The Strong National Museum of Play, headquartered in New York, has announced the twelve games that will be finalists in 2022.

Games that meet specific criteria are eligible for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. For example, only titles that are known around the world are eligible. This year’s finalists include Assassin’s Creed, Candy Crush Saga, Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Minesweeper, Ms. Pac-Man, NBA Jam, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Rogue, Sid Meier’s Civilization and Words with Friends.

The organisation received thousands upon thousands of nominations, so the list was heavily filtered down to just twelve titles. Fans can also vote until March 24 on this website to choose their favourite title from the twelve lists. The three games that receive the most public votes will form one ballot and join the other ballots submitted by members of the International Selection Advisory Committee, including scholars and journalists.

“This year’s 12 finalists showcase the range and depth of the video game world. There are true icons like Ms. Pacman, games that change the industry like Rogue, and smartphone games that made gamers out of hundreds of millions of people, such as Candy Crush Saga and Words with Friends,” Jon-Paul C. Dyson, director of The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games, said in a press release.

We would add to this list a pioneer of 3D survival horror (Resident Evil), a very inventive and creative rhythm game (PaRappa the Rapper), a revolutionary title that requires dance moves (Dance Dance Revolution), and one of the technological jewels of the Nintendo 64 (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), not to mention Ubisoft’s iconic Assassin’s Creed, whose first instalment in 2007/2008 had no idea of its future (live service… Assassin‘s Creed: Infinity).

This year’s winners will be announced on May 5.

Source: VGC