For the 11th year in a row, I've tallied a list of all the games I started and/or finished in the previous year. This is a list of games I started in 2016. Some I played for mere minutes, some for hours and some until the credits rolled. Some were good. Some, not so much.

While I've already rounded up the absolute best cosplay of 2016, that was mostly a collection of static images. And I'm just one guy in Australia. Mineralblu went to most of the big cons in the US (and some beyond), and took his video camera with him.

First, we spent a year playing video games. Then we spent a couple of weeks debating which ones were best. Here, in alphabetical order, are Kotaku's top 12 games of 2016.

In 2016, esports experienced even more highs and lows than the previous year. That's what it means to be growing. But while the industry surrounding competitive gaming continues to expand on the backs of enthusiastic investors and hype-men, it's important not to forget why anyone actually watches it in the first place: the people playing are really damn good.

Maybe not you specifically, but regular gamers nonetheless.

"Pa," said the girl, "famine took everything from us, and disease the rest. Also the other day a pack of wolves plain stole old man Edwards, and they didn't even 'splain what they was plannin' to use him fer." The father studied his daughter, gaunt but strong, face hollowed by months of uncertainty. "The video games, though," he replied. "The video games were good this year."

When I'm not eating snacks or playing with toys, I like to relax with some video games. Through a careful selection process that mainly involved me staring at at a large list, shaking my head and swearing, I've managed to narrow the games I played in 2016 to 10 favourites.

The films we've as the best science fiction and genre films of 2016 are a very motley crew. This year we loved superheroes, animation, farting corpses, live action, talking animals, and more. These are films spanning different genres, disciplines, and themes, which experienced varied levels of success. Each is worthy of acknowledgment, though, so check out what we crowned the best of the best, and worst of the worst.

2016 was a fine year for gaming at launch, but over the course of the past 12 months various updates and bug fixes have made it even better. Here are some of the year's finest patch notes. Can you tell which games they are from?

We publish a lot of stories, and we're very lucky to have you all as readers. But you like reading some pieces more than others. So as part of a look back on 2016, here are your favourite stories from the year.

Ever loved a piece of fiction so much you never wanted it to end? That's what fandom is for. While transformative works like fanfiction and fanart can serve more serious purposes like exploring subtextual themes or fixing up plot holes, sometimes it has a less lofty goal: Getting two cute characters to kiss. Here's what 2016 had to offer.

Stop me if you've heard this one: A farmer, a hitman and a little boy all walk into a bar. Everything's moving in slow motion, so the bartender's like, "Dishonored? I hardly even know 'er!"

Paintings in video games are like toilets: they don't do much, but you notice if they aren't there. They make a space seem lived in and real. They're often unintentionally hilarious, and they're one of my favourite things in games.

My 2016 was a year of surprises. There were so many games I didn't expect would capture me the way they did, featuring genres and mechanics I usually don't like but that nevertheless thrilled me. I tried a lot of new kinds of games this year, and I found a lot of new favourites. Here's my top 10.

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that this was one of the most significant years for Japanese role-playing games in recent history, first and foremost because one of this fall's biggest games was a brand new Final Fantasy.

From puzzlers to JRPGs to, uh, more puzzlers, this was a good year for video games. And my top 10 list will probably not surprise any of you.In no particular order, here are the best games I played in 2016.

Every year, countless gadgets find their way our offices. Many are flat-out terrible. As garbage year 2016 comes to a close, we look back at the worst gadgets of the year.

I played a lot of games in 2016, and as someone who loves strategy titles, it was a very good year. So drawing a line in the sand like this is always tough.

Another year is on the record books, and with it another couple dozen Ask Dr. Nerdlove columns. Such love, loss, and heartbreak! So much bad sex, so many toxic partners and jealous exes! It was a lot to unravel.