5. 5th place should go to something that's around a 7 or 8 in quality, or something that's terrible on a technical aspect but has so many fans that if you don't put it on people will tear you to shreds. 4. This is where you put the "underdog" of the year, for the sake of variety as well as stopping people from accusing you of being just like every other person with a GOTY list. 3. Put a game here that's extremely well made, but not "new", "interesting" or "innovative" enough. 2. and 1. go to the games that had the most media buzz, or a Naughty Dog game if one came out that year.