All-Time Favourites

So masterfully crafted, creative, confident and bold that it immediately makes the rest of the openworld genre feel dated and uninspired. A landmark achievement and a very special game. Masterpiece.

Takes all the best foundations from Souls and dials up the speed & aggression. Absolutely inspired and masterfully pulled off. Incredible setting, world design, story and of course combat. Masterpiece, close to perfection.

Incredible writing, unique approach to RPG elements with hilarious and dank, nihilist atmosphere. Truly an extraordinary game. Absolutely a must play.

A project handed to a junior employee, who then crafted it into an uncompromising lesson in perseverance that rewards exploration and subverts expectations. Bleak, brutal and beautiful. Pretty much perfect - Dark Souls legacy & impact cannot be overstated.

I have no idea how Nintendo did this. It takes mechanics and gamedesign inspiration from all over the industry, and improves on basically all of them. Constantly impressive and gratifying - one of the best games ever made.

One of the best adventure games I’ve played. Outer Wilds is a temporal, mysterious and unique exploration game with super charming visuals providing unique emergent experiences for those up for it.

Harrowing and emotionally challenging, a game has never left me feeling the way I did as I stared through tears at the credits of The Last of Us Part II. This is a masterpiece I love so much, but may never play again.

An instant classic that dared to expand the lore of its predecessor to intriguing depths and flex how physics can be fun in videogames. Virtually flawless game design.

One of if not the best 2D platformers ever (likely biased by my childhood). Amazing music, art, level design and controls. Masterpiece.

I’m almost getting tired of saying “Supergiant does it again” but it’s true. They turn their incredible skill toward roguelikes here, while maintaining all their patented quality, and absolutely nail it.

The latest game by FROM is just as challenging as its predecessors, while taking things in a different direction: combat is more demanding, the world is more vertical & platformy. Extremely good.

A perfect sequel expanding massively on an already brilliant puzzle mechanic. The puzzles are challenging and well designed, but the centrepiece is the plot and specifically the characters.

Breathes creative new life into rogue-likes by way of deckbuilding and card/turn-based combat. Deep and satisfying, STS was an instant classic and has proved wildly influential (for better or worse).

Quite likely the best 3D platformer ever. The perfected, foundational movement is creatively explored and tested through several worlds brimming with ideas which constantly surprise and delight. Masterpiece.

Best in class 2D metroidvania with crisp controls and challenging but fair combat. Unforgettable music, characters and world - Hollow Knight is one of the most well executed games ever made.

An often woefully misunderstood game by way of limited playtime. A uniquely existential & at times emotional experience; frustrating and laborious by design. A metagame for people who love games and a rumination on human connection. Visually & sonically beautiful - very special game.

Dark, varied, complex, addictive and unforgiving. If you like turnbased RPGs, just get it - no question. When I first played I could not stop myself from saying aloud “this game is so fucking good.”

Baba is clever. Painfully clever. Really simple concept taken to really inventive heights. Music is great too. If you like puzzle games, this is a must-play.

An extraordinary game that breaks most if not all conventions and will constantly surprise and challenge you. A seminal must-play. Best to go in blind.

The coolest Diablo game. Genre defining. Unmatched atmosphere and immersion for the franchise. You’d likely only go back for nostalgia nowadays, but it’s a remarkable achievement and pretty much perfect. 𖤐

A seminal masterpiece that took the world by storm with good reason. I spent thousands of hours in Minecraft; a game for me about exploring creativity within tight restriction. Must play.

One of the best games ever made. Dauntingly complex, but mindblowingly considered and exceedingly well executed. It’s hard to overstate the brilliance of Dota 2, a game beyond compare.

From the maker (one person) of Papers, Please comes this brilliant shortish deduction whodunnit with terrific music, great voice acting and uniquely cool art direction. An awesome understated gem of 2018.

I was ready to bounce off, intimidated by its depth and pacing, but this game is truly something else. Great writing, VA, world design and more than anything, an obscene level of player agency.

An intriguing, nihilistic, funny and depressing paperwork simulator. A simple concept thoughtfully & creatively explored.
𝙶𝙻𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝚁𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚃𝚉𝙺𝙰

I played this game for twelve years. It’s very good.

A masterpiece and one of, if not the best Game Boy releases. Way back when Pokémon was still fresh and everything involved was delightful and fun. I chose Squirtle.

Obviously gorgeous, and voice acting and music also great. World is large without being empty. Story is solid, if a little repetitive and drawn-out at times. So, so much to do. Remarkably polished.

A timeless masterpiece gets a modern, tasteful cosmetic uplift. Shadow of the Colossus is understated, beautiful, charming and inspired. It’s an adventure you’ll never forget - must play.

I didn’t know what to expect and I suggest you go in blind too. Unique, heartfelt and wildly compelling, this story and the way it is told is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Valve (finally) throw down the gauntlet. Alyx changes the VR landscape and is truly a masterpiece; sound, level, visual, game design and story are all top notch. Will not be surpassed for some time.

A fresh and lastingly influential take on the broadly tired shooter genre. Decent gunplay is offset by the audio/visual and narrative masterpiece that surround it.

An influential masterclass in the application of atmosphere and subtlety. Beautiful, powerful, surprising and mesmerising - Journey is a must play.

I played earlier Zelda games and enjoyed them, but didn’t truly appreciate them. My dad got me Wind Waker for my birthday and it was one of the first games that really changed the way I looked at the medium - thanks in no small part, strangely, to it’s cel-shaded visuals. I remember finding it confusing and challenging at first, but really falling in love with it.

Unbelievably cool. Vibrant, evocative and just dripping in style. Seeing the dystopian Māori culture in a game was cool enough, but the exploration of disaffection and other themes is *chef’s kiss*.

As far as Steam releases go, Dead Cells is GOTY 2018. Absolutely the most buttery smooth controls amongst its ilk, amazing music, challenging mechanics and immense innate replayability.

A fresh, visceral and addictive hyperactive trip of ultraviolence, strategy and style. Finds its rhythm immediately and sticks the landing. Hell of a soundtrack too.

Celeste is challenging, smart and exceedingly well designed. Its movement is some of the most satisfying ever in a platformer. The great soundtrack supports a surprisingly fresh exploration of mental health, which has traditionally proved difficult in videogames.

I’m not and have never been a fighting games expert, so feel ill-equipped to critique SFA3 mechanically, but it’s the one I spent the most time on. Awesome lineup, great styling, hella fun.

Deckbuilding roguelite escape room ARG. An inspiring masterpiece & wonderfully executed ode to card/videogames. If you’re into that kind of thing, it’s a must play. So, so impressive. Mullins is nuts.

Perfectly distilled and refined Animal Crossing. Absolutely love the art style, world and music. Loved getting creative, making friends and making the island my own. Could have done with some UX love.

The historic grandfather of 3D shooters, paving the way for a genre that would come to dominate the industry. I remember playing this with my brother, and he’d always make it harder by refusing to shoot the dogs.

Doesn’t take itself seriously, silly as hell and wicked fun. I probably logged hundreds of hours heating up, entering cheats and BOOMSHAKALAKA’ing in this classic.

The new benchmark for smooth, responsive controls for skilful platformers. Funny art direction, great music and awesome level design which is super rewarding to overcome. A must-play for the genre.

SpyParty has been around a long time and is still has at its core one of the most interesting gameplay concepts ever explored. Challenging, fun, utterly unique and hilarious with friends.

Some of the most fun platforming around at the time. Loved the art, characters, level design and perhaps more than anything - the music. My cousin deleted my savefile and I haven’t forgiven him decades later.

The iconic N64 classic. At the time it was almost too good to be true. Singleplayer was fun and engaging, but for a lot of people, it was all about the multiplayer (picking Oddjob was cheating btw).