I don't really wanna do the whole 'man wasn't this such a bad year - but a great year for games!' cliche, but I think it might be telling how much of my list is themed around stuff I found transportative and escapist, and there being so much of this whole thing to go around, for the last 12 months? Bit of a blessing, not gonna lie.
1.
The Witness ; Superlative, an absolute masterpiece of game design. It takes a single, simple puzzle mechanic and riffs on its single theme in almost every way imaginable, to the point where it becomes its own language that, as the game wordlessly teaches you and as you interpret and build upon the knowledge you gleam from what the game puts in front of you, completely wraps you in its own world and doesn't let go. There's something so visceral, almost spiritual, about the level to which it re-contextualizes how think and how you examine and interpret the immaculately crafted (and utterly beautiful) environment around you. It's maybe the closest I've come to the cyberpunk dream of being absorbed into a game reality, not as much escapist immersion through atmospheric world-building in the way that my 2015 GOTY, The Witcher III, did (as well as several other games on this year's list), as much as it is escapist immersion into a way of thinking, a mental state. Through its enigmatic secret endings, collectible audio lectures and video clips, it explores the morality of this from a philosophical perspective in a very thought-provoking manner as well. More than just my favourite game of the year, The Witness is one of the most profound and deeply satisfying learning experiences I've ever had, and both a testament to and a warning call of the power of mechanical thought.
2.
Overwatch ; Oh, 200 hours of my 2016, where did you go? Easily my favourite multiplayer shooter since Team Fortress 2, with a diverse, characterful and at this point pretty much iconic cast, crossing a huge variety of playstyles and mechanics which somehow all mesh together into a genuinely mechanically beautiful whole. Not quite on the top of the list, there's something a bit too, don't know, asocial, polished, controlled about it that stops it from being the transcendentally weird social experience that prime TF2 was, it could still maybe use a wider map/mode variety and the less said about the loot boxes the better, but that's ultimately nitpicking. It looks amazing, has the most immaculate audio design from a mechanical perspective of basically anything and I find almost every character incredibly satisfying and rewarding to play even with how wide a gameplay variety they cover.
3.
Inside ; I'll count myself among those who didn't think a huge amount of Limbo (it was probably more impressive in the context of the time), but man, this completely did it for me. Gorgeous in a chillingly bleak and in moments curdling-ly gruesome way, expertly crafted and immaculately polished into a rotten, fleshly, surreal, stark and just enrapturingly horrible sheen. The way it silently communicates its story and ideas of the cyclical futility of agency and control, with some of the most impressive cinematography, framing and visual composition I can remember in a game, is just amazing. Its final set piece is pretty much the high water mark for blackest-of-black comedy in all of gaming as well, just the grossest thing.
4.
Firewatch ; Big hurrah for games which tell affecting stories that aren't afraid to a) tackle mature, high-concept and genuinely heavy themes with grace and elegance, b), communicate what they have to say about these by taking bold, post-modern risks with narrative structure, and c), do so with some of the best naturalistic dialogue writing and acting in the medium. Without doubt the high point of storytelling in games this year, and I'm on the side that will defend the polarizing ending pretty much to death. A really affecting tale about the romantic fantasies and anti-climactic realities of running away from your problems that brings to mind some of the best bits of The Last of Us and the best Coen Brothers movies in how it tells it.
5.
Dishonored 2 ; The first Dishonored was probably my favourite thing to come out of the recent revival of the Looking-Glass-style so-called 'immersive sim' revival, with its roots in some of my favourite games of all time like Deus Ex and Thief 2, so, even despite this being in many ways just more of the same, I still had a great time with it. It boasts some of the most impressive environmental and level design of the year, fluidly moving from idea to idea, each rendered in the series' trademark unique visual design and with some really showstopping architectural setpieces - the Clockwork Mansion level is a huge standout in this regard.
6.
Hyper Light Drifter ; A beautiful beautiful beautiful pixel art game with an amazing soundtrack, has a really alien and magical, melancholy-yet-serene tone to the entire thing, dripping in atmospheric detail. It controls incredibly tightly, I did find it a little bit too punishing at times for what it was going for, or something about the hitboxes weren't quite as tightly crafted as the rest of the thing, so it got a little frustrating from time to time. As a general exercise in tone and atmosphere, though, it's pretty flawless.
7.
Superhot ; A brief but superbly paced and stylishly designed FPS, it gets a lot out of the magic of the time-moves-when-you-move mechanic but when it really shines is when you have enough of a grip of the fluid pace of the mechanics to barely need to slow down time at all.
8.
Civilization VI ; As long as you turn all of the bad bad bad AI diplomacy decisions into an elaborate head-canon, it's pretty much the best game ever made. For real though Teddy, you're literally paying me to beat up on Frederick Barbarossa, the first war I've been involved in for a millenia, but then turn around and denounce me as a warmonger? Privateers, ironclad armadas, we're taking a trip to Washington.
9.
Thumper ; Speaking of exercises in tone, the most punishingly intense, in-your-face, get-cramps-in-your-hand-from-gripping-the-controller-too-hard thing I've played this year, it's just so so much. Has an amazing industrial soundtrack by Lightning Bolt's Brian Gibson and some of the most DMT-nightmare visual setpieces I've seen in basically anything.
10.
Oxenfree ; A pretty and terribly charming teen mystery that's pretty much entirely made by the believability and complexity of its core cast of characters, once again an incredibly atmospheric game with some of the best teen-to-teen interaction you'll find in a game if that's your thing.
x.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine ; Not including this on the top 10 since eliminating it on a technicality makes making the list a little bit easier, but naturally as a big expansion to my GOTY last year, I enjoyed this a lot. I think I have more problems with it (or just the state of the game as it is today) than I did with the main game, and it doesn't reach the narrative heights of that or the probably superior Hearts of Stone, so I'm not thaaat fussed about kicking it off the list either way. Don't let me tell you its not worth playing if you liked the main game though.
x.
Starbound / No Man's Sky ; Almost put Starbound on the list, I'm playing it a fair bit at the moment but I'm not sure how I feel about it quite yet. Originally I ended up dropping it a couple hours in after finding the constant loop of satiating your hunger demands really oppressive, but I picked it back up recently and started a new, casual difficulty character and have been having a lot more fun with it. Even then, about 10 hours later, I already feel like I've reached that tipping point of suddenly seeing the rest of what the game has to offer unfold in front of you, I can already tell how much more thinly it's spread than Terraria was. Also using this spot to shout out a very similar game which I enjoyed but had a very similar series of experiences with, No Man's Sky, from the initial foreboding stress of managing meters and inventory slots, to more comfortably setting into a rhythm, then the sinking feeling of suddenly seeing the entire loop of the game roll out in front of your feet.
x.
Dirt Rally ; Also excluding this on a technicality, it did come out on the platform I played it on in 2015, and got a fair share of attention on last year's voting so this is my Old Game of the Year Memorial Award contender. Don't let me tell you that it isn't one of the best rallying, nay, racing games ever made, it would undoubtedly be right near the top of this list if I was counting it as a 2016 game.
I feel like I touched barely anything the AAA put out this year, don't know whether that was down to a lack of interest or when I play that stuff later I'll be regretting not putting that on the list. Alas, apologies Uncharted 4, Doom, Titanfall 2, Watch Dogs 2, Mafia 3, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, The Last Guardian, etc.
Not a hyphen. Not a dash. Not a slash. Not a space. Not a period. A semicolon."
