Over the past few years, I’ve physically recoiled at the suggestion it’s “been a quiet year” in games. Despite the current state of the world, there’s been so damn many games launch that I haven’t had time to play them all. Even now, I struggled to fit some of my faves into a Top 10 games of 2022 list.
Since starting as editor of GadgetGuy a couple of months back, living a life now focused more on consumer technology, I’ve dedicated more time to playing games for enjoyment instead of trying to keep up with everything. Let me tell you, folks: it rules. That’s not to say I didn’t play plenty of games – far from it – but it’s nice to play games at a chill pace for a change.
Similar to most of Kotaku Australia‘s other Top 10 lists, this one is not ordered in any way. My ADHD-riddled brain will not allow it. People who confidently assert the order their favourite anything comes in scare me – looking at you, Fergus. By the time you read this, it’s likely my mind will have changed again, so let’s push on.
Honourable mentions go to Fire Emblem Three Hopes, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Fortnite Zero Build, and Poinpy. If you’d like to see more detailed explanations for my picks, the director’s cut is on GadgetGuy.
Rogue Legacy 2
Rogue Legacy is one of my all-time favourite games. Aside from being a brilliant roguelike Metroidvania in its own right, it helped me through a rough time. As it turns out, the sequel is even better than the original.
Rogue Legacy 2 adds so much variety to the gameplay through tangibly different classes to play as, and quality of life upgrades across the board. I also love its silly sense of humour. Playing as a character with IBS whose jumps are punctuated with farts is always funny.
No, you’re immature.
Vampire Survivors
What genre do you even call Vampire Survivors? Twin-stick shooter doesn’t quite work because of the whole auto-attack thing. The swarm of enemies that couldn’t slow down? No, that’s not it either.
Reductive genre conventions aside, Vampire Survivors is good. Real good. I love how easy it is to enter a flow state while playing this. Although the game looks extremely basic from a visual perspective, it feels so good to weave in between hordes of foes while mowing them down with progressively more powerful weapons.
Vampire Survivors gives my brain the good tingles, and that’s all I could ever ask of a video game.
Cult of the Lamb
Seeing Australian-made games succeed on the international stage is good stuff. Cult of the Lamb absolutely nails the cross-pollination of its unique genre hybrid combo. The colony management gameplay is satisfying without being impenetrably deep, while the hack-and-slash dungeon crawler elements are substantially weighty.
It’s also very funny being a messy bitch to cultists who misbehave.
Wylde Flowers
Originally out on Apple Arcade at the start of 2022, Wylde Flowers quickly flew into my GOTY considerations. I love farming RPGs like Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon (the good ones), and Story of Seasons – especially the series’ cows. What I don’t love is how overwhelming these games can be to newcomers. Wylde Flowers subverts my frustrations with the genre by placing an emphasis on narrative, letting you take your time getting to know residents. The characters are beautifully written and wonderfully voiced, which gives the game a vibrancy few farming games match.
Wylde Flowers recently won Apple Arcade Game of the Year, and I’m delighted for the Australian-based Studio Drydock team. Having spoken with studio co-founder Amanda Schofield on several occasions since launch, it’s clear there’s so much love behind the game. I can’t wait to see what’s next for the team.
Immortality
Wow, what a game. Immortality sure is something else. I’m aware of director Sam Barlow’s stellar reputation, but this was my first time playing one of his games. It’s one of those games that’s better the less you know, so I’ll keep my trap shut about what to expect. What I will say, however, is that rolling footage back-and-forth during sex scenes for important-plot-reasons while my partner awkwardly watched on made for my unintentionally funniest gaming moment of 2022.
Also, a very important addendum: Manon Gage could punch me in the face and I would thank her for it.
Pentiment
Time for another anecdote involving my partner. Every time a major plot reveal happened in Pentiment – typically involving highly emotional moments – she would ruefully yell “Josh Sawyer!” at the TV, recalling the many heart-wrenching moments she endured while playing Fallout New Vegas and the Pillars of Eternity series. Turns out the guy has a penchant for writing devastating morally grey stories where you never know if you picked the right choice.
Pentiment’s approach to historical authenticity is also Extremely Cool. Growing up, I attended a Lutheran school, and have been to where Martin Luther delivered the 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany. Seeing the way characters in Pentiment spoke of Luther, who never appears in the game, added an extra layer of realism to the game’s events I highly enjoyed. History rules.
Stray
I love cats. They’re such intelligent yet dopey animals, something Stray lovingly depicts. Other than featuring the most realistic cat animation of any game I’ve seen, Stray is an utter delight to play, even if its opening was an emotional gut-punch. Its brevity was a highlight, shedding the bloat many games suffer from, making every moment count.
Like many other pets, my cat Billie took an interest in the game’s ginger star, even looking behind the TV to try and find her new friend. I would ask for Billie’s review, but she’s too busy trying to eat something she’s not meant to.
Marvel Snap
Another game that understands less is more, Marvel Snap is a card game for people who hate card games. As much as I’d love to get into Magic or the Pokemon TCG, I cannot be bothered constructing decks from such a mammoth pool of cards. Marvel Snap, on the other hand, only needs 12 cards for a deck, and games are over before Ant-Man can even crawl up Thanos’ butt.
It’s a game that requires you to be reactive as well as proactive thanks to clever card abilities, and the locations system. Slowly revealing game-altering locations each turn is a masterstroke, forcing you to adapt on the fly.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
I’m always down for a Mario adventure. Stopping Bowser from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom time and time again? Hell yeah. Finding Mario after he goes missing, in an edutainment blockbuster starring Luigi? Sure, go off king. Teaming up with weird-looking rabbit creatures who seemingly have permanent five ‘o clock shadow? Let’s-a-go, bitches.
Sparks of Hope cleverly iterates on the original’s tactical mashup by transforming grid-based battles into free-roaming encounters. It adds a level of kinetic energy and fluidity to the combat, building on the previous game’s brilliant Donkey Kong Adventure expansion.
I’m still baffled as to why they added voice lines to the Rabbids, though. I think they had more impact channelling the silent film era-level of slapstick in their previous appearances.
God of War Ragnarok
While I don’t believe God of War Ragnarok innovates to the same extent that its 2018 predecessor did, it’s still a bloody good game. In fact, I would go as far as saying it’s set the standard for future father-son simulators to follow.
Its story gripped me from start to finish, and the constant beautiful vistas had me lamenting the lack of photo mode at launch. I’d also like to take a moment to recognise that Ruby is extremely correct in calling out Heimdall and his weird head.
Chris Button is the editor of GadgetGuy and a freelance games journalist. He recently took out Highly Commended in the Best Gaming Journalist Category at the 2022 Australian IT Journalism Awards.
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