Best of 2022: Josh's Picks
With 2022 in the rear view mirror, it's time to take a look at the year in video games. As is tradition here, I'll be considering games that I played for the first time in 2022 rather than limiting myself to games that were released in 2022.
Game of the Year: Elden Ring
Massive. Generous. Epic. Fromsoft's masterpiece is hard to capture in a single word. The game's size, scope, and scale make open world standards like Skyrim look cozy in comparison. A standout Dark Souls combat system combined with the freedom-to-wander of an open world fixes all my game design complaints with the Souls formula. Easily my favorite game this year, and honestly in contention with Breath of the Wild for my favorite open world game ever.
Exemplar of a New Genre: 20 Minutes Til Dawn
Vampire Survivors founded the hot new genre of 2022, and 20 Minutes Til Dawn is the game that made the genre make sense to me. The game (like others in the genre) has you fighting off large hordes of enemies by making you absurdly powerful, but the interesting about 20 Minutes is how legible it makes the synergies between character, gun, and perks. It's a great game that shows how this new genre can pack a lot of depth into a smaller package.
Best Tactics: Triangle Strategy
Triangle Strategy is a tactical RPG that delivers that chewy tactical goodness surrounded by the chocolate shell of palace intrigue. The combat system is satisfyingly precise, and offers depth and complexity in seemingly small changes in position or strategy. The storytelling side (which may account for over half the playtime of the game) starts off very strong, but is unfortunately simplified early on as many of the competing factions within each enemy army are killed off. However, it works out perfectly that the strong start of the plot (which is very Game of Thrones-esque) keeps you playing until you start to appreciate the subtleties of the combat system and the tactics really start to shine through.
Best Fever Dream: NORCO
NORCO is a game about a gonzo sci-fi future-present New Orleans and the wreckages and castoffs of capitalism in an alternate twenty-first century. If that doesn't intrigue you, then I don't know what will. Full of humor, charm, and excellent pixel art (no really, the character portraits you'll see in screenshots don't do it justice), NORCO is the most unique game I've played this year. Stop making excuses, go play the thing.
Best Board Game In Disguise: Stacklands
Stacklands is a gem of a game from Sokpop, the Dutch game collective that's been releasing small game and experiences for years. Stacklands is a card-based twist on the city builder genre where every building you create is a new action space for you to place your villagers. Like Minecraft at its initial release, you have to figure out which combinations of rocks and sticks and wood will create a new building or a new farm. A satisfying journey of discovery.
Best Internet Catnip: Stray
A gorgeous romp through a robot sci-fi city as a loveable kitten. What's not to love? Stray offers great platforming, puzzles, and pacing as you proceed from chase sequence to platforming puzzle to exploration and back again. Its mechanics are pretty simple, but it varies them up often enough that none of them outstay their welcome. One of my favorite grace notes: when you play a human in a game and there's a locked door, you accept that it's locked because that's how games work. It's a ludic fiction we accept because a whole world cannot be simulated. When you play a cat and you can't open a door, it makes sense because you are a cat. Sorry, kitty, no opposable thumbs.
Wordiest Roguelike: Caves of Qud
Caves of Qud is a wonderful roguelike of the classic ASCII graphics sort (although the default Steam version comes with a nice tileset). The game takes place in a sprawling post- post-apocalyptic world where ancient sci fi civilizations have been jungled over long after civilazation has been destroyed, possibly by forbidden mathematics. It's a wonderful setting and has great lore, and there's plenty of detailed descriptions to fill in the blanks.
Most Original Storytelling: Unpacking
Unpacking is a game that follows a single person as they move into seven different rooms, apartments, or houses. The minute-to-minute gameplay sounds simple enough, where you take an object out of the box and then decide where it should go in your new digs. It's a satisfying activity (backed by great sound design), but the reason this game makes it onto the top 10 is how it used this simple mechanic to tell a complicated story of a woman's life. Small touches, like a douchenozzle of a post-college boyfriend having nowhere in his room (i.e. in his life) to hang your framed college diploma, would be impossible to tell as well in a more traditional narrative. The story is quietly woven into the act of moving in, and that makes this one a fun game to unpack.
Best Multiplayer Hang: V Rising
V Rising is an survival game where you play a vampire trying to build up a base and reconquer the world. The combat system was satisfyingly MOBA-like in flavor and the base building had deep crafting and minion systems. (Note: we played on an accelerated server. I've heard complaints about crafting speeds under normal settings.) It made for a great hangout sort of game - you could team up to take out a boss or enemy base, or you could chat while minding your alchemy station. One stand out feature is how well they made you feel like a vampire. My favorite part of this was that sunlight did heavy damage to you, so walking the world during waking hours involved hopping from shadow to shadow, making simple map navigation a interesting experience.
Most Stylish: Narita Boy
Narita Boy is an homage to the 80s. It harkens back to a simpler age where computers + lightning = magic, where the cyberscapes of Tron and Neuromancer dominate the landscapes. The art direction is wonderful, the game is full of style and 1980s attitude, and the soundtrack is (of course) heavy on synth and proto electronic jams. A compelling combat system and a heapin' helpin' of pixel art help round out a lovely tribute.
Best Game That I Personally Made: Moondrop
Moondrop is a puzzle farming roguelite that takes place on a shapeshifting mountain, made by yours truly. I released Moondrop in August, my first commercial release since Dwarven Depths went on sale in 2011. It's the culmination of two years of prototypes, playtesting, and pixel art. I've had so much fun making this game and watching others enjoy it - a good thing, with all the time I've put into it. One hell of a journey.
Honorable Mentions:
Death's Door
Ynglet
Crusader Kings 3
Backpack Hero
Looking back over the past year, what surprises me more is the number of games that I wanted to play but never found the time for. In all honesty, I have a New Year's resolution to play more games next year. I'd also like to pick up the pace of writing up on sidequests - I only wrote a single article last year.