Steam Replay is out, so what game did you have the most fun experiencing this year?
No love for Against the Storm? Technically it released 8th of December last year, but that’s not enough time for it to be able to get GotY for 2023, so it’s got to fit in here. (also I only played it after new years)
Other than that Balatro has got to be a strong contender for me. PoE2 is looking more and more likely to take it home next year for me.
Animal Well, UFO 50, and Balatro in that order.
Balatro
Its not even a contest. The time I spent playing a rogue like poker is higher than most other games combined.
Send HELP!
Same.
I’d been starting to get into it when the Android release dropped and then I was cooked. Now between Steam/Android I’ve always got a run going somewhere.
I also bought it twice to play it everywhere! The dev deserves the support!
If you realise the RNG is really ridiculous at higher difficulties than you can stop
Sekiro. Played it a few months ago and I still think about it all the time. Amazing.
Factorio. And Cities: Skylines 2 if I’m playing it on Windows.
Factorio just makes hours disappear, it’s an amazing game! Have you played the expansion?
Yes, I did.
played? Past tense? You must be joking
Damn, you got me!
More of a visual novel, but I had an amazing time with it. I cried. It was beautiful. I’ve been learning the piano since I finished it.
Go in completely blind if you do decide to play it!
Haven’t really found anything particularly interesting from this year, so I’ve been playing mostly older games: my favorites were probably Trails from Zero/Azure and Chrono Trigger.
Some games I’m mixed on were Final Fantasy XIV and Metaphor ReFantazio. Both of them have parts I really enjoy, but also feel like they never reach the heights they could, both in gameplay and writing.
UFO 50 without a doubt. Most creative bang for your buck that’s ever been released imo
Absolutely agree with this. The product could have had fewer games and each game could have been much more shallow and it still would have been “good”. But there’s honestly a ton of bangers in this collection and the variety and creativity is astounding.
I think the game I’ve probably had the most fun with throughout the year and not including games I’ve recently gotten over the past month or two would have to be a 3 way tie between Balatro, Peglin, and Backpack Heroes. Balatro barely hangs on there, though, do to the boredom of playing it for long enough it’s starting to get a little boring.
Helldivers II, baby!
Im a simple man. I see bugs or bots, I spread managed democracy onto them.
Disco Elysium
I know it did not release this yer, but I got to it now, so it is GOTY for me.
I’m re-playing it right now, and it’s great.
I’ve played many different RPGs during my life, but Disco really is like nothing I’ve played before. Maybe, just maybe a little like Planescape Torment, but other than that? Nothing comes to mind. Which is unbelievable in this age, where most developers play it safe with basically sequels of successful games and new ones you barely can tell apart…
While Disco Elysium is like no other CRPOG I’ve played, I have to disagree with your other point, because Indies exist with tons of innovative stuff in there.
True, but majority of non-entirely-indie devs do exactly what I said. Sadly some indie too.
I also finally completed the full story finally this year. I had always gone about 3 days in and started over trying completely different options lol
I got hooked, but I was like “what if I chose this option now?” all the time. So I started completely different character right after I finished. Got couple hours in, but… 1) it’s too fresh experience and I should probably give it a bit more time and 2) I wanted the new character to be this fascist, racist, egoist, alcohol and drug abuser, but damn. It’s so tough to play against some basic human principles.
THE FINALS
Rather advanced gameplay, extremely fast-paced and chaotic, quite heavy to run, even with most of it running on servers.
But damn when it was first released a year ago, I instantly got hooked from the vibes and then stayed for the breath of fresh air in the FPS genre. The description above also happens to match really well with my ADHD tendencies.
There’s a reason why it took 47% of my entire play time this year.
Good game. I played during/after the beta, I felt like it needed a bit more variety in guns and maps. Have they been adding stuff since?
I played every beta of the Finals that I could get accepted into. It felt like what I wanted a new Battlefield game to be. The destructible floors and bridges made it so much fun to set up traps in ways no other game made it possible.
Weirdly enough I have yet to install it since its full release. Still looks like the same amount of fun!
Non-Steam was Turtle WoW with the hardcore mode.
Steam was Path of Exile 2 and 1.
Balatro, absolutely. Now that it’s on mobile, work will never get 100% out of me again.
For me it’s #2 , wish it won GOTY this year - love the music and game play , when I saw a pixel game was in the running I knew it would be amazing and full of heart and soul , no shiny graphics to hide behind 💕
Age of Mythology: Retold. By far. It only came out in September and already it’s my 7th most-played Steam game of all time.
It was never in contention for the goty, by frankly I’m disappointed that it didn’t win its own category at least, because it is just so good. It delivers so perfectly on what it promised. It’s a remake that feels like how your nostalgia remembers the OG game, adding in excellent modern polish and exciting gameplay while keeping the core of what made the 2002 game so great.
