The 20 Best Video Games of 2021 So Far

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 7, 2021

Which games impressed professional reviewers the most during the first half of the year? Above, we rank the best-reviewed videogames released between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion.

Note that ...

If a game was released on multiple platforms, we included only the version receiving the largest total number of reviews (usually, but not always, the PS5 or PS4 version).

Multi-game compilations and newly released ports of games released in prior years on other platforms are excluded, unless they are substantially different from the prior release(s) (for example, an HD remaster of a previous-gen game that also adds some new content).

10 of 21 photo by Inkle

86 #8 (tie): Overboard!

Also released for PC and mobile, the Switch mystery adventure Overboard! comes from the creative team behind 80 Days and Heaven's Vault. The game is set on a cruise ship in 1935 where a murder has been committed. But it's not a whodunnit: You are the murderer. The goal is to frame somebody else for the killing, and you'll have just eight hours (about 45 minutes of gameplay) until the ship reaches its destination to convince the authorities. Each replay reveals new secrets and offers a different path to success.

“Overboard! allows us to imagine what would have happened had Agatha Christie seen Groundhog Day and written a whole new type of mystery novel as a result. Its mobile format also works in its favour – as a Switch or smartphone game, it feels like carrying a little detective paperback around with you, except here you are the lead character, author and reader. As an experiment in fast, story-based game development it is – unlike most of my own mariticidal plots and alibis – a quite scintillating success.” —The Guardian

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