Welcome to the my personal list of games I enjoyed this year. That’s right it’s my list, feel free to disagree with me but it won’t change anything.
Anyway here are the rules;
1. These are games that I’ve played and reviewed this year.
2. There isn’t an order to this list, its not a top 10, these all feature because of how good they are.
3. The games don’t have to have been released this year.
With that all said, lets get into it.
Children of Morta
There aren’t many games that give such an emphasis on familial bonds. This one gives you a heartfelt story while delivering challenging gameplay and excellent combat!
Jenny LeClue – Detectivu
Kickstarters can always be a gamble but with this one I spun the wheel and won. Challenging puzzles, an engaging story and a beautiful artstyle really make this game stand out.
Hollow Knight
Last year Axiom Verge gave me the Metroidvania bug, this year Hollow Knight makes sure that the infection is here to stay. Throw in an amazing soundtrack and a gorgeous artstyle and this game was always going to be a winner.
Wilmot’s Warehouse
There’s something strangely calming about just organising things… however Wilmot’s Warehouse also makes you feel the sheer panic of trying keeping your place of work organised and well stocked while at the same time filling out orders.
Void Bastards
This game has such a dark sense of humour and I can’t help but love it. I could never be too annoyed at the permadeath aspect of the game because it was always entertaining to see what daft quirks my next character was going to have.
Hades
Hades is going to be in a lot of peoples lists and with good reason, it’s fantastic. Supergiant have once again created a game that is well worth your attention. Seriously play this game I can gaurentee a good time.
Control
The only triple A game that really caught my attention this year. The influence from the SCP Foundation is clear but rather than lazily copying from them Remedy crafted something of its own that is haunting and uncanny.
Not Tonight
Being from the UK this game really hit close to home for me. The gameplay is essentially that of Papers Please, checking documents and passing people through but its the subject matter that really stuck with me. Let’s just say this is an over exagerated version of what I fear is happening to my homeland.
Yoku’s Island Express
Who thought pinball mixed with a Metroidvania would work? Well clearly the dev’s of this game and I’m so glad they did it. This was a joy to play.
Bad North
Real time strategy against an oncoming horde of mauraders. Each island is a diorama where you need to work out the choke points and features of the island before the horde appears. Hopefully after all that planning you’ll be prepared.
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I think its safe to say that this year has been… difficult for everyone. Hell, that’s an understatement and a half. Even ignoring the ever present viral threat on our doorsteps and focusing only on the games industry there has no shortage of disturbing news (Looking at you Ubisoft, CD Project Red, Rockstar and Activison).
Still, I do hope that this coming year is better than the one we’re leaving. Just everyone, please stay safe.
