The Last of Us Tops Kinda Funny's 100 Greatest Games List

Naughty Dog's 2013 survival horror classic took first place on Kinda Funny's all-time top 100 list, and Neil Druckmann shared a heartfelt thank-you video.

The Last of Us just claimed the biggest bragging right of them all. Kinda Funny has rolled out its editors' picks for the 100 greatest games ever made, and the 2013 Naughty Dog original landed in the top spot.

It wasn't even close. The game scored 494 points, finishing a full 53 points ahead of second-place Portal 2. Even more impressive: it was the only title to appear on all seven judges' personal top-ten lists. The Last of Us Part II also made the cut, settling in at number 16.

After the list went live, Neil Druckmann shared a video message to mark the occasion. He thanked PlayStation for its long-standing support, the Naughty Dog team, and co-director Bruce Straley. He also gave a shoutout to the players who've stuck with the game over the years.

Druckmann got specific about where the inspiration came from. He said The Last of Us was heavily shaped by ICO and Resident Evil 4 — the former's human, atmospheric touch and the latter's tense combat inside a survival horror framework together defined the game's emotional core and its gameplay rhythm.

For anyone who somehow missed it, The Last of Us is a third-person action-adventure survival horror game Naughty Dog built for the PS3, and it launched in June 2013. The story picks up 20 years after a cordyceps infection outbreak in the United States, following smuggler Joel as he's tasked with escorting a young girl named Ellie across the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

At its heart, the game is all about how the relationship between those two evolves, weaving stealth, resource management, and melee brawling into one long road trip. The storytelling and character work paid off in a big way — it racked up more than 500 Game of the Year awards and later became an HBO series of the same name.

So what do you think — does The Last of Us deserve the crown, or is your personal number one something else entirely? Drop your picks in the comments.