2018: The Games We Loved.

Hey everyone,

Holidays are in full swing in Thunder Lotus land! While most of the team is likely waking groggily from a eggnog-induced coma this morning, I wanted to take a minute to share our 2018 Games of the Year!

Yes, as tradition goes, we share a list at the end of each year of the games that were special to the individual members of team TLG (some 2017 releases snuck onto this year’s list too ;)). It’s always great to see the wide variety of tastes in our little family – hope you find some of your own favorites on the list too!

Do please read on! (And we’d love to hear about your own 2017 games of the year on Facebook and Twitter!)

Games We Loved In 2018

Celeste

“Very tight and challenging gameplay paired with a memorable narrative.”
– Alex M, Chief Technical Officer

Celeste
Matt Makes Games (Developer and publisher)
Switch | PS4 | Itch.io | Xbox One | Steam

Slay the Spire

“It was great when it first got onto early access, it only got better since. Awesome deck builder game with rogue.”
– Ian, Level Designer

Slay the Spire
MegaCrit Games (Developer/Publisher)
Steam

Spider-Man

“Holy cats, what a banner year for AAA! Any other year, Spider-Man would’ve been a slam dunk for GOTY, but even this, one of the best superhero games ever, didn’t top my list.”
– Rodrigue, Marketeer

Spider-Man
Insomniac Games, Inc. (Developer), Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Publisher)
PS4

Return of the Obra Dinn

“A detective story on the high seas. Return of Obra Dinn features minimal graphics emulating early Macintosh games and similar mechanics to Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. This smartly designed and beautifully narrative driven game had me deeply invested in the perils of the passengers on this cursed vessel.”
– Maxime, Level Designer.

Return of the Obra Dinn
Lucas Pope (Developer), 3909 (Publisher)
Steam | Humble | GOG

Cross Code

“It’s engaging and well paced narrative, simple yet diverse and interesting combat system, and challenging zelda inspired puzzle dungeons, all add up to a fantastic experience. It’s biggest downside is it was coded in javascript!”
– Luke, Programmer.

Cross Code
Radical Fish Games (Developer), Deck13, WhisperGames, DANGEN Entertainment, Mayflower Entertainment (Publishers)
Steam

They are Billions

“A very well-realized, difficult RTS survival game. There’s nothing quite like seeing thousands of zombies on screen attacking your base.”
– Aurélie, Programmer

“A solid homage to old starcraft survival game modes. A deep tech tree along with dynamically changing maps means no two games are the same.”
– Luke, Programmer

They Are Billions
Numantian Games (Developer/Publisher)
Steam | Humble Store

Battle Chasers: Nightwar

“Great Art, best representation of Joe Madureira’s (Darksiders 1 and 2, Marvel comics, Battle chasers comics) art style in video game form. Battle system is the best turn-based jrpg style gameplay I’ve experienced. You need not be allergic to grinding though.”
– Alex B., Animation Director

Battle Chasers: Nightwar
Airship Syndicate (Developer), THQ Nordic (Publisher)
Steam | Nintendo Switch | PS4 | Xbox One | GOG

Octopath Traveler

“Pixel art nostalgia with a modern twist.”
– Alex M.

Octopath Traveler
Square Enix (Developer), Nintendo (Publisher)
Nintendo Switch

EXAPUNKS

“It’s like solving puzzles by hacking a fictional computer in assembly. And you must read the docs, too!”
– Jérémie, Programmer.

EXAPUNKS
Zachtronics (Developer and Publisher)
Steam | GOG | Humble

Ark: Survival Evolved

“Despite all the bugs and the problems with balancing, this game is still one of my favourite game of all time. Its addictive, there’s so much different game mechanics to play with, and the game lets you team up with a lot of friends.”
– Jonathan, Programmer.

Ark: Survival Evolved
Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basement LLC (Developers), Studio Wildcard (Publisher)
Steam | PS4 | Nintendo Switch | Xbox One

God of War

“An incredible achievement, on so many levels. A game that will stay with me for a very long time.”
– Nico, Creative Director.

“Best of the generation, so far.”
– Rodrigue.

“Almost as good as Jotun.”
– Will, President

God of War
SIE Santa Monica Studio (Developer), Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Publisher)
PS4

That’s all she wrote, folks! Thanks for reading – we’d love to hear about your 2018 favorites on Facebook and Twitter too!

– Rodrigue and the Thunder Lotus Team