Kotaku’s Overall Game Of The Year — The Results Are In!


Two weeks ago we asked for nominations, A week ago we asked you to vote. Now, we’re revealing the winners. [Begins drum roll…]

Reader’s Choice


And the winner is… The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Surprise!

Like you didn’t see this one coming. It’s almost disappointing to see the same game take out all the awards. Last year we had variety with the Battle Royale between Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2. This year, despite the fact it was one of best ever for gaming, it all seemed so unbalanced. Other games just didn’t have a chance!

Perhaps if Portal 2 had been released closer to the end of the year, it might have been in the hearts and minds of enough folks to topple Skyrim, maybe not. For now it’ll just have settle for second place! Congrats to both!

Winner: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Runner Up: Portal 2

Editor’s Choice


Mark: It’s bloody Skyrim, alright! The game of the year is Skyrim! I still haven’t played Zelda yet, which is weighing heavily on my heart because usually console Zeldas sit atop my game of the year whenever they’re released. I’m almost 100% sure that game will be as close as dammit to toppling Skyrim, personally, but for now I simply can’t make that judgement, and I don’t have the time to play both without neglecting the other. Yep, nerd world problems.

I’ve chosen Portal 2 as my runner up, simply because it felt like a seamlessly designed, well paced, perfect expansion of the core mechanics from the original. More of the same would have been enough for Portal 2, but it wasn’t enough for Valve, who encapsulated the game in an interesting narrative and somehow managed to grow the core of it without tainting the purity of the original experience. Portal 2 was a delicate balancing act pulled off near perfectly. And the co-op, sweet lord the co-op.

I’d like to also give an honorable mention to Batman: Arkham City, a game with one of the best final acts in recent memory. The pacing propelled me towards the last three or four hours at the speed light — and the combat? The best compliment I can give Batman: Arkham City is that, after playing Batman: Arkham City, the combat in the every other game I’ve played subsequently — Uncharted 3, Assassin’s Creed Revelations — felt archaic.

Amazing games, amazing year.

Winner: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Runner Up: Portal 2


Tracey: I’m not deliberately going against the grain here. If I wanted to be some kind of hipster gamer perhaps I would say that my game of the year is actually still in design document form and no one has heard of it yet. I am not a hipster, and I can only choose the game that has had the greatest impact on me this year — one that I continue to think about long after the computer has been turned off and the gentle music has stopped playing. My pick goes to To The Moon. I explained my love for it yesterday, and I’ll reiterate today: To The Moon is a reminder of the power of video games and a reason to care.

A special mention goes to Batman: Arkham City, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles.

Winner: To The Moon
Runner Up: Ziggurat for iOS
(yet to be released (however, it has been developed beyond the game design document stage (OK, maybe I am just a little bit of a hipster *dons flannel shirt*)))


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