019 was a weird year for me. It was filled with a lot of introspection and internal challenges. A lot of this year was holding up a mirror to myself and asking WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU HOLDING A MIRROR?! For games it was, to be honest an “okay” year for games. Nothing this year really blew me away, but I also may just be getting tired of games in general. More on that later. Let’s get to my opinions on this year’s games.

BEST ORGANIZED

WILMOT’S WAREHOUSE

You’re probably looking at this image and thinking, What is this chaotic trash pile of shapes. And I’d say yes...it’s chaos, but organized chaos. Wilmot’s Warehouse came into my life at a time where things around me were in a nightmarish whirlwind. Existing online and IRL was a challenge, but there was one place where I could keep my head straight and that was in Wilmot’s Warehouse. If I described the gameplay to you it would probably put you to sleep. To put it simply, WW is a game about organizing a space that continues to grow and change over time. It feeds into that part of my brain that likes to tidy up occasionally. It’s kind of a more organized tetris. WW never really stressed me out even as the warehouse became more and more cluttered, there was something very satisfying about categorizing all the shipments and finding an optimal path through the trash catacombs I had created. If you’re looking to kick back and get your Marie Kondo on, check out Wimot’s Warehouse.

BEST REMEDY ASS REMEDY GAME

CONTROL

I’ve been a fan of Remedy Games since the original Max Payne, so when I found out they were basically making their own version of PsyOps with striking Brutalistic architecture I knew it was going to be my jam. What really sets CONTROL apart from any AAA counterpart is that it’s true to being a Remedy game. It’s got corny live action footage, cheesy references to their other games, and some good third person action. In the AAA world a lot of games get diluted to fit a certain bill, but Remedy did not give two fucks about making something that was universally appealing and instead shifted the gears to full blown Remedy Ass Remedy Game. Also the Finnish janitor might be god or something. 

BEST PACKAGE

A SHORT HIKE

A Short Hike is the ideal game I’d love to see on my Switch. A game that holds your attention for a couple of hours, does what it needs to do and says what it wants to say then it’s over. No extra achievements or long stretches of side quests. Like Wilmot’s Warehouse it’s another game I found to be very relaxing without having to really invest a lot of time into or have strong dopamine cycles *cough* Stardew *cough*. It’s got a pretty typical twee aesthetic that’s pouring into indie circles and your fair share of cutesy animal friend NPCs, but it’s got a decent amount of heart. It’s probably the game I’d recommend the most to people if I cared about recommending games to people anymore.

BEST HIDEO KOJIMA GAME DIRECTED BY HIDEO KOJIMA

DEATH STRANDING

There’s probably a lot I could say about this game, but I’m just going to keep it short. I enjoyed my time with Death Stranding, traveling across the United Cities of America in order to reconnect everyone. Most people are gonna tell you this game is “weird”, but the fiction of the world all checks out to me. There’s rain that speeds up time so everyone lives underground and there’s ghost people that only certain people with a allergic trait can see, makes sense. DS might have some of my favorite moments in a videogame from this year and some of my favorite lines. When Kojima said he was going to start his own studio in 2015 after the fallout of MGS V I was excited to see him unleashed. Death Stranding is just that, it’s interesting, but also boring at times. It’s a game about really thinking about your path from point A to point B and maybe seeing if you want to take a detour to point C. It’s a big series of fetch quests, but Kojima really wants you to think about how you’re going to make it across snowy mountains or ghost filled forests. Just like this writeup, Death Stranding is a game that doesn’t want to end. When it starts to turn into a videogame ass videogame and you think it’s coming to its conclusion it’s not. Kojima wants to aggressively shake you as he explains every single detail of the plot, but also screaming “I MADE THIS VIDEOGAME, DO YOU SEE THIS, I MADE THIS SHIT!”. And I don’t blame him tbh, it’s a feat to make a game, especially one where you can use your excrement to defeat enemies. By the time I was done with Death Stranding I just thought “y’know if someone told me this would be the last videogame I’d ever play then I’d be completely fine with that.” Not necessarily in a bad way, but just in a “ok videogames are done” kind of way.

BEST IMPROV GAME

AI DUNGEON 2

AI Dungeon 2 is like playing a game of D&D with your own personal DM improviser. It’s free and you should try it. I don’t want to say much more.

BEST GAME BY FRIENDS

OVERLAND

Overland is a game I’ve been watching grow over the past 5 years. It’s made by some dear friends of mine, hell I’m even in the special thanks. It’s a pretty divisive game, I feel like it falls into the camp of games like last year’s Below. A game that was worked on for years and stuck to its core design while the world of game design changed around it. It’s a tough game that asks you to think critically about every decision. Most games of the past few years have adapted to creating dopamine cycles and reward systems to keep the player glued to their game system of choice. Overland isn’t a game about rewarding you for taking out enemies, but more about getting out of a tough situation by the skin of your teeth. If you make a mistake in Overland the game will repeatedly remind you of it, as you walk away limping it wants you to remember “hey remember that thing you did back there? it was the wrong choice you moron, don’t forget.” I haven’t played it recently but it seems like some of these grievances have been addressed to make the game a bit more friendly to newcomers. I appreciate Overland’s design, it’s a game that wasn’t willing to change based on games that came before it, the Into the Breaches and Dead Cells of the world. Do I think more people would’ve played Overland if it had unlockable skills and reward loops? Yes, yes I do, but it wasn’t the game Finji was trying to make. When you’re making a game like Overland you could probably think back to all the decisions you made or didn’t make to change it, but what’s important at the end is asking yourself if you’re happy with what you made. And I’m very happy Overland was made.

BEST GAME EVERYONE LIKED AND I DON’T GET WHY PEOPLE LIKE THIS GAME IT’S SUPER BORING

OUTERWILDS

I don’t know i flew a clunky spaceship and got swallowed by a giant fish or something. I walk around a planet and find some text then my eyes glaze over. How about instead of describing this game as magical and shit, just tell me what’s good about it goddamn I don’t have 8+ hours to find out why this game is good. And I don’t need action in it or whatever, I mean I played Death Stranding where you spend most of your time trying to not fall over.

BEST GAME BY ME

PRE-SHAVE

You’re probably saying “Wow Saam, is your ego that big that you put your own game on your 2019 game list.” And to that I say “Fuck off”. Pre-Shave is probably my favorite thing I’ve made. It’s the first game that I wasn’t trying to trap my feelings / thoughts in some metaphors about platforming or some bullshit. It’s quirky, it’s real, and it’s me. It was probably the easiest thing to make, it flowed so naturally over the couple of weeks I made it. I didn’t feel any large stumbles in the design. At a time where I was burnt out and honestly ready to just be done with everything, I was invited to show Pre-Shave at the Smithsonian. I made a special co-op version of the game where 2 people can play and it revitalized my excitement for making games. I felt like I made something that not only connected with people, but was just generally appealing. People would come by, stare at the screen and smile / laugh at what was going on. They would tell their friends about it and tell me how much they enjoyed playing. Making games can be disheartening when you haven’t released anything in a long time or just get negative comments online, but seeing people in person actually enjoying my work really helped me. I don’t have any immediate plans for the current version of Pre-Shave, but do want to explore the subject matter in a different medium. So yeah, I liked my own game a lot.

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2018 was...a year. There are a lot of games that came out this year, I just wanted to share some of my favorites. So let’s just talk about some videogames yeh?  

BEST APPETIZER - 

MINIT

Platforms (Everything?)

Created by - Kitty, JW, Jukio, and Dom

Minit can pretty much be summed up as an appetizer that you just want to keep eating so you skip the main course. The premise is pretty simple, it’s classic 2D Zelda but you only have 60 seconds to live per life. Minit really squeezes all the juice out of this simple premise and gives you that feeling of “ok I’ll just do one more thing and it’ll lead me to this other thing”. There’s parts of Minit where (as someone who designs videogames) I was just like “goddammit that’s so smart and simple”. It’s got a wide cast of fun characters and doesn’t over stay its welcome. It’s just really just so well crafted.

BEST TOILET - 

DUSK

Platforms (PC)

Created by - DUSKDev

This year I paid particular attention to toilets in videogames. I searched high and low for the best, most interactive, most innovative toilet in a game and I can only hand it to the toilets in DUSK. Somehow the developers were able to make not only a toilet that can flush...but can one that can flush objects down. I’m not what kind of wizardy or satanic worship was necessary to implement this feature, but it was damn near worth whatever goat sacrifices were necessary. Oh also it’s a pretty great throwback to FPS games like Quake, Blood, and DOOM so if that’s your jam then check it out. But mostly just check it out for the toilets.

BEST FIRST PERSON...SPEWER - 

Press E to Forget

Platforms (PC)

Created by - Toby Do, Arjuna Gonzales, Ryan Yoshikami

Press E To Forget was created for #WineJam2018. It’s a game about waking up after a night of heavy drinking and you throw up...like A LOT...like you just keep..there’s just constant vom..yeah. It’s a short one and the music is really good.

BEST VIRTUALLY VIRTUAL REALITY GAME - 

VIRTUAL VIRTUAL REALITY

Platforms (Vive, Rift, and pretty much every mobile headset)

Created by Tender Claws

If you have a headset you need to check out Virtual Virtual Reality. It’s kind of crazy how much is packed into this thing. Part Portal / Part Job Sim you’re tasked to take care of interesting clients in different virtual worlds including a cowboyish tumbleweed, an AI city, and a very...uh let’s just say “excited” bar of butter. I think what VVR really does well is just play with VR’s capabilities. There’s a great mix of scale, interactivity, and responsiveness in how all the NPCs react. I want to go back to this one even if my headset leaves me with heavy VR face afterwards.

BEST GAME THAT LET ME GIVE EVERYONE ‘THE BIRD’

Helping Hand

Platforms (PC) 

Created by Hubblegum

Helping Hand let me live out my fantasy of responding to every dialogue choice in a videogame with my middle finger, no fucks given. The game centers around the fact that your character can only communicate through hand gestures including a thumbs down, ok sign, and well naw middle finger is best just do that. It’s got a very adult swim show vibe to it and the game’s branching paths lead to some pretty hilarious situations. It’s a funny one y’all.

BEST GAME THAT EVERYONE IS PLAYING SO MAYBE YOU SHOULD AT LEAST TRY IT???

Fortnite

Platforms (Everything but your fucking Roku)

Created by Tim Sweeney

Ok hear me out on this one. Fortnite is actually a wild game??? Like the map is constantly changing and new weapons and features are being added every week. I think once I got a grasp of building I began to really enjoy Fortnite. When it comes to competitive PvP games I really like to feel like I outsmarted my opponents and FN’s building really makes a new language for third person shooters. Just watch a video of some high level Fortnite tourneys and prepare to see insane structures made in seconds. I’m not saying you have to like it, but every once in a while a game enters the cultural zeitgeist and just dominates. So like give Fortnite a shot, I mean what could go wrong? Also it has dabbing in it and you need to DAB ON ALL THE KIDS PLAYING THIS GAME ON THEIR PHONES.

BEST EXPERIENCE - 

ONE HOUR ONE LIFE

Platforms (PC)

Created by Jason Rohrer

There’s a lot to say about this game, but I’m just going to talk about one of my playthroughs. I was born in the middle of the forest. My mother asks me “Do you want to live?” Me, being only a child I could only utter one letter...I say “Y” as in yes, yes I want to live. My mother picks me up and says “You are Randy”. I am now Randy, she then says “I’ll take you back to the village”. She carries me for a bit then I begin to see other people walking around, crafting, talking etc. She leaves me with Sheena who teaches me how to farm. By age 10 I’ve become an adequate farmer, but one day I went out by myself to search for seeds and unfortunately I was attacked by a wild board. I died at age 13. In my next playthrough I would be a mother to 5 children only to die at 65 after telling my son Daryl I was so proud of him. Everyone in OHOL is an actual human being playing the game. It’s a game about working together as a community to continue surviving. OHOL is really something unique and even though I only played it for a couple of hours every run has been pretty different. Something about this game gave me a glimmer of hope for humanity. I’ve also never played a game where playing as a female character vastly changes your gameplay experience. When you reach a certain age as a female character in OHOL you with start birthing children, and remember these children are actual human beings playing the game. You’ve got to decide whether you want to continue what you were doing or take care of them. It’s such a wild and incredible game. Jason Rohrer is also constantly adding new features and items to craft to the game weekly. I’m really excited to see how OHOL changes and grows, just like I did as little Randy.

BEST WORST - 

THE QUIET MAN

Platforms (PC, PS4)

Created by - Square Enix / Human Head

The Quiet Man is indeed a bad videogame, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a fun time playing it. I’m just gonna post this from the actual Steam page about this game - 

“You play as a deaf character, Dane, and experience the world as the character does – with very little distinct audio and no subtitles: it’s up to you to make up your own interpretation of the story as your search for the masked man unfolds.“

This means that every cutscene and sound in The Quiet Man is pretty much non-existent, which leaves for some great improv if you’re playing it with friends. As for the game...it’s got some wild moments including parkouring using a bald man’s head...but it’s pretty bad y’all.

BEST INTROSPECTION - 

ALL OUR ASIAS

Platforms (PC)

Created by Sean Han Tani

In All Our Asias you play as Yuito, a 31 year old Japanese American exploring his dying father’s memories. There’s something really relateable about Yutio’s journey for me. As I was drifting through the game’s wide PS1 era landscapes it let me really reflect on my identity. It’s just got a narrative that I haven’t really seen in or experience in a game before. You can read more about All Our Asias here.

BIGGEST HEARTBREAKER - 

BELOW

Platforms (PC, Xbone)

Created by Capy Games

Below was a game I wanted to love. I think I loved. It consumed me for about a week. It’s a game that wants you to play cautiously, it wants to you take in every inch of it and think about every move you make. The world of Below is massive and unforgiving. You play as a little explorer trying to make their way deeper and deeper into the depths of a mysterious island. Enemies are unpredictable, vicious, and sometimes even clumsy. Below had me...till I got to the late game. There’s a large difficulty spike near the end of the game and being a rogue-like death means restarting. There are ways to create shortcuts to lower levels and the game even creates shortcuts from the beginning to later zones. I think I wanted to believe Below wasn’t flawed but as I got closer and closer to it I began to see the cracks. It feels like everything fits, but then you just realize it feels off balance. Runs take a long time, longer than a Spelunky run or a Dead Cells run, so it can feel really devastating when you die. In a year when a game like Dead Cells comes out I’m just not sure if there’s room for slower paced games like Below. There aren’t any micro loops, there isn’t progression every run, there aren’t any fancy loot drops. Below broke my heart last night when I spent a good hour and a half gathering items thinking I’d make it, this would be the run where I make it to the end. An end I had reached before but died due to a well played level designer’s trap. After I’d gathered all the materials I needed, SPOILER: I teleported to the endgame and then this happened. If you didn’t click the link, I’ll just tell you that I died instantly to a spike trap that I couldn’t see because it was behind a pillar. I’d have to go back several floors before and attempt to find all the gear I left. I wanted to like you Below. I did like you Below, but you broke my heart.