The strategy and 4X news site Explorminate has currently a series of the top games of 2021 and 2022. The different writers highlight the most interesting games of the last and coming year.
They have a few games on their list, which the community here would certainly agree are among the top games of 2021, like Old World or Humankind, and are looking forward to games like Expeditions: Rome, GalCiv4 and some lesser known ones. If you want to have a good overview what has been worthwhile a few hours last year, check their lists here: