Game of The Year 2014 Users Choice

Jericho's Top 10 Games of 2014

10. Mount Your Friends

First off, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed what I got to play of this game, possibly more than several games above it on the list. Unfortunately I only got to play for 2 hours this year, at a coworker's place, and as such cannot comfortably put it higher on the list. Mount Your Friends is a really weird game, where you take one of the strangest physics engines I've seen since QWOP and make people climb over each other to get to a new height each round (plus a few swinging dongs for good measure). Mount Your Friends is the best game to pull out if you have four or five drunk weirdos in a room and there aren't any girls around to repel.

9. Fibbage

Fibbage is a game I had a lot of trouble placing on this list. I wasn't able to play it in the fashion it was designed for. I was with a group of friends around the country, so we played over skype and had one guy reading off the results each round. Obviously this lead to a less than optimal experience, but I still enjoyed the time we had with it. Hearing my Australian friend yell "A Fishing rod made of carrots? What the fuck? Why don't they just make a bat out of celery!" is an experience I wouldn't be able to get with any other game. Fibbage would be higher, but the play time is limited by the low number of questions. I feel that if we'd gotten to play the entire JackBox Pack it would have been higher on the list, but for what it was Fibbage was great. Continuing to add contest will continue to bring us back.

8. Destiny

Oh Destiny. At release this was easily the game I was most excited to play this year. The first 4 or 5 hours led me to believe this was going to be my favorite game this year (or maybe 2nd because of my League addiction), but slowly something started to change. After I realized how little content there was I found my interest slowly start to wain. The statement, "Destiny is only 2/3s of a game" is 100% true. The gameplay gets incredibly repetitive which caused me to stop playing before I even reached the end game. I'm torn though, because what was there was great. It tops Halo's shooting for me, and the concept is incredible. Each mission type is great, but none of them are fleshed out. It is only 2/3s of a game, but it was 2/3s of 2014s Game of the Year. Apparently 2/3s of The Game of the Year is Number 8.

7. Hearthstone

Hearthstone surprised me a lot this year. In the past I've found myself completely bored by card games, but Hearthstone has completely changed up the formula. The game is fun, especially with friends, and the Free to Play Model is absolutely the best I've ever seen. It took the best part of League and DoTA's models and tweaked them to be just a little better. Hearthstone is great for "I want something to do while listening to a podcast" or "I've only got 20 minutes what can I play?" Hearthstone could very well develop into Blizzards biggest game since WoW if they continue on the train they're on. and I'm excited to see where it goes in the coming year.

6. Shovel Knight

I come into Shovel Knight with a very different set of life experiences than it's target demographic. I grew up in the 90s, but as a child my only time spent with any "Retro Games" was limited to Link to the Past and Super Mario World, before my father accidentally fried the SNES at age 4 and I never got to play anything else until the N64 came out. I didn't grow up with Mega Man, or anything like it, and in fact never got to experience that style of game until I was 20. That being said, Shovel Knight has done a brilliant job of modernizing the experience provided my 80s games. At first glance it appears to be ripped straight out of the arcade, with the art direction, music choices and surprising difficulty. At closer attention though, you find that instead Yacht Club Games has looked at that time period and said "What about it made it fun?". Then they proceeded to discard everything else. Shovel Knight was a nice reminder of what games were like back in the day, but it didn't try and be something it wasn't.

5.Super Smash Brothers for WiiU/3DS

Smash Brothers has long been a favorite series of mine for "I have 3 dudes together, let's drink and play something we don't have to think about". Over the years we've given each Smash Brothers their due, and though they never really change up the formula we never really expect them to. Smash Brothers is the exact same game as it's been since the N64, but that's all we really need for it to be. It's like your favorite pair of sweatpants. You don't admit to liking it in public, but it's always there when you need it to be.

4. Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor

Shadows of Mordor is a game I have mixed feelings about. It had a very dull story, with one of the worst endings to a game I saw all year to boot. But outside of that, everything else it has to offer was absolutely brilliant. The combat, though ripped from the Batman games, worked well. It worked really really well. Assassins Creed at it's best has not even come close to Shadows of Mordor in terms of ease, style and fun for combat. The Nemesis System is the best new concept to come out in games this year as far as I'm concerned. I really hope it becomes a staple for adventure games. The Orcs Captains felt like real characters. And I felt real emotions in connection with one. Wandering through the wilderness I'd occasionally encountered one I'd killed before, he'd return with a ruined face and a chip on his shoulder and I would experience a moment of "Oh hey, that dude's back! Awesome!" On the flip side, when an Orc would kill me I would drop everything I was doing to go even the score. Shadows of Mordor is a fun game that has a flashes of brilliance that could help games like it move forward in the future.

3. Valiant Hearts

I picked this up literally 3 days ago for the first time, and have thusfar been blown away. Though I've only made it into Chapter Three I feel confident in placing it at number 3. Valiant Hearts is primarily a Puzzle game that takes place in World War 1 and cycles between several characters. It has one of the most interesting stories I've ever seen. Jumping in perspective between 5 characters and showcasing one family that is torn apart by the tides of war and forced to fight for both the German and French armies. The game sprinkles in history in a way that isn't intrusive or boring. It has a collectible system which is completely optional but offers more history as you progress. Most importantly however, the puzzles are really fun. You feel great satisfaction from the "A-ha moment" and they are challenging enough to warrant it. A hint system is offered if you remain stagnant for too long, but again this is completely optional. I'm looking very forward to finishing this game over the next few days.

2. This War of Mine

A game I picked up on a whim after watching Drew's Quicklook. This War of Mine had a real effect on my psyche. Most games either force you to be a hero or encourage you to be a jerk, and any that give duel choice tend to leave you feeling like youre making a black and white decision with morale choices. This War of Mine completely blows that out of the water. It took me several tries before I managed a successful playthrough. And I, someone who generally prefers to play the dick in games, started out doing my best to play as good as possible. I started by never stealing from the anyone, always helping my neighbours, feeding my people every day. As days rolled on I found myself having to make moral sacrifices to keep my people alive. I allowed myself to steal from bandits, turn away neighbours I couldn't afford to help and when things got really desperate to steal from the innocent. Even inside the shelter, when I didn't have enough food to go around and I had to choose who got to eat that day. This is a game that has stuck with me this year, and anyone who hasn't picked it up should give it a try.

1. League of Legends

I suffer from the Shoemaker disease of MOBA affliction. I've been playing League since early 2011, but this season has had the largest impact on the both the MOBA and gaming community since the game's inception. From a gameplay perspective we've finally seen a revamp to the jungle and support roles to be a bit more impactul on the game. As for the community, the way Riot has revamped the LCS has made leaps and bounds toward making E-Sports more commonly recognized as a legitimate career. The TSN-style show adds a degree of professionalism that makes the gameplay clear even to non-players, and the World Championship Tournament was as well organized as we've ever seen it. The Beta for the updated map also rolled out this year, making it the biggest year in the game's history. I look forward to the 2015 season trying to top it.