As is always the case, there is no shortage of great games to play. That can make picking your favorites–or voting for categories in something like The Game Awards–a challenge. With this year’s awards just about a month away, we’re reflecting on what games we’ve loved this year to offer up some quick suggestions on what you should consider playing before casting your votes.
Below, we’ve rounded up one-sentence recommendations from our staff. Our goal here was twofold: recognize the games we’re individually considering for Game of the Year, whether or not they’re well-known, and also spotlight some of the smaller games we loved that you might have missed or never even heard of.
Mark Delaney
Retro Rewind
- Platforms: PC
My favorite of all job sims is this one about running a video rental store in the ’90s, and it just got a huge update that adds video games to your inventory.
Big Walk
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Switch 2
Bring 1-11 buddies on a hefty hike across a puzzle-filled island primed to make lasting memories.
Control Resonant
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5
What if Remedy took the reins from Sucker Punch and made a new Infamous, complete with the Finnish studio’s unique brand of weird?
Far Far West (early access)
- Platforms: PC
Take the exciting core of Helldivers 2, but put it in a Western with all the cartoonish whimsy you’d expect from the team behind Pumpkin Jack.
Marathon
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5
Bungie’s suspenseful extraction shooter feels so damn good–this is Bungie, after all–but its art direction and worldbuilding ensure it looks even better.
Jessica Cogswell
Fields of Mistria
- Platforms: PC
I’ve argued–repeatedly–that Fields of Mistria is the greatest farming life-sim of all-time, surpassing even Stardew Valley, thanks to its ’80s to ’90s shōjo anime-inspired art direction, blush-inducing romances, and overall gameplay loop.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5
Okay so imagine The Witcher but with good combat, a fantastic time management system that prevents the game from feeling overwhelming, way more heart, and vampires.
Paralives
- Platforms: PC
This life-sim is in early access and still has a ways to go, but it’s the closest thing we’ve gotten to a true competitor for the Sims and I’m already so impressed by its gameplay and style, as well as the development team’s commitment to its strange worldbuilding.
