2023 TechRaptor Awards - Game of the Year

Everyone has said it but it bears repeating: 2023 was arguably one of the best years for games of all time. The quality of releases one after another all year long was incredible, and we have a few games that have pushed the medium and their respective genres forward by huge leaps. 

For 2023, we went about this a little differently. Largely, our awards are decided through ranked choice voting by the entire TechRaptor staff. For every other award aside from this one and Indie Game of the Year, that was the case.

Here, we have a long conversation about a bunch of games and whittle down our below list of nominees into a top 5 list. We then argued and ranked those 5 games to determine our winner. Rutledge Daugette, Andrew Otton, Robert Scarpinito, Andrew Stretch, Austin Suther, Dan Rockwood, and Tyler Chancey were all involved in the conversation.

Here are the nominees for TechRaptor's 2023 Game of the Year for the best game of the year, whose sum of its parts is greater than any other.

• Alan Wake II
• Baldur's Gate III
• Cocoon
• Hi-Fi Rush
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2
• Resident Evil 4
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Street Fighter 6
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Check out here for our other award categories and nominees.

If you're just looking to find the winners of this award, check out below.

5th Place - Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Developer: Nintendo | Release Date: October 20th, 2023

Our reviewer Austin Suther had this to say in her review:

"Super Mario Bros. Wonder lives up to its title by offering so many different surprises in its spectacular level design, outstanding art direction and overall variety."

Check out more from our review, and we of course discuss the game more in the video above!

4th Place - Alan Wake II

Developer: Remedy Entertainment | Release Date: October 27th, 2023

Our reviewer Jason Rodriguez had this to say in his review:

"Overall, I can wholeheartedly say that long-time fans of Alan Wake will enjoy the sequel, as will veterans of the survival horror genre. It has everything from a brilliant story and well-written characters, to tricky puzzles, mind-bending concepts, and reality-altering mechanics."

Check out more from our review, and we of course discuss the game more in the video above!

3rd Place - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Developer: Respawn Entertainment | Release Date: April 28th, 2023

Our reviewer Erren Van Duine had this to say in her review:

"Jedi: Survivor is an astonishing achievement. Not only does it elevate the series to a new height, it improves on the first game by introducing a wealth of content – including further incentives to keep playing in the New Game Plus modes. There’s enough here to keep one playing for hours after the conclusion of the main story – I know I did just that looking around to complete all the side quests and exploration requirements. With all these things in place, there’s no doubt that whatever comes next – it has the potential to take all of these things and be even more."

Check out more from our review, and we of course discuss the game more in the video above!

2nd Place - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Developer: Nintendo | Release Date: May 12th, 2023

Our reviewer Andrew Stretch had this to say in his review:

"Tears of the Kingdom is an impossibly good sequel to what was already a near-perfect game. What made Breath of the Wild work so well was maintained and improved upon while particular care was given to the aspects of Breath of the Wild that felt underdeveloped."

Check out more from our review, and we of course discuss the game more in the video above!

Winner - Baldur's Gate III

Developer: Larian Studios | Release Date: August 3rd, 2023

Our reviewer Erren Van Duine had this to say in her review:

"Baldur's Gate 3 is a masterful experience filled to the brim with player choice, a deep narrative and expansive world building."

Check out more from our review, and we of course discuss the game more in the video above!