What have been your top games of 2020? Share your gaming highlights and enjoy some giveaways!

I played Prey last year and I loved it, too. Really nice game. This year there wasn't any real top game for me. If I need to choose the best three out of the ~40 games I played this year they would be DX:MD which had an interesting story and I liked that there were multiple solutions most of the time, X-Morph: Defense surprisingly good tower defense game where you play as the alien invader and Titan Quest Anniversary Edition a nice hack and slay which I already played back in 2006/2007 (the original titan quest game) but now with new dlcs there's more content and I really enjoyed playing it again.

• Cyberpunk 2077
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1091500/Cyberpunk_2077/
  Despite having lots of minor bugs and bad decisions, the game is still awesome as hell.

• Black Mesa
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
  Never had a chance to complete Half-Life 1 (even on source engine), so this one was a 'fresh' ride for me.

• X-Morph: Defense
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/408410/XMorph_Defense/
  Pretty basic TD game, but the ability to destroy environment makes it a lot more fun.

First of all, thank you for GA.♪ヽ(=´Θ`=)ﾉ♪

I would like to play ”Into The Breach”. I am happy to be able to apply.ヽ(･Θ･)ﾉ ♪
But why don't I have it?┐(´Θ`)┌
Probably due to sudden errands, physical condition and unhappiness.
However, there will definitely be a bad habit of "stacking games".
I feel that the stock has increased sharply from this time just a year ago ...
(I'm staring at the library)

Is it something I've been playing for a year and remembered?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/240720/Getting_Over_It_with_Bennett_Foddy/
To the world of penance and enlightenment. Is it 50 round trips? Yes. Did.
It's embarrassing, so there are also all private play videos.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/246620/Plague_Inc_Evolved/
I was playing from March to April.
Now it is replacing reality.( ･Θ･).;'.､
However, it is a good game in terms of preparation.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/360740/Downwell/
I was playing around June.
It's short, but it was good to feel like playing.
But hard mode is a completely different world.

Of course I play a lot of other games.
However, when I thought about "giving it to someone else to play with", I thought that this area would be good.😄

Thanks and have a bump!

I wonder if there is an easy way to see the games we played this year.

edit.

The Walking Dead - Season 1

---- I didn't play other seasons and I probably won't because I don't want to play without Lee ;( But the first season was... simply amazing. Ninjas were cutting a lot of onions on this one.

11-11 Memories Untold

--- It is my favorite SG win, one of the most stylish games i have played. Very good story and the ending was worthy of that story.

Metal Gear Solid: Phantom Pain

--- Masterpiece. I am Kojima fanboy now.

Vermintide 2

--- Best melee combat i have ever seen. As someone who had no idea about the Warhammer universe, it made me love it.

Honorable Mentions

Black Mesa --> Awesome game, and awesome remake.

Ori and the Blind Forest --> The gameplay was very good and fluid so i wanted to include it.

That list became longer than i expected :D

https://store.steampowered.com/app/941570/Relicta/

puzzle game, i really enjoyed it

https://store.steampowered.com/app/465100/LUNA_The_Shadow_Dust/

another puzzle game, without a single dialog instead all the events and feelings during the story presented with masterpiece music/sounds

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1102190/Monster_Train/

Liked more than Slay the Spire

https://store.steampowered.com/app/746850/Cloudpunk/

I liked this scifi taxi simulator, it had some few good stories

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1106530/GemCraft__Frostborn_Wrath/

Good tower defense game, my favorite tower defense franchise

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1213700/Spirit_of_the_North/

Another cute game, puzzle platformer perhaps the genre.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/869170/Oneiros/

Shorter and cheaper puzzle game, with awesome title music (i might remember for this only because of that).

I might have played more decent games released this year but these are the ones i still remember.

I too really enjoyed Into the Breach for its approach to strategy which I preferred over FTL, as I tend to have a love/hate relationship with roguelites, yet it would seem that ItB has more rogue elements than FTL.

There aren't a whole lot of games I've played that were released in 2020, but of those I played, here's a list that I nominated for Backlog Assassins' 2020 awards:

- Game of the Year: Risk of Rain 2, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
- Best Co-op/Multiplayer Game: Unrailed
- Best Free to Play Game: Split or Steal
- Most Value for Money: Risk of Rain 2
- Best Game Under $20: SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
- Best Addition to an Existing Series: SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
- Most Addictive Game: Unrailed
- Prettiest Game: AVICII Invector (Dec 10, 2019)
- Best Soundtrack: AVICII Invector
- Best Early Access Game: Mad Tower Tycoon
- Best Underdog/Hidden Gem: Mad Tower Tycoon

Closer to the end of the year I'll come up with my personal list of best & worst games I've played this year as post with the Backlog Assassins.

Neon Abyss - Super addictive rogue-lite, kind of a cross between Issac x Dead Cells, with tons of items to unclock. I have well over 1,000 hours on it so far.

*Pro Tip: Play it on the "experimental branch" in Steam's beta tab as that's where the latest updates are.

Nuclear Throne is surprisingly the best game I've played this year. It's hard but worth all the hassle to get better, and it's so satisfying to finally get to the Throne. You're like Fuck off devs, I've made it! and then you realize that they wanted you to feel this way in the first place and they've won again :P Took me like 30 or 40 hours to sit on the Throne and there's so much content I haven't seen yet anyway – it's surprising how simple this game looks at first glance but how much content it hides beneath!

Townscaper has hit me in the right spot. It's a town builder that pushes your creativity to the limits.Me gusta! Simple yet such a cool gameplay – you can only pick colors, click to build and click to destroy. You can't choose what is build but certain builds give certain results. You also need to adapt because the grid is predefined and very curvy which again pushes you to be creative. Some cool hidden secrets and the game is still in Early Access.

GTA V is very nice game and it surprised me with how alive the city is, despite being so huuuge. Although it's alive only when it comes to NPC's because once you try to explore buildings there are plenty of stairs that go nowhere. The characters are very good, especially Trevor and Michael, maybe because there is a history between them already. Hopefully Franklin will become more interesting once he'll work with Michael more – that's what I expect, to be franklin.

I finally took the time to play Hollow Knight which has become one of my favorite game ever. I discovered that I really like the metroidvania genre and it actually pushed me to discover the very first Metroid that you can play on Nintendo Switch Online and let me tell you...I love it but am TERRIBLE at it and keep dying. So I'm cheating during combats, because you can actually pause the game and go backwards. But hey, I'm having fun, and it prevent the game from becoming a chore for me, so I guess this is what matters.

I also recently played Baba is You. It is a really challenging puzzle game with a unique concept. There is so much satisfaction when you finally manage one level you were stuck on for a long time.

Thanks for your GAs, and I will definitely check the games you mentioned.

This was a year where I actually got to play a fare amount of new games, for once, so new games will be on the list!.

Vaporum: Lockdown: An outstanding dungeon crawler with some of the best puzzles I've seen in an RPG thus far. Think Legend of Grimrock, or Eye of the Beholder, but in a kind of steampunky setting and you've got Vaporum: Lockdown.

Shadow Empire: One of the deepest 4X games I've seen yet. It's a bit ugly, and a bit user unfriendly, but once past the initial learning hump, it turned into one of the most rewarding games I've played in a long time. It's really good.

Fates of Ort is an interesting RPG. Time only moves when you move, so it's kind of like playing a turnbased game, but it's structured more like an ARPG. The mix works very well, and the game is fun. It also has multiple solutions to a lot of quests, and there's an overlap between quests when it comes to what items you can use, so you can make another quest a lot harder for yourself by using the item at the "wrong" place, which I thought was neat. And this is without locking you out of beating the game, of course.

Total War: Warhammer II Probably the best Total War game I've played. Sure, it still has some of the issues of past Total War games, like the lackluster AI, but the variety that this game offers makes that feel like less of an issue. Basically a predictable AI feels less "samey" when the unit variety is greater. It also looks and sounds really good.

Europa Universalis IV: It's EU IV, it's been one of the best games I've played every year since close to its release, and it still stays on the list. EU IV is a game that I need to be careful with, as it can really suck me in, and then I'll forget about the world around me. Still my favourite grand strategy game.

I definitely agree with your opinion on Prey. I was lucky enough to win it here on SG :)
Wish I could play it for the first time again.

My favorite games this year were Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Dead Cells and Opus Magnum.
Thank you for the giveaways!

Bad North

I first played it on Epic (was free) and then on Steam. It's short, but I really enjoyed it for what it is. Fresh concept.

RimWorld

Highly addictive, though the late-game wasn't that fulfilling. I had to force myself to pull away and might go back in with the plethora of mods available.

Frostpunk

Actually, I expected more. The atmosphere is right, but I didn't like being more or less railed on one of two directions of government.Still, I would recommend it.

Railway Empire

Came back for DLC scenarios. Mexico was really hard. Took a break, will play again.

Invisible Inc.

The tension in this game is so delicious! I wish there was a bit more content.

CKIII

Nicely polished. Though of course, as it is with Paradox titles, it will take time before you get the full experience.

Opus Magnum

This game makes me feel dumb. :) Though, looking at my solutions compared to what's on the net; I seem to be too hard on myself.

Disco Elysium

A masterpiece. The world building, all the aspects of the psyche of the protagonist... I was blown away. Yet, I can't take it in big chunks. IMO it's a game to be savored, piece by piece.

Spelunky 2

Agree with OP. I hate it, I love it. :) It will take soo long to unravel all of it.

Just a thank you-bump 😋

To add something: I thoroughly enjoyed Salt and Sanctuary 👌

I have such huge backlog, that i mostly dont play game when they came out. So for me this year i played mostly games from previous years. I really enjoyed this (only on Steam):
The Walking Dead: The Final Season (so much emotions)
The Wolf Among Us (second finish, still very good)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (nothing to say there, really good game, nice story and so much hours to play)
Half-Life: Alyx (new way how to play games)
Beat Saber (endless fun)
Broforce (finished with friend thanks to Remote Play, hilarious game)
Batman™: Arkham Knight (i love Batman)
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ (start little weak, but still pretty good game)

INFRA, a title released almost five years ago, was my personal GOTY. A game that, for me, was coming way ahead of all those fancy modern AAA titles. Getting lost in it and working through its puzzles was a beautiful, engrossing experience. Didn't want it to end.

Let's see... brings out BLAEO lists... In alphabetic order since they're all really good and this way they're on an equal standing:

• Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters - As Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale's predecessor, it's a more straightforward Action RPG without any shop managing. Still lots of fun though and has a fishing minigame which you just miiiiight like too much and spend waaaaay too many hours on... ops. It has the same excellent localization by Carpe Fulgur as Recettear so lots of laughs and cuteness to be had. :D

• Cuphead - Action platformer with... lots of Bullet Hell inspiration... yeah, it's not as hard as people make it out to be. Pretty good and... yeah... that's kinda it. It's a game you go to for the challenge. ^_^'

• Fly'N - Platformer which utilizes a bunch of different mechanics- switching world states with a button press similar to Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, swapping between characters with different traversal abilities at set points and lots of challenges utilizing both platforming and puzzle elements. Overall it's pretty good. It's also pretty good looking if you care about that stuff.

• Helltaker - A free short (~1 hour) Sokoban clone where you befriend a bunch of cute demon girls. What is there to not like? :D

• Linelight - A puzzle game which is literally about a line made of light moving along a longer line. Pretty nice- neither too easy, nor too hard. Pretty sure it's supposed to have some deeper meaning which flew completely over my head because I'm a dumb-dumb. How did they manage to come up with so many puzzle mechanics for such a simple concept...? I really wish I could come up with stuff like that... T.T

• Luxor Evolved - Wow, has Luxor always been this fast? Anyway, yeah, it's Luxor, a classic (?) arcade-y game but shinier and more tech-looking than before. You either already know what it is or you go to take one look at the store page and then know what it is and if you'd be interested in trying it out. :)

• RIVE - I think they call this genre... "Twin Stick Shooter"... right? Well, if there is a game I would call the Most Obscure Hidden Gem™ on this list, then this would be it. Seriously, it's fun, you get to blow a lot of stuff up and it has a lot of that video-gamey humor. Oh, and its soundtrack is made by the same guys who made Awesomenauts' soundtrack, so you know it's good! Why is this game not more popular? Why is it that when I write "RIVE" in the Steam search, the immediate suggestions are a bunch of games with "river" in the name?! >.<

• Root Double - It's a Visual Novel... which I'm petty sure should cause anyone who knows me to immediately raise an eyebrow and question what the catch is. Well, there is none- there is no hidden gameplay feature that turns it into an actual game, all you do is read and occasionally do the slightly awkward choice mechanic. So, yeah, I have no idea why I liked this one as much as I did. Especially since it kinda dragged on towards the middle. But the characters were likeable and felt... human, I guess; the settings is interesting enough and, again, pretty realistic and relatable; the (true) ending is good (in my opinion); the story is surprisingly consistent with itself despite the constant curveballs it throws and it really feels like a mystery which you are trying to piece together along with the characters (although it might overdo the foreshadowing at times). So, yeah, if you're not a slooooooooowwwwwww reader like me and aren't too disturbed by the occasional really gruesome death the characters suffer when you mess up the choice mechanic (luckily it's usually only described rather than shown), then I'd totally recommend this game. ;D

• Science Girls - A short and simple turn-based RPG with likeable characters and a decent amount of humor. Sure, it's clearly done on a budged and not a big fat AAA game, but small and sweet is great too if people would give it a chance.

• Shadow Warrior 2 - Best main menu music ever! I could fiddle around in the settings forever to keep this going. End of Review... ... ... ...Ok ok ok, it's an old-shool-ish FPS with heavy RPG elements like the first game, except they kinda doubled down on the RPG stuff this time with a loot system, procedurally generated maps and, overall, stuff that just get in the way and it really didn't need... I mean, the shooting, slashing and splattering of enemies is still fun. Dialogue is still filled to the brim with one-liners and dick jokes. But due to the RPG stuff it kinda starts feeling like "Diablo but with guns" at times. It starts off fun but quickly devolves into your absolutely destroying everything in your way because it's way too easy, then you ramp up the difficulty on the next playtrough until each enemy is either immune or stupidly resistant to all but one element and everything one-or-two-shots you, then you figure out how to abuse the invisibility skill and it gets fun again. Kinda mixed about this one, but hey, any game where you can tear demons to pieces with dual-wielded SMGs in one level and then chop cyber ninjas to pieces with your sword in the next level gets a recommendation from me.

• Sora - Bullet Hell game but, like its predecessor Suguri, there is a lot more focus on mobility with the ability to "dash" directly through most attacks without getting hit. It's really good and on the easy side as far as Bullet Hell goes, so it's very accessible to anyone willing to give it a chance. Also really really good soundtrack. Seriously, all of it. Also Sora gets my award for Main Character Who Really Needs A Hug™. She's too cute! O_o

• Would be kinda weird to list this one first and on its own with the whole alphabetic thing I have going, so Acceleration of SUGURI 2 also gets its entry here. It's kinda a fighting game featuring the same battle mechanics and characters as the "main" games. So I guess you could say it's a Bullet Hell Fighting Game. (Y'know, because those two genres weren't niche enough on their own!) Like with Sora it's a vast improvement over it's predecessor mechanics-wise and it's fun... at least while you do the single player campaigns for each character. Yeah, trying to get into the multiplayer is kinda like trying to climb Mount Everest with nothing but a toothpick. ^_^'

• Strider - Metroidvania Action Platformer where you play as a ninja. Though this one takes itself more seriously than the other Metroidvania Action Platformer I played recently (That awkward moment when I remember that 'S' comes before 'T'...) so there's pretty much no humor and instead of it being a regular ninja fighting demons it's more along the lines of a high-tech ninja fighting communists. Yes, really... Still pretty fun though.

• The Coma: Recut - All I can say is- dang, Koreans sure know how to make an atmospheric horror game. And this is that. It does kinda suffer from the usual hiccups of the survival-horror genre where the monster feels more like an annoyance than an actual threat as you hide in the same storage wardrobe for the ten billionth time to wait for it to piss off, but the rest of the time it's really good! :D

• The Messenger - An Action Platformer (later adding Metroidvania to the list of genres) which is apparently inspired by classic Ninja Gaiden (though presumably Ninja Gaiden was significantly harder). It's really fun and has lots of humorous dialogue. Would absolutely recommend! ^_^

• The Spiral Scouts - Just how crass do you like your humor? If the answer is "very and then some more" then this game is perfect for you! It's a puzzle/adventure-ish game which doesn't pull any punches with its jokes. Just for an example, the game has an entire world which looks like it was designed when the devs were high on all the drugs and is populated by phallic-shaped creatures called "boners". It's friggin' glorious. Would recommend to all the kids! XD

• Wings of Vi - An old shool-ish Platformer which I guess you could say falls into the so called "Platform Hell" genre. Aka, it's suuuper challenging. And it's really really good. So, for people who don't shy away from a challenge, I'd highly recommend it. ;P

Still have at least 3 more games I have to play this month so I might add them later (pfft, as if people would still be reading this by the time I'm done). ^_^'
Ok... now let's see if this comment went over the character limit...
PS: Surprisingly it didn't.

There were a bunch of good games this year that I failed to complete this year. I feel like I must really suck at gaming, because others rave about them. Splasher, The Messenger, and Black Mesa were ones that I can mention off the top of my head.
There were also a few games I did finish that I was hyped to play, but disappointed in: namely one comes to mind, Bioshock Infinite.
For me the top games of his year were, in no particular order:

Crash Bandicoot Trilogy - Much like Sonic, Megaman or Mario, Crash was not a game franchise I have any nostalgia for beyond racing games. I remember playing a few minutes of the first Crash game back in the day, and found it quite hard, so usually watched others play it. Anyway, revisiting the game 20 years later, I feel the remaster has really nailed that same initial difficulty. Except this time, I persevered. And beat Crash 1. Fortunately that's the hardest game in the Trilogy, and I think it just got easier from there. Great games. I love 3D platformers, and this helped rejuvenate that this year.

Spyro Trilogy - (There might be a theme with my list of favourite games) What can I say - absolutely brilliant Trilogy - it's not often I can boast 100% achievements in a big game, but hey, it just goes to show this was great. Nice diversity, bright graphics, and excellent game mechanics, not much bad to say about this game, and I'm going to be biased and not mention them ;-)

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Ok, so this is more of a Hack n Slash game, but you can't ignore the amount of platforming in this game as well. I really enjoyed this, it had an enjoyable combination of content, bosses, platforming, puzzles, and upgrades, I never really felt like I was bored, nor did it get so frustrating like I tend to be afflicted with in this style of game. Highly recommend it.

Super Lucky's Tale Oxenfree - Hmm, so I was gonna do another platformer, but I'll be honest, Super Lucky's Tale was good, but it wasn't great. Oxenfree however - it's kind of a slow burn. Great atmosphere, but it's slow, so if you need action, you may not enjoy it. It's got some cool horror, and the more time you spend with the game, the more you realise the devs also spent a lot of time and love on this.

[Woodle Tree 2 Deluxe+] Late Shift - (Whoops, again) Late Shift is an enjoyable interactive movie. I've played a few FMVs in the last couple of years, but this stands out. It's really decently done, and I quite enjoyed the ride. Others might not like these "fake games", but I say check it out.

Honestly too many games I had fun with this year, other personally highly rated games I played this year were:
Finding Paradise, Snake Pass, Costume Quest, Aviary Attorney, Bayonetta, The Hex, Mages of Mystralia, Fran Bow (and Little Misfortune), Untold Stories, My Friend Pedro, Youropa, Planet Alpha, Okami HD, State of Mind, de Blob, Yuppie Psycho, Layers of Fear, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, TRI: of Friendship and Madness, Supraland, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lightmatter.
Ok, so it was a great year of gaming I guess :D

Bump for a great thread, my wishlist grew so much from the comments! May this bump stand as my thanks to this thread and other threads with 'best games' theme.
And thanks for the lovely GAs!

Not many standouts for me this year; I daresay my list of disappointments is longer.

My top five favourites from 2020:
1) What Remains of Edith Finch
2) Wandersong
3) Iratus: Lord of the Dead
4) Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition
5) Middle Earth: Shadow of War

I've just started Spiritfarer and it seems very good so far.

good question you got me thinking lol

the order is not important I just put the name down here

The Suicide of Rachel Foster
Metro Exodus.
Assassin's Creed Origins
Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
Heavy Rain
Titanfall 2 (single player )
Blair Witch
Beyond: Two Souls
The Walking Dead: The Final Season
The Story of Henry Bishop
Breacher Story
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (single player)
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Vampyr
The Witcher 3
Far Cry New Dawn

Thank you! Have a bump. Stuff I enjoyed a lot in 2020:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - RPG that gets the exploration aspect right by being an adventure on high seas. You never know what the next uncharted island might hide.

Trüberbrook - Unexpectedly good point & click adventure with interesting visuals and well presented mystery story.

The Hex - One of those game that are better played sight unseen, so I won't spoil anything.

Prey - Just a high quality immersive sim. I probably still like Dishonored 2 more, but Prey definitely has a better story and presentation.

Neofeud - Incredibly rough and unpolished point & click, but there aren't many games where you play as a cyberpunk social worker. And this is the kind of cyberpunk that centers low life part of "high tech, low life" credo.

Heat Signature - I don't generally like rogue-lites, but this was the most satisfying core gameplay loop in recent memory. Weapons and gadgets aren't just numbers, they all have unique functions. Every kind of playstyle has its fun moments.

Batman: The Enemy Within - I thought I was sick of Telltale-style games, but this brought me back. It's definitely made with fans of Batman in mind, but if you happen to be one, there's enough different takes on the established lore to keep things interesting.

West of Loathing - Comedy RPG that's actually an RPG (builds, skill-checks, decisions and consequences) and is actually funny.

Yakuza 0 - Disco dancing and karaoke singing in 80s Japan. And I guess there's like a brawler with a weighty satisfying combat in there too, but that more of a side thing.

1. https://store.steampowered.com/app/753640/Outer_Wilds/

2. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174180/Red_Dead_Redemption_2/

3. https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/

4. https://store.steampowered.com/app/528230/SYNTHETIK_Legion_Rising/

5. https://store.steampowered.com/app/379430/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance/

6. https://store.steampowered.com/app/548430/Deep_Rock_Galactic/

7. https://store.steampowered.com/app/589290/Holdfast_Nations_At_War/