Released: October 15, 2012
Platform: PC
Metascore: 20

In an era full-to-bursting with zombie shooters, it’s no surprise that something as bad as this appeared to attempt a cash-in on the genre’s popularity. Surprisingly, this game was very well-received in its alpha state, but the final release version made almost no improvements, with some fans even claiming it took steps back from the alpha.

Best Infestation Survivor Stories review quotes:

Eurogamer: “If you’re even slightly tempted, just remember that at the maelstrom’s core is a very basic and ugly game made by a company that is both dishonest and incompetent.”

GameSpot: “Fighting zombie hordes in an apocalyptic wasteland has never been so depressing.”

Released: July 23, 2007
Platform: Nintendo DS
Metascore: 20

Although Deal or No Deal is a huge hit of a game show, it’s never worked as a video game. Without the stakes of real money being on the line, the gameplay is robbed of any tension because it’s all just meaningless numbers. Regardless, the Wii version of Deal or No Deal did fine for itself, because it wasn’t as utterly broken as the DS version. It completely removed the random chance from the game by always putting the money in the same cases when you reboot your system, which defeats the entire point of Deal or No Deal.

Best Deal or No Deal review quotes:

GameSpot: “A $30 game about winning fake money by picking random numbers is awful to begin with, but a completely broken version of said game is another story altogether.”

IGN: “It’s a boring, pointless, annoying game that is fundamentally broken and thus rendered completely absurd, much like Howie Mandel himself.”

Release Date: June 11, 2015
Platform: PC
Metascore: 19

It’s heartbreaking to see a beloved horror series like Alone in the Dark go down the drain, but it’s hard to argue given what a disaster this game turned out to be. This game made the baffling decision to allow up to four-player co-op and focus gameplay on staying in the light to stay safe, making it a game where you’re neither alone nor in the dark. If that wasn’t enough to sink it, releasing in a half-broke state certainly was.

Best Alone in the Dark: Illumination review quotes:

Everyeye.it: “A complete and utter disaster. It might spark the curiosity of trash fans, and that’s all there is to say.

Metro GameCentral: “Disgracing the name of Alone In The Dark is just one of the many crimes committed in this hatefully frustrating, and patently unfinished, survival horror.”

Release Date: July 7, 2008
Platform: Wii
Metascore: 18

To answer the question I’m sure you’ve just asked, a SPOG is a Sports Player Object Gyro, and if that makes sense to you then you must be one of the game’s developers. It was a standard Mario Kart rip-off that wasn’t uncommon in the 2000s, but this one managed to be especially bad with ugly graphics, and some of the worst racing AI out there.

Best SPOGS Racing review quotes:

Nintendo Life: “There will inevitably be some racing game fans that will find enough good in this title to warrant a purchase, but the broken gameplay, cheap AI, and dismal visuals will likely be more than enough to scare everyone else off.”

Release Date: April 5, 2013
Platform: Xbox 360
Metascore: 17

Once again dragging a classic franchise into the mud, Double Dragon II Wander of the Dragons is perhaps the worst beat ‘em up brawler ever made. Not only are the graphics awful by 2013’s standards, but it struggled to run at anything close to an acceptable framerate. Combat was extremely dull at the best of times, and impossible at the worst of times with enemies able to gang up on you continuously.

Best Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons review quotes:

Everyeye.it: “A game that should not exist. Even if it were distributed free, no one would advise you to invest even a few moments with a product so indefensible from any point of view.”

Hardcore Gamer: “This is the video game equivalent of Rebecca Black’s Friday, something so terrible that its existence is nothing short of a miracle.”

Release Date: April 5, 2017
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Metascore: 17

This game was part of the Switch eShop’s ‘Nindie’ launch lineup, and it was a bad omen for the amount of shovelware that was to come. Visually, it was outclassed by Nintendo DS games, and gameplay-wise it was outclassed by everything. It had you play through endless rings Superman 64 style, but with a hilariously slow (and terribly noisy) motorbike.

Best Vroom in the Night Sky review quotes:

Destructoid: “The lowest of the low. There is no potential, no skill, no depth and no talent. This game has nothing to offer the world, and will die lonely and forgotten.”

Meristation: “Vroom in the Night Sky is probably the worst-priced game right now on any console’s store. Don’t even look at it: it’s very, very bad.

Release Date: May 5, 2009
Platform: PlayStation 3
Metascore: 17

This game would’ve sat comfortably in the mix with any of the awful movie tie-in action platformers this generation was famous for. Like most of those games, this was just a dull experience from start to finish. The more nuanced sexual humour of the original games was out of the window in favour of trashy jokes that were often sexist and unfunny. It was most definitely a sign that this sort of game was no longer wanted.

Best Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust review quotes:

GameSpot: “Poor technical performance joins mindless, repetitive gameplay and a truly atrocious sense of humour in the PlayStation 3 version of Box Office Bust.”

IGN: “The lowest rating numbers here at IGN are reserved for games with nearly no redeeming qualities or interesting ideas, with next to nothing enjoyable to offer players, and which under no circumstances should be purchased by anyone. Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust is, without a doubt, one of those games.”

Release Date: October 10, 2007
Platform: Xbox 360
Metascore: 17

Yes, Yaris as in the car, Toyota Yaris. Everyone loves the thrill of racing games because you can blast through tracks in supercars and hypercars to your heart’s content, but how about a game where you can only drive a hot hatchback? The game is like the special stages from Sonic 2, but you can shoot lasers from your car with a mechanosymbiont, whatever that is.

Best Yaris review quotes:

GamesRadar+: “Yes, Yaris is a free game, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to put almost zero effort into the whole thing. Unfortunately, there are actually no redeeming qualities to Yaris.”

Release Date: June 24, 2013
Platform: PC
Metascore: 16

Ride to Hell: Retribution is one of the more infamous terrible games, but it isn’t quite the worst ever on Metacritic. It’s deserving of the runner-up spot, though with laughable biking gameplay and boring on-foot combat, plus a story that doesn’t make any sense and multiple fully-clothed sex scenes that’ll leave you rolling your eyes for days.

Best Ride to Hell: Retribution review quotes:

Eurogamer: “The most imaginative thing that happened to me in my time playing this game is that a noiseless combine harvester came towards me and I had to run away from it.”

3DJuegos: “Ride to Hell: Retribution just manages to offer more than ten hours of virtual breakdown.”

Release Date: December 4, 2012
Platform: Wii U
Metascore: 11

The Wii was full of compilation party games, some of which were the best Wii games, but none of them managed to be quite as bad as this offering on the Wii U. Not only did it have backwards and terrible controls, but it required you to own two Wiimotes and two nunchucks for the privilege. Visually it could be put to shame by a PS2 game and doesn’t even work half the time.

Best Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade review quotes:

Nintendo Life: “ As clunky and poorly considered as its title, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is awful. Relying entirely on the shallow and repetitive waggle that should have died along with Wii, there’s absolutely no reason to recommend this obnoxious, screaming, clattering monstrosity at all.”

Written by Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.