2020 Community Game of the Year - Polls closed, results now LIVE!

11. Grim Fandango (remastered) (1998/2015)
12. Far Cry 2 (2008)
13. Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)
14. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin (2017)
15. The Red Strings Club (2018)
16. Psychonauts (2005)
17. Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse (2013)
18. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018)
19. Last Day of June (2016)
20. We Love Katamari (2005)
21. Ion Fury (2018)
22. Unravel (2016)
23. One Night Stand (2016)
24. Gang Beasts (2014)
25. Subsurface Circular (2017)
26. GRIS (2018)
27. ABZÛ (2016)
28. DOOM 64 (1997/2020)
29. Loom (1990)
30. Throne of Darkness (2001)
31. The Beginner's Guide (2015)
32. Paw Patrol: On a Roll! (2018)
33. Sanitarium (1998)

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (2004)
Escape from Monkey Island (2000)
Poker Night at the Inventory 2 (2013)
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018)
The Last Story (2011)
Final Fantasy VII (Switch) (1997)
Noctropolis (1994)
Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
Burnout Paradise (2008)

1. Life is Strange: Before the Storm

It was the last game I played and finished in 2020, so recency bias is a real concern. I don't believe it applies here. Before the Storm is a prequel that surpasses the original (my #3 game last year).
Some great emotional highs, some deep lows, several truly difficult choices, and it was all told with a deep sincerity that is rare not only in gaming, but other media as well!

2. Spider-Man (2018)

In even more danger of recency bias, this was the second to last game I played and finished in 2020. Based on reviews and the GOTY threads of the last two years, me liking it was never in question. What I didn't expect was just how awesome the complete package (story, gameplay, visuals, voice work, music, etc.) was. This is coming from someone who does not keep up with Spider-Man, nor any other superhero media.
It's not a perfect game, but any negatives I could find were the definition of trivial, especially since half of them apply to content that was completely optional.

3. Sayonara Wild Hearts

Another game that previous GOTY threads brought to my attention. It's a very short experience, but an intense one. I expected it to be good, but it blew away all expectations! What starts slow reaches a mind-blowing crescendo at the "clapping" stage. That level had me cursing the screen because of my inability to deal with it, while at the same time grinning like an idiot because of the pure joy I was experiencing.
Also, Queen Latifah!

4. Mass Effect 2

I played this for about 5 hours in 2017, but stopped right after recruiting Mordin. I bounced off hard because I played it right after Mass Effect 1, which I loved, and I just couldn't deal with how much ME2 changed things up.
Time heals all wounds, and in 2020, time allowed me to finally "discover" ME2 and appreciate it for what it was - an excellent action-rpg. In fact, I plowed through it in November, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I added another 80ish hours to my playtime, finished ALL quests, got all upgrades, and even bought all the DLC (which was needlessly difficult to get working for the Steam version).
Several exciting missions, many great characters (Thane!) and one terrible one (Kasumi), and an exciting overarching story that was only missing some urgency, made for an unforgettable experience.
But the planet scanning sucked.

5. The Walking Dead Season 4

Troubled development aside, Telltale Games (original and the revived studio) knocked this out of the park and gave us a satisfying conclusion to Clementine's journey. The ending was a bit predictable, but the story up to that point had a few unexpected twists during its intense and at times touching journey. The changes to the gameplay were promising, and I hope to see more development in this direction in the upcoming Wolf Among Us 2.

6. The Last of Us & Left Behind

What a weird game to play in 2020 (then again, so are The Walking Dead and Spider-Man). Intense, draining, beautiful in an end-of-the-world way, gruesome, and also surprisingly touching, TLOU is an impressive achievement. Joel and Ellie may be directly responsible for killing 5% of North America's remaining population of humans, but they are still highly likeable in spite of their flaws. An impressive feat of a game, and moreso for having been achieved on the Playstation 3.
I just want to know for sure why so many places became flooded...

7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Nathan Drake must be stopped. By now, everybody must realize that wherever he goes, important one-of-a-kind historic sites will be forever obliterated! These places can never be reconstructed, because many of them defy various laws of nature, time, and/or physics.
Luckily, Uncharted 4 appears to represent Nathan's last rampage, but perhaps that's only because there are no more large, undiscovered sites left to destroy.
Uncharted 4 is more Uncharted, that's true. Naughty Dog have, however, married their same-old gameplay with an unexpectedly sympathetic, personal story this time around - the two highlights for me being the early after-dinner scene and the ending. Nathan struggles being a family man and ultimately fails. He acts with good intentions, but good intentions are not enough to keep people from getting hurt.
Marrying bonkers gameplay with such a meaningful story and having it work is no easy task, but they pulled it off.
And the game is absolutely stunning to look at to boot.

8. Super Mario Odyssey

I thought I knew what it looked like when a little kid obsessed over a game, but until I had introduced my oldest to Super Mario Odyssey, I had no idea. The upside of that is, that I've finally finished a 3D Mario game - I had never played more than an hour or so of the others.
Yet, while playing this with my kid was a major factor in my enjoyment of it, it's a great game in its own right. The gameplay is tight, environments varied and pleasing to the eye, the mix of 3D and 2D fun, and the hat mechanics really great. The game hooked me the moment I tossed my hat on a large lizard early on, and didn't really let up until long after the credits had rolled and we were mopping up moons.
The assist mode was a godsend - not only did it eliminate most frustration from difficult sections, it also allowed my kid to learn how to play in relative safety. If health got too low, all he had to do was stand around for a few seconds to recharge. It was truly impressive to see him go from barely be able to walk in a straight line while keeping the camera pointed in a useful direction, to being fairly proficient at navigating in general (though I still had to take over for trickier bits).

9. Botanicula

My oldest kid's obsession before Super Mario Odyssey. I've lost count how many times we've played through Botanicula. I tested it out a bit at the tail end of December 2019 to see how difficult it would be for him. In March we gave it a go, and every day he wanted to play "the spider game" until we beat it in early April. And then we played it again. And again, again, again.....until way past when I was sick of it. After a 6 month break, we even played it again just a few days ago.
I was stunned seeing how in the span of about 2 months he went from not having a clue what to do and barely being able to click in the vicinity of his intended target, to becoming a natural with the mouse and solving puzzles on his own.
It's a beautiful, highly imaginative and absolutely joyful light puzzle game with that distinctive art style seen in many of Amanita Design's games. This is a high quality game for all ages.

10.1979 Revolution: Black Friday

I've never seen another game explore this specific topic. The closest was The Cat and the Coup, about the 1953 CIA and MI6 overthrow of Iran's first democratically elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.
Just like with the 1953 coup d'etat, I had mostly only cursory knowledge of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. For example, I didn't know about how all the ideological factions united and then splintered, nor about the gruesome catalysing event. I also didn't know about various Iranian cultural tidbits such as what the standard snacks at movie theatres are/were. Hint: it's not popcorn and soda.
Taking the role of aspiring photographer Reza Shirazi, you unwittingly become swept up in the events of this tumultuos time and seek to document them with your camera. The game is heavily influenced by Telltale's creations and alternates between action, dialog, and exploration segments. It's the exploration segments which I found the most interesting, picking up not just tidbits of knowledge, but taking pictures of significant events as well as smaller, slice of life shots.
And then the game shows you a side by side comparison of your pictures and the extremely similar historical photograph. Amazing and eerie at the same time. Honestly, it's hard not to get swept up in the events happening all around Reza. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a story that has stuck in my mind since finishing it.

11.Grim Fandango (remastered)

I was very glad that the adventure game club gave finally provided me with the incentive to play and finish Grim Fandango, which I had bounced off of after about an hour or two of play back when it was new, yet now turned out to be a very fun time. Lovely story, characters, music, and art deco architectural style that really holds up. My main niggles were with the controls (neither keyboard tank controls nor point-and-click were ideal), 2-3 items that I did not recognize as something I could interact with, and some loose ends (what happened in the second major area??). Highly recommended to adventure game fans.

12.Far Cry 2

After playing this for less than 5 hours in 2016 and losing interest, I hunkered down this year, discovered an awesome game (after installing a mod to lessen some of the worst annoyances) and really tore through it in the course of another 50ish hours. It's a setting rarely explored in gaming, no doubt because of the danger of overstepping the boundaries of what is acceptable - white mercenary goes to African country, gets involved in its civil war and slaughters tons of people, most of them natives. The plot is a constant mixture of evil and "gray areas". The only nice people are refugees and those trying to get them out of the country.
And yet, it was not only a great game, but it was a beautiful one (especially after installing a graphics mod), and I no doubt took over 100 sunset screenshots.

13.Return of the Obra Dinn

To call this different is a huge understatement. Insurance Adjuster Simulator 1802 A.D. would be an apt title. A mix of horror and detective work with an art style reminiscent of computers of the early 1980's (but so much more detailed), Return of the Obra Dinn was truly a one-of-a-kind experience tarnished only by my impression that a few of the identities/fates of the victims could not be solved without process of elimination guesswork. It was a great way to start off what would turn out to be a miserable year. Also: jaunty little jingles!

14.Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

It might be because it was the only VR game I played this year, but the first 30 minutes had me grinning like an idiot at being "IN" the Psychonauts world, with familiar characters all around. It's a fairly simple puzzle game with "warp to point" movement mechanics, but the real star is just being in this universe for 2-3 hours with its trademark art style and humor.

15.The Red Strings Club

This ranking seems low if for no other reason than the awesome soundtrack, but there's just so much good competition this year. A very unique adventure game centered around dialog, pottery and mixing drinks, it tackles some interesting subjects. Even though it's set in the far future, it implies - in a somewhat plausible way - that some of the dystopian elements have their origin in our present day. Another great adventure game club pick.

16.Psychonauts

Finally having played this, I can say that it may or may not hold up, depending on which version you played. I started on the emulated PS2 version on PS4 and gave up because the performance was just too terrible. Playing it on PC was a very different and mostly positive experience. The humor and art style are still great and the gameplay pretty good, though there are a few infuriating sections. The meat circus had apparently been made easier a few years after the game was released, but it was still annoying in spots. Glad I finally played this and looking forward to the sequel.

17.Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse (2013)

A very pretty and happy remake of the 16-bit original, it's a great platformer for younger kids and adults alike. It's imaginative, not terribly difficult and controls great. The first time we made it to the final boss I wasn't able to prevail, but my still 3 year old refused to let me go back to face her again.
It's one of the very first games he has asked me to play (over and over), but I had to finish it after he went to bed.

18.The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

This 2 hour freebie isn't much of a game, but it successfully explores some difficult subject matter and managed to elicit sympathy for all characters.
When bad things happen in life, how do we deal? How does it affect those around us and how do they cope?
It never went full dark, but I experienced a real feeling of creeping dread at the prospect of some actions, and therefore either avoided them completely, overcompensated to attempt to mitigate the effects, or put off the interactions as long as possible.

19.Last Day of June

I went into Last Day of June knowing next to nothing about it other than it was an adventure style game with creepy as heck character models. What I found was a very touching tale about loss that elicited genuine emotion from me. The art style also quickly grew on me. I was so impressed that I ended up gifting a copy to someone.

20.We Love Katamari

11 years after finishing the original Katamari Damacy, I came back to the series. More joy, more rolling, more abuse from dad, and more great soundtracks. The gameplay is mixed up a bit via nutty new situations and objectives, and it was a joyous way to zone out for a stage or two during the disaster that was 2020.

21.Ion Fury

If someone had told me prior to 2015 that there was a new BUILD-engine game coming out from a major studio, I would have suggested they check themselves into an institution. Yet here we are. And it's good - as long as the player has nostalgia for this type of game. It leans heavily into its retro-ness, not just through visuals and gameplay, but also through all of the pop-culture references to be found and heard throughout the game. Some of them I recognized as references, but had to look up, others were blatantly obvious (Dopefish, Ninja Turtles hideout in the sewers).
A great game for those familiar with this era of shooters, but may not appeal to younger players.

22. Unravel

It's yarny! An incredibly sweet, absolutely gorgeous, wistful, and at times surprisingly dark puzzle-platformer. One of the very first games I tried to introduce the kid to, but it didn't take beyond about 15 minutes. Didn't stop me from playing through and enjoying it on my own though.

23.One Night Stand

What happens when you wake up next to someone and you can't even remember their name? Well, lots of very different things CAN happen, apparently.
Each playthrough is very short, but always interesting. I was very impressed with how effectively the visual style conveyed emotions, and how some actions could bear unintended consequences, while I could totally get away with other actions. I certainly found myself doing some things I would never even consider in real life, just to see what would happen....and then sometimes feeling kind of bad about it.

24. Gang Beasts

Really stupid local multiplayer fun. The controls, at least initially, are not intuitive at all, but as you get better at them, the glorious mayhem on offer increases. Stick with it; it's worth it.

25. Subsurface Circular

While fascinating, with a very unique setting and good dialog, I struggle it to call a "game". It really was just clicking dialog until something happened, and then you clicked more dialog. Still well worth checking out for its unique premise, themes and presentation.

26. GRIS

Not really challenging, but beautiful (visually, aurally, and in the way it presents its story). I loved most of my time with it and certainly recommend everyone even remotely interested play it.

27. ABZU

A chill exploration game with a really nice visual style and a few fun surprises. I even played a bit more after the credits rolled, which I don't do often. Appealed to the kid as well, but he couldn't do much on his own.

28. DooM 64

I jumped at the ability to play "that classic DooM game I missed" on a PC with mouse and keyboard (vs the N64 controller). What I didn't expect was that I was getting some Doom action, but with lots of puzzle elements mixed in, and levels that would significantly transform with the flick of a switch.
It's definitely my least favorite classic DooM game, in large part also because the final boss was absolute BS (and I cannot imagine how anyone playing on a Nintendo64, especially without quicksave/-load could have beaten it), but it was worth a playthrough.

29. Loom

The oldest new game on this list, Loom is clearly an ambitious game with its setting and musical interface. The story is interesting and I enjoyed experimenting with known tunes to see which other effects I could cause.
It is, however, a very short experience by Lucasarts standards, and I couldn't shake the feeling that there was supposed to be "more" to it. Navigation issues also dampened my mood a bit, but I'm glad to finally understand several in-jokes found in other games (Monkey Island series and possibly more).

30.Throne of Darkness

It's hard to believe that this game was created by some of the same people who gave us the original Diablo. Taking place in a demon-overrun Sengoku-era Japan, it does isometric action-RPG with up to 4 simultaneous characters a full year before Dungeon Siege. Unfortunately, tedious and imprecise gameplay coupled with lots of samey environments that go on too long, as well as a huge skill tree in which 80% of the skills could easily be ignored make Throne of Darkness a game that's very hard to recommend.
My completionist tendencies caused me to spend nearly 90 hours in-game to finish it. I did have some fun and I'm glad to have it marked off the pile, but it will never be reinstalled by me.

31. The Beginner's Guide

A very unique experience by the developer who brought us The Stanley Parable. While I loved Stanley's journey, I found The Beginner's Guide to be difficult to like. That was probably the point though, as one prominent theory about the game is that it's a story very personal to the author. Seen through that lens, it's very effective.

32. Paw Patrol: On a Roll!

Bought it for my 3 year old (honest!). Ended up playing much of it for him. A licensed no-fail platformer, it's actually well done for its intended audience. Anyone over 5 years old (at most) should stay away though.

33. Sanitarium

Of all the games I played this year, this one probably takes the award of "if only the developers had been able to better realize their ambition". Interesting setting but with tropey characters, at times surprisingly good animation and crazy backgrounds but with pixel hunting gameplay, some creepy elements undermined by slow-as-molasses walking speeds and poor voice work. Ambitious but deeply flawed, and it therefore takes last place in my rankings.

The stage with the clapping.

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