I have a confession: I have never trusted a review score that treats a game like a spreadsheet. 🎮 In 2026, with more releases than ever, a 10/10 still means something personal. For me, a perfect score is not about flawless collision detection or endless side quests. It is about the moment a game stops being software and becomes a memory. It is the feeling that what I played could not have been any other way. This week, I asked myself the same big question TheGamer staff once tackled: what games are truly 10/10? These are the ones I keep coming back to, the ones I would defend in any argument, and the ones that still feel perfect despite their rough edges.

Fallout

The original Fallout is not a polished modern RPG. Its dice rolls can betray you, its interface can feel ancient, and its combat is not what anyone would call slick. But when the credits roll, I do not care about any of that. All I think about is the bittersweet journey of the Vault Dweller, exploring a fractured wasteland that feels beautifully disconnected in a way no other open world has managed since. No matter how many times I reset because of a bad dice roll, I do not care when I am talking down the Master, trying to convince him that humanity deserves to live. That conversation alone is a 10/10 moment, and the game around it earns the same score.

Transistor

Transistor is the kind of game that makes me want to write a proper critical evaluation, but I am so in awe of it that I do not know where to begin. It questions the nature of democracy and artistry, love and death, resistance and submission. Its combat is rich, its soundtrack is haunting, and its story is heartwrenching and thought provoking. It is short, but it is perfect. I have listed it as my favourite indie game of all time, and I would give it a perfect score without hesitation.

Red Dead Redemption 2

To me, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the greatest game of all time. Imperfections are easy to point out. It is overlong, even without the epilogue. Missions are often too linear, auto-failing if you stray from the presupposed path. It presents choices, but the narrative lands best as honourable Arthur. I do not care. Despite its imperfections, it is perfect. I think we are too generous with perfect scores in gaming, too ready to swoon at pretty graphics, too impressed by studios and franchises, too much of a fan to be objective. But on a technical level, on a narrative level, and as a matter of scope, Red Dead Redemption 2 should be held up as the best our medium can do. In a world of hyperbole and hype, it is worthy of its every accolade. It is our The Godfather.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In the time I have been reviewing games, Elden Ring, The Last of Us Part 2, and Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 have come the closest to getting a 10/10 from me. But I did not review The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In fact, it came out while I was in the middle of my first ever review, Danganronpa 1.2 Reload, which ended up being late because I could not stop playing BOTW. Despite some minor flaws, nothing I have experienced in a game compares to the thrill of my initial 100+ hour playthrough. Combining the open-ended creativity of an immersive sim with the sense of adventure the series is known for, danger and discovery were hidden behind every corner. Breath of the Wild was the closest a game has come to making me feel like I was actually setting out on an epic journey. And despite some imitators in the years since its release, nothing else has managed to capture the alchemy Nintendo did here.

Monster Sanctuary

Having grown up on Pokemon and Dragon Warrior Monsters games, there is something about games that let you amass an army of adorable critters that really speaks to my soul. Monster Sanctuary hits the mark perfectly. It has a fantastic depth of complexity, a soundtrack that deserves awards, and sublime presentation. It balances Metroidvania-style exploration with satisfying combat encounters extremely well, and the love and care the developers have poured into the game even after release make it one of the standouts of the last few years for me.

PowerWash Simulator

I believe a game that can be considered a 10/10 is one that perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to do. I might get laughed at for this, but PowerWash Simulator is that game. It is all about simple satisfaction. The simplicity of cleaning mucky surfaces with your trusty pressure washer is obvious from the very first moment. And the bliss of fully scouring a location of every speck of dirt and hearing that most satisfying of DINGS is gaming at its finest. PowerWash Simulator is not trying to be an innovative platformer, an intense shooter, or a mind-blowing narrative experience. It tries to be a casual, fun simulation game where you can relax and clean things with your power-washing tools, and it most certainly hits that mark. In short, it is simply satisfying.

Half-Life 2

Not one game has captured the sublime scale of the Combine, an unbelievably imposing interdimensional empire that is made personal and human through the familiarity of our home cities. Years later, nothing comes close to that sense of dread and hopelessness, only for it to be cut down by Gordon Freeman and the rebellion. The final chapters where we see citizens banding together to pull down propaganda speeches and fight back against crooked cops are so powerful because it felt impossible for so long. Half-Life 2 is a perfectly paced masterpiece, and while so much of that is down to its revolutionary tech, incredible AI, and simply fun gunplay, its world is what edges it to a ten.

The Last of Us Part 2

There are many different definitions of what makes a 10/10 game. For me, getting a score that high means leaving a considerable impact on the player, and there is no other game that matches that description more for me than The Last of Us Part 2. Even in the years since, I have never felt more opposed to the actions of my character, so helpless to stop what seemed bound to happen, and more relieved when it eventually concluded. That sort of experience is simply unmatched and deserving of full marks.

Metal Gear Solid 2

I believe 10/10s are reserved for games that either achieve perfectly what they set out to do, or try to reach for something genre and medium expanding, and therefore achieve greatness despite having maybe a few janky parts. Hideo Kojima's PS2 classic is an example of the latter. Imperfect yet amazingly ambitious, Metal Gear Solid 2 deserves a 10/10 for chutzpah, verve, and execution. Its set pieces, twisting narratives, secrets, Easter eggs, daringness, and meta gameplay have not been bettered to this day while still remaining a fun play. This is a game that is not just an Arthur Morgan simulator. It is a game that asks questions of the player and the world that, while you are playing, feel like they cannot be asked in any other way.

Yakuza 0

There are so many games to which I would give a perfect score, but instead of picking something really obvious like Doom, I want to highlight a classic that has not quite gone mainstream despite attaining a certain amount of attention: Yakuza 0. The game plays into its genre brilliantly with a fantastic story that only gets better as it goes along. Yakuza 0 even features what surely must be one of the best game worlds ever made, creating an incredibly strong sense of time and place in the process. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

Bloodborne

Elden Ring might be the new kid on the block, but Bloodborne is where FromSoftware peaked as a developer. Its level design is unmatched, its combat gruesomely satisfying, and its boss fights are spectacular. Nothing I have played before or since has given me the same rush of adrenaline that finally taking down the Orphan of Kos or Gehrman did. All of this is contained within a hauntingly beautiful gothic world that has inspired developers to create games like Thymesia, Lies of P, and likely many more in the future. Cap it all off with an amazing orchestral soundtrack and you have yourself a 10/10.

Crypt of the NecroDancer

I am sure Crypt of the NecroDancer has been my answer to a few big questions, but that is because it is a condensed chunk of some of the most perfect roguelite gameplay to ever exist. It takes the simple idea of what if roguelikes were rhythm-based and stretches it to its absolute limit. Every weapon, monster, and track changes up your strategies, but developing a knowledge of that belter of a soundtrack also makes it feel like you are not just bashing your head against a wall. While I loved Cadence of Hyrule and am super excited for Rift of the NecroDancer, it is tough to beat perfection. And that is exactly what Brace Yourself Games pulled off with Crypt.

The 10/10 Table

So, what makes a game perfect? It can be a wasteland, a sword, a cowboy, a kingdom, a cleaning tool, a revolution, a revenge story, a stealth mission, a neon city, a hunt, or a dance floor. A 10/10 does not have to be flawless. It has to be unforgettable. In 2026, these games still feel like proof that this medium can do something no other can. They are not just games I played; they are games that played me. And that is the highest score I can give.