In recent years, the gaming industry has become increasingly democratic and accessible, both for players and developers.

If you’re a player, you now have options like buying a console, gaming on a PC or mobile, purchasing digital games, subscribing to massive game libraries, and even sharing accounts with family members to play their games.

On the other hand, if you’re a developer, you have access to countless game creation tools, multiple platforms to self-publish your work, and even crowdfunding options to help finance development.

However, when access to a technology or creative medium becomes more manageable, it also opens the door to some awkward or questionable creations. In this article, we’ll explore the 10 Worst Games of the Last Decade, according to OpenCritic.

I applied three criteria for the selection:

– At least seven critic reviews on OpenCritic.

– Released on a traditional gaming platform like a home console or PC.

– Not a shovelware title, meaning the developer at least tried to make a decent game.

10 The Quiet Man

OpenCritic Score – 29

The Quiet Man is the game on this list with the most critic reviews—over 30—which allegedly makes it even worse than the rest here. It was developed by Human Head Studios and published by Square Enix, which explains why it got so much attention.

The Quiet Man is an action-adventure game with some beat ’em up elements. The premise is intriguing: we play as a deaf man, experiencing the world as he perceives it.

However, critics argued that the gimmick wasn’t well implemented, leading the developer to add an optional feature that restores the game’s audio later.

Most of the game is presented through full-motion video sequences with real actors. However, when they speak, there’s no sound and no subtitles, trying to replicate protagonist Dane’s hearing impairment.

When we do take control, the visuals shift to a more traditional video-gamey look, allowing for exploration and combat. Overall, critics felt the game seemed unfinished and failed to deliver on its theme.

9 POSTAL 4: No Regerts

OpenCritic Score – 27

I remember playing Postal 1 way back in the day and how controversial it was, which led it to be banned in multiple countries, just like Carmageddon and other games from that era. It was fun, gory, and crazy, definitely not something a 10-year-old should be playing.

Despite Postal games never being particularly well-received by critics or the public, the series got four mainline entries, remakes, and multiple spin-offs for whatever reason.

The latest, POSTAL 4: No Regerts, was released in 2022 and was absolutely torn apart. Critics called it boring, riddled with bugs, and filled with outdated, over-the-top humor.

The gameplay is first-person shooter chaos, with weapons that try too hard to be funny, like a bow that shoots dildos or a revolver that uses a cat as a silencer.

Instead of being clever, it comes across as desperate for player’s reaction. Ultimately, the only response it got was staggering disapproval.

8 Hollow

OpenCritic Score – 26

Hollow was published by Forever Entertainment in 2017 before the developer started working on remakes like Front Mission and Panzer Dragoon.

At first glance, it seems like the studio’s attempt at a first-person survival horror game, reminiscent of Dead Space. We play as a pilot stranded in a spaceship after everything goes horribly wrong, and the crew mysteriously vanishes.

While Hollow sets up a solid horror premise with a claustrophobic atmosphere and a competent sound design, the absolute horror is actually playing it.

After the opening scenes, the game forgets it’s supposed to be survival horror and leans too heavily into shooter mechanics, which are far from its strong suit.

In combat, you either land a headshot on the few and oddly placed enemies, or you’re either dead or, even worse, out of ammo for the next fight, which often meant resetting the game.

Hollow lasts about five hours at most, almost as if the developers knew you’d be restarting constantly. That is, if you don’t quit altogether.

7 Super Seducer

OpenCritic Score – 26

This one’s going to be awkward. Please, don’t tell my wife, but I knew about Super Seducer before it was even released because I used to follow Richard La Ruina on social media. That doesn’t mean I followed his teachings or way of life; it’s just… I don’t know.

Anyway, when Super Seducer was first announced, it baffled me—and, apparently, critics as well. The game scored 26 among eight critics, but despite that, it received some love from players, as strange as it sounds.

Super Seducer puts you in situations where you have to interact with women, choosing the “best” responses to seduce them. But the game doesn’t take itself seriously, and many of the obviously inappropriate answers lead to hilarious yet incredibly offensive moments.

Maybe because it didn’t take itself too seriously, Super Seducer managed to sell relatively well and even became a trilogy. Platforms like Twitch also helped boost its popularity, as streamers showcased some of the cringiest scenarios to their viewers.

6 Raven’s Cry

OpenCritic Score – 24

Jeremy Penter from AngryCentaurGaming gave Raven’s Cry the score “Never Touch,” which says a lot. Some players believe Raven’s Cry tried to cash in on its similarities to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which had come out two years earlier.

That’s why Raven’s Cry offers a pirate setting, swashbuckling action, naval combat, and plenty of maritime voyages.

Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on any of those aspects. Raven’s Cry is an action game with RPG elements featuring a branching skill tree. However, combat is stiff and tedious, regardless of your abilities. Naval battles feel unfinished, lacking even a proper animation for ships sinking, for example.

There are multiple side quests and even choices that affect the outcome of some, but nothing to write home about.

At first, Raven’s Cry seemed to have some potential, but it only takes a few minutes of gameplay to realize it’s completely shallow, and it’s better to just let this ship sink for good.

5 Skull Island: Rise of Kong

OpenCritic Score – 24

Skull Island: Rise of Kong is one of those games that is so unapologetically bad that it gained a bizarre kind of public interest. Many content creators felt compelled to take one for the industry, giving the game the status of an unholy classic that is plainly ridiculous.

It’s even weird to talk about this game because it feels anachronous in the worst possible way. Its graphics, cutscenes, and overall production look straight out of a PS2 game without the charm of that era.

The gameplay, a 3D brawler, is highly repetitive and uninspired, as if the dev team wanted players to feel intentionally miserable as they played.

And in fact, that might be precisely what happened. Reports suggest that the developer only had one year to make the game, with a tiny team and brutal crunch time.

The result turned out just as expected under these conditions, which is an absolute waste considering that Joe DeVito, the writer and illustrator of the novel Kong: King of Skull Island, was actually involved in the project.

4 Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers

OpenCritic Score – 24

Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers was Cartoon Network’s attempt at a beat ’em up, featuring iconic characters like Gumball, Steven Universe, and Finn and Jake. After Uncle Grandpa gathers them all together through a multidimensional trip, they must face off against the evil shard creatures.

The game sticks to the beat ’em up formula, offering unique abilities for each character, pickups during battles, interactive environments, and multiplayer gameplay. However, what you see in the first few minutes of Battle Crashers is exactly what you’ll get for the rest of the game.

Cartoon Network’s beat ’em up game is insanely repetitious, even though it allows for on-the-fly character swapping.

It’s just the same basic attack over and over, facing boring enemies and dull bosses. The worst part? With this insanely great roster, the game still manages to make them feel bland and out of character, thanks to its pedestrian game design.

3 Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma

OpenCritic Score – 21

There’s something satisfyingly poetic when a company acknowledges its mistakes and tries to make amends. That was the case with Versus Evil, the publisher of Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma, which was supposed to be Volume 1 of a trilogy.

However, the game was met with a tidal wave of negative reviews from critics and players, citing technical issues, mediocre design, terrible writing, and more.

The backlash was so bad that Versus Evil issued full refunds to all players without them even asking. The developer also pulled the game from digital stores and apologized to the public, which is quite a tell about its disaster.

The Afro Samurai game idea gained some attention thanks to the manga and anime, which had seen moderate success in the previous decade, especially with Samuel L. Jackson voicing Afro Samurai. But Afro Samurai 2 didn’t hold up at all.

In short, Afro Samurai 2 was just bad. It’s a third-person hack and slash, with three fighting styles and a focus on combos to defeat enemies.

And while the controls were somewhat responsive, the game felt empty, lackluster, as if the fun was sucked out of the game with every sword strike.

2 Vroom in the Night Sky

OpenCritic Score – 19

I mean, what the freaking hell is this? For a moment, I was convinced it was just another shovelware title, taking advantage of the Nintendo Store’s lenient self-publishing rules. But I decided to dig a little deeper since the game had over 15 critic reviews.

And wow… if regret could kill.

Vroom in the Night Sky was published by POISOFT and, believe it or not, was a Nintendo Switch launch title. Not that Nintendo would ever market it that way, but the game launched the same day as the console. Dubbed a “Magical Bike Action Game” by its developers, the only magic you’d want from it is to disappear into oblivion.

Luna glides through the air with her magical bike, collecting Stardusts and Keystars. It sounds, looks, and plays extremely awkward, like some spiritual successor to Superman 64 in terms of clunkiness.

I mean, okay, it seems like it was made with devotion and care. But if I’m going to spend money on something made with love, I’d instead donate to charity.

1 The Day Before

OpenCritic Score – 16

I will break my own rule for a good reason. The Day Before only had six critic reviews, but that’s because the game disappeared before it could even be properly reviewed. It was a ruse. A scam. One of the worst frauds the gaming industry has ever seen.

The Day Before was announced as a post-apocalyptic MMO survival game that would redefine the genre. Set in a zombie-infested USA, it promised realism, open-ended gameplay, and unparalleled player interactions unlike anything seen before. Bold promises that built a huge following and even pushed the game to the top of Steam’s wishlist.

However, as its supposed launch date approached, The Day Before was surrounded by controversy, including unpaid developers, asset reuse, trademark disputes, release delays, and a bunch of other red flags.

Long story short, the game launched buggier than an entomology textbook, and just four days later, it was removed from stores, with developer Fnatic declaring bankruptcy.

You don’t need to be a detective to see through this scam. That’s why I had to include The Day Before in the list. Not only as the worst game of the last decade but probably of the century.