Okay...it's the end of the year again. And as the last two years (2015 and 2014), I've come up with my own list. More than anything, I should stress that these are games I've played this year, NOT games that were released this year (I don't care about hypes or release dates...I'll rather wait for the price to come down and bugfixes come up than pay up for being a beta tester). In fact, from the list that gbatemp comes up with, I've played no games.
Second: my list, my preferences. Please don't attempt to argue about my taste, okay?
Third...before you continue reading, I should probably point out a top 100 alternative games I've made about four months ago. Since I originally wrote it for another (Dutch) site, I'm sure most of you just skipped over it. However, I've just taken a couple hours to translate the bunch and fix most of the syntax errors.
Fourth: the entries are on PC (steam or gog) unless otherwise stated
That said...let's start with the games that I've played that didn't make my list:
-snakebirds
-splendor (mobile, though the board game is even better)
-ticket to ride (ditto)
-carcassonne (ditto)
-interlocked (mobile)
-Abe's exoddus (didn't play much of this)
-gosumin
-absolute drift
-puzzle bots
-shikaku (mobile)
-TEC3001
-pix the cat
-fistfull of gun
-enslaved; journey to the west
-undertale (I know this'll be fucking controversial, but this just didn't wow me as much as others on this site. In my defense, I barely had time to properly sink into it, so it might pick a good spot next year.)
-nihilumbra (on wiiu)
-expand
-renowned explorers
-ingenious (mobile)
-the Talos principle
-current stream (mobile)
-shantae risky's revenge
-badlands (mobile)
-never alone
20. dr. Luigi (wiiu)
Nice going...I hacked my wiiu to play virtually all games, and what do I end up playing? A cheap dr mario knockoff. Right? No...not really. The L-shapes truly make a difference in how you have to stack things, and the hard mode isn't a simple "pills fall faster" but more a "pill colors don't line up as conveniently anymore". What can I say? I'm a sucker for these kinds of games.
19. Nova-111
Screw those JRPG's doing wonky stuff with mixing real time and turn based: this is how you do it. Each step you take counts as a turn and lets others do their move as well (there is some real time element to it later on). Can't say how this compares to superhot (that one's on my "to play" list).
18. Mad Max
Reviews are interesting on this game: it's mediocre, it's all the same, it's monotone, and so on. The thing is: I have yet to play most modern sandbox games, so blisfully unaware at how this game supposedly sucks, I had tons of fun in this thing.
17. Epistory - typing chronicles
Those monthly humble bundles are interesting in that they fetch me games I would probably never buy or play if I knew them in advance, but end up being awesome. That goes especially for this one: it's Zelda but instead of pressing a button to swing a sword you have to type words. It's totally stupid...but I've enjoyed every minute of this game.
16. Super avalanche
Yet another one of this "this shouldn't be this much fun!" games. A roguelike "keep climbing" game that pits you in basically a tetris game where the floor is lava. Especially the "this is all this game is about" sounds like a turn-off.
...and I have to restrain myself or I'll just go for another run, because why the fucking hell not?
15. mini metro (PC and mobile)
This is a...erm...I guess you can say "simulation game". It's about transporting a whole bunch of symbols to their destinations by laying train routes between the stations. It's so simple in concept, yet I've never seen anything quite like this. It's so relaxing at the start and so freaking hard at the end (despite the fact you can pause the game and plan things out just the way you want it). It appeared on mobile a few months after that...which was automatically added to my humble bundle account (YEEEEEEEYYY!!! ). To be honest: it was more or less made for touchpads even before that.
14. infinity loop (mobile)
Another anti-stress game. A simple free app that I tried like I try one roughly every two weeks. This has you making abstract circular shapes by turning loop parts around. It's more relaxing than perhaps any other I've ever played.
13. leo's fortune
another one that came out of nowhere (honestly: I have no idea how this ended up in my steam library ). It's a simple but adorable platformer. I was halfway the game before I even noticed that there were no enemies. The game design is so good that it doesn't even need that.
12. the beginner's guide
What to say about this? It may be a walking simulator, but one that throws a very relevant and intelligent plotline out there. Like the "the blair witch project", this game has you believing in its premisse more than...well...probably any game ever (I just hope it doesn't spawn a whole lot of similar 'found footage'-games out there ).
11. you must build a boat (mobile)
Here, the period of year I played this is probably more important than the actual game. My girlfriend had just moved in and wanted a puppy. As you can understand, raising a puppy is pretty hard and requires constant attention. This was one of the first games I managed to play on my tablet in between sessions where she had to have some attention. The "there is no fail state" worked wonders, it keeps your mind busy yet has something for all...I dunno. It's certainly a fun game (I played that 1000000 game just before, but this one is much better). Oh, and that puppy is at my feet as I write this. She has learned that her owner sometimes just likes to spend time making typing sounds. ;-)
10. road to ballhalla
There's really an occuring trend in this list: this game was added to the "above average" tier of a humble bundle after I had already bought it. I installed it out of curiosity...and now I can't even remember for which games I initially bought that bundle.
Anyway...this is a 'roll the ball through the maze' kind of game. It's fun but nothing special...except in the dressing. This game has made me laugh more than anything else in this game. And it does this through the narration (example: at one time you pass by an INCREDIBLY HARD LOOKING part of the level. Then you take another turn and the narrator goes "oh, you thought you were going to have to do that? Why did you think that?").
9. the static speaks my name
Now this is a controversial game. Not because it can attract enough attention from soccer moms (hatred, anyone?), but because it showcases a depression in a much better way than I think anyone has ever done. It's a free to play game on steam of ten to fifteen minutes tops, yet in that time it delivers a punch to the stomach that most true horror movies or games can only dream to achieve. This may be personal (I've come close to a depression once), but I recognize that feeling of the protagonist more than I want. More than I hope anyone recognizes, for that matter.
8. Wolfenstein the new order
Yes, I do play AAA titles, thank you very much. And as reviews promised, this one's pretty good. Not good enough to finish (I have to be on my main PC for this one, and that one's usually occupied nowadays), but certainly worthy of this spot. :-)
...and unlike most games, I don't think I have to explain what this one's all about, right?
7. parkitect
Strange, isn't it? It's been over a decade since a theme park simulator and now we have three: planet coaster for those who liked rollercoaster tycoon 3, parkitect for those who prefer the isometric perspective of the first two, and rollercoaster tycoon world for those who like subpar experiences.
I'm a sucker for the first rollercoaster tycoon games. It's just my thing to just try to maximize space utilization as much as possible, and this game lets me easily build roads that overlap, floating attractions and corkscrews that pass directly next to those roads. The other games may also do that, but at least this one lets me do it the manual way (I just...like this sort of stuff).
6. Fran Bow
This is a point&click psychological horror game. As a mentally ill girl, you are given a box of pills with which you can see reality in a warped sense. And you'll have to use this Zelda-esque two worlds to solve all sorts of puzzles. While the first chapter is by far the strongest one, I was just glued to the screen and wanted to know where things would lead.
5. Infinifactory
I was wary at first, as the premisse of this game is basically spacechem in 3D (spacechem is from the same makers...and I hated that game). But as it quickly turned out, building stuff was easy and intuitive, and the game looks beautiful. It is, however, pretty freaking hard. But it's hard in the sense of "I have no idea how to get to the ending, but I suppose we'll have to start with this...and then perhaps this...and then...". And then hours have passed but damnit...you've got the solution!
4. hexcells
Small note: this should be "hexcells, hexcells plus and hexcells infinite". These three games are identical and should be bought together. It would've been a rip-off if the total price wasn't so cheap. But anyway...hexcells is like mines but in hexagonal shapes and with some hints, making it a deduction game. More precise: one of the best deduction games I've ever played.
3. mushroom 11
Those complaining that games aren't innovative enough just play the wrong games. Mushroom 11 is proof of that. You basically play a fungal blob that grows in all directions until a given size. Using the mouse, you can let parts of it die (after which your blob continues to grow in the remaining directions). At first I thought it was pretty interesting but that it would ran out of ideas soon. But it took plenty of hours and many chapters before that actually happened (and perhaps they could have done even more with their idea). Mushroom 11 is hard but interesting. I'm not sure if you can call it fun (you basically play as a huge-ass bacteria in a fallout-ish world), but certainly engaging.
2. crypt of the necrodancer
A rhythm-based dungeon crawler. Has great theme and even better music.
This one was hard to place, as this is so hard it's not even funny anymore. Unless you play as the bard, which makes the game behave more like nova-111 than the way it was meant to be played. But in the end, I settled for this place because I just keep coming back to it. I may not be good at it (in fact, I'm terrible at it), but I'm having just too much of a good time with this game.
1. Duet: premium
And yes...like ballhalla, this too was added to a humble bundle after purchase. I had never heard about it, intended to just poke with it a bit, and then totally forgot about the rest. And as that game, it's about balls. More precisely: about two that are tacked on a circle that has to be turned in order for these balls to avoid hitting stuff.
Main quality: the amazing music. The philosophical story may be tacked on, the music brings it to an absurdly weird level of greatness.
Second: it has lots of content. Granted, the premium consists of lots of things that were added later, but even then I got at least two whole storylines, dozens and dozens of extra levels, multiple daily and nightly randomly generated levels and more. I can just keep playing this thing endlessly.
Third: portability. Like mini metro, this game can be played both on PC and mobile. And it plays at least as good on a mobile phone as on PC (in fact, I was surprised by this...after all, not only does it not have buttons but I hardly ever play mobile games with sound).
Fourth: the incredible smoothness of the game. The learning curve goes from very, very easy to extremely hard. And you can just pick it up wherever you like.
Second: my list, my preferences. Please don't attempt to argue about my taste, okay?
Third...before you continue reading, I should probably point out a top 100 alternative games I've made about four months ago. Since I originally wrote it for another (Dutch) site, I'm sure most of you just skipped over it. However, I've just taken a couple hours to translate the bunch and fix most of the syntax errors.
Fourth: the entries are on PC (steam or gog) unless otherwise stated
That said...let's start with the games that I've played that didn't make my list:
-snakebirds
-splendor (mobile, though the board game is even better)
-ticket to ride (ditto)
-carcassonne (ditto)
-interlocked (mobile)
-Abe's exoddus (didn't play much of this)
-gosumin
-absolute drift
-puzzle bots
-shikaku (mobile)
-TEC3001
-pix the cat
-fistfull of gun
-enslaved; journey to the west
-undertale (I know this'll be fucking controversial, but this just didn't wow me as much as others on this site. In my defense, I barely had time to properly sink into it, so it might pick a good spot next year.)
-nihilumbra (on wiiu)
-expand
-renowned explorers
-ingenious (mobile)
-the Talos principle
-current stream (mobile)
-shantae risky's revenge
-badlands (mobile)
-never alone
20. dr. Luigi (wiiu)
Nice going...I hacked my wiiu to play virtually all games, and what do I end up playing? A cheap dr mario knockoff. Right? No...not really. The L-shapes truly make a difference in how you have to stack things, and the hard mode isn't a simple "pills fall faster" but more a "pill colors don't line up as conveniently anymore". What can I say? I'm a sucker for these kinds of games.
19. Nova-111
Screw those JRPG's doing wonky stuff with mixing real time and turn based: this is how you do it. Each step you take counts as a turn and lets others do their move as well (there is some real time element to it later on). Can't say how this compares to superhot (that one's on my "to play" list).
18. Mad Max
Reviews are interesting on this game: it's mediocre, it's all the same, it's monotone, and so on. The thing is: I have yet to play most modern sandbox games, so blisfully unaware at how this game supposedly sucks, I had tons of fun in this thing.
17. Epistory - typing chronicles
Those monthly humble bundles are interesting in that they fetch me games I would probably never buy or play if I knew them in advance, but end up being awesome. That goes especially for this one: it's Zelda but instead of pressing a button to swing a sword you have to type words. It's totally stupid...but I've enjoyed every minute of this game.
16. Super avalanche
Yet another one of this "this shouldn't be this much fun!" games. A roguelike "keep climbing" game that pits you in basically a tetris game where the floor is lava. Especially the "this is all this game is about" sounds like a turn-off.
...and I have to restrain myself or I'll just go for another run, because why the fucking hell not?
15. mini metro (PC and mobile)
This is a...erm...I guess you can say "simulation game". It's about transporting a whole bunch of symbols to their destinations by laying train routes between the stations. It's so simple in concept, yet I've never seen anything quite like this. It's so relaxing at the start and so freaking hard at the end (despite the fact you can pause the game and plan things out just the way you want it). It appeared on mobile a few months after that...which was automatically added to my humble bundle account (YEEEEEEEYYY!!!
). To be honest: it was more or less made for touchpads even before that.14. infinity loop (mobile)
Another anti-stress game. A simple free app that I tried like I try one roughly every two weeks. This has you making abstract circular shapes by turning loop parts around. It's more relaxing than perhaps any other I've ever played.
13. leo's fortune
another one that came out of nowhere (honestly: I have no idea how this ended up in my steam library
). It's a simple but adorable platformer. I was halfway the game before I even noticed that there were no enemies. The game design is so good that it doesn't even need that. 12. the beginner's guide
What to say about this? It may be a walking simulator, but one that throws a very relevant and intelligent plotline out there. Like the "the blair witch project", this game has you believing in its premisse more than...well...probably any game ever (I just hope it doesn't spawn a whole lot of similar 'found footage'-games out there
).11. you must build a boat (mobile)
Here, the period of year I played this is probably more important than the actual game. My girlfriend had just moved in and wanted a puppy. As you can understand, raising a puppy is pretty hard and requires constant attention. This was one of the first games I managed to play on my tablet in between sessions where she had to have some attention. The "there is no fail state" worked wonders, it keeps your mind busy yet has something for all...I dunno. It's certainly a fun game (I played that 1000000 game just before, but this one is much better). Oh, and that puppy is at my feet as I write this. She has learned that her owner sometimes just likes to spend time making typing sounds. ;-)
10. road to ballhalla
There's really an occuring trend in this list: this game was added to the "above average" tier of a humble bundle after I had already bought it. I installed it out of curiosity...and now I can't even remember for which games I initially bought that bundle.
Anyway...this is a 'roll the ball through the maze' kind of game. It's fun but nothing special...except in the dressing. This game has made me laugh more than anything else in this game. And it does this through the narration (example: at one time you pass by an INCREDIBLY HARD LOOKING part of the level. Then you take another turn and the narrator goes "oh, you thought you were going to have to do that? Why did you think that?").
9. the static speaks my name
Now this is a controversial game. Not because it can attract enough attention from soccer moms (hatred, anyone?), but because it showcases a depression in a much better way than I think anyone has ever done. It's a free to play game on steam of ten to fifteen minutes tops, yet in that time it delivers a punch to the stomach that most true horror movies or games can only dream to achieve. This may be personal (I've come close to a depression once), but I recognize that feeling of the protagonist more than I want. More than I hope anyone recognizes, for that matter.
8. Wolfenstein the new order
Yes, I do play AAA titles, thank you very much. And as reviews promised, this one's pretty good. Not good enough to finish (I have to be on my main PC for this one, and that one's usually occupied nowadays), but certainly worthy of this spot. :-)
...and unlike most games, I don't think I have to explain what this one's all about, right?
7. parkitect
Strange, isn't it? It's been over a decade since a theme park simulator and now we have three: planet coaster for those who liked rollercoaster tycoon 3, parkitect for those who prefer the isometric perspective of the first two, and rollercoaster tycoon world for those who like subpar experiences.
I'm a sucker for the first rollercoaster tycoon games. It's just my thing to just try to maximize space utilization as much as possible, and this game lets me easily build roads that overlap, floating attractions and corkscrews that pass directly next to those roads. The other games may also do that, but at least this one lets me do it the manual way (I just...like this sort of stuff).
6. Fran Bow
This is a point&click psychological horror game. As a mentally ill girl, you are given a box of pills with which you can see reality in a warped sense. And you'll have to use this Zelda-esque two worlds to solve all sorts of puzzles. While the first chapter is by far the strongest one, I was just glued to the screen and wanted to know where things would lead.
5. Infinifactory
I was wary at first, as the premisse of this game is basically spacechem in 3D (spacechem is from the same makers...and I hated that game). But as it quickly turned out, building stuff was easy and intuitive, and the game looks beautiful. It is, however, pretty freaking hard. But it's hard in the sense of "I have no idea how to get to the ending, but I suppose we'll have to start with this...and then perhaps this...and then...". And then hours have passed but damnit...you've got the solution!
4. hexcells
Small note: this should be "hexcells, hexcells plus and hexcells infinite". These three games are identical and should be bought together. It would've been a rip-off if the total price wasn't so cheap. But anyway...hexcells is like mines but in hexagonal shapes and with some hints, making it a deduction game. More precise: one of the best deduction games I've ever played.
3. mushroom 11
Those complaining that games aren't innovative enough just play the wrong games. Mushroom 11 is proof of that. You basically play a fungal blob that grows in all directions until a given size. Using the mouse, you can let parts of it die (after which your blob continues to grow in the remaining directions). At first I thought it was pretty interesting but that it would ran out of ideas soon. But it took plenty of hours and many chapters before that actually happened (and perhaps they could have done even more with their idea). Mushroom 11 is hard but interesting. I'm not sure if you can call it fun (you basically play as a huge-ass bacteria in a fallout-ish world), but certainly engaging.
2. crypt of the necrodancer
A rhythm-based dungeon crawler. Has great theme and even better music.
This one was hard to place, as this is so hard it's not even funny anymore. Unless you play as the bard, which makes the game behave more like nova-111 than the way it was meant to be played. But in the end, I settled for this place because I just keep coming back to it. I may not be good at it (in fact, I'm terrible at it), but I'm having just too much of a good time with this game.
1. Duet: premium
And yes...like ballhalla, this too was added to a humble bundle after purchase. I had never heard about it, intended to just poke with it a bit, and then totally forgot about the rest. And as that game, it's about balls. More precisely: about two that are tacked on a circle that has to be turned in order for these balls to avoid hitting stuff.
Main quality: the amazing music. The philosophical story may be tacked on, the music brings it to an absurdly weird level of greatness.
Second: it has lots of content. Granted, the premium consists of lots of things that were added later, but even then I got at least two whole storylines, dozens and dozens of extra levels, multiple daily and nightly randomly generated levels and more. I can just keep playing this thing endlessly.
Third: portability. Like mini metro, this game can be played both on PC and mobile. And it plays at least as good on a mobile phone as on PC (in fact, I was surprised by this...after all, not only does it not have buttons but I hardly ever play mobile games with sound).
Fourth: the incredible smoothness of the game. The learning curve goes from very, very easy to extremely hard. And you can just pick it up wherever you like.
