The Earliest Game of the Year Awards

50 critics, directors, designers, reporters, comedians, and authors share their EGOTYs

Art by James Bareham

The Earliest Game of the Year Awards, a.k.a. The EGOTYs, isn’t the most spectacular awards show. It’s certainly not the most exhaustive. But it is, as the name claims, the earliest. And that’s the point.

The beauty of the EGOTY is found in its limitation to the first five months of the year, with winners selected before the Summer Game Festival and all the major fall releases.

The EGOTYs celebrate the winter and spring games that are too often forgotten or overlooked when the GOTY voting begins in the fall. Once viewed as a publishing black hole, the first half of the year has become an exciting season for games of every size. Major studios like Capcom have made the first quarter their preferred landing zone for huge releases, while indie studios hope players buy small, new games to counter the winter doldrums. According to SteamDB, over 10,500 games have been released in 2026. And it’s only the middle of June.

There’s no voting in the EGOTYs. Instead, 50 critics, designers, directors, reporters, authors, and comedians share their individual picks for EGOTY. Because some people are bound to pick the same game, I prompted my guests as follows:

Tell folks a little about how your EGOTY works, but more importantly, share a specific single detail (design choice, stage, character, story moment) that makes the game so memorable.

Yes, you will hear multiple people praise Marathon and a couple of other games. But never will the champion their EGOTY in the same way. Because even when we love the same games, we love them for our own, special reasons.

Patreon supporters will also hear a special bonus segment, right in the middle of the episode. I share my Top 10 games from the first half of 2026, and dig into what about them has stuck in my heart, my brain, and my gut.

Thank you so much for joining me for the 1st Annual EGOTYS. Be sure to share your EGOTY in the comments!

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Listen to this week’s episode

Art: James Bareham

This Week on Post Games:

• Act 1: The EGOTYs

• Patreon Bonus: My Top 10 Games of 2026… so far

• Act 2: The EGOTYs, Continued

Guests:

• See the full list of guests and their EGOTY picks below!

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Image: Perfect Tides: Station to Station

The Games:

• Mixtape (Steam)

• Transfer Point (Steam)

• Cairn (Steam)

• Marathon (Steam)

• Minishoot’ Adventures (Steam)

• Sol Celsto (Steam)

• Titanium Court (Post Games/Steam)

• Perfect Tides: Station to Station (Post Games/Steam)

• Love and Deepspace (Android/iOS)

• Resident Evil Requiem (Steam)

• The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon (Steam)

• Island Off Outer Darkness (Steam)

• Derelict Star (Steam)

• Creature Kitchen (Steam)

• Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (Steam)

• Windrose (Steam)

• Pokémon Pokopia (Nintendo)

• Moves of the Diamond Hand (Steam)

• It Has My Face (Steam)

• Slay the Spire 2 (Steam)

•  Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake (Steam)

• On-Together: Virtual Co-Working (Steam)

• Pokémon Champions (Pokémon)

• Scam Line (Steam)

• Amberspire (Steam)

• Love Eternal (Steam)

• Sektori (Steam)

• Dragon Quest VII Reimagined (Steam)

• Pokémon Pinball Machine (Post Games/Stern)

• Nova Roma (Steam)

• Screamer (Steam)

• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Steam)

• Better Than Dead (Steam)

• Tiling Forest - Tiling Town demo (Steam)

The Guests:

• Greg Miller - Mixtape

• Nina Freeman - Transfer Point

• Kirk Hamilton - Cairn

• Adam Conover - Minishoot Adventures’

• Winnie Song - Marathon

• Giovanni Colantonio - Sol Cesto

• Danielle Riendeau - Titanium Court

• AP Thomson - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Ash Parrish - Love and Deepspace

• Matt Apodaca - Resident Evil: Requiem

• Harper Jay - The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon

• Austin Walker - Island Off Outer Darkness

• Gabe Cuzzillo & Bennett Foddy - Derelict Star

• Mary Kish - Creature Kitchen

• Lily Alexandre - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Danny O’Dwyer - Windrose

• Maddy Myers - Pokemon Pokopia

• Khee Hoon Chan - Moves of the Diamond Hand

• Peter Hunt Szpytek - Marathon

• Xalavier Nelson Jr. - It Has My Face

• Jacob Geller - Slay the Spire II

• Ashley Bardhan - Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake

• Teddy Dief - On-Together

• Geoff Thew - Pokemon Champions

• Kaitlyn Tremblay - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Brendon Bigley - Vampire Crawlers

• Chandana Ekanayake - Creature Kitchen

• Mike Drucker - Sektori

• Gita Jackson - Marathon

• Jeff Grubb - Scam Line

• Nicole Carpenter - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Cameron Kunzelman - Amberspire

• Wallace Truesdale - Love Eternal

• Rebekah Valentine - Titanium Court

• Grayson Morley - Dragon Quest 6 Reimagined

• Cass Marshall - Cairn

• Garrett Martin - Pokémon Pinball Machine

• Niko Stratis - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Mike Rugnetta - Nova Roma

• Megan Farokhmanesh - Pokemon Pokopia

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. - Screamer

• Moises Taveras - Marathon

• Casey Newton - Marvel Cosmic Invasion

• Carolyn Petit - Perfect Tides: Station to Station

• Yussef Cole - Better Than Dead

• Stephen Totilo - Tiling Forest: A Tiling Town demo

• Matthew Gallant - Titanium Court