperboy 1984 · Arcade 1,560
  4. 4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 · Beat 'em up 1,553
  5. 5 Commando 1985 · Shoot 'em up 1,543
  6. 6 Ghostbusters 1984 · Arcade 1,516
  7. 7 Battle Chess 1988 · Card & Board 1,513
  8. 8 Alien Storm 1990 · Beat 'em up 1,504
  9. 9 Spy vs Spy 1984 · Strategy 1,504
  10. 10 Archon 1983 · Strategy 1,502
  11. 11 SimCity 1989 · Sandbox 1,498
  12. 12 Test Drive 1987 · Racing 1,480
  13. 13 Defender of the Crown 1986 · Strategy 1,478
  14. 14 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? 1985 · Puzzle 1,477
  15. 15 Winter Games 1985 · Sports 1,476
  16. 16 Karateka 1984 · Fighting 1,469
  17. 17 Ghosts 'n Goblins 1985 · Platformer 1,468
  18. 18 Maniac Mansion 1987 · Point-and-click 1,465
  19. 19 Shinobi 1987 · Beat 'em up 1,464
  20. 20 California Games 1987 · Sports 1,463
  21. 21 Strider 1989 · Platformer 1,462
  22. 22 Ms. Pac-Man 1982 · Arcade 1,460
  23. 23 Operation Wolf 1987 · Arcade 1,457
  24. 24 Sid Meier's Pirates! 1987 · Action RPG 1,456
  25. 25 Yie Ar Kung-Fu 1984 · Fighting 1,455

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FAQ

Questions about the ranking

How is this ranking established?

The ranking comes solely from player votes, in duels between two games. Each vote updates an ELO score, the rating system used in chess: every game starts at 1,500 points and its score moves duel after duel.

How often is the ranking updated?

Continuously: every duel voted immediately adjusts the score of the two games involved. The badge on the right shows how each game's rank moved over the past seven days.

How many games take part in the ranking?

5,000 games, selected for their fame, face off in duels. The full GameForever catalogue covers tens of thousands of titles, across every era and platform.

How can I see the best games by genre, decade or platform?

Use the filters at the top of the page: genre (RPG, FPS, platformer, strategy...), decade and platform (PC, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, SEGA). Filters combine, and the selection is numbered from 1, from the highest ranked down; each game's world rank stays shown on its own entry. The period filter instead ranks on the points gained recently, from 7 days to 12 months (all time by default).

Why can an indie game finish ahead of a blockbuster?

The ELO score measures neither sales nor budget, but the preferences expressed in duels. An indie game that regularly wins its match-ups against higher-ranked titles climbs mechanically, owing nothing to its production budget.