Google’s Top Trending Video Games Of 2013 List Is Full Of Surprises

Google has released its annual Zeitgeist, which includes a bunch of top-10 lists of popular and trending searches, including the most talked about and searched for games of 2013.

“The 2013 Zeitgeist site provides 1000+ top-10 lists of popular and trending searches from 72 countries,” according to Google, “making this our most comprehensive and global list to date. You also can watch the 2013 Google Zeitgeist Video for a glimpse of the year’s most captivating moments and check out the Official Google Blog that highlights global trends in search from the past year.”

The top-trending video games of 2013 are more than a little bit surprising—and illuminating. While the top-trending game is a no-brainer—Grand Theft Auto V, with its $1 billion in sales in just three days—many of the others, as well as those not listed, come out of left field. The fact that Cookie Clicker takes the number two spot makes me more than a bit uncomfortable, given that it’s a game I’ve only heard about in passing.

I also find it surprising (telling perhaps?) that Call of Duty isn’t on the list, while indie voxel game Cube World is #6 (which I find quite incredible, to be honest.)

No Minecraft either, though mobile blockbuster Candy Crush makes the cut. (This is also where I admit to never having played Candy Crush. I do my best to resist the dark side.)

Here’s Google’s list of top-trending games of 2013:

1.       Grand Theft Auto V

2.       Cookie Clicker

3.       Atari Breakout

4.       Candy Crush

5.       BioShock Infinite

6.       Cube World

7.       Battlefield 4

8.       Neverwinter

9.       SimCity

10.   Skylanders: Swap Force

Some of these titles are here due to scandal and uproar—EA’s Battlefield 4 and SimCity 5 both launched with myriad complications, which is something that EA seems to do more often than not.

Ken Levine’s BioShock Infinite was at once widely praised and widely disdained, making it one of the more controversial titles of the year. I’ve rarely seen a game so widely admired and so widely trashed all at once.

There’s an obvious reason why Atari Breakout made the list, but I do marvel that Neverwinter is included while games like The Last of Us or even a mobile smash hit like Clash of Clans are in absentia.

But beyond all my puzzlement, the fact remains that these are the top-trending games on Google. It’s an intriguing mix of console, PC, and mobile offerings. If anything, it confirms my belief that none of these spaces are crowding out the others; that there’s room in the video game market for a wide array of titles on a wide array of devices all targeting a diverse consumer demographic.

No magic bullets, in other words, and money to be made in all corners of the industry.

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here.