FAQ

A head-to-head voting site on a mission to crown the true GOAT of gaming. You get two games, you pick the better one, and every vote shapes the community's all-time Rankings. No critics, no sales numbers, just players.

Asking "what's the best game ever?" is impossible to answer. Asking "which of these two is better?" is easy, and fun. Put enough of those answers together and you get a ranking that reflects what players actually think.

Nope. You can start voting right away as a guest. Guest votes count toward the rankings, just a little less than member votes, which helps keep things fair.

Create an account (or log in) and all your guest votes and your streak come with you. Members also get badges, a profile on the Members list, their top 10, vote history, Hot Takes, and can save matchups for later and share their picks.

Totally free, no ads. See how it stays that way below.

You can add Gamerater to your phone's home screen and it opens full screen like an app. Open the menu on your phone and tap Install app. On iPhone, it shows you how to do it from Safari's Share button. You'll need an internet connection to vote.

Two games show up. Pick the one you think is better by tapping its cover or its VOTE button, and the next matchup slides in.

On a keyboard: ← or A votes left, → or D votes right, ↓ or S skips, W saves for later, Z undoes, Shift + ← or → opens a game's info, and Esc closes it. On phones, swipe sideways to skip.

Hit Skip. Skips don't count for or against either game, so only skip when you really can't call it. Want to play the one you're missing? Save it for later instead.

Haven't played one (or both) of the games yet, but want to? Save the matchup instead of skipping it, then come back and settle it once you've played. Save for later is for members only.

On a computer, click the bookmark button in the bottom-right corner of the arena, next to the sound button (or press W). On a phone, tap the bookmark next to Skip. The next matchup slides in and a little note tells you it's saved. It doesn't count as a vote or a skip, and you can still undo or share your last vote.

To your account page: open Vote history and switch to Saved. Tap Vote now and that exact matchup opens first in the arena. Once you pick a winner, it leaves your saved list on its own. Changed your mind? Tap the × to remove it.

You can keep up to 50 saved at a time, and saving never affects the rankings. Saving is for members, so create an account to use it.

Agonizing choice? Right after you vote, click the share button in the bottom-right corner of the arena (on a phone, it's the right half of the Undo button). You'll get a link to that pick, with buttons to share it straight to an app or copy it. It sticks around until your next vote or skip.

You can also share any past pick from Vote history or Hot takes on your account page. The link shows your username, both games and how many people agree with you. Nobody sees your other votes. Sharing is for members.

Yep! After you vote or skip, an Undo button shows up. It sticks around until your next vote or skip (up to 10 minutes), and the matchup comes right back so you can pick again.

Tap the ⓘ on its cover. You'll see its summary, release year, developer, platforms, screenshots and links, plus a Buy button if it's sold in an online store.

After you vote, it shows how everyone else has voted on that exact matchup. Under 50%? That's a bold pick. If nobody's voted on it before, you're the first to call it.

Mostly games lots of players know, based on how many ratings they have on IGDB, so you're not stuck judging games nobody's heard of. New releases from the past year always get a shot. Every so often a lesser-known game gets a wildcard spot against a well-known one, and if it keeps winning, it earns a regular spot. Your first few matchups are big, well-known games to get you warmed up.

Not for a long while. The same pair won't come back until you've seen hundreds of other matchups. A game you just saw also sits out your next 10 matchups, and games you keep skipping show up less.

There are thousands of games in here, so some just haven't come up yet, and the arena sticks to games most players know. Every game is still in the Rankings, so you can search for any of them.

To keep votes honest, there's a limit on how fast you can vote. If you hit it, take a quick breather and you'll be back in about a minute. Matchups also time out after 30 minutes, so if you step away you'll get a fresh one.

Tap the speaker button in the arena. Gamerater remembers your choice on that device.

Every game starts at zero and climbs by getting picked. Once a game has been in 20 matchups, it's ranked by its win rate (how often people pick it). Those games sit at the top, and games still under 20 matchups are ranked by their votes below them.

Ties go to the game with the better pick rate. Skips never count. See the full list on the Rankings page.

Votes are how many times people picked that game. Matchups are how many times it came up and someone chose a winner. Win rate is votes divided by matchups, and shows once a game has 20 matchups so a couple of lucky wins can't send it to the top.

They show how many spots a game moved since yesterday. ▲ is up, ▼ is down. A fresh snapshot is taken every night just after 8 PM Eastern (7 PM in winter). While Gamerater is new, lots of games are tied on a handful of votes, so a couple of votes can jump a game a bunch of spots. That settles down as more votes come in.

NEW marks a game released in the last 60 days. New releases get extra spots in the arena so they can catch up fast: once a game has 20 matchups, it's ranked by its win rate, which can put it right near the top. Want to see how this season's games stack up? Pick Last 90 days in the Years filter on Rankings.

Yes. Filter by genre, platform (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC, Mobile, Sega), decade or Last 90 days (this season's new releases), or search for any game by name. Filtered lists are numbered within the filter, and each game's overall rank shows when you open it.

Game details, cover art and screenshots come from IGDB, one of the biggest video game databases out there. Spot something wrong or missing? Let us know on Discord or at contact@gamerater.io.

Every night, Gamerater checks IGDB for new and updated games. A game gets added once it has enough ratings on IGDB, so the catalog sticks to games people actually know.

Big new releases don't have to wait for ratings, though. Four times a day we check what's trending on IGDB (the most visited, most wanted and most played games) and which recent releases people follow most. Anything there that came out in the past year gets added, usually within hours of launch. Games that aren't out yet join once they launch.

New releases also get their own slice of the arena: about 1 in 10 matchups features a game from the last two months, so they start climbing right away. Missing a game you love? Tell us on Discord.

It links to stores that sell the game, like Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox, Nintendo eShop, GOG, Epic, itch.io, the App Store and Google Play. Some store links may earn Gamerater a small commission at no extra cost to you. They never affect votes, matchups or rankings.

Use Discord, Twitch or Google, or your email. With email, we send you a link to confirm, then you pick a username and a password (at least 8 characters). You need to be 13 or older. Create an account.

3 to 20 letters, numbers or underscores, and it has to be unique. Offensive names aren't allowed. You can change your username on your account page once every 90 days.

Yes. On your account page you can connect Discord, Twitch and Google, and add a password. You can disconnect any of them, as long as you keep at least one way to log in.

On the Log in page, tap "Forgot your password?" and we'll email you a link to choose a new one.

Your votes, day streak, best streak and member since date, plus four tabs:

Your top 10: the games you've picked most (at least twice each).
Vote history: every pick you've made, with a switch to see your skips and the matchups you saved for later. You can share any pick with a link.
Hot takes: your picks that go hardest against the crowd. Only you can see them.
Achievements: your badges, plus progress toward the next ones.

A pick where the game you chose now ranks at least 25 spots below the game you beat. Both games need 20+ matchups so it's a real upset, not a fluke. Biggest upsets show first. Fight me.

Go to your account page and tap your picture. Use the one from Discord, Twitch or Google, or upload your own (PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF or HEIC). Uploads are cropped to a square.

Sure. On your account page, open YOUR TOP 10 and switch off showing it on your profile. You can still see it yourself.

Create an account and pick a username. The Members list ranks everyone by votes cast and is only visible to members. Tap anyone to see their badges and top 10. Emails and individual votes are never shown.

At the bottom of your account page. It deletes your account, username, stats, vote history and picture for good. The rankings keep your past votes' effect, but they're no longer linked to you.

Vote, keep your streak alive and you'll unlock badges along the way. A gold pill pops up in the arena the moment you earn one, and it's yours for good, and you can drag them into your favorite order on your account page. Badges are for members, but sign up after playing as a guest and you'll get every badge your votes already earned. See all 12 on the About page.

Create an account before the end of 2026. After that, it's gone for good.

You went against the crowd when you picked the game that was ranked lower at that moment. That's what Bold Picker, Crowd Whisperer and Rebel are based on.

Vote at least once a day to keep your streak going. Miss a day and it starts over, but your best streak is saved. Days reset at midnight UTC, which is 8 PM Eastern (7 PM in winter).

Your votes and skips, your stats, and if you make an account, your email and picture. We never sell your data, never send marketing emails, and only use cookies to keep you logged in. Read the full Privacy policy.

We work hard to stop it. There are vote speed limits, bot protection, and guests count a little less than members. Cheating can get votes removed and accounts suspended. See the Terms of Service.

Gamerater is free and built by one person. Some store links on game pages may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and supporters on Patreon help cover hosting. None of this affects the rankings. Every spot on the leaderboard comes from your votes.

Support Gamerater

Want to help for free? Here are all the ways you can support us.

Josh Hatchett (HeyJosh), a lifelong gamer, with his brother Justin (Fray) pushing the limits and testing everything. Meet them both on the About page.

Come say hi on Discord, email contact@gamerater.io, or use the Contact page. Ideas are always welcome.