As is tradition, for the fifth consecutive year at eShopperReviews, it’s time for another eShopperReviews Game Awards week! As per usual, I make it a point to wait until the year is over to get every last chance to play all of that year’s best games before I finally make hard choices and name the best of the best (and worst of the worst) that the prior year had to offer on Nintendo Switch.

This year, we’ll start the ceremony proper on January 8, 2023. And once again, I’ll have a few early treats for everyone on January 5 – one for Patreon patrons, and one for everyone.

Okay, let’s get a few things out of the way here first – this list is only going to include Nintendo Switch games that I have reviewed. That means no Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Collection, no Batman Arkham Trilogy, no Cassette Beasts, no Bomb Rush Cyberfunk… so yeah, a few of the year’s more noteworthy titles won’t be found on this list, but in their place you may find some more obscure games you perhaps hadn’t heard of. Also, this list will only include games released on Nintendo Switch in 2023, regardless of other games I reviewed in 2023.

Also, as with last year, while I give some leeway to ports and re-releases for awards where it makes sense to do so, for the most part games will not qualify for an award if the game released on another platform earlier than 2021 unless the Nintendo Switch version of the game has significant changes or added content. In short, I try to find a happy medium here, recognizing games that are still relatively new but getting to Switch a bit later than other versions… but still trying to place the focus on newer releases.

Also, as with last year, I am limiting myself to naming only one winner and five runners-up in each category… for most categories, anyway. A few categories in Day 1 are Top 10 Lists, and in the case of Game of the Year, there will be a Gold, Silver, and Bronze award plus five runners-up). But everything else? 1 winner and 5 runners-up, no more (and in some cases less). If you know me at all, you’ll know this is quite a challenge for me – if I could, I’d name-check every single game I enjoyed from the prior year, but this is supposed to highlight the very best, so we’ll be focusing on only the select few deserving of that honor.

Anyway, here are the categories you can expect to see next week:

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eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards Day 1: Specialty Awards

2022 Second Chance Awards

The Top 10 Games I Wish I could Have Played Before Writing This, But Didn’t Get Around to Doing In Time

Best Port / Remake

Best Compilation / Collection

Best Sequel – NEW FOR 2023!

Best Game for Kids and Casual Players

Best Multiplayer

Best New Free-To-Play Game

Best Value

Funniest Game

Most Underrated

Most Overlooked

Most Original

Most Efficient Use of File Storage Space

The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award

Best Third-Party Publisher

Top 10 Games That Would Win a Lot More Awards This Week if They Weren’t Disqualified Due to How Old Their Original Release Is

My Top 10 Most-Played Games of 2023

My Top 10 Most-Anticipated Games of 2024

Did Last Year’s Top 10 Most-Anticipated Games Meet Expectations?

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eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards Day 2: Technical Awards

Best Music

Best Song

Best Sound Design

Best Voice Acting

Best Graphical Style

Best Graphics

Best Story

Best New Character

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eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards Day 3: Dubious Honors

Worst Monetization / Scam

Most Overrated

Laziest Copycat

Worst Port/Remake

Most Overpriced

The “Who asked for this!?” Award – NEW FOR 2023!

The “Why is this taking so much space on my memory card!?” Award

Most Disappointing

Nintendo’s Biggest Blunder

Worst Game

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eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards Day 4: Genre Awards

Best Platformer

Best Arcade / Party Game

Best Action Game

Best Metroidvania

Best Roguelike – NEW FOR 2023!

Best Action-RPG

Best RPG

Best Strategy Game

Best Simulation

Best Graphic Adventure / Visual Novel

Best Puzzle Game

Best Card Game

Best Driving/Racing Game

Best Sports Game

Best Music-Rhythm Game

Best Misc. Game

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eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards Day 5: Highest Honors

Game of the Year: Bronze Award (Third Place)

Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second Place)

Game of the Year: Runners-Up

Game of the Year

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Please check back each day of the week starting on January 8, 2024 to see which games have been selected as Winner and Runner-Up for each award!

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