I’m so happy to have you here for the 1st Annual Earliest Game of the Year Awards, a.k.a. The EGOTYs. This 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 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!

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