Live ranking

The full ranking.

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

16 games Reset

  1. 1 Ghouls 'n Ghosts 1988 · Platformer 1,614
  2. 2 Marble Madness 1984 · Puzzle 1,563
  3. 3 Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers 1993 · Fighting 1,561
  4. 4 Battle Chess 1988 · Card & Board 1,513
  5. 5 SimCity 1989 · Sandbox 1,498
  6. 6 OutRun 1986 · Racing 1,483
  7. 7 Populous 1989 · Strategy 1,482
  8. 8 Columns 1990 · Puzzle 1,468
  9. 9 Strider 1989 · Platformer 1,462
  10. 10 Street Fighter II: Champion Edition 1992 · Fighting 1,461
  11. 11 Final Fight 1989 · Beat 'em up 1,445
  12. 12 R-Type 1987 · Shoot 'em up 1,439
  13. 13 Super Hang-On 1987 · Racing 1,436
  14. 14 Salamander 1986 · Shoot 'em up 1,420
  15. 15 Fatal Fury Special 1993 · Fighting 1,418
  16. 16 Gradius 1985 · Shoot 'em up 1,407

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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.