Video game tie-in novels have a reputation — and not always a good one. Every year, new adaptations, prequels, and expanded-universe entries hit shelves, promising deeper lore and richer character arcs. This ongoing annual ranking tracks the best and worst video game-based books released each year, judging them on narrative strength, worldbuilding expansion, thematic depth, and whether they justify existing beyond the source material.
This master post serves as a central hub, linking to each year’s full breakdown and individual reviews. Some entries elevate their franchises with meaningful character insight. Others feel like extended cutscenes in paragraph form. The goal isn’t nostalgia — it’s evaluation. Which titles transcend their origins? Which are marketing exercises? The rankings document the evolution of the medium’s literary ambitions.
This blog post will be update accordingly.
2000 Years:
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
2010 Years:
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
2020 Years:
- 2020
- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
- 2026
Video game novels live in a tricky space between adaptation and expansion. When done right, they deepen lore and humanize iconic characters. When done poorly, they read like walkthroughs with punctuation. This annual ranking keeps score — rewarding ambition, calling out laziness, and tracking how interactive worlds translate into prose over time.
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