The only thing I knew for certain while finally putting this list together was that Hades was my game of the year. The rest of it was just a list of games I am pretty sure I played this year. I start a list each year and try to stay on top of adding stuff to it as I play games. Speaking of *goes and makes a 2021 list* Then, it saves me the trouble of skimming Wikipedia and trying to remember.
A complicating factor is that a lot of games hit 1.0 this year. Many of those games got bumped off previous years' lists because they were still early access. The problem is that I didn't spend nearly as much time with these "new releases" as I had expected. Well it would be a problem, if I had a list of games I felt strongly about besides Hades.
And so, I hereby present my Game of the Year 2020 list of games I played a lot of in previous years and some other games I liked from this year too.
Special award for game I bounced off hardest and absolutely detest: Fall Guys
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I played a lot of Star Renegades when it came out. I liked it, for a while. I might dislike it now, but that could be biased from multiple late game runs just dying out the same damn way. I also felt like there were only one or two functional teams and the rest were just putting your eggs in one basket. For all my issues with it, I kept playing, for two reasons. First, I was sooo close to winning a run each time I died. I would immediately restart and then burn out about 1 planet in. Each run takes so long and it feels like it doesn’t have to. Second, it feels good to fight each fight. This game was 1.0 being generous at best. It was definitely complete and functional, but really needed more polish. UI crashed together, tool tips were hard to find or non-existent. That being said, they are making progress and have a development roadmap that makes me want to keep up with it and check in later. So I am dropping it on my list because it was the next “Into the Breach” in feel and also presentation in all the ways I like to see.
I want to play more Crusader Kings. I got it, I felt the hook and I went with it. All the time I spent bouncing off CK 2 and within an hour, I was into CK 3. But, I also want to play other games, maybe more? Crusader Kings falls into this gap in my mind where I enjoy it, but also spend much of my time playing it thinking about playing something else. I want to play more Crusader Kings 3 because I became the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. I did a wee murder and boom, suddenly I am the man. Except, I think that was setup by the devs and maybe that takes something out of it? They put you in charge of a character who is poised to inherit, if you play your cards right. I saw the opportunity and took it and it felt great. So I guess Crusader Kings 3 becomes another game I want to play more of, but might not. What if I just played more Red Dead Online?
