Pc games magazine game of the year

Look below for the first landmark of that exciting week-long debate: a list of our eligible winners in 11 categories, including Game of the Year. Beyond recognizing what games we loved most this year, though, it's crucial to call attention to a truth that connects them all: PC gaming is exploding.

Our hobby is many-tentacled and unbridled—practically every niche, genre, and business model mutated in a meaningful way this year. Dota 2 grew into its adolescence. We then gathered into one big, global call to argue through our choices and decide upon the final list.

Once the games are picked, we assign each an award that represents what we feel it excelled at. This is why the categories are always slightly different each year. Alongside the main awards, each PC Gamer writer has also picked one of their personal favourites to highlight. In this roguelike game, you play as Selene, an obstinate interstellar scout who crash lands on a gorgeously-rendered planet.

As she makes her way across the planet—shooting at many-tentacled monsters as she goes—Selene will inevitably die, die and die again. She even discovers old corpses of herself. Returnal can be an arduous experience. A single run can take several hours. When the game was first released, it had no checkpoint system, which made it impossible for anyone with a child or even, really, a job to stay up til 2 a.

And the designers have thankfully remedied the checkpoint problem, which means anyone can play this eerie game filled with intriguing horrors, both real and existential. The game rewards inventiveness: You aim to stage any kill as an accident rather than a murder, a mandate that challenges your patience and creativity. The creators strike the right tone with gallows humor and some fun, bizarre scenarios.

You could, if you really wanted to, murder someone by hitting them with a fish. The story is a bit flimsy, but the game succeeds as a surprisingly smart satire of the secret agent genre, which tends to revel in the accoutrements of capitalism.

On its surface, Chicory is an adorable game about a little dog with a paintbrush. You name the dog after a favorite food—though consider this choice carefully, lest you wind up with a cumbersome name like Lemon Bar. The pup is the 1 fan of a rabbit named Chicory, an artist who wields a magic paintbrush. When Chicory vanishes, so does all the color from the world. The world is your coloring book: render trees magenta, houses aqua, and solve puzzles with your brushstrokes.

Chicory might become too saccharine if not for its poignant story about artistic anxiety. In conversations with other woodland creatures, you find every character struggles with imposter syndrome, anxiety and other various mental health issues. Through these conversations and encouragements to express yourself artistically, no matter what others may think, the story gently teaches you to be kind to yourself and others.

Modern day supercars, vintage classics and experimental vehicles are all up for grabs, ready to be driven through all manner of terrain.