It’s not every year that you come across a game that has the innate ability to command your thoughts for weeks, even after completion. Perhaps it is the high bar that I am using as a filter. What I seek to elucidate here is perhaps obvious, still, there are only a few games that elicit a deep emotional response from me. I can list those games on one hand. I have been playing games for twenty-three years. I have been writing about games for twelve years. It is even rarer when a game vaults itself all the way to the top of said list. This is it. This is my favorite game of all time.

FAR: Changing Tides, the follow-up/sister title from the small team at Okomotive, is another one of those titles that I found deep resonance with. It seems, somehow, that the Zurich-based indie studio managed to bottle lightning twice. Games are art. Art is inherently political. The FAR games stare right into environmental disaster, and then through that lens tell tales of survival, endurance, and the relationships we have with our machines.

From the trailer you’ll immediately notice the game’s charm: lovable art style, characters, great music and that mid-90s design aesthetic with beautiful hard edged pixel graphics. There are an impressive 30 tracks composed by Frédéric "ElMobo" Motte while also featuring guest tracks from bands like Carpenter Brut, Gojira, and a whole lot more.

I remember hearing about Stardew Valley when it was approaching release. I thought it looked cute. I have this long hidden secret that I love organizational and management heavy games. It doesn’t come out very frequently. Deep down I knew that Stardew Valley was something that I could easily sink dozens of hours into, I would just need to find the right moment.

NerdyBits EIC Caleb Sawyer got a chance to talk with some of the devs responsible for Coffee Talk. Join them as they talk about their inspirations, motivations, and of course their favorite drinks to order at a coffee shop.

Coffee Talk is a charming little narrative sim from the folks at Toge Productions, an indie studio based in Indonesia. Coffee Talk feels like it was made by people who love coffee, tea, and coffee shops. The aesthetic is executed extremely well. Even the soundtrack feels like a Chilled Cow playlist. After playing for a few hours, I couldn’t help but make myself a latte, grab a notebook and a cigarette, and listen to the rain.

Creature in the Well is the distillation of a dungeon crawler, and pinball. As if there were more disparate things in the gaming world. Despite having the urge to say something like, “you can count the number of games like this on one hand,” I am fully aware there aren’t any games like this title by Flight School Studio.

Playing Outer Wilds prompted a mental reaction I have never had before. Somewhere in the space between planets, as I sought out the clues to solve this rapidly decaying universe, I found the answer to a question I never asked. All the time I spent with this game was fraught with tension and trepidation until I knew what I was meant to do; A lesson with surprising connections to one’s journey through life.

When I was a kid, in fact, when most of us were kids, our options for games to play were limited. I still remember planning out what game or two I would have for summer break. There is so much out there to play, so many things to discover, you should never feel like you have to like something. Someone out there is making your favorite game. Maybe it’s already out!

People connect emotionally to their games. Sometimes that emotional connection is peace in a tumultuous world. Sometimes that connection is a new reason to live. For the next adventure. For the next quest. For the next moment. Sometimes that connection goes unnoticed until someone else puts context to content.

Mechanically easy to pick up, hard to put down, a brilliant and evocative score, and entrancing art elevate Far: Lone Sails into the poetic. A contemplative and somber yet unwaveringly charming journey It hooked me immediately. Despite having beaten it twice, I keep finding myself coming back for a little more every couple of days.

2018 was a stellar year for games. From God of War kicking the door down in March, to Fortnite redefining persistent online experiences, to Red Dead Redemption 2 causing games to flee its wake, to Celeste, Owlboy, and Gorogoa taking hearts and thumbs by storm. It is impossible to tell people what they should go out and play because the list is humanly impossible to complete. That is, unless you are superhuman. So, rather than trying to page through every single Black Friday ad, we thought it would be more fitting to give you a list of games that you have to play.

Thief of Thieves released on Xbox Game Pass this week by publisher Skybound Entertainment and developer Rival games. The Point-and-Click, adventure style game shares a likeness to former Telltale titles like The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us (the former, also a Skybound property). Based on a comic series penned by Robert Kirkman (Creator of The Walking Dead), Thief of Thieves puts you in control of Celia, a punk styled spy protogé of master thief Redmond. Volume One, available now, is an interesting starter for the series but is a bit limited by its length.

I have been to three of four Pixel Pop Festival's, each in a different capacity. This year, as a journalist, I hoped to hone in on the theme in the bones of this year's indie showcasing festival. Within hours it was clear what Pixel Pop was trying to say. Games are made by humans. Normal people like you and me. Their successes and sacrifices were given a spotlight here, illustrating one message clear as day: Behind the games you love are people who have dedicated themselves to creating what they love.