Gamescom 2026 was full of surprises, from reveals of never-seen-before games during Opening Night Live to the announcement of a remaster for one of the best games of all time. Beyond the opening showcase, though, Gamescom is also a trade show and consumer gaming event — basically, the replacement for E3 — held in a sprawling convention hall with hundreds of games to play. Polygon was on the floor this year, and while there, we went hands-on with a ton of those games, from AAA behemoths like Fable to under-the-radar indies like Wilderings: The Lost Spring.
But what were the absolute best games we played while we were out in Cologne, Germany? Here’s our list of the top 17 games we played at Gamescom 2026, in no particular order.
1
Fable
We’d be remiss not to start with one of the most anticipated AAA releases of the whole event, right? You can read more about Fable in our dedicated preview, but the gist of it is as follows: tight, satisfying combat with fluid mechanics that allow you to switch between melee, ranged, and magic with ease. Our fighting-focused demo involved following the very British Humphry (voiced by comedian Matt King, of Super Hans fame from Peep Show) through an old mine, where undead foes arose around every corner. It then culminated in a fantastic boss battle against a ferocious spirit in a misty bog, and even though Fable is going to be a shorter game than we were expecting, I cannot wait to play more. —Ford James
2
Worms Galactic Tactics
Tactics games are on a comeback right now, and Worms Galactic Tactics is trying something much-needed for the genre: to make it even more accessible. Even though tactics games are fairly simple in comparison to other strategy sub-genres (anyone who can get their head around a 4X game is a wizard in my book), they do have somewhat of a learning curve. With Worms Galactic Tactics, it’s implementing roguelite mechanics and treating it as, essentially, another Worms game. The only difference is this time, the playing field is 3D. I only had a quick blast on the demo but this may be the best take on the turn-based Worms formula yet. —Ford James
3
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is, if nothing else, a revelation. Even just 45 minutes revealed one of the most impressive open-world feats I’ve ever seen: It builds its open world on top of the entire game of FF7 Rebirth. You can fly your airship, the Highwind, to literally any region from FF7 Rebirth — Junon, Gongaga, the Gold Saucer, you name it — decamp, parachute down, and just land, completely seamlessly. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation adds some cool combat tweaks, in the form of two new characters and a class-swapping system called FITS, but the real draw here is its grandeur. If the original game made you feel like you were exploring a planet, Revelation makes that feeling a reality. —Ari Notis
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