250 DEFINING VIDEO GAMES OF THE 2010'S

(By Matthew Werner)

The 2010's sucked, just as every decade has. That said, it takes a slight bit of the sting away to celebrate some of the great achievements we've seen in the arts. This time, I'd like to give a spotlight to 250 of the most defining video games we saw last decade. I'll be focusing on other mediums occasionally, as I find the time and inspiration to.

A few things to take note of: this is NOT a list of my most favorite games from the 2010's. This is a list of the games that I think will be remembered, for how they influence works in the 2020's. That does not mean I even like the games personally. These games could be definitive for how innovative they are, or how they standardize matters, or how they unearth new and shitty ways for publishers to over-monetize everything they release, or for how they keep "dead" genres alive. Oh, and this is in no particular order.

1. Shovel Knight
2. Dead Cells
3. Stardew Valley
4. Overwatch
5. Monster Prom
6. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
7. Hollow Knight
8. Little Nightmares
9. SUPERHOT
10. Hyper Light Drifter
11. Furi
12. Dark Souls / Dark Souls II / Dark Souls III
13. Bloodborne
14. Jenny LeClue: Detectivú
15. Darkest Dungeon
16. A Hat in Time
17. SpeedRunners
18. Dropsy
19. The Binding of Isaac
20. *Oxygen Not Included
21. Monolith
22. Nuclear Throne
23. Town of Salem
24. Enter the Gungeon
25. This War of Mine
26. Oxenfree
27. The Escapists / The Escapists 2
28. Transistor
29. DARQ
30. Her Story
31. Ashen
32. Blasphemous
33. Downwell
34. CrossCode
35. The Surge 2
36. Gris
37. Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
38. The Sexy Brutale
39. Undertale
40. Pyre 
41. Trine / Trine 2 / Trine 3 / Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
42. Volume
43. Ghost of a Tale
44. The King's Bird
45. Red Alliance
46. FTL
47. Dust: An Elysian Tale
48. Aragami
49. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
50. NOT A HERO
51. Immortal: Unchained
52. Mostly Intense Monster Defense
53. Frostpunk
54. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 
55. Jotun
56. Sundered
57. Ori and the Blind Forest
58. Pit People
59. Thumper
60. Frozen Synapse / Frozen Synapse 2
61. Kine
62. Cat Quest / Cat Quest II
63. The Messenger
64. Flinthook
65. Overload
66. Crawl
67. Mario Odyssey
68. 198X
69. Voidrun
70. Cut the Rope
71. Telling Lies
72. Nex Machina
73. Moonrise Fall
74. Blood Will Be Spilled
75. Hearthstone
76. Void Bastards
77. A Plague Tale: Innocence
78. Owlboy
79. Streets of Rogue
80. Crashlands / Levelhead
81. The Stanley Parable
82. Asura 
83. Barotrauma
84. Pizza Titan Ultra
85. My Friend Pedro
86. Yaga
87. A Way Out
88. Guacamelee! / Guacamelee! 2
89. Bastion
90. Diablo III
91. Papers, Please
92. Sonic: Mania
93. Book of Demons
94. Fortnite
95. Dex
96. Axiom Verge
97. LIMBO
98. INSIDE
99. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
100. Songbird Symphony
101. Dusk
102. Thomas Was Alone
103. SOMA
104. Invisible, Inc.
105. Felix, the Reaper
106. Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure
107. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword / The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds / The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild / The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019) / Hyrule Warriors / Cadence of Hyrule
108. Spider-Man (2019)
109. Renowned Explorers
110. HELLDIVERS
111. Control
112. REDOUT
113. Total Party Kill
114. Road Redemption
115. Heartbound
116. Long Gone Days
117. AMID EVIL
118. Cuphead
119. God of War (2018)
120. Robo Recall
121. Sparklite 
122. Horizon Zero Dawn
123. The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
124. Red Dead Redemption 2
125. Thunder Kid
126. Pokémon Black & White / Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 / Pokémon X & Y / Pokémon Omega Red & Alpha Sapphire / Pokémon Go! / Pokémon Sun & Moon / Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon
127. GRIP: Combat Racing
128. Jazzpunk
129. EVERSPACE
130. Column on the Sea
131. Hell Is Other Demons
132. Reigns / Reigns 2 / Reigns: Game of Thrones
133. What Remains of Edith Finch
134. Videoball
135. Elite Dangerous
136. Magicka / Magicka 2 
137. Drifting Lands
138. Aztez
139. Torment: Tides of Numenera
140. Parkitect
141. Disco Elysium
142. River City Girls
143. The Church in the Darkness
144. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
145. Rogue Legacy
146. APE OUT
147. Insurgency / Insurgency: Sandstorm
148. Dry Drowning
149. Beacon
150. Them's Fightin' Herds
151. Creature in the Well
152. Wizard of Legend
153. DooM (2016)
154. Slay the Spire
155. Moonlighter
156. Terraria
157. Katana ZERO
158. Into the Breach
159. Legend of Grimrock / Legend of Grimrock 2
160. Firewatch
161. Payday 2
162. 20XX
163. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
164. Night in the Woods
165. Pinstripe
166. Risk of Rain / Risk of Rain 2
167. Octopath Traveler
168. Children of Morta
169. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night / Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
170. Rocket League
171. Mega-Man 11
172. Duck Game
173. The Forest
174. Doki Doki Literature Club
175. Wasteland 2
176. Thimbleweed Park
177. Darkwood
178. MORDHAU
179. Warframe
180. Overcooked! / Overcooked! 2
181. Cities: Skylines
182. Kerbal Space Program
183. Titanfall 2
184. Antichamber
185. Dauntless
186. Clustertruck
187. Screencheat
188. Destiny / Destiny 2
189. Choice of Robots
190. Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
191. Tooth and Tail
192. Killing Floor 2
193. Darksiders / Darksiders II / Darksiders III / Darksiders: Genesis
194. The Outer Worlds
195. Chook & Sosig: Walk the Plank
196. Vectronom
197. Guild of Dungeoneering
198. OUTBUDDIES
199. Death Crown
200. Cosmic Star Heroine
201. Nefarious
202. Brut@l
203. City of Brass
204. Dead by Deadlight
205. Manifold Garden
206. Resident Evil 7 / Resident Evil 2
207. Grand Theft Auto V
208. Passpartout
209. Wildermyth
210. Vampyr
211. Looking for Heals
212. Graceful Explosion Machine
213. Subnautica / Subnautica: Below Zero
214. Path of Exile
215. Arizona Sunshine
216. Celeste
217. Fez
218. Satisfactory
219. Atomicrops
220. RUINER
221. DMC: Devil May Cry / Devil May Cry V
222. WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
223. Deep Sky Derelicts
224. Slime Rancher
225. UnderMine
226. Chroma Squad
227. Octodad: Dadliest Catch
228. NieR / NieR: Automata
229. Salt and Sanctuary
230. Reventure
231. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
232. Get to the Orange Door
233. Clatter
234. Draugen
235. Bravely Default / Bravely Default: Second Layer
236. Awesomenauts
237. Nioh
238. Planet Coaster
239. Tower of Guns
240. Beat Saber
241. MOTHERGUNSHIP
242. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White King / Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
243. Final Fantasy XIV / Final Fantasy XV
244. Prison Simulator
245. Outer Wilds
246. Shakedown: Hawaii
247. The Talos Principle
248. Riverbond
249. Warhammer: Vermintide / Warhammer: Vermintide 2
250. Blazing Beaks