Welcome once again to the my personal list of games I enjoyed this year. Yep, it’s my list, feel free to disagree with me but it won’t change anything.
So, here are the rules;
- These are games that I’ve played and reviewed this year.
- The list is in alphabetical order, its not a top 10, these all feature because of how good I consider them to be.
- The games don’t have to have been released this year.
Everyone clear on the rules? If not feel free to reread them.
Beacon Pines
This is a game I backed on Kickstarter after watching one of my favourite Youtubers showcase it. I absolutely loved this game to the point of feeling sad when I had completed it that it was over. This game totally captivated me and had me want to explore the various endings it has.
Curse of the Dead Gods
This is a roguelite game of risk and reward, do you keep the rooms lit and see what enemies are coming for you or do you fight in the darkness where your attacks are more potent but you can’t see what’s coming until its upon you. That is only one of the many risks you can take that may grant rewards, curses and glory await you within this game.
Inscryption
If Daniel Mullins creates a game I have to play it, that’s how it works at this point. Inscryption preys upon one of my weaknesses in both video and real games… deckbuilding. But once I thought I had a handle on the mechanics, they shifted and everything changed. Play this game and marvel at how strange and wonderful it is.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengance
“Gloriously stupid”, that’s how I described this game and I’m sticking by that statement. It’s so massively over the top in everything it does. An absolute must play!
Road 96
This game was something special. You could call it a walking simulator but that would not do this game justice at all. What makes this game special are the characters you meet as you go through your various playthroughs, from incompetent bikers to conflicted truckers and cops who just want to do good when surrounded by the bad ones. I’ve recently bought the separate expansion ‘Mile 0’ because I just want to experience it again (but differently).
Shadowrun Games
Okey, this is a bit of a cheat since this is about three games at once but I’m still counting it. My favourite of the three was Shadowrun: Hong Kong because of the way the story builds up. If you’re ever in the market for a cyberpunk game (that isn’t Cyberpunk 2077) I heartily recommend these.
System Shock (Remake)
Another game I backed on Kickstarter, and I’m so glad I did. I loved System Shock 2 and always found it very hard to go back it’s predecessor. This remake removed the clunkiness of the old game for me entirely.
Toem
Toem is a wonderful, slow paced game all about photography. Photography is something of a passion for me so this game really spoke to me. Of course, there is more to it than merely taking virtual pictures, there are puzzles, quests and side missions to accomplish.
Unpacking
Cosy games seem to be a genre that’s growing in popularity quite quickly and this game is pretty much the poster child for the genre. Something I really appreciated about the game was the unfolding narrative that you uncovered from what you unpacked into the various rooms and houses you followed the character into
Vampire Survivors
Just as Unpacking is the poster child of the cosy genre Vampire Survivors is the poster child (and possibly the original progenitor) of the ‘bullet heaven’ genre. What I find rather amazing is the level of support this game has been given by its creator, with lots of regular free updates that add in content as well as a couple of paid for expansions it really feels like this game will never truly die
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This year has been amazing for those of us that love to play video games, with lots of truly fantastic games appearing with regularity. Of course, that hasn’t been the case for the ones creating the games, developers are still being fired and removed for all sorts of stupid reasons and of course they like to target the newly established unions. I hope more unions appear and give these corpos the bloody nose they are asking for.
