2013 in Games

Top to bottom, left to right.

Without question, the best game I played this year was Kentucky Route Zero - it’s a point and click adventure game that does something entirely different to anything in the genre, and actually makes a worthwhile stab at creating a literary videogame. There’s this tired old cliché that “games aren’t art”, and that’s bullshit (after all, there’s plenty of bad art), but in terms of achieving something with grander metaphorical or symbolic meaning, KRZ is fantastic.

On the other end of this spectrum are Saints Row IV and Borderlands 2, both excellent and gleefully stupid in their own right. They both sink to levels of immaturity I previously hadn’t thought possible, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of care - there’s genuine wit in both games that could potentially be lost in the (constant) explosions. I’ve poured dozens of hours into both games, and they’re worth owning. No other video game this year contains a mission where you have to murder a giant evil energy drink, anyway.

Papers, Please puts you in the life of a border official for an anonymous Eastern European country, and contains a multitude of endings depending on your efficacy and a number of moral choices you make throughout. I held off on playing this game for a long time (due to my current immigration-related predicament), but having come out the other side it’s immersive to a surprising degree. Such simple mechanics produce an intensely personal experience that you couldn’t replicate in any other medium.

One of the most delightful games I’ve played this year is Device 6, an iOS exclusive that takes the form of an interactive mystery where progress is dependent on solving a number of puzzles. It has the sort of story that hooks you, and every puzzle is rewarding; they all require a pen and paper, but I lost count of the number of times I ended up grinning as another door unlocked. It also has a stellar soundtrack.

Boson X is the one game this year that made me weep in frustration. It’s a first-person endless runner that gradually escalates in difficulty, but never to a point where it feels impossible - just very, very hard. I poured far too much time into this. But at least it isn’t Candy Crush.

Gone Home has received a shit-ton of acclaim this year, and rightly so; if nothing else, it’s pioneering the notion of a first-person exploration game without resorting to dumb horror tropes, eschewing those in favour of a linear story that feels like exploring the inner lives of real people instead of cardboard cutouts.

Finally, The Stanley Parable is the most ridiculous game I’ve played this year, and is brilliantly clever both in its design and writing.