Let it be known that one needs to really play Sayonora Wild Hearts in order to truly experience it.
Concrete Genie could have simply been a game about painting and creating virtual pets that you can interact with and it still would have been a fantastic little game.
Huntdown is awesome, plain and simple.
It would be easy to dismiss a game like Monster Train as nothing more than yet another entry into the ever-increasing deck-building genre upon first glance, but after just a short while playing it, its various complexities begin to reveal themselves, making for deep gameplay that keeps you coming back for just one more run.
Spiritfarer is an absolute triumph and easily goes down as the best game that Thunder Lotus has created.
Hades is no less than an absolute masterpiece, easily a contender for Supergiant's finest work yet, and a candidate for the year's best game.
ScourgeBringer is an addictive experience that delivers terrific arcade-style gameplay.
Disc Room expertly blends together the simple yet unique mechanics of Minit and the lightning-quick carnage and quick challenges of High Hell, so yes, the end result is akin to peanut butter and chocolate.
To get straight to the point, Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp is pure fun, plain and simple.
Loop Hero is a brilliant piece of work that plays and succeeds with the idea of repeating gameplay loops via gameplay, story and even meta angles.
It Takes Two is thus far one of the year's best platformers, best overall games, and can likely stake a claim as one of the best co-op games ever created.
Overboard! is one of the year's most delightful surprises so far, a terrific reverse murder mystery with several twists and turns around every corner, and one that can still put up a notable challenge as you try to figure out every possible step towards getting Veronica off the hook and on the path to a life of luxury instead. A mix of sharp writing, clever puzzles and simple yet effective gameplay results in a killer experience that will leave you coming back for more.
Death's Door is a gem of a soulslike game with a nice and meaty level of challenge and a world filled with lovable characters and loads of secrets to uncover.
It might be a stretch to call it a piece of work on par with that of some of the most-acclaimed film directors of the modern age, but Road 96 is an incredible adventure game that succeeds thanks to a strong narrative, a superb cast of characters, one of the year's best soundtracks and its unique procedurally-generated approach that might see you coming back after the initial eight hours or so, just to see what could possibly be on any other routes.
While Psychonauts 2 is an impressive platformer, it doesn't match the perfection of the original.
Deathloop is another incredible title from Arkane, once again putting their skills in developing both quality stealth and first-person action to good use and blending it with time loops in order to create one of the year's most memorable games.
Inscryption manages to combine an expertly-crafted card game, a nail-biting tale of horror and enjoyable escape room adventures into another genre-defying gem and easily one of the year's best games.
Solar Ash is another triumph from Heart Machine, a fast-paced burst of vibrant, surreal science fiction where players get to glide and jump around fascinating worlds with terrific bits of platforming and action spread out across a series of unique worlds with jaw-dropping visuals.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon may seem like a minor yet unexpected twist for the franchise, but it's a twist that pays off big time.
Puzzle design that truly excels in creating simple yet challenging orders.