Gaming
Video games, consoles, characters
Gaming is the category where Hot Ranking voters get the most opinionated, and rightly so — gaming culture invented the modern tier list. The first time most of us encountered an S-A-B-C-D-F ranking was in a Super Smash Bros community tier list pasted in a forum post, and that format has now bled into every other corner of the internet. The polls in this category cover the full taxonomy: console wars (PlayStation vs Xbox vs Nintendo vs PC), franchise rankings (Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, GTA, Pokémon), individual game GOAT debates (best open-world, best soulslike, best fighting game), character rankings (Smash roster, fighting-game tiers, anime-adjacent rosters like Tekken and Street Fighter), and era rankings (best games of 2025, best of the 2010s, best of the 2000s). We pull cover art straight from official sources so the visual side of the tier list looks like the games themselves — no placeholder boxes, no emoji stand-ins. If you have an opinion about whether Breath of the Wild or Ocarina of Time is the better Zelda, this is where you put it on record.
What you'll find in Gaming
Console wars
The eternal debate, settled poll by poll. PlayStation vs Xbox vs Nintendo vs PC vs mobile. We track which platform actually wins the popular vote in 2026.
Franchise rankings
Rank every Zelda, every Mario, every Final Fantasy, every Pokémon generation. Tier lists for the long-running series fans love to fight about.
Single-genre GOATs
Best open-world game. Best soulslike. Best fighting game. Best indie. Genre-by-genre rankings where the debates are sharpest.
Year-by-year
Best games of 2025, the most anticipated of 2026, decade-defining titles from the 2010s and 2000s.
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All Gaming polls
Rank Gen 1-5 Pokémon Starters
Every starter. Ranked. Settle this once and for all.
+9 more Rank Grand Theft Auto Games
SA, VC, V, IV — settle the GTA debate forever.
+7 more Rank the Most Anticipated Games of 2026
GTA 6 is finally arriving... but is it actually the best game of 2026? Rank the most-hyped releases of the year.
GTA VI will be the best game ever made
The hype is at an all-time high. Do you think GTA VI will live up to it?
Best Pokémon Type
Fire, Water, or Grass? Actually, there are 18 types. Rank them all.
+12 more Elden Ring vs Breath of the Wild
Two open-world masterpieces — which is the GOAT?
GTA San Andreas vs GTA Vice City
Which is the superior GTA era?
Minecraft vs Fortnite
The two biggest games of a generation. Choose wisely.
FIFA vs NBA 2K
Football or basketball sim — which runs your console?
Mobile gaming is real gaming
Genshin Impact on a phone counts. Fight me.
Rank the Best Video Games of 2025
From Clair Obscur to Oblivion Remastered — which game defined 2025? Rank them.
Minecraft vs Roblox
Building blocks or infinite games — which platform wins?
Single player games are better than multiplayer
Story and immersion beat competitive chaos.
Rank Zelda Games
Ocarina? Breath of the Wild? Tears of the Kingdom? Rank them all.
+10 more Red Dead 2 vs GTA V
Two Rockstar legends — cowboys or criminals?
Rank Mario Games
From Super Mario Bros to Odyssey — the ultimate Nintendo tier list.
+11 more Rank Best Fighting Games
Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken — which franchise owns you?
+9 more Rank God of War Games
From Greek tragedy to Norse saga — rank Kratos.
+2 more Rank Best Indie Games Ever
Small studios, massive impact — rank the indie GOATs.
Valorant vs CS2
Tactical shooter showdown — abilities or purity?
Difficulty settings should be in every game
Souls fans say no. Accessibility advocates say yes.
Rank Call of Duty Games
Which COD era was peak gaming?
Fortnite vs Apex Legends
Battle royale — building or movement?
Rank Pokémon Generations
Gen 1 nostalgia vs modern games. Which Pokémon era reigns?
+9 more How Gaming rankings work on Hot Ranking
Every poll in this category is curated by our editorial team — not auto-generated from a trending feed. We pick the topics we actually want to argue about, and we source a real image for every option (album art, posters, character portraits, dish photos). No emoji-only stand-ins. No broken images. If we can't find a clean visual for a candidate, we don't include it.
Votes are anonymous and one-per-poll-per-browser, enforced by a hashed fingerprint that can't identify you personally. Aggregated results update in real time so you can see how your tier list compares to the gaming consensus as soon as you submit.
Want to suggest a new gaming ranking? Use the Create a Poll page, or email polls@hotranking.app. For longer reads on tier-list culture and the great GOAT debates, see our blog or the methodology page.