- Elden Ring - There’s a thrill in this game of discovering a new area that I think is almost unmatched in any other game I’ve played. When you first go over the bend of a hill and look down at a new area. The fear, the thrill of discovery, the anticipation of picking up loot, the danger of running into a new kind of enemy, the primal emotion of stepping into fog not knowing what you’ll find, the fear of heights the level design repeatedly evokes by putting you on a cliffside as you look down into the abyss or into a beautiful vista. The things this game does well are unique to video games. It’s a very gamey-game, and yet it still manages to evoke those feelings I described above that usually come with games that focus on immersion; games that usually try to make you forget you’re playing a game. I think that’s Elden Ring’s greatest trick. It somehow does immersion so well despite unabashedly reminding you all the time that you’re playing a game.
- Tinykin - Is it possible to create a cute platformer that’s satisfying even though it has no enemies? YES! I just love this game so much. The amount of small details and love that went into this is hard to describe. A small example. There’s music playing in the City of Santar level. When you walk into the church area you hear the same music on a church organ. When you get to the level where the choir is singing, you hear that same music as sung by a choir. When you go inside a piano (you’re shrunk down to the size of an ant inside a house), you hear that same music as played on a piano! It’s subtle but it’s so good.
- Pentiment - I’ve only just started playing this, so I’m just going to cheat and predict that I’m going to end up loving this.
- Nobody Saves the World - I love the art in this 2D game so much. It brings out the kid in me to see this kind of art. It’s like a children’s storybook’s look of hand-drawn art come to life, with beautiful yellows around a lamp post, wonderful green bushes, cute little flowers and rats and knights and arrows and barrels.
- Vampire Survivors - Ever since Geometry Wars 2, I’ve been lamenting about the lack of similar twin stick shooters that get me hooked. And along comes this strange twin stick shooter that doesn’t require the second stick, because you shoot automatically. It’s not as good as Geometry Wars 1 and 2, but it’s really good.
I thought this was going to be me. It wasn’t me. I loved the style of the game and enjoyed the writing, and then … there were things that made me fall out of love real fast. I hope it won’t be like that for you, as a lot of people loved it. I did then play Citizen Sleeper and loved that!
Also, now I have to go see what Tinykin is.
Everybody has to. There is a demo. It’s generous and wonderful.
- Brotato – It’s not very sophisticated or substantial, but something about this little Flash-styled Vampire Survivors knockoff with a doofy looking little murderous Mr. Potatohead you graft weapons and upgrades onto between horde-waves of enemies has utterly captured my attention this year. The massive variety of characters, items, weapons, and mutations makes finding whatever absurd, OP combo you’re going to stumble upon in a given run a real treat. Obnoxiously hard, probably not well-balanced, and definitely still early access, but it’s pretty much all I do these days.
- Dome Keeper – An addictively slow-paced yet stressful little game of floating around a massive underground mazelike mine filled with resources and strange mysterious upgrades and artifacts that add interesting upgrade paths to the tiny dome-shaped base you maintain on the surface, fending off regular assaults from increasingly violent aliens in short but tense battle sequences. Cool vibes and music, neat content options, and honestly, just a chill way to blow an hour or two seeking a new high score.
- Return to Monkey Island – Funny, funky, and lovingly invested in the series’ delightful past, this is a fantastic return to form and surprisingly great. The easier mode option, cool hint guide, great voicework, gorgeous art style, and classic humor all hit great for me, though in the end, I didn’t quite have the interest to see it through to the finale. Still, a ton of fun, and something I plan to get back to eventually.
- Peglin – An adorable little roguelike’d take on Peggle featuring cutesy plucky hero the Peglin marching around three big branching maps facing “battles,” knocking pegs with a huge variety of empowered balls (all with goofy pun names) to deal damage to foes relentlessly marching toward him with murderous intent. Tons of cool relics and modifiers and ramping difficulty modes, and more content showing up semi-regularly.
- Slice & Dice – A surprisingly intriguing little microgame absolutely stuffed with content and weird, funky modes. No soundtrack, awful SFX, hideous, nigh-illegible graphics, and punishing, practically cruel difficulty that turns every single one of your 20 quick fights in any given run into a tense battle of life and death, units flashing dreadfully red as the queued up enemy assaults threaten to kill them all until you solve the randomized puzzle of how to combo your abilities and items into somehow surviving just one more turn.
Runners-up: Vampire Survivors for kicking off the “move around a map full of enemies and shot them with as little reflexes as possible” genre for us in 2022; Rogue Legacy 2 for being the only twitch-based game I’d ever consider trying to play, and Marvel SNAP for the week and a half of bombastic cries of “ANIMATED!!!” it shouted from my phone before I burnt out hard on the whole affair.
- Ixion
- Dorfromantik
- Far: Changing Tides
- Gotham Knights
- Dying Light 2
Only 3 games. I’d pick up more, but they were not released in 2022.
- Elden Ring
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- God of War
I thought this was released in 2021!?! I might have to go back and revise my list if S&D is eligible.
It took over 100 replies, but it’s our Armando who opened the Slice & Dice can of pandoras!
Reminder to everyone that voting closes today! Get those last-minute votes in, it’s your goshdarn democratic duty.
There was a lengthy discussion about this upthread but yeah, it’s hard to make a case for it as a 2022 game unfortunately.
I’m not sure what these numbers mean precisely, since I haven’t played Slice & Dice, but it certainly sounds like the 2.0 update in October 2022 for Slice & Dice was substantial. Almost like an expansion pack?
+40 new heroes (including alternate t1 heroes)
+11 new modes
+213 new items
+23 new monsters (including 5 bosses)
+52 new keywords
+175 new blessings/curses (+474 more kinda)
+80 new achievements
+20,000 more heroes???
More events (like challenge)
Almanac expanded & improved
That and its lack of exposure in 2021 are basically the best arguments one can make, and Bruce made it clear in the earlier discussion that people can list anything they want regardless of whether it’s justifiable anyway.
In the end I’m not sure it much matters, since it wasn’t widely recognized as a contender so isn’t going to place highly anyway. It’s a brilliant little game, though, and deserves all the attention it can get.
Let’s edit those lists and upset Elden Ring!
It’s my Democratic Duty? Is this like in Australia where they would throw me in jail for not voting? Well here are the two 2022 games I played:
- Pentiment
- Tunic
Both are fantastic. Pentiment has much bigger flaws, but is also much more unique in concept, and that gives it the edge.
I’m afraid even the threat of democracy police can’t motivate me to try to rank the games I’ve played in the last year. But, as with all years previous, I do highly enjoy reading everyone’s recommendations.
Nice one!
If y’all could help a brother, I have tallied all the votes up to here. If anyone feels the need to redo their list at this point, could you please—instead of editing your post—make a NEW post below and label it “REVISED.” That way I can just go to the master sheet and edit it, rather than having to go back through again and try to determine if a post has been edited since I tallied it.
Oh, and I gotta vote.
-
Slay the Spire: Downfall
I am shocked—SHOCKED—that only one other person voted for this. Have my eyes gone insane??? The Hermit is, like, the best character ever: an UNDEAD COWPOKE! Slay the Spire is like one of the greatest games of all time. This is a stand-alone expansion! What is not to like? How can you people live with yourselves?? -
Barbarossa: Army Group Center 2nd edition
This is one of my favorite games and the fact that we got a new improved version after 24 years is just stupendous. -
Enemy Action: Kharkov
Holy cow, John H. Butterfield is good at making games. The Enemy Action system is insanely good, and while this is more cumbersome as a solo game than Ardennes is, for reasons I won’t get into here, as a two-player game is way, way better. -
Skies Above Britain
I had my doubts about this one, as I wasn’t sure how a solitaire system designed for large single raids involving four-engined heavy bombers could translate to the Battle of Britain, but designers Jeremy White and Gina Wills did it. Expect more about it on this website. -
Roadwarden
Ok, I didn’t love this, but I liked it more than the other 2022 video game I could think of playing, Marvel Snap. Because that one sucked.
REVISED! I removed High on Life because Justin Roiland issues, but just added it back because he’s gone from Squanch and they did make the game that I got the most pure enjoyment out of in 2022.
- IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Normandy
- Vampire Survivors
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- Stray
- High on Life
Also:
- I am still playing the regular Slay the Spire, but sounds like I gotta grab Downfall!
- Sigh. Apparently I’m going to have to give Elden Ring a third try and just treat it like a walking simulator with the added element of running away from things trying to kill me.