My Games of the Year 2023
In 2021 I put together a thread on Twitter of my favourite games of the year, and enjoyed the chance to return to writing about games again (I used to run video games website allaboutgames.co.uk 1999-2014). I started again in 2022 but Twitter started to fall apart so I never finished. Now I’m using this new site as a chance to try it again, alongside some space for some more words. These are my favourite games that came out in 2023, games I actually played through to completion or considerably. Missing are games I haven’t got around to yet which I am excited for like Jedi Survivor and Alan Wake 2, so don’t take it from this list that they’re things I didn’t enjoy.
And in no particular order…
Cocoon (PC, Xbox Series including Game Pass)
Ever since the summer 2022 reveal I’ve been looking forward to Cocoon. A new adventure from one of the creators of Limbo and Inside, published by Annapurna Interactive; I was already sold on paper. And then the trailer had me excited. So thankfully when it arrived in September I wasn’t disappointed. I got absorbed by the world-hopping puzzles, the fantastic audio, and distinctive colour palettes. Looking forward to playing it again some day.
Chants of Senaar (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
While Cocoon was highly anticipated, this one came as a surprise. In its launch week a few podcasts and newsletters I follow were highlighting it, particularly for fans of The Case of the Golden Idol and The Return of the Obra Dunn, two of my favourites from 2022 and 2018 respectively. It’s a game about figuring out the languages of the various peoples who live on a tower. A Tower of Babel, perhaps… You put in suggestions for words, trying to make guesses from the context, and eventually you get to confirm them and understand what the people are saying to you and each other. With this you can solve the puzzles and traverse the tower, making your way to the top. It looks lovely too, especially on the Switch OLED screen where the reds run deep. If you haven’t tried it the you should do the same thing I did: try the demo and see if it draws you in as it managed for me.
Planet of Lana (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series, including via Game Pass)
Having established I’m a fan of Limbo and Inside it’s not surprising to anyone who saw the trailer for this that this would appeal to me too. Most games don’t manage to click in the same way, but Planet of Lana gets the pacing and puzzling right. It has a comfortable learning curve, and while there’s lots of dying it’s usually part of the process of figuring out the solution rather than frustrating. What makes it stand out from the Playdead games is something you’ll pick up from the trailer - it’s so bright, with luscious greens and pleasant blues. Not all the game has this vibe, but quite a lot of it shows off the beauty of this invaded faraway planet, and makes you want to save it. And you should definitely try.
Jusant (PC, PS5 and Xbox Series, including via Game Pass)
Playing the likes of Uncharted and the recent Tomb Raiders I have often enjoyed the climbing more than the combat. The freedom to explore vertically as well as horizontally, either to progress or find secrets. I’ve always hoped for someone to hone in on those mechanics, a way that wasn’t meant to be a super-hard challenge like Getting Over It, or too easy like climbing in recent Assassin’s Creeds. Jusant fulfils that, with a selection of climbing techniques which evoke over your journey, but combined with an interesting story and some beautiful views. It just has a lovely feel, and is quite a surprise departure for the studio behind Life is Strange. Like Planet of Lana I got drawn into this by a Steam Next Fest demo.
Viewfinder (PC, PS4, PS5)
Ever since Portal we’ve had a burst of first-person puzzlers trying out new mechanics, hoping to be the next mainstream hit. I don’t think anything has quite managed it (Talos Principle might be closest), but there’s been a lot of interesting things to try along the way. We’ve had some physical space manipulation in recent years with Superliminal and Marquette which I’ve enjoyed, but catching my eye in tweet gifs for a long while has been Viewfinder, and it finally came out in 2023. You use a Polarioid-style camera to take pictures of the world which when placed become real spaces. With this you can change where you can walk to reach new places, copy objects, alter circuits and more. It’s mechanically fascinating, with some fun and intriguing puzzles which you won’t see anywhere else. It paces itself well and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, although I would love to have seen a bit more of it. It’s demo is still around, even on the PlayStation Store, if you want to try it yourself.
Storyteller (PC, Switch and mobile via Netflix)
This was also a puzzle game with new ideas which had been long-teased and finally arrived. In Storyteller you, well, tell a story by placing locations and characters into storyboard panels. You’re given a limited set of these alongside a title you need to match. Everything reacts to your choices, so even when they’re wrong you can get interesting outcomes, like characters being scared by the ghosts of others you’ve killed off, or heartbroken to find their sweetheart bethrothed to someone else. Sometimes there are multiple ways to the solution where sometimes the less obvious route is encouraged through an additional challenge. This must have taken quite some planning to pull off and never break no matter which combination you choose, which is probably why it’s quite a short game. I didn’t mind the length because I respected that and loved what I got, but it drew a bit of a backlash and in turn we’ve since been given even more scenarios to play with. If you have a Netflix subscription you can try it out for free on there where it works really well with a touchscreen (which I generally used on the Switch version too).
Dredge (PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series)
Right at the tail end of 2023, and carrying into 2024, I have been drawn into story-driven boating game Dredge. It carries a very mysterious vibe, and an often dark tone, but also it is sometimes relaxing as you fetch fish from various parts of the sea or dredge for materials for upgrades. A compelling story, offered in drips and drabs, hooks you (pun intended) but does not answer all your questions. Sometimes it’s scary, and sometimes it’s just pleasant - and you can even choose to make it lean into the latter. The mechanics of fishing and dredging, the cycle of upgrades, and navigation of the ship show it’s just a really well polished indie game, and one that thankfully seems to have got deserved attention. I don’t want to spoil anything about it, so I’ll just say go and give it a go - this is another one with a demo so you have no excuse.
The Nintendo Difference (Switch, of course)
Probably needing far less explanation than the above is the output of Nintendo in 2023 which captured my attention. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Wonder and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC (now with all 6 waves bringing the total track count to 96!!) have all given me much joy in the past year - and also to my children too. My 3 year old loves telling me where to head to next in Tears of the Kingdom, while the 6 year old’s favourite console game has long been Mario Kart (she’s otherwise a PC gamer…). The 6 year old will give Wonder a try too, thanks to having a character who can’t get hit by enemies, although the 3 year old wants to try at the same time which is a bit tricky at that age. The “Nintendo Difference” here is that not only are they great games, but they’re the only first-party games which make my 2023 list as they stood above the Sony and Microsoft output. I did finally get around to finishing 2022’s God of War Ragnarök on the PS5, and I’ll get (and probably enjoy) Spider-Man 2 in the near future, while on the Xbox side Starfield was a bit of a dud, and Forza Motorsport is fine but not exceptional. The Nintendo stuff has been, at least the stuff I got to play, and that didn’t include Pikmin 4 beyond the demo, which might be another one for the new year.
