Ars Technicas best video games of 2022

You probably know our top pick — Ars Technicas best video games of 2022 A dearth of big-budget blockbusters couldn’t hold back the year in games.

Kyle Orland – Dec 29, 2022 11:45 am UTC EnlargeCollage by Aurich Lawson reader comments 91 with 0 posters participating Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Before we get on to the list, don’t miss this year’s Ars Technica Charity Drive sweepstakes. You can win part of nearly $2,000 in prizes, including limited-edition gaming collectibles, all while helping out a good cause. Entries are due by January 3, 2023, and there’s no purchase necessary. Thanks in advance for your entry!

2022 was a bit of a weird year for video games. For a start, quite possibly the most anticipated game of the year came out in March, well ahead of the usual holiday season rush of releases. But that holiday rush was itself muted this year, thanks to delays of big-name franchises from Diablo to Starfield to The Legend of Zelda.

That’s led some commentators to call 2022 a “slow year” for a games industry still recovering from the development chaos of COVID. And it’s true; we did have some collective trouble getting to our usual selection of 20 games for this year’s best games list, a possible sign that there were fewer “obvious” picks than usual.

Looking over the selections that did make the 2022 list, though, it’s hard to feel like the collective industry has let us down in any way. The relative lack of big-budget blockbusters allowed plenty of independent games a chance to shine, including those that made this list on the strength of brave new ideas in gameplay or storytelling. All told, the games listed below will stick with us for a long time and speak highly of the game industry’s continuing creativity and resilience.

This year we chose to list our gaming picks in alphabetical order, with a single “Game of the Year” pick at the end. Here they are. Atari 50: the Anniversary Celebration

Digital Eclipse; Windows, Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series, Atari VCS

Further ReadingTheres a new Atari arcade game, and I cant put it downIts rare for a compilation of retro games to be considered for Ars annual Game of the Year list. Its unprecedented for such a game to actually win one of our coveted spots. But Atari 50 does a couple of crucial things to separate itself from the countless classic game emulation collections that have proliferated over the years. Enlarge / A fast-paced take on Atari’s Lunar Lander, as seen in Vctr Sctr.

The first is an intense focus on supplementary materials. Atari 50 is packed with video interviews, design documents, contemporaneous advertisements, trivia, quotes, and more. It all gives crucial context to Ataris 50-year history, and makes even the least playable games in the collection more interesting from a historical perspective. The timeline presentation is also top-notch, making the entire product feel more like an interactive museum than a simple collection of old titles. Advertisement

Atari 50 also shines in its half-dozen reimagined versions of a few Atari classics. These feature updated graphics, sound, and gameplay that takes advantage of decades of advances in game design and technology, giving old concepts fresh life for a new audience. While these offerings arent all winners, the addictive action of Vctr Sctr alone is enough to warm the heart of any old-school arcade game fan.

-Kyle Orland Cult of the Lamb

Massive Monster; Windows, Mac, Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series

Further ReadingCult of the Lamb hands-on: Animal Crossing meets the dark artsHere’s a weird statement: There aren’t enough cult simulators out there. There are, however, plenty of roguelites. Cult of the Lamb is both, and while it’s a good roguelite, it’s the cult simulator part of the package that made it stand out this year. Enlarge / You know the boss-battling drillavoid ranged and melee attacks while countering with your own. So far, the demonic beasts we’ve battled in Cult of the Lamb strike a solid balance between hand-drawn frames of animation and stretchy vector effects.Devolver

The combat portions of the game play like a more forgiving and accessible cousin to the indie classic Binding of Isaac. The dodge-and-slash action on offer here is tight though nothing too original. But you’ll spend at least as much time in a town-building loop in which you’ll produce and harvest resources, perform favor quests for townspeople, and manage your cult’s general happiness and productivityall while delivering sermons, silencing heretics, and performing anthropomorphic animal sacrifices.

There are dashes of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and even Peter Molyneux’s Black and White in here. It’s all quite fun, but the cartoonish vision of running a cult in a world of Lovecraftian horrors is what really sells the game.

The art is top-notch, the music will get stuck in your head (in a good way), and the progression systems are just the right amount of addictive. Cult of the Lamb doesn’t reinvent a single wheel, but it’s a delicious cocktail of some of the best indie gaming has had to offer over the past few yearswhether we’re talking about roguelite dungeon crawlers or the cozy game phenomenon.

In other words, it’s a “greatest hits” of popular indie game mechanics with a hilarious and original theme. As such, it’s worthy of your devotion.

-Samuel Axon Dwarf Fortress

Bay 12 Games; Windows

Further ReadingDwarf Fortress graphical upgrade provides a new way into a wildly wonky gameThe version of Dwarf Fortress that has existed for the last 16 years has been, well, off-putting. The default graphics were colored ASCII characters; onboarding relied on wikis and painful trial-and-error; and the inherent difficulty was also the game’s rallying cry: “Losing is fun.” Enlarge / The optional tutorial prompt that appears when starting Dwarf Fortress’ Steam edition. A mineral-rich region of this world could be yours.Bay 12 Games / Steam

Still, Dwarf Fortress’ unmatched complexity and epic storytelling potential gave it a devoted following and kept the game funded with donationsbut barely. That makes the game’s modern-day “debutwith 16-bit-style graphics, a wonderful soundtrack, tutorials, and optimized shortcutssomething of an invitation to newcomers. It’s also a chance for longtime fans to show their love for Zach and Tarn Adams, the brothers who have kept this crazy simulation running without ever actively selling the game. Advertisement

The new, commercial version of Dwarf Fortress released this year is much easier to dig than the old version. Now, after your first few attempts at the game, you’re more likely to be left with a question like, “How do you find an encampment with sand that also has enough minerals?” rather than “What was that red Turkish-looking symbol and how did it kill my hunter?”

Yet despite the spit-shine, the tremendously deep systems and procedurally-generated mythical chaos are all still here, just with more reasonable ways of accessing and understanding them. (Which leads to another potential question: “Why does that cat get morose when it thinks about tables?”) This new version of Dwarf Fortress only adds to the charm of this already-impressive work and will hopefully bring the game to a wider audience that can better sustain it. Well all be better for it.

-Kevin Purdy God of War: Ragnarok

Sony Santa Monica Studio; PS4/5

Further ReadingGod of War Ragnark review: A scattered but strong sequelAfter four years, Ragnarok could have just provided more of the Dad of Boy-style God of War that we remembered and loved back in 2018. That game probably would have been in contention for a spot on this list. Enlarge / Kratos, looking over his soon-to-be-bloody domain in God of Wa: Ragnarok.Sony

And yes, at its core, much of the gameplay and many of the environments in this sequel will feel familiar to fans of its predecessor. Thats not a bad thing; Ragnaroks combat systems are as deep as ever, to the point that major new fighting options were being introduced nearly 20 hours into my playthrough.

But Ragnaork also stands on its own, thanks in no small part to its supporting characters. The Norse pantheon implied by the games title ably steals the show, trading subtle barbs and mythological drama throughout some delightful, scenery-chewing performances. While the relationship between Kratos and his pre-teen son Atreus doesnt quite tug on the heartstrings this time around, there are enough intriguing side stories to cover up this relative deficiency.

The sequel does a good job with its varied pacing, too, switching to the nimble, bow-equipped Atreus or to extended puzzle-solving sections before Kratos standard axe-and-chain-swinging gameplay can feel too tiresome. And the wonderfully ornate environments shine through, especially on the PlayStation 5, practically begging you to explore every corner for plenty of hidden paths and storylines. Touches like that help push this sequel onto our list, even if it doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor.

-Kyle Orland Page: 1 2 3 Next → reader comments 91 with 0 posters participating Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Kyle Orland Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Email kyle.orland@arstechnica.com // Twitter @KyleOrl Advertisement Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Next story → Related Stories Today on Ars