2023 Games of the Year - part 1
It has been another hell of a year in video games. I once again played…a lot of games! My games of the year (GOTY) list will be split up into 3 parts cuz they’re by far the longest posts I make each year. Here’s a little overview of how I track what I’ve played in a year:
I keep a spreadsheet with the month I played most/all of the game, the amount of time I played it, the platform I played on, and if I think it is a GOTY. Oh, and of course my thoughts on the game.
I only count games I’ve finished - meaning reached credits or, in the case of games that don’t end, played enough to feel I understand all the mechanics, reached a definitive milestone, etc.
I do not care if a game came out in 2023 or not, this is just my list of my favorites I played this year, though I do mark games that came out this year with a *
Right now I’m sitting at ~55 GOTYs (about half from 2023) and played ~350 games. I’ll have exact info in GOTYs part 3 where I’ll include fun charts!
January
Body of Work (PC) - https://dominoclub.itch.io/body-of-work The fleshy physical nature of human identity is a central theme of this game that takes place on the opening night of a controversial art show. Beautiful and intense writing and excellent vibes, Domino Club continues to be a favorite developer of mine.
*Concrete Tremor (PC) - https://mikeklubnika.itch.io/concrete-tremor Play real life Battleship in a dystopian high-rise apartment complex. The intense and creepy atmosphere and the nature of the gameplay does a great job critiquing the disconnected nature of modern remote warfare. Mike Klubnika games just keep getting better.
*Boba (PC) - https://dmullinsgames.itch.io/boba Mullins (Inscryption, Pony Island, etc.) released this awesome small resource management game that is right up my alley. Clicky mechanics, minimalist in nature, and some really fun programming and aesthetic twists.
Far from Noise (PC) - Watch a character hidden inside of a car teetering on the edge of a cliff ponder life and imminent death over a surreal day and night. The art and music pairs with the writing to tell a beautiful philosophical story of mortality and reflection.
Creeper World 4 (PC) - It's not quite as high as Creeper World 3 (an all time favorite of mine) but damn what a ride. Manage endless gushing waves of slime as you try to save…everything in the universe from the creeper threat. Chaotic and fun, it’s a great example of the indie strategy space successfully making weird niche games with huge followings.
A Castle Full of Cats (PC) - This is the kind of hidden object game I want to play! Incredibly in depth, fun, and light hearted, you search for cats in a massive castle, finding more and more hidden rooms and passages and of course…cats!
Queer Man Peering Into A Rock Pool.jpg (PC) - It’s the end of the world and you’re alone on an island. Spend your days meandering around and trying to remember life before. Total masterpiece of narrative and surrealism, really moving, really beautiful, I loved the loneliness and love shown in this game.
*The Hole in Blueblack Lake (PC) - https://esoterisoft.itch.io/the-hole-in-blueblack-lake Roll real dice as you catch sci-fi fish in an isolated lake and list them out on your handwritten character sheet. Great writing and music accompaniment and an interesting game structure where you have a goal of catching 50 fish but you can end whenever you want. I really loved the experience of playing and the ideas behind how the game is structured.
February
Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story (PC) - The main puzzles near the end were too hard but other than that it was another really interesting phone game telling a strong narrative about dysfunctional and abusive dynamics within human relationships. I really enjoy the mechanics of going through the phone and exploring a person in this way, the invasiveness and personal nature of it being a powerfully uncomfortable narrative template.
*A Mallard's Song (PC) - https://ducky-elford.itch.io/a-mallards-song Really interesting critique of British culture and nationalism, super bizarre and weird in a great way, I love how it delivers its message through abrasive chaos.
Metroid 2: Return of Samus (Switch) - A simple and excellent Metroid game that holds up incredibly well and is a perfect short slice from the Metroid universe and acts as an ideal example of how amazing Gameboy games were.
*I.S.A. Calendar Photoshoot 2023 (PC) - https://selkieharbour.itch.io/isa-calendar-photoshoot-2023 An incredible photography game weaved with some great writing and some cool secret plot. I absolutely loved the calendar I made (see the December holiday photo I made above). Tip: the game has no save and is over an hour (or a few hours if, like me, you want to make really fun photos and are not super good at it), so save each calendar photo you make and then just skip ahead in the months if you have to stop playing and start a new game.
Gutless (PC) - https://dominoclub.itch.io/gutless Follow an undersea vessel to the bottom of the ocean as the captain becomes increasingly obsessed and delusional about their goal as the crew slowly dies off. Excellent audio design and vibes and writing.
The Tower (PC) - https://tallywinkle.itch.io/the-tower Climb a tower of 100 floors where each floor you roll a number between 1 and 100 to progress where the result must be greater than the floor you’re on. Statistically impossible to win without exploits, and even then it'll take hours of exploits, the game is an excellent example of experimentation in mechanics and how they affect narrative. The inability to progress creates real excitement when reaching a new level and each level is a beauty of Bitsy design.
March
The Case of the Golden Idol (PC) - Explore the history and trace a path of murder and power that follows the Golden Idol, a powerful magical artifact. Brilliant puzzle mechanics, incredible art and music and phenomenal storytelling via game mechanics. A true GOAT.
Forklift Load (PC) - You’re an AI forklift still operating after all humans have died. A bizarre and incredibly fun open world forklift adventure with super fun janky platforming and a soap opera sci-fi plot.
Fuzz Dungeon (PC) - A surreal and often depressing look at life alone in a capitalist hellscape. Beautiful art, fun and silly games, great music and just dripping with vibes that are some kind of a mix of 1970s psychedelia and millennial exhaustion.
*Monuments To Guilt (PC) - https://louisthings.itch.io/monuments-to-guilt Explore a virtual museum looking at exclusionary design of public benches. Exemplifies games as political art pieces of interactive media.
*The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) - A perfect example of what happens when you support dev teams making fan games, this was just a total blast. Cute, fun, silly, everything I would want out of exactly this. I would love to see teams at larger companies get a chance to make more games like this.
April
LUXURY $IMULATOR (PC) - https://arrian.itch.io/luxury-simulator An excellent and brutal walk through a billionaire's empty bunker after the death of humanity.
*The Mouth Of The Woods (PC) - https://dominoclub.itch.io/the-mouth-of-the-woods Search for a missing friend as you read about his desire to be devoured by a monster in the forest. Excellent vibes and visuals and hits at that realness of feeling emotions in the body that Domino Club does so well.
*Wall World (PC) - Explore the endless wall of your universe digging for resources and trying to reach the top and bottom. Excellent digging, vibes, music, art, and an upgradeable spiderbot that you’ll grow to love. It has some pacing issues, but besides that it's a great ride if you’re into these kind of resource/digging games.
*Desktop Dungeons: Rewind (PC) - A really fun remaster of one of the all time great puzzle strategy games. This game got me into indie strategy games as a genre ten years ago and it continues to be one of the best. Its interesting balance of dungeon crawl, RPG, tactics, and its mix of mechanics is still wholly unique. It's a true masterpiece.