If you remember yesterday, you’ll remember that we’re celebrating the best games of 2023! If you don’t remember yesterday, you can check out the previous post with the little winners. Just remember to come back!
Readers’ Choice Award
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Kristine E: Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. This is not one of those times. If you’ve been sitting around replaying Breath of the Wild, now’s your chance to experience the world in a whole new way. New powers, new characters, and two entirely new realms are all laid on top of the winning framework of the original game. Plus now you can attach a rocket to a Korok to help them reach their friend. So why are you reading this instead of playing the game?
Honorable Mention: Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Best Indie Game
Humanity
Blu Ryder: Just like it’s namesake, Humanity is complex and difficult to summarize; containing so many moving parts that are completely different at any given moment. I suppose if I have to put it simply, Humanity is a puzzle game, although saying that is a disservice because it’s so much more. Perhaps it’s better to say that Humanity is a game that has quite a few puzzles in it, which you’ll work through when the game isn’t busy completely changing genres at the drop of a hat. Poignant and cerebral; Humanity is a story worth experiencing, but beyond that fact, it leaves everything else up to you to reflect on.
Honorable Mention: Cassette Beasts
Best Mobile Game
Pokémon Sleep
Joseph Martin: They said it couldn’t be done. I said it couldn’t be done. But here I am 366 days later (it’s a leap year) still putting my Pokémon to sleep. Combining simplified creature-care mechanics with a sleep tracking app, Pokémon Sleep has succeeded in getting me to be intentional about my sleep relevant decisions even though I haven’t spent a dime on it. The array of Pokémon available in the game strikes a balance of new content that keeps you engaged for the next New Thing, and the subtle lore of each sleepy guy is an excellent midnight treat. Moativated to grab as many of these drowsly little monsters as possible, The Pokémon Company has completed its mission of creating a Sleep Videogame against all odds and detractors.
Honorable Mention: Storyteller
Best Game of 10 Years Ago
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Anna Bryniarski: Animal Crossing: New Leaf was a huge step up from the previous games. You are given more power over your town when everyone assumes you’re the new mayor when you arrive. You’re not, but they don’t really let you explain that. Your new assistant takes you to town hall to explain all the cool mayor stuff you can do now like pay for a coffee shop, pay for a bench, pay for anything you want built because your villagers do not have money. Another addition to the game is ordinances. These can affect the time of day shops are open or make it so flowers don’t wilt and cockroaches don’t show up in your house when you inevitably forget Animal Crossing exists and have to come back in shame to find weeds everywhere and your hair is a disaster and—
Anyway
The town’s shops and museum could now be found to the north of your town on a main street. A holdover from City Folk before it, main street has familiar shops from previous games as well as new places to shop or hangout. It’s a good way to separate the shopping area so you have more room for public works projects like the bench you have to pay for yourself.
The things New Leaf introduced almost felt like they’d been there forever once Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out. I can’t imagine going back to earlier games and not seeing Isabelle or not being able to choose where my house goes. It was a great update after an (in my opinion) okay at best release on the Wii. It holds a special place in my heart as a game I played while making a transition from adolescence to adulthood, turning my own new leaf.
Honorable Mention: Papers, Please
Best Game of 20 Years Ago
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Joseph Martin: With the glut of Mario RPGs available to the modern era, it’s important to remember just how novel the concept was even in the early 2000s. Hot on the heels of Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, this first installment of the handheld series firmly solidified a quirky uniqueness that helped the format come into its own. In some ways, Superstar Saga manages to feel more like a Mario game than its contemporaries, particularly with its key focus on the brotherly dynamic amidst the creative oddities and waky humor of the Bean Bean kingdom.
The choice of a constant party of two clearly separates Superstar Saga from both its Mario and non-Mario comparisons. Additional choices like the thematic assigning of buttons to individual characters, the mechanically deep sequences of Bros. moves, the puzzle platforming of the overworld, and the true inclusion of Luigi as a Main Character were the extra steps it took to cement this as the first entry of a long and successful series. This made all the more potent by the continuing joy and anticipation the resulting series brings to its fans even today. Of course, that rings especially true now that we know rumors of its death were greatly exaggerated.
Honorable Mention: Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire
Best Game of 30 Years Ago
Kirby’s Adventure
Alex Jedraszczak: Somehow I missed the original Kirby’s Dream Land for Game Boy, so Kirby’s Adventure will always be the quintessential Kirby game for me. A latecomer to the original NES, the developers pulled out all the tricks to make a fun and interesting game with impressive graphics and top-tier music. Luckily the game survived the confusion about how to advertise a cute character to the North American market and the series lives on to this day.
Honorable Mention: Doom
Staff Member of the Year
James Pelster
Alex Jedraszczak: If you’ve been on the GameCola YouTube channel, you’ve seen heard James Pelster. Are you watching the Resident Evil playthrough? He’s there. Did you see the Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective playthrough? He’s there. Listened to a podcast? It probably had him on it! He even published the first written review we’ve had on the site in over two years.
James is one of our most prolific content producers, and it’s difficult to think of a part of GameCola he hasn’t been involved with in the past few years. He even finally played Crystalis on stream in 2023! No wonder he got Staff Member of the Year.
Honorable Mention: Joseph Martin
Game of the Year
Baldur’s Gate 3
Diana Gray: Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. I fell in love with the game after visiting the Larian booth at PAX 2019 on a whim and bought Early Access on the day it released, completing several runs with my husband. You may think that would discourage us from jumping right in for the full launch, but you’d be wrong. We completed our first run in 215 hours and I’m currently streaming my Dark Urge run, a whole other story in and of itself. I don’t speak lightly when I say Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece. The story is compelling, the characters are memorable, the score is phenomenal, and the world itself is breathtaking. You can feel the love put into every line of dialogue, every magical item, and every new location. The potential for shenanigans and hilarity is just as present as at the real D&D table, whether it’s blowing up a formidable boss with 20 gunpowder barrels or aggressively third wheeling your husband’s romantic cutscene with Gale. Most importantly, Baldur’s Gate 3 encapsulates the style of collaborative storytelling that I consider the hallmark of not only good D&D, but good videogames. The choices are endless, and they actually matter. One tactical mistake can send multiple party members tumbling into an endless chasm – not that I would know anything about that. Minute choices can affect the story overall, your party dynamic, and whether you get to bang Astarion in the woods. Every step, every interaction, and almost every turn of combat (unless you roll a natural one) feels satisfying. This game made my year, hands down.
Honorable Mention: Alan Wake II
Those were the awards, but our YouTube livestream spectacular The Tac is still to come TONIGHT starting at 8pm EST! Or whenever you’re able to watch it, since it’ll be recorded for all eternity for people and alien researches to enjoy and be confused by. And even after that they’ll be able to talk to us on our Discord channel. The party never ends!
…Huh. Apparently this is how I find out Pokémon Sleep came out.