Something remarkable happened in 2016: My four-year-old daughter became engrossed in console games. Thanks to her growing interesting in my favorite entertainment medium, I saw a number games through to the end that I normally wouldn't have, but I'm glad I did. The two good games she had me play were Unravel, the yarn-based platformer, and Lumo, an isometic puzzle-platformer that she ended up calling "Witch Game" since the protagonist looks like an adorable little magic caster. She also made me play one terrible game: Snoopy's Grand Adventure, which may be one of the most uninspired things to ever use Charles Schulz's character.
My backlog for games I wanted to finish during 2016 is sizable, but I knocked out most of the games that I felt I needed to play – the big triple A releases, the beloved indie darlings, and even some of the weird crap Javy Gwaltney recommended. The debut of my column, Science-Fiction Weekly, also led to the exploration and enjoyment of two other titles Game Informer likely would not have reviewed: The Turing Test, which is in consideration for our Top 50 Games of the Year list (hitting in the February issue), and Valley. Capcom's Stephanie Palermo also reinvigorated my interest in classic adventure gaming through her Top 5 Games of 2015 list. I was baffled by the inclusion of Goosebumps: The Game, and decided to venture into it to see why she was raving about it. I had a good time with it, but found myself wanting more experiences like it. The outlet I found to scratch this itch is a development studio named Artifex Mundi. Nightmares from the Deep, Enigmatic, Clockwork Tales are all titles created by this studio that I enjoyed the living hell out of. Are they great games? No, but they are good fun, offering a wide variety of puzzles, and campy stories rivaling Overblood's. If you're interested in these titles, the best versions are on Xbox One.
The biggest release I didn't get to was The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine. I know it's just an expansion, but I just couldn't find a nice 30-hour window to devote to it. The three games I played the most are Overwatch, Clash Royale, Pokémon Go. Yes, two mobile games, both are likely making my personal Top 10 list (which you can read about in the soon-to-be-released February issue). My total games finished for the year? A respectable 57, second only to 2011's whopping 70.
As always, feel free to jot down the lists of games you completed in 2016 in the comments section below. There are no rules here, just games that you finished between January 1 and December 31.
Batman: Arkham Knight (second time and all DLC)
Batman: Arkham VR
Batman: A Telltale Series
Beyond Good and Evil (second time)
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink
Dark Souls III
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Dishonored 2
Doom
Edge of Nowhere
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek
Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood
Far Cry Primal
Final Fantasy XV
Firewatch
Forza Horizon 3
Fragments of Him
Fru
Gears of War 4
Goosebumps: The Game
Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride
Heroes Reborn: Gemini
Hyper Light Drifter
Inside
Just Cause 3: Sky Fortress
Lego Marvel Avengers
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Lucky's Tale
Lumo
Mafia III
Manual Samuel
Mighty No. 9
Nightmares from the Deep: Cursed Heart
Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren's Curse
Overcooked
Oxenfree
The Park
Quantum Break
Ratchet & Clank
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
Skylanders Imaginators
Snoopy's Grand Adventure
Song of the Deep
Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission
Superhot
Titanfall 2
The Turing Test
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Unravel
Valley
Virginia
Watch Dogs 2
Whispering Willows
By the Years:
2016 – 57
2015 – 52
2014 – 45
2013 – 48
2012 – 48
2011 – 70