I was thinking about it today:

• The Walking Dead
• Hotline Miami
• Trials: Evolution
• Mark of the Ninja
• Journey
• Fez
• Torchlight II
• Sound Shapes
• Spelunky
• FTL
• Dust: An Elysian Tail

The crew is going to have a really tough time narrowing this list down to 3 games. 5, maybe, but 3? This is going to be a really fun deliberation to listen to.

You can buy Walking Dead on disc. Wouldn't be surprised if it still took best Downloable though. And don't forget Dust.

Dust : An Elysian Tail , the best downloadable game this year , isn't on here .

Should be mark of the ninja but I think the walking dead will win it.

My guess for the order is 1. The Walking Dead, 2. Mark of the Ninja, 3. Journey.

Dust, go.

It makes me sad that I wasn't able to enjoy TWD like everyone else. Dust: An Elysian Tale or FTL will be two of my tops, though.

Walking Dead, sure number 1.

Dust, FTL, Hotline Miami, Journey could all be there as runners-up.

But I would'nt get Crashmo out of the equation. Just released, so it's fresh on their minds.

What an amazing year for downloads.

TWD will surely take it. It's a massive step forward for Telltale and the genre as a whole. On the downside it's a bit thin on actual game stuff, which may not help it.

I totally missed Dust! My bad!

Brad will have a lot of sway in this category. That's why I think Dust will be on the list. Walking Dead will take second. As for #1? I don't know.

i think this needs to be changed to Best Download-Only Game, as there are too many big retail release games that are available as downloads. This would eliminate The Walking Dead and Journey, as both are or will be available on disc before the end of the year. My vote - whether or not that occurs - is for Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Pretty sure Walking Dead will take it pretty easily. Not to disparage any of these games. It was a fucking awesome year for downloadables. But yeah, narrowing the list down will definitely be the tough part.

And how indicative of the overall game of the year award will this category be?

Crashmotherfuckingmo

They're doing away with this category for this very reason. I think they half-jokingly floated the idea of doing a "best retail game" category to replace it because the balance has definitely shifted.

If TWD takes GoTY then they might skip it and give best downloadable to another title. Spread the wealth so to speak.

@UitDeToekomst said:

i think this needs to be changed to Best Download-Only Game, as there are too many big retail release games that are available as downloads. This would eliminate The Walking Dead and Journey, as both are or will be available on disc before the end of the year. My vote - whether or not that occurs - is for Dust: An Elysian Tail.

I think it would be more effective just to state that it's initial release was download only. Nobody would argue against a piece of DLC being included in a best dlc category because it later appeared in a GOTY release, or enhanced edition

They got rid of best multi-platform category because it basically determined the game of the year, right? I think this category should go that same path, or they should not consider XBLA only games like Dust or Steam only games like Hotline Miami. Leave those for the platform-specific awards.

I haven't had a chance to play Dust, yet, but I'm REALLY enjoying my time with Mark of the Ninja right now. Need to continue with The Walking Dead still, but man Mark of the Ninja is fun!

TWD should win only because it's the only DLG I've played this year. I will play Journey and Sound Shapes soon. Hopefully the other games like Dust and Mark of the Ninja come to PSN. Also hope that Sony pulls the trigger and gets that Hotline Miami port on the Vita. I want that game.

Walking Dead does not qualify. Also maybe Journey? Journey Collector's Edition does exist, after all...

I don't see Tokyo Jungle on that list.

This sort of makes me wonder if this category should be rethought, only because it's starting to get to the point where it isn't as clear the differences between retail and downloadable titles, besides of course the way we purchase them. Why should they be separated from retail titles anymore? It isn't 5 or 6 years ago when retail titles were on a completely different scale and quality level. It's all sort of starting to meld together in my eyes.

Perhaps we aren't at that point yet, but things are definitely getting there.

I think we are at a point now where having a Best downloadable game category is pretty stupid.

Mark of the Ninja, Journey and The Walking Dead are games I'd not feel bad about buying on a disc, regardless of length.

I have played none of these games except Dust. I still for whatever reason just usually don't give a damn about most downloadable games. Even Dust I quit playing pretty quickly. Personally my attention has been firmly on retail games this year.

JOURNEY MOTHERFUCKERS I'M GONNA SLICE YOU UP INTO LIL PIECES YOU PIECES OF...

Sorry about that, lets be civil and pick the RIGHT choice.

I guess Walking Dead (if it counts since there is a retail version), Journey and Dust will be the Top 3

If not TWD, it has to be Journey.

Mark of the Ninja is currently sitting very nearly at the top of my list if not at the top so I certainly hope that it at least makes the top 3. I don't think TWD qualifies seeing as it's now on disc. Hm... I guess it depends on what they've decided with the new categories. But man there have been some incredibly amazing downloadable games this year.

To all of the people saying TWD doesn't count since it has a retail release, Journey also was put to retail on disc along with Flower and flOw.

I'm saying the top 3 will be

1. TWD
2. Journey
3. Hotline Miami or Mark of the Ninja

I loved Trials Evolution but I think it'll be either the Walking Dead or Mark of the Ninja.

I think Journey, The Walking Dead, FTL and Mark of the Ninja will be their top picks. I can't guess at which one they'll cut, though.

@BaneFireLord said:

Walking Dead won't be up for consideration because it's coming out on disc. That would be like putting XCOM in this category because you can download it on Steam.

The Walking Dead started as a download-only title in the spring, though. The on-disc collection is releasing a couple weeks before the end of the year, so I'd assume the majority of the game's audience will have experienced it solely through XBLA/PSN/Steam.

I see your point, though. I won't be surprised if media outlets handle that differently.

They should have a best violence category, and just have Hotline Miami be the sole nominee/winner.

This year is the most compelling argument I've seen yet for getting rid of this category altogether.

I would add Gotham City Impostors to that list. That was some of the most fun I've had playing a multiplayer FPS since CoD2 on the PC, and they added some really creative stuff to the formula.

But yeah this catagory is absurd, I have 5 of those games in my overall top ten list (6 if you count GCI). The digital outlet for smaller teams to release more focused games has cranked out some awesome fucking stuff the last few years, and they just keep coming.

My personal top 3 for this catagory:

1. Journey
2. Hotline Miami
3. Gotham City Impostors

@spankingaddict said:

Dust : An Elysian Tail , the best downloadable game this year , isn't on here .

but it haz furryz in it. no buy.

@Bulby33 said:

• Torchlight II
• Sound Shapes
• Spelunky
• FTL
• Dust: An Elysian Tail

I highly doubt any of the staff is going to advocate for any of these games. They respect those games, but hardly anyone played Torchlight II, and the only people that played a few hours of it would advocate for other games (Ryan seems like he'll promote TWD, Jeff would promote Fez or Journey over it, etc.). Jeff seemed to like Sound Shapes, but again, he'd promote Fez or Journey over it. Brad likes Spelunky, but he'd promote Mark of the Ninja or Trials over it (also Spelunky is a weird remake so it feels kind of weird nominating it for awards). Several of them liked FTL, but most of them got turned off of the game by the final boss, IIRC. And Brad liked Dust, but again, Trials and Mark of the Ninja come first.

So while I don't think the ground is THAT even for downloadable GotY, it has been a really good year for smaller downloadable games. I imagine the finalists will be The Walking Dead, Mark of the Ninja, Fez, and Journey, and MAYBE Hotline Miami/Trials: Evolution. Also I can't decide if Patrick is going to briefly mention Tokyo Jungle at the start, or if he'll be smart enough to just give up that fight beforehand because he has absolutely zero allies.

This many people liked Dust? Huh.

If they even make that a category this year. I remember Brad briefly saying something about most of his top ten will probably be downloadable, and he joked with Jeff about making a "Best Retail Game of the Year" category instead. They usually tailor categories to fit that year, so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't even have that as one this year, even if they don't go as far as they were alluding to.

I'm gathering from Jeff's twitter that he doesn't necessarily like The Walking Dead all that much. I could see Journey sneaking in and taking this and maybe even GOTY. I mean, think of the arguments against TWD and now try to think of arguments against Journey. I mean Journey isn't hard but the gameplay is much more solid compared to TWD and, even though choice isn't there, the story in Journey is just as solid as TWD if it leads to different reactions then TWD caused. Don't count Journey out.

Fez, TWD and Dust (I haven't played it but heard many good things).

But TWD for GOTY, hence why I give FEZ best downloadable.

on the tested Octoberkast Jeff and Brad kinda talked about how they don't think they should even distinguish between downloadable only or full retail. which i thought was about right, i've had more fun tooling around with most of the games that were at the start of this post than anything else this year. why separate? i can see why when there was such a gap between quality but now it should just be a best game category...

Acutally thinking about it though. if this is what ends up happening the arguing will go on and on and on and on. and on...

on

This is going to be a lot easier when you take into account what everyone has played (so far). Everyone has played Journey, most have played TWD, third one is going to be decided by the passion of one staff member who is most passionate about it, or the most common denominator. And I think it is going to be Hotline Miami.

(And sorry, but one guy redoing what looks like Muramasa (or fill in your Vanillaware game) with furries is surely a laudable effort, but compared to the others, not going to cut it)

@Gaff said:

This is going to be a lot easier when you take into account what everyone has played (so far). Everyone has played Journey, most have played TWD, third one is going to be decided by the passion of one staff member who is most passionate about it, or the most common denominator. And I think it is going to be Hotline Miami. (And sorry, but one guy redoing what looks like Muramasa (or fill in your Vanillaware game) with furries is surely a laudable effort, but compared to the others, not going to cut it)

That's kind of selling it short dude. You should at least try it if you haven't. It's not what Dust copies that makes it good. It's how all those elements work together with original pieces and the story/presentation that makes it stand out.

@kneebees said:

on the tested Octoberkast Jeff and Brad kinda talked about how they don't think they should even distinguish between downloadable only or full retail. which i thought was about right, i've had more fun tooling around with most of the games that were at the start of this post than anything else this year. why separate? i can see why when there was such a gap between quality but now it should just be a best game category...

Acutally thinking about it though. if this is what ends up happening the arguing will go on and on and on and on. and on...

on

I agree with this. This year many of the top games were downloadable. Would be a good debate to listen to so I am if it stays.

Even though I've only played the original PC version, I would go for Spelunky as best download only game (TWD and Journey have physical editions).