Thanks for this question! I’m looking for many different nominees per person, not just the single best game of the year. There’s some more detail in the opening post. Personally, I list any game I give an 8/10 or higher.

The vision of this thread is to crowdsource a list of the most impactful games of 2026, to hopefully inspire members to try games outside their periphery or comfort zone. Ideally, when it’s time to vote for GOTY later this year, members will have a large pool of experiences to draw upon.

Thanks for being a part of it!

So far Resident Evil Requiem is the strongest actual awards candidate, Mina the Hollower is my current GOTY, I really hope it gets a nomination. Haven't played Nioh 3 but it surely will be one of my favorite games this year.

I don't think Pragmata or Saros will make it to the 6 nominees at TGA. Forza Horizon 6 has the score to be nominated but I can't see a racing game taking one of the spots there.

Speculating on unreleased games, Marvel Tokon will also deserve it based on everything I saw and the beta I played, but a 2D fighting game will hardly ever get one of those spots. Ace Combat 8 also looks absolutely amazing and I'm sure I'll love it, but again, no way a game like that gets one of the 6 spots.

For unrealeased games that can make into the TGA 6 spots, I think Wolverine and Ocarina of Time remake will be there. GTA VI has it locked and very likely will be the winner too.

But for me personally, from the games released so far, from which many I haven't still played but I'm likely to love when I do, the list would be:

- Mina the Hollower
- Saros
- Nioh 3 (haven't played)
- Resident Evil Requiem (haven't played)
- Pragmata (haven't played)
- Forza Horizon 6 (haven't played)