#1 - Taxinaut
If you enjoy free-roam sandbox titles with a nice level of technical complexity on the side, Taxinaut is for you.
It manages to hit that sweet spot of Zen map traversal and gameplay subsystem management. It's a great balance that's both relaxing and engaging, much like the best traversal sims out there such as Euro Truck, etc.
Presentation looks simplistic in screenshots but is actually quite charming in motion. Nice variety of biomes from planet to planet.
Taxinaut is another fine example of that labor-of-love vibe that feels mostly exclusive to solo devs (in this case) or small teams of 2 or 3 individuals where you can really feel the singular vision captured on the screen. A pure distillation that isn't drowned out by dozens of design by committee voices common in larger productions.
Taxinaut is an absolute steal at the asking price. A legit gem with a satisfying gameplay loop and a vast galaxy to explore.
Big thumbs up.
#2 - Dwarf Fortress
It's quite amazing how a simple graphic pass and mouse-driven interface can completely blow the game wide open for a broader audience. (Being cheeky here, I know the Steam Edition took years of dev time.)
These accessibility features have opened the door to a game I've wanted to experience for years. I'd previously experimented with tile sets, video tutorials and more. But I just couldn't crest that learning curve.
I honestly think the mouse interface is more vital to accessibility than anything. Coupled with the mouseover info textbox popups, DF suddenly feels digestible and manageable where mechanic's secrets are surfaced by simply exploring menus, tabs and buttons with mouseovers. (Much like the killer embedded popups in recent PDX releases CK3 & Vicky 3.)
I learned a lot about colony management with RimWorld. I'm finding a lot of crossover with DF (zones, build orders, etc.). And with the new interface I'm suddenly finding myself able to apply those concepts to DF with little friction, making on-ramping a relative breeze.
Man, this Steam version is just going to stay installed on my hardware builds forever, isn't it?
#3 - Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum
Stealth infiltration action with terminal entry coding and a subversive tone.
It's a nice hybrid on command line hacking and real-time stealth/action map traversal, two gameplay styles you don't often see fused together. If you hang back from mobs within a level player has plenty of time to set up engagements. Hacking cams & computers, daisy-chaining across a level from within the matrix setting traps, disabling security and granting physical access. But you have limited hacking "points" so you can't just shut down a level's security from outside the building and just waltz in like you own the place. You have to think strategically and pick your battles, many times sacrificing easier routes for sustained efficacy further down the road.
Feels a lot like chess in that way where you consider moves, deploy "3 moves ahead" strats and then enter the fray. Amazing weapon variety as well that carries across contracts, allowing for quiet or Rambo-esque infiltration.
Love the minimalist presentation, Caves of Qud fans will feel right at home here. Writing is really spicy too.
Deadeye is a novel haxxor stealth-action hybrid that doesn't sacrifice either side of the coin in delivering a unique gameplay combo that feels like an incredibly fresh genre mashup.
#4 - Hardspace: Shipbreaker
I'm really glad I picked PowerWash Sim as my #2 last year as it doesn't have to go up against Shipbreaker this year. These two titles proved an incredibly successful departure from the Mundane Job Simulator subgenre. Much like Viscera Cleanup Detail before it, we're seeing more & more creative Job Sims going left of field in a traditionally more structured market (i.e. Euro Truck and Farming Simulator).
Hardspace hits that perfect sweet spot of relaxing Zen gameplay loops coupled with a more cerebral puzzlelike elements where you have to pay attention to what you're doing to avoid catastrophe. It's meticulous work in a fresh setting.
Bonus points for the biting commentary on the worker exploitation of late-stage capitalism. It's not in your face but rather delivered in a dry & smart manner.
There's tons of Job Sims out there with sadly very few of ultra-high quality. Shipbreaker ranks among the absolute best.
#5 - The Ditty of Carmeana
In the world of amateur micro-indies, it feels like the line between treasure & trash can be razor thin.
With so many cynical, low-effort asset-flips & joke games flooding the channel, it can become a sort of background static seemingly unworthy of any attention at all.
But occasionally a title worthy of note rises to the surface.
Carmeana is pretty threadbare by most accounts, but man does it have a lot of heart. There's a surprising amount of content on offer with lots of writing and the vast majority of it lands. There's legit comedy and smart wit going on here.
I genuinely love folk-art games like this. Titles that look like complete disasters on the surface, but are propelled to greatness through raw earnestness and offbeat verve.
Fans of Candice DeBébé, Dominique Pamplemousse, My Summer Car, etc. take note.
#6 - Rail Route
Rail Route has you playing as a subway dispatcher controlling the coming and going of trains in an increasingly complex network of lines. It's also a tycoon game where you research, build & expand. Automation tools come further down the line to help compensate for that growing complexity and it's finely balanced where you're always challenged but rarely overwhelmed.
Presentation is absolutely ace with a clean, slick & modern motif. It's simplistic but man it's a hell of a look in motion. Extra points for also modeling real-world subway lines.
RR is the perfect "Sunday morning with a cup of coffee." chillout experience.
#7 - Signalis
It's Kafkaesque. It's Lynchian. It's anime. It's paranoid. It's mysterious. It's glorious.
Modern throwback games can be quite hit & miss it seems. Simply giving something "retro graphics" is not enough. It takes a deeper understanding of the source material. Layering in modern sensibilities on top is even tougher.
Signalis feels like sci/fi Silent Hill in the modern age. Reminiscent in tone & presentation, but not a slave to either.
Playing through it drives home how difficult it can be to successfully pull off a pastiche project. A remarkable artistic achievement.
#8 - Circus Electrique
Electrique is truly something special. Like strongly pointing to landing in my Top 10 this year kind of special.
The visuals are simply arresting with a unique style and sense of place. It can look busy on the surface but the language is parsing a lot of info to the player in an intelligent manner, all with convenient mouse-over info pop-ups.
You can just tell there was a lot of thought & TLC put into it. Like how the tutorial is spread over the initial hours of gameplay, not throwing everything at you all at once, but rather getting the player comfortable with the myriad of systems a bit at a time. Unlocking & introducing new concepts only after the previous have been test-driven for a bit. Plus there's a fully fleshed out Codex explaining all the nuances that you can access anytime in-game complete with cool "Fallout Valut-Boy"-like animations on each page. Even that little magnifying glass on top-left opens a full infographic explaining unique concepts of whatever screen your currently on.
There's just so much going on between circus management...upgrading facilities, recruiting & upgrading performers (15 unique classes!). Setting up daily circus acts and synergizing performers for better payouts. The board game-like map progression where you cruise nodes in divergent paths to main quest goal markers. The way time of day & weather affects the battle system kinda like Divinity: OS. The VN cutscenes between battles with legit great voice acting and character art. All that and I haven't even unlocked all the circus facilities yet, lol.
I've read some criticisms like that story is flat or circus event planning can feel grindy. So it's not like GOAT(!!!) or anything. But man, as a $20 package it feels fresh as heck and dense with content. I think the setting goes a long way as well. I punched up Darkest Dungeon for a quick moment just to compare/contrast my thoughts. And while there's not doubt DD is masterclass in this tactics subgenre, it was so freakin' bleak & dour, the whole vibe just felt nihilistic & depressing. In contrast Electrique is like a Skittles color explosion while oddly still having a bit of bite with that Victorian London steampunk thing. Feels kinda Burtonesque, kinda We Happy Few. A more welcome balance of grim & fantastical was my quick takeaway.
Man, what a hidden gem.
#9 - Bear and Breakfast
B&B is the most charming management sim you'll play in 2022. If you think the screenshots pop, you have to see it in motion. The character animations are sublime.
An interesting twist on B&B is that you directly control your character with the WASD keys. A rarity in a genre that is traditionally mouse-cursor driven. Makes for quite a hybrid vibe where the game feels like both an adventure title as well as a management game. Story beats that carry you through the lengthy campaign add to this hybrid tone. I guess if you've played Dragon Quest Builders 1 & 2 you get a sense of general feel.
Feel-good gaming can feel like a bit of a rarity in a medium so utterly obsessed with grim self-seriousness. Bear & Breakfast proves a nice balm to all that chaotic urgency.
#10 - Keplerth
Keplerth feels like Terreria crossed with RimWorld presentation.
Colony builders of this nature are pretty common these days so it can take a lot to make one stand out. Keplerth does just that with awesome combat design and deep, deep, DEEP character customization. Seriously, this was gonna be 2022's slam dunk for "Caves of Qud"-lite levels of character morphing through gene splicing until RimWorld released Biotech DLC to level the playing field a bit (Keplerth is still deeper in this regard). And there's pets!
Direct character control makes you feel a bit more connected to the gameplay loop and it has satisfying feedback whether though combat or simple resource grinding. It just has a great feel about it (which honestly has really soured me on otherwise well-designed productions).
I absolutely love that this genre has exploded in the past number of years. With all manner of titles influencing each other we're seeing higher and higher quality productions as a result.
......................................
LTTP 2022:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
Nabbed Amalur on a Humble Bundle recently and have poured dozens of hours into it since. As a first time player I had no idea how much it would scratch that Bethesda sandbox RPG itch. Pretty floored at how much content is on offer here as well. Much like Halo: MCC and Mass Effect: LE before it, being able to enjoy Amalur all res'ed up at a blistering 120 fps is just icing on the cake. Damn what a fine production.
DCL of 2022:
RimWorld Biotech
Seen as a bit pricey at launch, Biotech raised some eyebrows. But after people got their hands on it those concerns quickly evaporated. Between mechanoids, children & gene splicing, Biotech could easily be 2 or 3 standalone content drops. We're finally seeing custom creature-type generation in the vein of Caves of Qud-lite. And it's blowing the doors wide open for unique story generation. I've been kinda mid on the first 2 RimWorld DLCs (Ideology being the much stronger of the pair), but Biotech is the REAL deal.
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