The best games of 2023, picked by the NPR staff

By James Perkins Mastromarino

Published July 21, 2023 at 11:40 AM EDT

Updated December 4, 2023 at 5:25 AM ET

2023 has been the in recent memory. broke , alongside blockbusters like , , , , , , , , and .

It's also been a tumultuous year for the people who make games. SAG-AFTRA union actors against the industry's largest companies. Microsoft closed the deal to buy for $69 billion 鈥� . And as the year wound down, more than 6,000 game developers amid a wave of layoffs.

Throughout it all, NPR staff and contributors scrambled to review the year's unrelenting release schedule. Packed with modern spectacles, far-flung indies and revitalized classics, there's on this list.

Click through for from the NPR Network.

James Perkins Mastromarino

James Perkins Mastromarino is Here & Now's Washington, D.C.-based producer. He works with NPR's newsroom on a daily whirlwind of topics that range from Congress to TV dramas to outer space. Mastromarino also edits NPR's Join the Game and reports on gaming for daily shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

开云体育

The best games of 2023, picked by the NPR staff