Best game awards nominees

34 ELO points separate The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Baldur's Gate 3 at the top of The Game Awards: Game of the Year ranking, after 257 duels.

The podium reflects a clear hierarchy among the nominees. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sits at 1283 ELO with a 62% win rate across 52 duels, while Baldur's Gate 3 follows at 1249 ELO after 66 duels. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 completes the top 3 at 1226 ELO. The ranking's sharpest divide appears between Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Resident Evil 4, where 37 ELO points mark the boundary between the top half and the bottom. Alan Wake 2 occupies the last position at 1096 ELO, suggesting the community sees a significant gap between it and the frontrunners. Its 34% win rate across 59 duels places it well behind the competition, reinforcing the sense that this year's race focuses on the top contenders.

The ranking draws from 257 duels submitted by 26 players across 6 contenders. Updated on 12 October 2026, it captures the community's current assessment of which game deserves the award most. The data reflects active debate: Baldur's Gate 3 has faced more duels than the leader, yet trails in both ELO and win rate. Every vote refines the hierarchy, and the platform remains open for further input. Head to VAINKEURZ to cast your own duels and influence the ranking.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →