4970	551638	219	909
Forum Posts	Wiki Points	Following	Followers

GOTY 2020 (Adjusted)

Same deal as the other "GOTY (Adjusted)" lists. The idea is to build GOTY lists that are constantly in flux, ever adapting themselves to a new year's worth of catch-up gaming. Like the Borg, but for video game lists. With enough time I should be able to play through every 2019 game that piqued my interest and construct a list that ideally represents what that year meant to me in terms of games, but that wasn't going to happen on the year in question: too many full-price new releases, too little time.

2020 was our first full lockdown year, so it lacked those relatively normal first few months of 2019 and the many projects near-completion that managed to hobble over the finishing line while people were stuck at home Zooming each other. Despite the dip in productivity it doesn't seem to have adversely affected 2020's releases too much - I guess it's not actually a big deal to have to work from home after all - but I'm looking at the remaining list of games to play from that year and there's not a whole lot left in it. It's probably for the best if it's a little more compact: if every year was like 2017 I'd never be able to catch up. That said, Ghost of Tsushima, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim are evidently the big games I need to see through before I can consider the year truly behind me (or this GOTY list thorough enough, for that matter).

Here's the original 2020 GOTY list, for posterity's sake.

2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023

(2020 Games Yet to Play: Sakura Wars, Solasta: Crown of the Magister, Tell Me Why.)

(2020 Games Yet to Buy: Astro's Playroom, Cyberpunk 2077, Deadly Premonition 2, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, The Pathless, Picross S4, Picross S5, Shantae and the Seven Sirens, Spelunky 2, Timelie, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, Trails of Cold Steel IV, Trials of Mana, World's End Club.)

[Last edited Jan 2024.]

List items

1. Nioh 2

2020 Rank: 1
2021 Rank: 1
2022 Rank: 1
2023 Rank: 1
The reigning champ of 2020, at least for now. Nioh 2 is your typical video game sequel success story: riding that fine line of offering more of what made the first game work without running afoul of the law of diminishing returns by supplementing the existing gameplay with new content and mechanics that, for the most part, work to enhance what was already there. Nioh 2 also had Koei sneaking in some of their Japanese historical simulation background, placing the protagonist in a central role in one of the country's most tumultuous periods and having their immortality carry them all the way through to the other end some hundred years later. It's a fun story to experience for history buffs, even if you're just kinda hovering around the background of various pivotal moments of the Sengoku era like a half-yokai samurai Forrest Gump.
But, man, the appeal of this game is really in its multitude of smaller moments and sparks of mechanical ingenuity: the Bloodborne-esque Switchglaive weapon, the endless tinkering with the loot system at the blacksmith, aesthetic armor (pre-empting Fashionsouls), all the stances and weapon skill trees and jutsu and the thousands of ways to build your own supernatural samurai. The combat, too, is relentlessly brutal and makes you savor every victory much like the dour action-RPGs it homages. The game's an absolute delight from start to end, albeit not without a lot of trials in store for you given its harsh difficulty, and the Souls experience I was craving that year.
2. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 2
2023 Rank: 2
I feel a little foolish letting my past aversion to Vanillaware's output—to be clear, I've always liked their aesthetics up to but maybe not including the incredibly thirsty Dragon's Crown, but the gameplay has always been kinda whatever—color my perception of 13 Sentinels because it truly is something special, one of those games from 2020 that I'm sure will maintain some sort of timeless cult appeal due to the novel premise and a wonderful balance of visuals and music (the latter helped into being by Sakimoto, a favorite composer of mine, and his Basiscape musician collective).
Better still than even those aspects is the way the game masterfully weaves a narrative across its thirteen characters, their lives intersecting in various ways, and punctuates major moments with action stages where you direct a more resolute version of the troubled characters you've been watching as they fight hordes of kaiju in their sentinel mechs, each offering different roles on the battlefield. Nioh 2 still has my top spot for its sheer mechanical complexity and depth but 13 Sentinels and its unique charms come a close second.
3. Paper Mario: The Origami King

2020 Rank: 2
2021 Rank: 2
2022 Rank: 3
2023 Rank: 3
The Mario games can weaponize the elusive quality of "fun" like few others, at least with its high level of consistency, and playing Paper Mario: The Origami King was definitely a rollercoaster ride of amusing situations and exciting moments. I am of course as irritated as anyone else that the series has long abandoned any semblance of an RPG. Acquiring special skills as one-off consumables instead of through character development really discouraged engaging with the random encounters since you gained nothing but cash, which could already be found everywhere.
On the other hand, the earlier Mario RPGs have always excelled for another reason: injecting the otherwise dialogue-free travails of Mario and companions with witty writing and funny situational comedy, and The Origami King is every bit as hilarious as those early Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi games. I could take or leave its combat, heavily influenced as it was on a specific type of puzzle that didn't have enough variations to stretch across hundreds of battles, but everything else surrounding it made it an endless treat. It also had as many collectibles and secrets packed into it as the recent Super Mario Odyssey, which is something I (possibly alone) care about a great deal.
4. Paradise Killer

2020 Rank: 3
2021 Rank: 3
2022 Rank: 4
2023 Rank: 4
Paradise Killer has all the confidence of a toddler showing you the weird shit they just drew while beaming with pride, but unlike that toddler there's a lot of craft and talent behind what Kaizen Game Works has made here. Very much a vibe piece, with one of the best City Pop soundtracks I've heard in a video game, Paradise Killer has its central murder mystery to solve regarding immortal cultists and the dark, cosmic deities they regularly sacrifice thousands of lives to appease, but is in no hurry to force you to do the necessary legwork as quickly as possible.
Rather, it lets you soak in the atmosphere as you explore this enormous island of strange relics and lore objects which illuminate nothing about the bizarre universe the designers have created while you interrogate the occasional NPC about their alibis (and sometimes seduce them, which doesn't feel like something a detective should do but then the heroine did get exiled for a reason). That doesn't mean it ever forgets that it's a whodunnit game as it is very meticulous in keeping notes on everything you've learned, picking up possibly related side-cases along the way. Like the off-kilter Suda51 games it clearly venerates, Paradise Killer is something worth experiencing first-hand just to let its style wash all over you.
5. Lair of the Clockwork God

2020 Rank: 4
2021 Rank: 4
2022 Rank: 5
2023 Rank: 5
It had been a hot minute since Dan and Ben collaborated on one of their irreverent point-and-click pastiches, but some time away working on their own projects has given them an insight into the wider sphere of Indie gaming that turns out to be equally ripe for parody. Lair of the Clockwork God is a series of loose vignettes centered around teaching a machine intelligence about human emotions that all operate as knowing winks to typically maudlin, critically-acclaimed Indie games and is structured as a half adventure game, half puzzle-platformer (Ben absolutely refusing to take part in any genre construct that's not the former).
It's also hilarious and unpredictable throughout and, like Horace from the previous year, is perfectly on my wavelength as a pop-culture obsessed 30-something Brit who plays way too many video games. Always nice to be able to click with something on a more personal level, you know?
6. Ghost of Tsushima

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 6
2023 Rank: 6
I've never really stopped loving open-world action-adventure games even if it felt like the western AAA game industry was milking it for every drop it could squeeze out of the format. It takes a game like Ghost of Tsushima, which does very little new with the format elsewise, to polish it and make it compelling with its framing as a narrative about Japan first encountering the value of asynchronous warfare and how it clashes with the honorable code of the samurai ruling class. Truth be told, I didn't care for the story too much, but the aesthetics dripping off every field of flowers or muddy battlefield made the game a striking one to explore and sometimes I just want to chase around a bunch of map icon barf looking for fox shrines or a new haiku-writing spot. Like 2018's Spider-Man, it's nothing new but it polishes its oldness to a fine sheen.
7. Vaporum: Lockdown

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 7
2023 Rank: 7
Vaporum was a surprise hit for me and managed to make an impact in the already-packed year of 2017 due in part to a format and series of features that seemed purpose-built for me alone. Taking the venerable Dungeon Master mold of a first-person four-directional dungeon-crawler, adding a heavier narrative aspect with NPCs and found notes and audio logs, compounding it further with a steampunk aesthetic that—while not normally my thing—was at least a breath of fresh air compared to the usual mildewy fantasy dungeons, and finally an optional turn-based mode to make the movement- and timing-based puzzles far more palatable to deal with. The unfortunately timed Lockdown is really more of the same with a bit more mechanical depth with its use of elements (both usable and used against you) and a little more focus put on puzzles and exploration. It can be a tough series, especially where those laser drones are involved, but rewarding in equal measure.
8. Wasteland 3

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 8
2023 Rank: 8
I enjoyed InXile's Torment: Tides of Numenera sort of reboot, but I skipped their Wasteland revival from a few years earlier. Jumping into Wasteland 3 without it created no problems though, as its new wintry setting of a Colorado facing the effects of a nuclear winter offered something very different to its desert-based predecessor. The modern Wasteland games takes after modern Fallout (though I should state somewhere for pedantry's sake that Wasteland came first) in that much of its quest structure is faction-based, and will often have you working against potential allies so tough decisions are everywhere. You only have your reputation this far from home: no-one's going to go to bat for you unless you help them out first. While I hate the FOMO that ensues from a branching structure like this, I'd argue it was put to good effect, as was a tactical turn-based combat system that incorporated a lot of what made XCOM so compelling.
9. Murder by Numbers

2020 Rank: 5
2021 Rank: 5
2022 Rank: 9
2023 Rank: 9
A mostly linear detective visual novel that breaks up its dialogue scenes with simple picross puzzles. It's not quite a strong enough example of either of its genres when taken separately but as a hybrid it manages to elevate its material, in part because of its empathetic and emotionally intelligent script of a shrewd '90s actress teaming up with a wiseacre AI to solve some Hollywood murders. With stronger puzzle variation and leaning more into its Ace Attorney-inspired surreality and humor I think a sequel could knock it out of the park; however, I suspect the devs will be busy with their other 2020 game, Fall Guys, for quite some time yet.
10. Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 6
2022 Rank: 10
2023 Rank: 10
Sakuna can be a lot of hard work. The farming sim side of its dynamic is exacting and deeply layered, requiring constant vigilance and some well-scheduled maintenance of its rice paddies, ensuring the right amount of water and fertilizer while regularly clearing it of infestation. The 2D side-scrolling combat-heavy platforming exploration side is equally taxing, as running into enemies with the wrong equipment or dealing with too many at once is a recipe for an early defeat and some precious time lost gathering vital resources. Yet even for all its demands, the game's core message for its eponymous spoiled goddess heroine that hard graft can be its own reward rings true for playing the game as well, letting you feel you've earned every victory and every bountiful harvest. It's also very pretty if you liked that Okami cel-shaded take on traditional Japanese ink brush painting, and has a shrewd narrative that encourages you to become closer to its cast of mostly human characters. It's wholly distinct from anything else I've played.
11. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 11
2023 Rank: 11
I certainly liked Ichiban Kasuga and the cast of disaffected working types he builds around him, with the franchise's strengths still as potent as ever as you explore Yokohama solving people's problems and fighting with street toughs, but I'm going to admit that—even as a huge turn-based JRPG fan—the new combat and character development systems didn't quite strike a chord. Part of that are annoying decisions like having the death of Ichiban be an instant game over, and the constant management of your job classes, but it also stretches out the already slow pace of these games especially during the more combat heavy portions of the game. If I get harrassed on the street as Kiryu I know those goons are going to be eating pavement within the next sixty seconds; meanwhile, I'll still be strategizing everyone's first round actions with Ichiban in that same time frame. I'm sure later entries will continue to tweak and improve the new format, but I'm just thankful Judgment is around to offer the more familiar, preferred alternative.
12. Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 7
2022 Rank: 12
2023 Rank: 12
What started as a silly explormer-RPG hybrid in the style of an UnEpic gradually became something far more in-depth and engrossing the more of it I played, figuring out the solution to its many puzzle screens for the treasures they rewarded. Some great level design, an oddly intense amount of atmosphere with its gloomy visuals and effective lighting, a sense of humor that dared to ask the question "What if Conan was an even dumber musclebound oaf (and alternatively also a woman if the player wishes)?", a surprisingly lengthy campaign and world to explore, and some gruelling boss fights made for a decent package that I expected very little from initially, given I was lucky enough to receive it in a huge bundle with many other games I was anticipating more.
13. Bugsnax

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 13
A game built around trapping animal-food hybrids so you can feed them to furry little weirdos doesn't on paper seem like a swell time but the game finds a balance of thoughtful puzzles and some strong characterization as you're made to care about said weirdos while exploring this island paradise at your own pace. Some questionable physics tomfoolery (wouldn't be a game from the Octodad people without it) isn't enough to tarnish its charm.
14. Foregone

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 13
2023 Rank: 14
Foregone felt almost like a reaction to the meandering and proc-gen focused Dead Cells by offering the same type of 2D combat experience, complete with dodge rolls for better footing and a selection of weapon types to play around with, but with a far more linear structure. It still does the loot RPG thing with ever-better weaponry and gear found in every corner, but its A-to-B approach gives it a bit more impetus as it funnels you from one boss encounter to the next. I'm a big explormer guy as I've probably made abundantly clear in the past, but something a bit more directed and finite like Foregone makes for a nice diversion.
15. Operencia: The Stolen Sun

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 8
2022 Rank: 14
2023 Rank: 15
Operencia's a first-person dungeon-crawling turn-based RPG made in the Wizardry mold, part of a sub-genre that has been resurging of late due in part to Japanese homages like Etrian Odyssey. It's also insidiously tough on its highest difficulty setting with enemy tactics that seem designed to annoy and inconvenience your party if not kill them outright. However, it's also replete with quality-of-life features like a respec system that is absolutely free, letting you experiment with your party's builds as often as you feel you need to, and healing consumables that restock with every campfire rest and involve solving a fun logic puzzle to unlock. Enemies also vanish forever when slain, so a determined enough player can make their life much easier by clearing out each dungeon before exploring them for secrets, sometimes returning for extra treasure after unlocking new traversal skills in later chapters. For as much as I kvetched about it at the time, I enjoyed the challenge of this RPG and hope they make more entries; it's very much on the same tier as a Grimrock or Vaporum in my estimations.
16. The Pedestrian

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 15
2023 Rank: 16
An endlessly inventive puzzle-platformer that has you entering and configuring various types of signage to progress through from one side to the other. With the visual and audio panache of a Pixar movie (thankfully, it doesn't have to make any 3D character models, so they could make the game look slick without breaking the bank) The Pedestrian is a short journey but one with no shortage of ideas and challenges, usually adding at least one new wrinkle with each chapter.
17. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 9
2022 Rank: 16
2023 Rank: 17
The second Ori game is certainly much bigger than the first with more to offer and new systems to tinker with (even if some of those systems suspiciously resemble those from Hollow Knight, but then having more games like Hollow Knight isn't exactly something I'm put out by). At some point during this impressive expansion upon the original formula it feels like the game also lost some of its spark, though perhaps it's simply a case of diminishing returns as the two games are otherwise pretty similar. It still retains that riveting core made up of its fantastic, Disney-level 2D animated visuals and soulful music coupled with some very responsive and fluid platforming, so we're still talking within the top twenty Indie explormers of all time here; I just can't quite place my finger on why the magic wasn't wholly there for me the second time around.
18. Weird and Unfortunate Things Are Happening

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 10
2022 Rank: 17
2023 Rank: 18
An Indie RPG Maker project that is half EarthBound, half eldritch survival horror by way of a Silent Hill, Weird and Unfortunate Things Are Happening has a decent turn-based combat core enhanced by its surreal and perturbing setting and further boosted by a great, eclectic soundtrack assembled from contributions from many different Indie musicians. Like in Shin Megami Tensei - one of its evident inspirations given the themes - buffs, debuffs, and the exploitation of elemental weaknesses take larger roles in battles, encouraging you to take advantage of these debilitating attacks as much as possible. Other QoL enhancements, like a random encounter gauge that eventually empties as you explore so you don't burn out on smallfry, are similarly welcome. I'm trying to make more of an effort to not dismiss RPG Maker games outright, especially low-budget freebies like WaUTaH, and serendipitous discoveries like this are the reason why.
19. Amnesia: Rebirth

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 19
Amnesia's back on top-form with this Algeria-set adventure that gives us a better glance at the shadowy world that the first game's antagonist hailed from, and its relationship to our own imperiled world. While there aren't quite as many standout moments as the Dark Descent, there's still some real suspenseful business peppered throughout and a stronger narrative thread.
20. Mortal Shell

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 20
A Soulslike that pares down much of the filler for the sake of nailing the atmosphere and combat, so I'll credit it for smartly focusing on the fundamentals. Instead of more elaborate character builds you can simply switch between a few class archetypes as you like, each of which has a smaller skill tree progression system. Some good, tough bosses too.
21. Umurangi Generation

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 21
22. Alwa's Legacy

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 18
2023 Rank: 22
The follow-up to Alwa's Awakening has a similar mix of strengths and weaknesses, respectively its magic-enhanced traversal abilities and a certain lack of personality and originality. I think these games are very competently made and offer a decent challenge and a map that's fun to explore top-to-bottom, so maybe it's a personal problem caused by playing too many of these that I find myself not warming to the more generic ones quite as much. For my grousing, it's a real solid throwback-styled explormer for those looking for same (and have exhausted all the popular ones).
23. Haven

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 23
24. Alba: a Wildlife Adventure

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 19
2023 Rank: 24
A wisp of a game but still one that finds a compelling hook with its wildlife photography and beautification angles, as you clean up the trash around an island's nature preserve to draw back in its once vibrant ecosystem. You might spend the whole game putting trash in cans and taking pictures of birds (as an island, there's more birds than almost anything else) but if that sounds like a real chill time worth having than the game and its unhurried vibes might be what you're looking for.
25. Maneater

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 25
26. Raji: An Ancient Epic

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 20
2023 Rank: 26
Raji feels like a PlayStation 2 game, and I don't necessarily mean that in a pejorative sense. More that it hearkens to a certain era of character-action games that splits its time between environmental puzzles and arena style combat with multiple opponents phasing in in waves. Sort of like God of War and Prince of Persia, only the mythological base in this case is more towards the Indian subcontinent. It's a looker too, and evidently had a lot of heart and energy put into it by a crew looking to highlight their own cultural backgrounds.
27. Shieldmaiden

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 21
2023 Rank: 27
28. Evergate

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: N/A
2023 Rank: 28
29. The White Door

2020 Rank: 6
2021 Rank: 11
2022 Rank: 22
2023 Rank: 29
A surreal puzzle-adventure game with a psychological horror theme about a patient undergoing "routine therapy" - repeating a strict series of steps each day to return to a feeling of normalcy - that eventually starts warping into something unfamiliar, punctuated with flashbacks revealing how the protagonist reached his breaking point prior to seeking out this experimental treatment. As you might surmise, the game messes around with player expectations a great deal, factoring that sense of uncanniness into its puzzles and gameplay, and yet still treats the subject matter and the subject himself with the respect due to those suffering mental disorders.
30. Assemble with Care

2020 Rank: 7
2021 Rank: 12
2022 Rank: 23
2023 Rank: 30
A very cute game about restoring people's priceless antiques and machinery, in the process becoming more embroiled with their lives and drama. The gameplay is similar to that of a jigsaw puzzle game where you first disassemble items into their constituent parts and then re-assemble those in the right order after replacing whatever was broken. It's not a long game and there was certainly more life left in the concept by the game's end, but the episodic narrative caps off at a nice point and leaves the door open for sequels to build on. (NB: The original iOS/Android release was 2019, but 2020 saw its console/PC debut so I'm counting it.)
31. The Last Campfire

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 13
2022 Rank: 24
2023 Rank: 31
A puzzle-adventure game about keeping the faith and not losing your motivation in the face of overwhelming doubt. As you help your fellow pilgrims to the next campfire by solving whatever mental blocks are trapping them in despair, you piece together more of the game's story and the reason for this pilgrimage in the first place. The environmental puzzles are simple yet fun, the level design offers some circuitous exploration as you find as many of your missing brethren as possible and resolve their issues, and it's an audio-visual treat with its cel-shaded look and strong sense of atmosphere.
32. Coffee Talk

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 25
2023 Rank: 32
33. Creepy Tale

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 14
2022 Rank: 26
2023 Rank: 33
A horror adventure game aimed more at kids but appealing enough to those of any age that has you taking on a series of challenges as you hurry to find your kidnapped brother. Has the style and demeanor of a classic Grimm brothers fairytale and relies on stealth and platforming as often as it does riddles and brainteasers, giving you a decent variety of gameplay. Sounds like it did well enough for multiple sequels, so I'll have to check those out before too long.
34. Helltaker

2020 Rank: 8
2021 Rank: 15
2022 Rank: 27
2023 Rank: 34
A freebie puzzle game of the type where you have to ascertain the correct sequence of steps to get through its Hellbound grid-based puzzles, sort of like a Sokoban of the Damned. The reason you're doing this, and the reason the game became as briefly intensely popular as it did, is to woo a series of eccentric demon women for your very own harem of succubi up to and including the fallen girlboss Lucifer herself. Despite that, it's an oddly wholesome game for one so thirsty and the visuals and humor of these courtship scenes are worth the brain-melting price of admission.
35. Lenna's Inception

2020 Rank: 9
2021 Rank: 16
2022 Rank: 28
2023 Rank: 35
A partially procedurally-generated Zelda homage that sees its fantasy world beset by some kind of programming error that threatens to destroy everything on a fundamental level. Alas, the gameplay tends towards the rote as it suffers the usual procgen randomized content problem of having levels that share little resemblance to the bespoke, carefully designed dungeons of its inspiration source, but its compelling twisty narrative and a cute romantic subplot made the journey to discover the source of this glitchy apocalypse one I was happy enough to take.
36. 8 Bit Space

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 29
2023 Rank: 36
37. The Lost Art of Innkeeping

2020 Rank: 10
2021 Rank: 17
2022 Rank: 30
2023 Rank: 37
A small-budget RPG Maker game that takes on the ambitious idea of running your own inn in a fantasy world. Half business simulation, half narrative adventure game, the player must be careful with their schedule and finances while completing a series of tasks to get their would-be hotel in a state where it can receive guests, prioritizing whatever is most likely to draw in visitors and their custom. It's a brief, rudimentary shell of what might become something more substantial one day with a bigger budget and more ambition, but has enough bells and whistles right now to be worth a look.
38. Symphonia

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 18
2022 Rank: 31
2023 Rank: 38
An attractive 2D action-platformer with a musical theme, sadly only an hour or so long as the game was initially made to be a months-long student project. There's an evident high level of craft everywhere you look in Symphonia, from its fantastic hand-drawn visuals to its apropos orchestral soundtrack to its smooth self-projecting traversal mechanics where the protagonist uses his elastic violin bow as a pole vault, but right now it feels like a teaser demo for the real thing. It's free to play on GOG so you're hardly going to feel ripped off by its length, and it sounds like the student developers hope to turn it into a much longer retail game someday once they have enough professional experience.
39. Red Bow

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: N/A
2022 Rank: 32
2023 Rank: 39
40. Synergia

2020 Rank: N/A
2021 Rank: 19
2022 Rank: 33
2023 Rank: 40
A cyberpunk visual novel dripping with that neon-noir style but sort of messy and insubstantial with regards to its story. The player witnesses the deepening relationship between a former soldier with cybernetic implants but otherwise human and the realistic doll-like gynoid she rescues from the trash heap. Naturally, the latter's surprisingly realistic emotions is a sign that she's something special - and something someone powerful wants back - and that kickstarts the game's rushed second half when it becomes a bit more of a thriller rather than just two girls hanging out in a mostly well-realized dystopian setting slowly falling for each other. It's a strong tone piece but I'm not going to give it any awards for its pacing.
41. Part Time UFO

2020 Rank: 12
2021 Rank: 20
2022 Rank: 34
2023 Rank: 41
Part Time UFO is too cute a game to dislike, but at the same time I regularly found it to be very frustrating with how it keeps setting up challenges you are almost destined to fail thanks to the ever-present killjoy that is gravity. As a robot UFO with a grabby claw, you apply for various temp jobs that require picking things up and placing them in such a way where they won't suddenly fall over; this progression naturally tends towards the even bigger and more precarious assemblies that can be toppled just by looking at them funny. It does also have a lot of cute charm and some smart ideas for its scenarios, very much the product of the same Nintendo-affiliated team that brought you compact puzzlers Pushmo and BoxBoy!.
42. Devil's Kiss

2020 Rank: 13
2021 Rank: 21
2022 Rank: 35
2023 Rank: 42
43. Pixross

2020 Rank: 14
2021 Rank: 22
2022 Rank: 36
2023 Rank: 43