Triple Click
Hosted by Jason Schreier and Kirk Hamilton
Original podcast
Kirk, Maddy, and Jason cap off 2025 with a hearty discussion of the year's best games.
17,274 words · 6 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
You know, December may be known as the month where Santa makes his list, but what about the podcasters? We make so many lists this month, too.
Welcome to Triple Click, where we bring the games and the lists to you. This week, we're taking a long look back on 2025 and each making a list of our 10 favorite games of the year. Will any games make it onto all three lists? Keep listening to find out.
I'm Kirk Hamilton.
I'm Maddy Myers.
And I'm Jason Dreyer. Hello.
Hello.
Welcome back. Happy Christmas to you both.
Thank you.
Happy Hanukkah to you.
I get to do both.
Thanks, it's already passed.
And actually, happy Hanukkah to you both, actually, yes.
Maddie, do you and Dina do both?
We do, we do, and we divide up present giving accordingly. And we like try to save some, one gift for Christmas. You know, it's classic divorced kid energy. You're very, you know, you gotta split your time.
Do you do eight, eight nights of gifts?
No, because we don't, although last year she gave me enough gifts that I feel like we almost stretched it out because she got me a lot of little things. But I, I feel like that's like, that's like what you do for kids, though, right?
Yes, that's what I do for my kids.
This year, there were not eight gifts.
It's a little too much.
Is it currently the sixth night of Hanukkah as we're recording this? Am I right?
Well, if you want to give away the game that we're recording this like a week in advance.
Why would we reveal how early we're recording? No, Hanukkah's long over and we are recording this as you're hearing it. It's live.
Let's live in Maddie's reality. Yes, we know everything that happened in the last several days.
Exactly. So yeah, happy Christmas to you both and happy new year soon to be.
Thanks.
Now, if you are thinking about a gift that you would like to get us, you know, just as a way to say, you know, we appreciate you, we like your podcast.
Feliz Navidad.
There is one gift, there is one gift that you could give us, the gift of a maximum fun membership, which honestly, when you think about it, is a gift you're giving yourself. Because what you get, you get bonus episodes of Triple Click, you get to support, you know, creator-owned media, you get to support independent podcasting. You get a lot for this gift that I initially described as a gift that you were giving to us. So let's actually reframe this. If you feel like you didn't get enough gifts. This holiday season, get yourself the gift of a Maximum Fun membership.
Or a friend.
Maximumfun.org/join. And, you know, you'll get a bunch of bonus episodes of our show, including a recent Beans cast, a spoiler cast on the first season of HBO's The Sopranos, a really wacky musical comedy show about a family of ne'er-do-wells in New Jersey. And coming up, you will also get a bonus episode similar to the episode you're about to listen to, where we list all of our favorite non-video game things of the year, movie, book, album, podcast, and we're actually going to add newsletter. We just added it at the last minute because there's a lot of good newsletters out there. So you'll get a lot of recommendations for non-gaming stuff. It pairs very well with the episodes you're about to listen to. And then, of course,
a million other, not a million, like a lot of other bonus episodes that we've recorded over the years. Maximumfun.org/join, please become a member. Thank you so much to everyone who is a member and who supports our show. You make it possible for us to do this thing. One more thing, scheduling, we mentioned this last week, but to reiterate, we will be off next week. There will be something in the feed, probably a bonus episode from earlier in the year, and then we will be back with our predictions episode on January 8th. We'll be back the week after New Year's, so we'll be taking next week off. All right, it is time to talk favorite games of the year. It's a really interesting year. Jason, you're driving this episode, right? Why don't you take us away?
Yeah, I mean, so I'm just going to throw it to you. But yeah, we each picked, we each picked our 10 favorite games of the year. Unlike other podcasts, we don't really try to narrow down a singular game of the year. Instead, we all just pick our favorites and then it's fun to see how many games are on all three of our lists in previous years. There, there are typically like two or three games a year that are on all three of our lists. I'm excited to see what, what makes it this year. I have a couple of guesses.
Yeah, I think we might have some strong estimates as to what those games might be.
Yes, some strong, some, some heavy favorites.
So yeah, let's, let's do it. Kirk, why don't you start with your 10 and we'll talk about them in order. And then if Maddie and I also picked a game, we'll kind of chime in with our, with some thoughts as well.
Nice. Well, this is my list. It is in order of name length, which I like to do.
A great tradition.
Though I will say that this list, it's like not actually a very pleasing shape. It looks kind of, it's like kind of lumpy. It's not as smooth of a gradient as I've had in past years.
Can you put this in the show notes so listeners can see the lumpiness of your list?
I will. It looks a little like Godzilla, actually. That's what I think when I look at it. I don't know why I think that. Or like a kind of like a dinosaur. Sure, looks like a dinosaur. Anyways, let's do it. Here are my, here are my top 10 games of 2025, a very interesting year. First up, Dispatch. Easily one of my favorite games of the year. Was this game on either of your lists?
Yes.
Almost made it. Truly, it was really tough. And I felt like I was gonna shock you two with that. But it, this was a tough year. Well, we're gonna get into it over the course of the show. But if we did honorable mentions on this show, which we do not do, it would be there.
Maddie, I'm with you. This, I've been doing like a top 10 best games of the year list for like more than a decade now. And this was the hardest I've ever had, like narrowing it down to 10.
I completely agree. And I surprised myself the most with this list, which I think you'll see as we go through it. I just, I spent the last, I don't know, month almost, really focusing on this list. And going back to a lot of things that I, you know, hadn't finished, just big games that I'd played a lot of, but had more to play. And like playing more and really trying to like take my own temperature about them. Do I, am I feeling this? Do I want to come back to this? Is this actually good? And then surprised myself with what I wound up picking. So, yes, Discord, or sorry, yes, Dispatch, the, uh, my first pick. I don't know. What else do we have to say about this game? We talked about it a lot fairly recently.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a great story of just like a found family of misfit supervillains slash, or reformed supervillains who are now trying to do the right thing and get close to each other. And it's just a really, just, it's like, it's, it's almost like it would make our best TV show of the list if it were that. That's kind of the, the territory and it's, that it's in. Cause it's mostly watching, you're not playing a ton. But the story, the writing and the directing, it's just so sharp and confident. I really love this game.
Great look, great music.
Right. Music is great. The acting, of course, is wonderful. I mentioned that I actually really liked the Dispatching gameplay. And yeah, I think this game made me laugh so much. I mean, Not many games, not many video games at least are that funny. But this game really is very, very funny. The script is so funny and just, I like to laugh. It's nice to play a game where I'm just constantly delighted and laughing. So yeah, Dispatch, easily one of mine. Okay, next, a game that I think really deserves to be here and that was part of this process of going back and replaying things and really thinking about what I valued this year. My second pick is Sunderfolk, the Dreamhaven cooperative sort of gloomhaven-like that
I played a fair chunk of, but not a ton. But I just found myself thinking about it so much throughout the year and wanting to come back to it with my tabletop group, with the friends that I played it with, and just being really impressed by this game. So Sunderfolk was made by Dreamhaven. This is spent, you know, a bunch of ex Blizzard people. It has that Blizzard polish. And to explain it really quickly, because I'm guessing a lot of people who are listening haven't played it, it's kind of like a gloomhaven game where it's a role-playing game where you go do dungeon crawls cooperatively with your team and then you also go back to town and you do some role-playing and like party optimization and make some decisions and then you go back into the town. So it's kind of those two modes. And you play the whole game with your phone.
So it's a video game that runs on a console or on a computer, but because you have your friends over and each of you is controlling a character, you control it with your phone. And there's not a lot of real-time controls, though you can. You can like move a mouse cursor around with your phone. Most of what you're doing is like picking your turn and playing cards and kind of coordinating with one another to make your moves.
A helpful comparison might be Jackbox, which also uses the phone as a controller.
I think a lot of people were confused when this was first announced that it was a mobile game, but no, it's that the phone is your controller.
Correct. The phone is your controller. And it's nice because you can play with four friends very easily, even if you don't have four controllers. And I would say it's like an evolution on what Jackbox does because I believe the phone talks directly to the game system. Like it gets on your Wi-Fi rather than going through a website, which allows for a much lower latency play experience. Experience and honestly, like for us at least on my home internet, an incredibly polished and remarkably cool one. And part of the reason that I love this game was because it was new. I, I mean, I have played Jackbox games and those are fun. But this is different and it was really slick, but also I just think it's so cool. And a lot of my games actually wound up being co-op, like couch co-op games where you sit in a room and play together.
And like, I think that's a really great thing that video games offer that kind of, it's like a new little sub trend that stands so far apart from like, a lot of things that video games are doing that I don't like, including all the gambling stuff, the weird free to play crap, the like, the feeling of like sloppification that's happening to a lot of video games. Like this beautifully polished, innovative, interesting couch co-op role playing game. I just thought it was so cool. Like I, I know it didn't sell well. I know that Dreamhaven is not happy with how either of their two games they've launched this, this year did. That makes me sad because I think this game is so cool. And it's just rare these days that I see, that I play a game where I'm like, I've never really done this before. This is a new thing.
Even though it's remixing, you know, a lot of, in some cases, very old gaming ideas, like from tabletop gaming. So, Sunderfolk is my second pick.
So I think that like, I don't know, not to get in too much into the business and the marketing of it all, but looking at Sunderfolk and having played a bit of it. The thing that really hurts it, I think, is that the characters are all these just kind of like, not generic, but kind of boring looking animal, bears and geckos and whatnot, as opposed to the Blizzard style, or at least the Overwatch style, like, characters that you can really sink your teeth into and get to know and talk about on social media and stuff. I think if this game had had. Stronger cast than it might have done a lot better overall.
I've thought about that. I mean, it was my complaint, or it's my one criticism, I suppose, is that the world and the story are like not, didn't stand out to me and really make me want to come back. At the same time, like, the hook of the game is both its strength and its weakness, right? The fact that you need to have your friends over to play. And even though we really liked it, it's been hard for me and my tabletop group to carve out time to play this. And we, like, really tried to do that. So I think that was working against it, too, that it's pretty niche in terms of who wants it. It's just that that audience deserves a game like this. And it really is a very cool example of one. Okay, so, moving on to my next longest game title, I have a fair, I have a lot of confidence that this is gonna be, at least
on one of your lists, Blueprints.
Ah, of course.
It's all three, baby. We all picked this one.
Come on.
This would have been pretty shocking if it had been both of your lists. So yeah, I've talked a lot, Blueprints, let's talk about it a little bit.
Yeah, I think what's appealing for me about this game, or what's really made this game stuck with me, is that it's kind of, it's like a strategy game that's hiding a puzzle game, that's hiding a massive story and world and lore, like a novel's worth. And I just think uncovering that, and then, still to this day, I think about that story and the betrayal and the zealous, and the zealots, the political zealots, and learning to let go, and also the, like, realms full of giant turtles and zeppelins and all this stuff that's really just like underneath that you really have to play a lot to get to beyond the concept of like, oh, I'm gonna draft these rooms here and try to solve these basic puzzles. That, to me, is what really stood out about this game.
Yeah, I agree with all that, but I also really love how the game Makes you, kind of forces you to unpack your expectations every time you go in to play it. And we talked a lot about the RNG of the game and the frustrations of that. And I feel like I was subject to worse RNG than your average player.
Oh, yeah, that's right.
I was cursed. But I, but I actually found that experience really cool. And I, I've looked back on it a lot this year and thought about it a lot and how cool it was and how I felt like I knew the mansion so well and knew so much about what was happening by the time I got to the first of multiple endings, that that was a really cool experience to me, too. And I think it's really striking that the game is so effective at telling that story and having so many mysteries that you can still solve even when you aren't quote unquote, getting to the end or solving maybe the puzzle that you started a run planning to solve. And just having to undo that mindset repeatedly while playing, I think was good for me, almost
like a mindfulness exercise or something. I, I really liked forcing my brain to not be gamered, basically, and not be like, okay, I'm heading into this run and I'm gonna do this, this, and this. It's like, boot prints does not care. It does not care what you think you're going to do today. You are at the mansion's whims and you're just gonna see what happens.
That's funny. Yeah, I think that something that I liked about the game was actually the period of it where I was really playing the game part, which is a little later and when I'd really mastered, you know, I had kind of, I had it so that I always got, let's see if I can remember the names of the rooms, the studio, and I always had a bunch of gems at the beginning, especially when I was like using the vault and some other, you know, ways of saving gems for the next day. The studio then, which would let me reroll. And then I'd also worked out my, like, the commonality of rooms that I needed.
The greenhouse, I think. Does that?
Is that the green? Or no, the? Conservatory. Conservatory.
Yeah.
Using the conservatory to do that. So I basically had like gained the house to the point where?
You were the master of Mount Holly.
Exactly. Like what you were saying, Matty, was then no longer the case. And so then it was incredibly fun to just wring everything I could out of it and solve all the last little puzzles and feel like I had control over my destiny. That was when I was just super cruising on the game. And then, yeah, to echo what you said, Jason, I think. The fact that this story, that this world forces you to really learn it on your own, to study, you know, background drawings in order to understand what the mode of transport was, and like to figure out where each of the nations was located and what their history was, like, that just forges such a relationship with it, in my imagination, in a way that books really can do, because you have to picture things as you read the
book. And then actually, in the way that like fan communities almost do, like, if you read a book and then you go onto the fan forums and you're like talking with people about it, and sharing your theories, and doing a bunch of sort of lore spelunking, that's when you start to do that same thing. You start to build that same relationship. The way that people build relationships with Dark Souls, or with Silk Song, you know, by going and watching videos and then debating about what one thing means or another, like, doing that work, like, actually, really enriches the whole experiences, the experience for me. So that, I think, was like a remarkable thing about this game. In addition to just everything else, and then I'll also mention the music. I mean, this game is like a bass
clarinet solo. Trigg and Gus's music is so freaking cool. And I think that was a really bold choice to go with this really atmospheric and sparse jazz for the soundtrack. It just doesn't sound like any other game. And it's one more thing, I think, that Tonda, the Tondaross, the game's creator, just brought to it. He was, he's a visionary. He has a very strong idea. It's not like any other game. It's its own thing. And it's a masterpiece. It's an incredible game.
Fun fact, you guys might remember this, but he told me, back in April, when the game came out, he told me for a Bloomberg interview that he spent about the first four years, most of the game was finished, or really all of the base game was finished. And then he spent the next four years just adding more and more stuff. So all the stuff you find in the depths of the games, from like, the sanctum keys, to everything that comes after, the, the blue doors, everything that was just all added, because he just kept going and going and going.
Some similarities to, to Silk Song, right? Some, some similarities to that, like, well, I'm having fun. Let's just, let's keep this thing rolling and see what happens.
He told me recently that he related to the story I wrote about Team Cherry, yeah.
Hmm, interesting. I wonder if that game will make any difference. I wonder. I wonder if it'll make any difference. It's hard to say. Okay, I'm gonna keep moving. This next one, I think, is gonna be just mine, and that is Split Fiction, another co-op game that I absolutely loved. I played through this with my good friend Dan, who lives in Massachusetts. We played the whole thing online. And this was my first time playing all the way through one of these hazelite games. I guess that's not true. This is my first time in a while doing that, because I did play through A Way Out with Emily, which was pretty fun. This was much more fun. And one of the reasons is actually that Dan is more familiar with video games, and these hazelite games are quite difficult and require quite a bit of you.
And playing through It Takes Two with Emily was a little bit more of that kind of helping your significant other along through some fairly difficult sections that you really have to get through, like that require kind of aiming a gun and shooting, you know, or steering a car, or like doing things that are a little harder for people who don't play a lot of video games. So Split Fiction is certainly designed for people who play video games. It is quite difficult at times. Then again, I found the difficulty to never actually be as hard as it seemed. Like, if a boss killed us once, we always got it the second time, so we never got too frustrated. And really, it was partly a wonderful experience, just because I miss my friend Dan. We used to live in the same city. Then he went and betrayed me and moved across the whole country to stupid Massachusetts. Who even lives there? No one, I think.
And so it was just nice to, you know, meet with him regularly and have this thing to do. But also, I think this game is just incredible. It's so funny. It's so full of spirit and joy and inventiveness. They're constantly trying to blow your mind. Joseph Ferris, the director, and really everyone working at the studio clearly are just like taking pleasure in showing you something you've never seen before or surprising you. The game shifts modes every like 15 minutes, and the finale is just gobsmacking. It's so freaking cool. Like, it's so, I again will not describe it, just in case anyone hasn't played it, because realizing what they're doing and then watching it all take place in front of you is just like, it's showstopping.
It's really incredible stuff. So I'm really excited for this studio, just that they exist. This game is super cool. It was easily one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year.
Makes sense.
It's interesting how this game is kind of also cracked out beyond gamers in my experience, or at least the Joseph Faris games, the Hazel Light games do in general. Like, my trainer at the gym, like, played It Takes Two, and now is playing this.
Nice.
And he doesn't play anything else. It's just, I just found that to be interesting.
I could see that. I mean, it's, they're really special. They're really special games. And it's, and it's an experience that you share with another person, and that makes it really cool. You know what? I think that maybe this whole AI thing is like going in the wrong direction, and actually what we really need are to interact with more people.
What?
Just gonna throw that out there. I still thought I had right now.
Controversial. Hot take.
I know. I've never thought that before. But actually, maybe like, real people and doing things with them is like, that's where it's at. That's where, that's where the future is. Okay, next game is another game that I couldn't stop thinking about and kind of kept coming back to, and wound up putting on this list because it deserves to be here. And that game is News Tower. Did this make either of your lists?
It didn't, but, oh, I totally get it. I, wow, yeah. There are so many good games this year. It's, it's like gonna overwhelm me this whole episode. How you two are gonna have games I loved on your list that I couldn't fit on mine.
Yeah, I think that will be true for me as well. Yeah, this game, you know, there were, there were a couple of the big, the big Sony open world games that were at this name-length point in the list. That's why they, they had to come or go, and they would have made for a more pleasing-looking list, Ghost of Yotay, or actually Death Stranding 2.
Which really should be how you decide this, is to be the aesthetics of the list.
It does the list itself look good. Yeah.
You joke, but sometimes I'm taking a game off, and I'm like, oh, but it makes the list look so good.
Well, at least News Tower's a great game, so I think it makes a lot of sense.
News Tower is a great game. It was Maddie's One More Thing recently, but I, I jumped in and talked about it some as well. This is a newspaper simulator. You start in the 1930s. You are dispatching reporters. You're managing your page layouts and where to place what. You're deciding what to cover. You're trying to appease special interest groups all The while New Cool Collective, the Dutch jazz group, is playing really great jazz in your ears. And it's such a great game. Like, the more I play, I just, every time I play it, I'm just very, I find it very pleasing. It gets quite challenging and complicated as you're really trying to keep up. And I think that's like a neat feeling. And then the overlap with, you know, this world that the three of us come from, the world of journalism, is just so neat. In the 1930s, just like them.
Yeah, we all are time travelers.
When especially the history of it, that, given that I've spent so much time, I mentioned the Gilded Age, I've really been enjoying that show. And then also the Death by Lightning, which is set in the same time period, the sort of 1880s. This is not that long after that, even though that 40 years was a massive 40 years, just in terms of technical innovation. And like, it's just a really, it's really cool to be back at this time period, like, to be going back to closer to that turn of the century time period at the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th. And so it is really cool historically. And then, Matty, you mentioned this, but the fact that all of the news stories are like real things that happened. And it kind of, it's like, a little abstracted, but you do feel
yourself sort of moving through this time period. It's really cool. I mean, it's a very common thing that as you get older, you just get more into history. But it's, it's happening to me. I'm, I'm an unc who loves history. That's just, that's just my fate, and I'm embracing it. So I really loved News Tower. That is my next game. All right, I will keep going. Next up, Donkey Kong Bonanza. Either of you got this one?
No.
This is very close to being on my list, but did not make it.
It's so good. We're gonna keep saying that.
Yeah, I had a feeling just from the way that you two talked about it, and I know that I played a lot more of it. This is yet again, another co-op game. This was a game that I really loved because Emily and I played through the whole thing together. And this game gave my, my wonderful wife, who is good at many, many things, but is not great at video games, something super fun to do and was a great game for us to play together. So I think that I could see the co-op in this game actually ruining it for some people who want to have a little bit more of a focused experience. I've mentioned it before, but in this game, of course, the main player plays DK, Donkey Kong, and does all the punching and destruction and puzzle solving and platforming. The other player controls Pauline, who just sits on his shoulder and is essentially like a shoulder turret that launches, just rains destruction on the world.
And so if you want, and you're playing the co-op character, you can begin just mashing buttons and like blow a crater the size of a moon into whatever you're doing. You can destroy bosses in seconds like, and it kind of changes the game significantly. But for us, it made it actually very, very fun. So I just loved playing through this. We're very close to the end. We just, for a long period, we'd just be like, well, let's play some Donkey Kong. And then we would just kind of crash through it for a while and destroy things. It's a really inventive game. It is constantly introducing new ideas. Back in our triple play, we talked about this, where the move set that DK and Pauline have is fairly limited, but the world is so interesting and they've designed so many types of challenges and new abilities into the world.
You know, you'll break a, you'll grab a chunk of the earth, but when you hold that chunk of the earth, it makes you fly. And then suddenly the whole level changes because now you have this ability to fly based on one part of the world that you can pick up. And there are a lot of things like that. So this is just like Nintendo at their best. It's such a great game. It was the most fun I had with the Switch 2 this year and I loved it.
Yeah, just one, one quick thought. I think I mentioned this on the show before, but like the thing that I think held me from, back from putting this on my list is just the lack of challenge. It just is, is, it really makes it feel like you're kind of going through the motions, as fun as it is to smash everything to pieces.
I get the co-op angle though for you, Kirk. Like that really changes the game.
Yeah. Yeah, I found the challenge to be mostly located in the challenge rooms, those side rooms, the shrines, as you call them, I think, Jason. And like, there are a ton of those, especially if you go back and try to do them all. And they're really cool. I mean, you know, you'll, you'll try to get three bananas and. You know, one of these challenge rooms and you'll easily find two, but the third one winds up being this really crazy platforming challenge and kind of just like imagination challenge where you have to think, well, where the hell could it possibly be? I've gone through this whole room three times. And then you realize like, what if, oh, and then you punch through the, you know, floor. Like it's usually built around the destruction mechanic where you're like destroying this platforming level. So there's a lot of creative
challenge in those areas. And that's kind of where I found it. And then, right, like you said, for the most part, I was just having a lot of fun. Like we were just having a good time destroying the world together. But yeah, I could see that. Okay. Next game. Fairly confident this is going to be on one or both of your lists. Hollow Knight Silksong.
Yeah, you know it. It's on all our lists.
One of you talk, I've been talking a lot.
Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think for me, the thing, there's like, okay, there's a moment that made me feel like, oh my God, we're playing one of the best games of all time, which is if you're in the hunter's march area and you kill one of the giant warrior ant things, and then you just stand there, a trail of small ants will grab the warrior ant's body and just carry it away. And there's no reason for this to be in the game. Like there's no gameplay attached to that. It's just happening in the background. You will probably miss it if you're not slowing down and just soaking in the world. But it's the type of thing that makes you feel like, wow, this is a game, this is a world that you're exploring that just exists with or without you. It plays by its own rules. It has its
own languages and thoughts and mechanics and currencies. And I think that is just kind of the theme of everything in this game, from the difficulty to the way you move, to the things you discover and uncover. And a lot of people complain that it's punishing, but to me, that is just, it goes hand in hand with the joy of it all, with that feeling of like exploring this unforgiving world. And Hornet has, the main character has this great line late in the game where she talks about how this strange land, I'm paraphrasing, but she talks about how this strange land is unforgiving and dangerous, but she's learned to appreciate some of its beauties. Or she's discovered its beauties. And that to me is Silksong in a nutshell. It's a really special game.
Yeah, I, the character moments in this game really make it wonderful and something that elevates it above Hollow Knight, for me at least, which famously I've never completed and maybe someday will, but I just, this one was just a joy to get through, as difficult as it is for, when it comes to playing a difficult game for me, and I think for most people, you've got to really enjoy spending a lot of time in the world and even enjoy the repetition of seeing the same environments, the same enemies over and over again. They have to really be fascinating to you, and they are here. They're visually fascinating. And also, the characters are fascinating as well, to talk to and to just be around.
They're weird little guys, as we say. They're fun to look at, they're fun to watch, and they're, they're just cool to hang around. And Hornet as a character, I love her, she's wonderful, and I, entertaining and comedic at times, and dry, and I just, I don't know, that really made the game for me and made me just love spending more and more and more time in it.
Yeah, I'll just second everything that you both said and add, I guess, that I also really liked all the set pieces in this game. That was something that Hollow Knight didn't do as much of, and there were just these sequences in this game where, you know, Mount Fae comes to mind as a somewhat earlier one, where you have to climb this mountain. And it basically becomes Celeste for, you know, the, the duration that you spend trying to climb this mountain. They introduce this new mechanic of the cold, you can only be out in the air for so long. It's really hard at times and really maddening, but there's this feeling of trust that I developed because I knew I could do it. And I knew that it was arranged such that I would make it to the next warm area, you know, and be safe
just in time, and probably just in time to not lose any health to the cold if I could just do it perfectly. So I trusted that that was what was required of me and that I wasn't missing anything. And that gave me the space to really practice it and get better and better at it. And I just found that so pleasing, along with, of course, Chris Larkin's music, building the music. On Mount Fay is this like grand epic, you know, slow burn. But as you get higher and higher, it gets more and more exciting. The wind is blowing harder. You're climbing this mountain and you're, you know, you're working your way up and it gets so, you get so pumped. And then you finally get to the top and you get a really incredible reward that feels worth it.
And like that kind of design, like that standalone set piece design is something that, I mean, is so hard to do and must have taken them a lot of work to get it right. But also is something that Hollow Knight didn't do quite as much of, where there, there's like a standalone set piece sequence that feels like a little story that you get told. Silksong does it like 10 times or something, in addition to all the other things that it does well. And yeah, I agree. I mean, this is a game like no other, one of the greatest ever made. I loved it so much. I'm excited to replay it in two or three years and probably, hopefully remember how to not be terrible at it. So that I don't suffer my way through act three. But yeah, a great game. All right, I've got three more.
Next up, The Root Trees Are Dead. Is this on either of your lists?
I think it would be if I had managed to play it in time.
Oh, Matty didn't play it.
I, I, I installed it. I just didn't quite get to it. I'll let you guys know next week what I think.
It's just next week.
I tried to play a lot of games, okay?
No, I get it. I get it. I was also scrambling this week to like pick up a few final, final stragglers. Yeah, The Root Trees Are Dead. It's a game, it's a deductive game. You are in charge of genealogy. You have to put together a family tree of this wealthy candy empire family called The Root Trees. And it's sort of Obra Dinn's style in that you have to figure out who each person is based on their picture and a name and then like an occupation. And it also, just like Obra Dinn, it dings every three or so and it tells you that you got them right, locks them in. And you do so by exploring the internet, reading magazine articles and like conspiracy theory blogs and all sorts of other good stuff, fan sites and just kind of using.
Logical deduction, the game trusts you to be able to figure out the mystery without holding your hand too much. And it's super fun. There's a lot of just deep stuff in there, good stuff in there. And then on top of that, this kind of, so this, the version released this year is a remastered version of a free HIO game. And this one also includes a whole nother kind of pack of mysteries called Root Tree Mania, which is set six months after the root trees are dead and it's got a whole bunch more. It's also very hard. And it's just good stuff. I mean, this is one of those, as a sicko for logic puzzles, I just, just could not stop playing this game.
Yeah, I loved this game as well. And really, you know, I, I kept coming back to it throughout the year. I still haven't done Root Tree Mania, the
Oh, man, you're in for a treat.
I'm excited. No, I certainly will. I definitely will. Because I came back to this just to kind of sit in that room again. You're in the game, you're kind of in a room. And in the room is your computer and the little genealogy board, you know, a couple of other things, but you're basically just on your computer. And I was
Just like us.
Just struck by, exactly. Well, by how well this game simulates that work, like the work of, I guess investigative reporting or like investigation, where you do a lot of it on the internet. And the way that this, this in-game internet works is so fascinating and fun. I mean, it really is remarkable how cool of an experience that is. And again, how different it feels. There are other games that have been made that take place within an operating system. There are other in, you know, in-game internets that exist. And they're always pretty fun. I'm thinking of Cyberpunk 2077, for whatever reason, where you can get on computers in that game and like get on the internet. Or I suppose Grand Theft Auto always lets you do this as well.
And like, that's a really cool thing for a game to do. But it is always like a bonus thing in those games, because those are big, open world games where they're just adding an internet to make the world feel more alive. Where in this case, it's the whole game and building a game around an internet that you can like functionally search through while allowing for like different kinds of websites, you know, publications that you can download, like old news sites that you can look up, other reporters who are out there like writing stories about news events. It happened and like the way that it's all arranged on these keywords so that you can like film this whole kind of like or create this whole like mind matrix where you're like holding it all together. As it starts to come together, it's just a really amazing thing and similar to Blueprints, because you do it yourself.
You just wind up knowing everything about this weird family and like they are an interesting family and they have some interesting secrets, but it's they're kind of just a family, like they're just a candy family. And yet I found myself so like, I'm like, oh, that motherfucker.
You know, the black sheep, you know, cousin comes back into the picture.
And it was just incredibly fun and well put together and like, yeah, I just want more games like this because it was so neat.
Um, two quick thoughts. One is that, uh, unlike actual journalism, when you play something like this, you know that you're gonna have a neat conclusion. You know, you're gonna be able to find all the answers. So that makes it all the more satisfying.
That's true.
In real life.
You could just go down the hall and be like, well, this isn't a story at all.
Yeah, exactly. You could spend months on something and then it just dies, um, for all sorts of reasons. And then the second thought is the more I play games like this, Kirk, and the way you're describing where you're just kind of because you were, you were figuring out the story yourself, piecing it together yourself. You just kind of, it gets burned into your head. Um, the more I just lose my tolerance and patience for the games that just talk at you with cinematics and endless cutscenes. Um, in, in the kind of traditional AAA style, and I think my, my list certainly reflects that. But also I just think games are capable of storytelling in such better ways than what we've seen.
And games like, um, Blueprints and Richies and even Silk Song, just I think are really, um, just reflective of how good video game story, storytelling can work.
Yeah, you know, I agree with that. And actually, at the same time, my next pick does tell stories in a more cinematic way and with more talking. But it also is one of the most remarkable narrative video games I've ever played, and that is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. Uh, this game does have very long cutscenes, as we mentioned in the recent bonus episode that I recorded with, uh, some. Special guests, you know, it's like more writing than maybe any game ever. Every conversation is three times as long as you would expect. There's so much dialogue.
And any game ever, what about what I assume will be the next game on your list?
Okay, it actually might have more writing than that purely in terms of volume. And but, okay, that's fair. The next game on my list also has a lot of writing. But I do think that Kingdom Come is doing something fascinating and unusual. And this is something that, you know, I, so I talked about with Liam McIntyre, Tom Bissell, and Matthew Burns in a bonus episode where we talked all about this. And it was a very fun conversation. And like, there is a reason that people like those three, and in particular, Tom Bissell, of course, a wonderful writer who has been writing video games now for many years. You know, on that episode, he was talking about how like, he finds very little joy in narrative video games at all anymore.
And this is the first one that has made him feel anything in like 10 years or something. And how the narrative of it, like the choices they made, the boldness of the storytelling, the moral chewiness, I think maybe was the term that he used. Like the morality and the verisimilitude of this world, it just allows them to do something with storytelling that you very rarely see, especially in this kind of otherwise, you know, AAA looking, open world, action, role playing game. And that makes it remarkable. And just the historical elements of it, again, to unk out again, this is like a game that has made me fascinated.
You're really sounding hip today, Craig.
I love it. I love it.
It, this is a game that in the early, wait, I'm sounding unhip. I'm old.
Yeah, but you know the new terms for how unhip we all are.
That's the most unk fucking thing you can possibly do is to know the word for how uncool you are.
No, because if you were really
I see, I get what you're saying.
Square.
Right, right, that's true, yeah. I'm not a hip, I'm not a hep cat, I'm a square.
Exactly. Cool beans.
Okay, so the history part of this, you know, becoming fascinated by the, um, by the like Holy Roman Empire and this, this whole kind of, you know, end of, or beginning of the 15th century, like this period of time, this place in Bohemia, in kind of Central Europe, it's so interesting, it's so cool. Um, and I just, I love this game. I'm still playing it. I, you know, took a break to play a bunch of other stuff, but like, I can't wait to get back to it, I can't wait to finish it, to play the new DLC. I'm gonna devour all of it, it will just take many, many, many hours. So, to my final game, speaking of, I'm gonna devour it, it will just take many, many, many hours. Just recently, my one more thing, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, another one of the most remarkable narrative games I've ever played, and a game I can't stop thinking about.
Also on my list, Kirk, you and I have five in common, that might be the most.
Wow. That might be the most, yeah, that might be the most crossover. Well, that's cool, that's, uh, that, uh, that makes sense, you know, we do make a video game podcast together, we have some similar tastes.
But it sounds like Matty only has two of the, so we only have two that the three of us all have.
It's true, there's only two games that the three of us all liked this year.
But that makes sense, they're the two I would've thought they'd be.
Yeah, Blueprints and Silksong, that tracks, they're definitely the two games I'd say, yeah, that it felt like TripleClick liked the most, um, of the year. Anyways, I don't know, I just did a really long one more thing about this, this is a totally amazing visual novel slash tactics game with a story that like becomes more and more crazy the more you play it, that eventually becomes maybe the most ambitious video game story I've ever seen, right alongside Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. I don't know, Jason, you've, you've played like all of it, you've gotten every ending, what are your thoughts on this game?
Yeah, my count is 166 hours, I've gotten every single ending.
Not surprised it took that long.
Someone asked me the other day, is this game good? And I was just like, it's complicated.
I don't ask me that.
Yeah, it's like, I don't know, what's a good comparison? It's like, would you say that like, a month of your life is good? Or would you say it's got ups and downs and good and bad and moments of triumph and moments of boredom? And it's just kind of, it's just, it is, it just exists. It's yes, yes to all of the above. It's good and dull and boring and fascinating and got highs and lows and ups and downs. Yeah, it's, it's quite an experience. I, I think you, if you are going to see it all, you have to be willing to put up with some bad moments. Some of the roots in that second portion of the game are pretty bad and certainly tedious at best. And others are incredible and just like sights to be seen.
And the overall picture, since you're spending all this time with these, the same group of characters, you just feel like you're hanging out with your buds the whole time. So like even the parts that are boring, you just get to hang out with these characters you like. So that makes it work, but yeah, it's, it's quite something. There's really never been any game like it to that level of, of scale and scope in terms of narrative. It's just never been done before. It's pretty wild.
Yeah, I was talking with another friend of mine who's played through it and seen every, every ending. And he was saying, basically, if you start to get onto a track where it feels like you can see where it's going and it's kind of a throwaway or it's dumb, he's like, just stop and then go back to whatever branch and keep going. He's like, there's so much of it that you can just happily do that and you won't wind up feeling like you've missed anything, which it sounds like that is kind of the way to go. That's, that's how I've been sort of thinking of it.
Yeah, I, I agree with that take.
Yeah, like let the complete, your inner completist go. So anyways, that's my entire list. That is.
Cool. You want to read it again real quick and then I'll go?
Yeah, I'll go real quick. This is 10 games that I loved this year. Dispatch, Sunderfolk, Blueprints, Split Fiction, News Tower, Donkey Kong Bonanza, Hollow Knight: Silksong, The Root Trees Are Dead, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.
Cool. So, yeah, so on my list, the ones that we have in common that we talked about, that I'll just skip over are Blueprints, Root Trees Are Dead, Silksong, Dispatch, Hundred Line, Last Defense Academy. So I'll read my other five. First and foremost, one rule that I had to make this list possible is I was like, okay, no remakes or remasters. So that rules out Final Fantasy Tactics. That rules out Trails in the Sky.
I didn't have that rule. A little spoiler for what's gonna be on my list.
Yeah, I figured you would, but I was just like, you know what?
I get it. I get it.
But you also, Matty, you're playing this game for the first time, whereas I played it in the 90s when it came out. So for me, it makes a little more sense to be like, this can't be in my gaming year list. This year, Trails in the Sky also might have made the cut if not for this rule. Lunar and Sweet Code in also great games, great compilations of remasters that came out earlier this year. So with all that said, I will read my new, my fresh new five. Avowed. Avowed is a game that, an RPG made by Obsidian, that I think I loved more than most. Actually, I feel like that game has been underappreciated this year, underrated this year. A lot of people refer to it as, quote, "mid," which I think is some horseshit.
I disagree with that. Yeah, I went back to this a little bit and I agree. It's actually, it's pretty great.
Yeah, I think it's a fantastic role-playing game. I love everything about it. The story, the writing, the characters, the way that the narrative branches, the visuals, the art direction. It looks fantastic. It's got a cool gear system. It's got really crunchy combat that I really enjoyed, kind of an upgrade over Skyrim and other first-person RPGs. But really, what stands out for me in this game is the exploration and the parkour and the way that, like, every single zone just has all these different side paths that you can wander down and they'll be circuitous and twisty and lead you around. Round and up and down and and in circles. And then eventually you'll find some cool piece of treasure and then it'll lead you back to the beginning. And you can go and do it again.
And I just had so much fun doing that over and over again that I just I I just enjoyed the heck out of this game. Combine that with like the big picture stuff, the narrative and the the branches you can go on. Like if you find this one hidden camp in the second area, you can prevent an entire major story beat from happening. It really felt to me just like exactly what I wanted in this kind of role playing game. And so, yeah, for me, it was it was an easy entry to this list. Next up, I have Nuri Kabe World, which is a game I talked about a couple of months ago. You might remember it's Minesweeper meets Sudoku is how I would describe it.
It's a serene puzzle game where you are kind of forging these islands out of water by by creating water paths between them. And you have to do it based on these predetermined rule sets. Each island has to be a number of squares based on the number that's near it. And it also you can't have four squares of water like making a square shape. Otherwise you'll get these whirlpools and that's not allowed. And basically you just follow these rules to solve these puzzles. And it's got that perfect balance of being challenging enough that it's never boring, but also not so challenging that it doesn't feel relaxing to play. So it's got it's got that good sweet spot where you can just play it to unwind after work, after a stressful day.
And you'll have a good time and it'll get your brain moving, but not too much. Kind of like a crossword puzzle, like a good like a Monday or Tuesday crossword puzzle of the New York Times. Where it's not not too tough. You just play it before bed, have a good time, play it for 15 minutes, unwind, really, really good stuff during Kabe World.
Uh, next up, and stop me, by the way, I assume that these games are not on either ruthless, your list, but stop me if you, if it is.
No, I'd forgotten that one, but I did mean to play it. I think Emily would love Near a Copy World, too. It seems like her jam.
Next up, I have the Seance of Blake Manor.
That's on my list.
Oh, cool. All right, Maddie and I overlap there. This is a game, we talked about this a few weeks ago on a triple play. It's a game in which it's set in 1897 Ireland, and it's set in a world in which spooky things exist. Horror is very much real. The Irish mythology is all, all good stuff, all real stuff. And you play as a detective who is sent to this manor, this gathering of psychics at a manor who are about to put on a seance. And you are told that this woman, Evelyn Dean, has disappeared and you have to find out what happened to her. And you do that by investigating the manor and interrogating people and finding out what everyone's deal is along the way. It's just a really good story and really fun to investigate and find out all these
mysteries, but I think what it has going for it the most is the vibes. No other game is, as far as I have seen, is, is set in this kind, like, has this kind of setting, this specific a location and piece of history and mythology and the way it teaches people like me who don't know anything about Irish history or mythology, the way it taught me all these terms and interesting ideas, I thought was super cool and I just really enjoyed it. Maddie, you want to talk about your, your thoughts, too?
Totally agree with everything you said. I also know we talked about the stress of the time mechanic on this show, and that actually ended up being something I really liked about the game when I looked back on it for this list. It's challenging in certain ways, but it also forces you to think like a detective in a way that you might not expect, given that, as we've described, this game is pretty heavy on the visual novel side. It does a lot of the detecting for you. The lead investigator that you're playing as has a notebook that gets filled out automatically. You don't need to take your own notes. So all of that is kind of a distinction from something like Blueprints, where you really need to keep track of things yourself. But the time mechanic reminded me that if I were really investigating all these people,
I wouldn't have that much time to do it in. And I really enjoyed thinking about it that way and kind of role playing as somebody who only has an hour to look through everything in someone's room and had to really look at each object and be like, okay, like, what actually looks important in here? I thought that was really clever. And I just also, like you, loved the story and loved the vibes. It spoke to my inner Goth, Goth teen girl. It just really impeccable. The ghosts, incredible stuff.
Yeah, especially for the conversations. Like, it's tempting in an adventure game to just ask everyone about everything. But in this game, if you do that, you lose.
You can't. Yeah.
So you really have to decide like, okay, this thing would be related to this person, and therefore I'm going to ask about that as opposed to all these other random topics, which probably won't get me anywhere.
I'm gonna, can I just add? I really liked this game as well. And I did finish it after our episode. And
Did you min-max the rest of it?
It went great. I had been a little hung up on the time thing. And I still find some of it like a little fiddly, whatever. But like, I really liked the story overall. And I, and just as an update for listeners, there were definitely like huge chunks of time where I would just wait and like burn like three hours because I was so ahead of the game because I had been playing so efficiently. So that was, that was pretty funny. Like, I believe you both when you were saying, you don't have to worry about the time that much. But it was just funny to see it, to see it play out. And yeah, I enjoyed it. Like, the whole build up to the ending and to the seance and like, you know, playing it all out and solving all the mysteries. And it was really, a really neat game.
Next on my list, I have two more to go. Next up, Strange Jigsaws. Did either of you guys play this? It was my one more thing a few weeks ago?
I haven't yet. But I also have it downloaded.
This is a weird one. I'm not gonna say anything about this game other than playing it is like getting a tour inside the head of a mad genius.
It's, it's pretty wild. It's, it's short and sweet and it's just a, I would say a left curve of a video game to be on this list. It's unlike any of the other games on here. Well, I guess it's, it's a puzzle game. So I mean, if you like puzzle games as I do, then like it. But yeah, people should just, just check it out. Don't, don't read anything about it. Even the trailer is just like, if you watch the trailer, which you guys should watch, it's very funny because it's just like, this is strange jigsaws. It's a game about strange jigsaws.
That's all you need to know. And then last, I have a game that I'm certain is on neither of your lists called Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time. I, at the beginning of the year, I would not have expected this to be on my list because it is very much in the genre of busy work games, games that have a lot of grinding and kind of menial tasks. In a soothing way, in a cozy way, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, games like that. But something about this one and the loops of it all just grabbed me. In Fantasy Life, you can play, you play as this character and you could switch between 14 different, what the game calls lives, which are classes or jobs. And some of them are combat, you're
a paladin, a mercenary, a hunter, whatever, fighting enemies. Some of them are harvesters. So you could be a woodcutter or a miner, chopping down trees or mining for ore. Or the third group is craftspeople. You are a tailor or an alchemist or a cook or a blacksmith and you are making stuff with all the resources you find. So it's just this very familiar, but very gracious, satisfying loop where you go and you kill things and you harvest for things and then you bring them home and you craft things with them and then you go out and you get, well, and then you craft things and turn it into better stuff for your character, better gear, better weapons, better tools. And then you go out and you do it some more faster and better. And then maybe you stop, you take some time and you go decorate your house.
Along the way, and the entire time you were doing dozens and dozens of side quests for people where you're helping them out with their problems and getting them stuff. And it's just a good time. It looks so good. It sounds so good. It's just so charming and cute. And I don't know, for some reason, again, not a huge fan of busy working games in general, but for some reason, this one has sunk its teeth into me. It's also perfect for second screening. I think I mentioned this back when I talked about it on the show, but it's perfect for playing while you're watching something, watching football, watching a movie with your significant other, whatever.
The Sopranos, maybe.
Yeah, exactly. There you go. Perfect. Just like Tony Soprano, you can have a mundane life full of grinding and crafting. And it's got just a lot of fun little mechanics, like even the little mini games that you have to play when you're cooking and crafting or chopping down trees, just are little, little blasts of fun. They're, they're just adorable and cute and very satisfying. So yeah, that's, that's my list. I'll read it one more time.
Yeah, read it down.
Blueprints, The Root Trees Are Dead, Silksong Dispatch, The Hundred Line, Last Defense Academy, Avowed, Nury Kabe World, The Sances of Blake Manor, Strange Jigsaws, and Fantasy Life, I, The Girl Who Steals Time. All right, Matty, you're up.
Good list.
Okay, it's my turn. I love how our lists are so us. And mine will be me to a T.
So just to review the three games I'm not gonna have to talk about are Blueprints, Hollow Knight Silksong, and The Sances of Blake Manor. Those three are on my list. But I've got seven games that aren't on U2's list. The first one is Citizen Sleeper 2, Starward Vector. Loved this game. Not sure U2 got around to it. I still really recommend it.
And it was the only, it was like the one. That it would have, because I loved the first game. It was easily one of my favorite games of that year. And I started and I was like, I just, it was that or the hundred line, and I had to commit to one or the other.
I understand. I wasn't trying to. I feel like that's been a lot of our list this year as well as us being like, listen, I might have put this on my list if I played
this one in particular. But tell us about it.
So Citizen Sleeper 2 is very much in keeping with Citizen Sleeper 1. You could play it and understand it just fine. It does a great job introducing its sci fi world, in my opinion. But it also just mimics everything I loved about 1 and then adds a few more strategy game mechanics that I also really enjoyed. So basically, this is a world where you're kind of playing as a robot that's been imbued with human consciousness, but you are also a slave and you're on the run. And you have to be constantly like moving and escaping from your original captors. And so you have this kind of stress, these stress mechanics, timed stress mechanics. And you also have to like worry about fueling
yourself because you're a robot, not a person. And, and just kind of like keep track of your resources, as it were. And there's some sort of like mini game style mechanics for all of that, that I find very pleasing, despite that they're also slightly stressful. It's just the right mix for me. More importantly, though, this is almost entirely text. It's almost entirely just you reading a science fiction book. Citizen Sleeper 1, you are on a satellite, you meet all these, these ragtag characters, and you can choose to help them or not. And Citizen Sleeper 2, it adds in this mechanic where you can recruit people to join your ensemble cast, kind of like a cowboy bebop crew on your ship who live with you. And they have their own story arcs that play out. I thought that really
added something great to the game. I already loved Citizen Sleeper 1, the world, the stories, the characters, thought all those were great. This is even better, if anything, but it's just continuing on those same vibes I already loved. So really, this is a recommendation of both games. All right, continuing along. I put these in alphabetical order, by the way, in case you're wondering how I ordered these. The next one, Clair Obscure Expedition 33. I know this game's like a political talking point now. I really don't care about that at all.
How did that happen?
I don't know. And I don't even want to get into it. I, I, I'm sorry I even mentioned it. Hi.
No, it's such a good game. It almost made my list. It's so weird that it's become so charged. Cause it's like, it's very clear why people like it.
Get it. And that's, it's fine that I don't get it. Anyway, this was a year where I actually completed a lot of games, which I'm weirdly proud of. Like I, I beat the games on my list and
Maybe you had more free time.
Yeah, I don't know why that would be. So anyway, I really liked the ending of Clear Obscure. I've talked about it a few times. It's a really weird ending. It's pretty anti-player and meta. And I love stuff like that. Like I just love a game that just breaks the fourth wall and is like, maybe you were playing a game the whole time. Think about it. Like that's that kind of thing. I'm just so into. So even though I also already liked everything leading up to that point, the fact that there's an ending of which there are two that really leans on that, that pedal was just so my thing. So yeah, I, I really recommend this game. I, I would say, don't listen to anything anybody said about it. Just play it on your own. It's a fun RPG. It's got a really cool Dodge and
Perry mechanic, fun characters, great art style, beautiful music, really cool story.
Mimes. Yeah, baguettes.
It's got mimes in it. It's got baguettes. It's got a lot of French stuff. All right. Next up, Consume Me. This is a narrative game. Uh, it's got a small team, but mostly the narrative part of it is based on the real life of the lead developer Jenny Sia and the character in the game is like very much a representation of her as a teenager and then a college student struggling with disordered eating. And that is what the game is about is eating, having an eating disorder. And it kind of plays that for dark comedy a lot in the way that anybody who's experienced trauma can relate to, I think. And so it's like a really specific topic, which is part of why I'm
going into detail about that. Cause the game's not for everyone, but I really, really dug it. And I also wanted to speak to the ending because Jason, you said last week that some people didn't like it. And while I'm saying I like weird endings.
I haven't played the game, to be clear.
Yeah, I read a couple of articles about it because I was curious what people were saying about it. And I'm not going to spoil it, but I will say that as somebody who has kind of dealt with trauma and recovery, it's, it's not linear. And the end of the game makes that really clear that it doesn't have a satisfying ending. Like, it doesn't have some moment where the character wakes up and is like, oh, my God, am I engaging in harmful behaviors? And instead, it's like really circuitous and interesting. And I think ultimately is very satisfying at the end. And I was very pleased with it. But I get how if you wanted kind of like, a Lifetime movie version of the story, it's not going to be that. It's going to be a little more messy and complicated. And to me, that was a perfect way for the game to go. So I really recommend it. Also, just appreciated the dark humor throughout
in this game. It's, it's great. It's got like WarioWare style levels because she's basically doing something that can't be done all the time in her life and trying to live a perfect life. And it's impossible. Loved that.
All right, next up. So this is, this is another AAA game, folks. Death Stranding 2 on the Beach. I feel like this actually-
I'm glad this made your list.
Kind of, I just like the walking simulator, simulator parts of this game so much. And I will freely admit that the story of this game is very strange and that I would even say I have some problems with it. But I, I just loved so much of this game. And that is what brought me to completion on it, is the fact that exploring, packing my bag, going out into the world, putting up my little ladders, communicating with players on the, on the ghost internet in the game, like, all that stuff really worked for me. And I also-
Maddie, can I just say, brought me to completion on it? It's quite a way to phrase.
Yeah, I don't know. Whatever. It's not that sexual a game.
I wasn't gonna say anything.
It's actually like the most like asexual game of all time. So it's like, very funny. I would lean into the bit if I could, but it's Death Stranding 2, where like, everyone is a paper doll.
Mostly, you're standing in the rain. It's no Metal Gear Solid.
Yeah, like, I, I don't know. And so like, if anything, that's like, kind of the downside of the game, this is that there's not any sex in it. No, just kidding. Is that the, the characters never fully feel human. They feel like- Weird dolls who are kind of just standing around and, and that is, I realize a kind of a, just a trait of Hideo Gachima led games and it's comical at times, but I, I, I just like the walking simulator, simulator part. I think it's really strong and really effective. So I'll probably keep playing these if, if they keep making them.
Totally agree. Great game.
Next up, this is my, this is my enemies to lovers pick Elden Ring Night Rain specifically. The four player mod by Nexus Mod creator Yui, Y U I. That has been the savior of my Thursday night gamer night. And you know, eventually I was like, I actually like this game and I, I had to, I had to really divorce it from how much I love Elden Ring. Because it's a super different game tactically, spiritually, the way you get good at it and the mindset that you need to have to approach it is super different. It's way more like playing, almost like a Destiny strike, but you, you can't do the runbacks on bosses, basically.
I really had to break myself of that notion and I'm so used to doing like a run back on a boss in a, in a Souls like of any kind. That the fact that you have to have a really good run to see a boss one time at the end of a Night Rain run was so strange to me. But it's just, that's not how that game works. It's just not how it's designed. And I think the fact that some, like some of Kirk's entries, the fact that I had three people that I really enjoyed playing the game with, and that we so happened to fall into character classes that really worked for us and we ended up in a great team, has made the game way more fun. Also, it's frankly easier with four players. It's not how it's designed, but I do recommend it. It's really fun that way. All right.
Next up, not a surprise, Final Fantasy Tactics. I loved this game. This, this was-
I'm so happy that you loved it.
So, so fun for me. I, I really like strategy games and it's just been a while since I played a game that let me just fully go into, I'm gonna obsess about my little guys mode and I just, I don't know. I, I loved doing that. There are some really big difficulty spikes in this game that we talked about.
How far are you now?
I'm I'm at the Limberry Castle part and I'm then had to go back and level up my guys.
That's a tough one.
So right now I'm I'm leveling up my guys. Uh, I expect to beat it soon and I will say this is another good second screen game for me in terms of like, I'm gonna do some leveling and I'm just gonna make sure that everybody has the correct powers and abilities that I want them to have. And then at some other point, I'll like go back and play a story part of the game when I know I can actually pay attention to it and enjoy the story of the game, which is also really fun. So yeah, just all around, really appreciated playing this game from 1998, something like that, late 90s game that I had never played before. Love that there's a remake of it that is super accessible and that I could also exit the Y-Graff fight because I thought I was ready and I wasn't. So if I had been a child playing that, I would have been upset.
Well, I mean, the original version, you just had to make multiple saves, but a lot of people didn't know that and just would save over their last save.
Just so upsetting to imagine those people having to replay the entire game. But that wasn't me. I didn't have to do that because you can just flee that battle.
I'm so glad, even though this didn't make my list because of my role, I, this is one of my favorite games of all time. So I'm very happy that you
I get it.
That you've taken to it so much.
It's so fun. It's so fun. This is a commonality and taste that Jason and I have, so we're, I get that we're very united on this. All right. My last one was actually the game Keeper. I really enjoyed the entire time I played Keeper and that was part of what edged it out over some of the other games that I played this year. I thought it was the perfect length. I played it over two different play sessions, two different evenings of time. Beautiful design, no words, no dialogue. You're playing as a sentient lighthouse with a little cute bird friend exploring environmental puzzles. And I just really dig environmental puzzles, even if they're pretty simple, which they are in this game. But it's beautiful.
Music's great and I just, I just dug every minute of it and I can't say that for every game this year. So that's why it made it. So Keeper is. My final game.
Cool.
Nice. I'm glad that made the list. I loved this game as well. I haven't gone back to finish it, but it was definitely one I was, I wish I'd had enough time to go.
Yeah, super cool game. Matty, you want to read your whole list real quick?
Sure. So that list is Blueprints, Citizen Sleeper 2, Starward Vector, Clair Obscure, Expedition 33, Consume Me, Death Stranding 2 on the Beach, Elden Ring: Night Rain, Final Fantasy Tactics, Hollow Knight, Silk Song, Keeper, and The Sance of Blake Manor.
All right. Those are our games of the year. Good stuff. So only two games across all three of our lists, but also happened to be two. Yeah, I mean, two of the best games ever made.
Ever made.
Yeah, but I just mean also we have a huge diversity of great games and that's really neat, too. We got a lot to recommend.
And this year in particular, it really was a year for surprising, different, and like just a whole huge diversity of types of games that I played. And I think that a lot of people played.
Yeah, and I, I left also feeling like there are games that might have made the list if I had spent more time with them or played them sooner or not. Even Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, I've played a few hours of that and I'm very intrigued, just haven't had a chance to play a ton more, but could very well have made the list in another, another year that I would have more time to play it. Anyway, let's take a break and we'll be back with one more thing.
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And we are back and it's time for one more thing. I'm gonna go first. My one more thing was a game I played this week that came very close to making this list and that I think you both will really enjoy. So, a little bit of background real quick, is that at the beginning of the week, I was like, hmm, I wonder if there are any underappreciated gems that I would have really enjoyed that I missed this year. And so I went to a website called Thinky Games, which is a website that is really cool. It's about kind of thinky games, puzzle, puzzle games, narrative games, games that make you think. And they actually have a whole category called Metroid Brainia, a genre that we enjoy quite a bit on this podcast. And you can just kind of browse through and it's got everything from like the one, the classics,
blueprints and whatnot, to some little indie games that you've probably never heard of, including one I found on there that I thought looked pretty cool. And it is called Chrono Quartz, C-H-R-O-N-O-Q-U-A-R-T-Z, Chrono Quartz. And you look at this game and it's kind of like, it looks like an SNES style graphics, kind of a, almost reminds me of like Enter the Gungeon or like other kind of top down where you see your dude and he's moving around this world. That's got a lot of just kind of like cute pixelated, chunky graphics to it. And the concept is that when you start off the game... You can move for 10 turns in any direction.
A turn is like when you move from one screen to another, that counts as a turn. And then after 10 turns, you restart back to where you left off. And the way it works is you have to figure out how to kind of overcome these limitations. Maybe you will find the clues or the solutions to one puzzle in one quarter of the world. And then you can go back in time and then use your turns to go to another part of the world and solve the puzzle after that. Or maybe you will eventually get an ability that lets you keep objects even throughout time, even throughout these loops. And so when the loop ends, you go back to the beginning and you still have that object in place.
And so it works like a metroid brainia and that a lot of it is gated by knowledge. And it's really, really cool. And almost it's reminiscent of that game Minute, if you guys remember, where you had a minute to solve certain puzzles. Yeah, I liked that game. I like this one much better. This one is much cooler. The puzzles are genius, super brilliant, outside the box thinking, out of wildish in a lot of ways, not in terms of the emotional impact, but in terms of the way that you really have to think a lot about how you're doing things and then think in just a totally like, okay, I'm going to color outside the line here sort of way. It's really, really charming and cute and also just, just a blast to play through and to figure out and to solve.
And it's just so satisfying when you find a shortcut that was there the whole time and you're like, oh my God, I could have just entered this at any time if I had known about it, or I could have done this thing at any time if I had known about it. And then it's really just so intricately designed in the way it all comes together at the end and plays around with these loops in a really fun way. I don't want to spoil what, how you finish it and what happens at the end and how you get the quote unquote true ending, but it's really, really clever. And it's also got this really clever hint system where if you get stuck, you can ask for hints, but then it'll give you each, each part of the game, it'll give you hints in three. Sections, almost like those old LucasArts adventure hint books where it'll give you
one hint that is very vague and then a more specific one and then a more specific one after that. Like Root Trees kinda does. Yeah, Richard says that too, but one clever thing that this game does is it makes you wait like a minute before asking for another hint. So like you do one hint and it'll be like you can't click the next hint.
That's good, actually.
Just to kind of force you to think about it for a little bit, which I thought was really cool. And yeah, it's just such a clever game. I really loved playing it. I played through it all this week and it came very close to making my list. Just a few fiddly things about it that I didn't love of a little bit too much backtracking, a little bit too much of of having to do the same things multiple times or just kind of like
moments where it just felt like a little too much trial and error because you're so limited by the 10 turns thing that like you, if you explore in a certain direction after you get to a new area of the game, you don't really have your bearings yet and it'll take a little while, a little bit of kind of trial and error before you even figure out how to get your head around what the puzzle that you're trying to solve is. But once you do that, it's so good. And it's separated into these like little contained sections, so it's not too intimidating with the time limit that you have. Really loved it. You guys would both love it too. Highly recommend you check it and then everyone else out there, check it out. It's called Chrono Quartz. Once again, it's on Steam. Very underappreciated. Hopefully we can give it the triple click bump here because
I don't think it was ever marketed or discovered by very many people, but I really enjoyed it. Thanks, that sounds great. Maddie, why don't you go next?
Sure. So my one more thing is a movie called Hedda from this year starring Tessa Thompson. So did you two have to read the play Hedda Gabler when you were in school? It's a Henrik Ibsen play. It's pretty famous.
Nope.
I did actually read it in AP English and it is notable in that it features an anti-heroine. It's a pretty famous example of a female character who is very unlikable, but she is very much the protagonist of the play. This is pretty cutting edge at the time. This is set, it's a Victorian era play. So the fact that she's just a straight up bad person, but really fun to watch. She's kind of like a former wild child who settles down with a guy who's kind of not good enough for her. He's like a drip professor and she's just like, God, I hate this guy. How can I use a series of social engineering tricks to like, try
to get him to be rich and famous the way I wish he was? And like, also, like, she has a bunch of exes and like messy romantic disputes. She's cheating on him and like, it's great. It's a great play. Sounds perfect for Tessa Thompson. It is. So this version of the play is not set in the Victorian era and it is not set in Norway, which is where the original play is set. Original play is all white people. This is a rewrite of the play by Nia de Costa that is set in the 50s and obviously stars a black woman as Hetta in the lead role. And so that automatically changes everything
about the play because it's now about race relations and the fact that she's married to this white guy and she kind of still has this past that everyone's familiar with, but like his friends are judgmental about her in different respects. But also, they changed the gender of one of her former flames to be a woman, which also completely changes everything about the play in a really fascinating way because it's the 1950s in Nia de Costa's version. So these women are closeted, but everybody kind of knows that they had a thing. And like, the rest of the play is largely the same. I was shocked by how much of it they could keep.
And I love messy queer female romance. I think unlikable characters and stories are delightful. I really liked reading Hedda Gobbler when I was a teen girl. I thought it was a really cool play and like groundbreaking for its time. It's like kind of a famous part that women often want to play. And Tessa Thompson is just aces at this. Like you can't get your eyes off of her and you hate her, but you're also like, kind of like, this is queen shit. Like she's ruining everyone's lives and this is so good. And you like, kind of want her to keep doing it. It's so fun, so messy. And also they change, Nina DeCosta changes the play so that it all happens in one night, which is perfect because it's like, it easily could have in the original play to the point where I've remembered that it had.
And I was kind of surprised when I went back and was like, oh, actually the play's like stretched out over like three to five days. She makes it all happen at one wild rollicking alcohol riddled party. And it's, it's just amazing. It's great. So I really recommend this, this movie Hedda. It's just Tessa Thompson being amazing.
Maddie, did you ever watch Veronica Mars?
Of course. We talked about it a lot on the show. One of these days, we gotta do a Beans Cast on that.
We should. That would be very fun. But also, that I believe was, season two of Veronica Mars, was Tessa Thompson's like real first breakout role. And she is perfect at playing this like awful, yet like empathetic, anti-hero type.
Yeah. It's, she's just an incredible actress and it's been really cool to watch her career since then. I feel like I can't even think of her performance. I haven't loved her. And so it's really cool to see her get to just eat up this part.
Nina DeCosta, very cool as well. I've heard her guesting on Blank Check a few times. And she's just a really neat lady with a lot of really awesome ideas. Kirk, what's your one more thing? My one more thing is the Onion Print Edition. And that is because I've been getting the Onion Print Edition recently, and it's really great. And I just wanted to recommend it. For anyone who wants it, but also if you're looking for a last minute gift, I guess it's a little too late. Maybe for a New Year's gift, or if you forgot to get someone a gift and you just want to get them something really quick. The Onion Print Edition, a great gift. It was, in fact, a gift from my sister to me for my birthday this year. And it's so fun, especially to have gotten it as a gift, because it's just never the kind of thing I would have thought to get for myself.
But now, we get a physical copy of The Onion like they used to print. This is a new initiative from the new owners of The Onion, I believe, as of maybe this year. It's pretty recent. That they've decided to bring back the print edition. And like, it's transformative. It's so good. First off, it's very, very funny. I mean, they have a bunch of great writers working there. And it's just a reminder that like, oh, it is kind of a miracle that The Onion has survived multiple different owners. They were like owned by Geo Media for a while, if I'm not mistaken, right?
Well, that's where the O comes from in Geo Media.
Right, I forgot about that. Is that true? The O is, oh, it's Gawker Onion?
No, it's Gizmodo Onion. Yeah, Gizmodo Onion.
Gizmodo Onion. That's what the Geo in Geo Media is. It's just as crazy.
Well, because Onion-
I didn't know that.
Gizmodo Media and corporate included all of our sites, but then Onion Media-
We don't have to explain the whole corporate history. I just didn't know the Geo part.
Onion Media is also AV Club and Clickhole, so those three were part of Onion Media.
Yeah, yeah, that's funny. And now the AV Club, I believe, is owned by different people, right? These have been split up or something. I guess everything they owned has been sold off piecemeal.
The Onion is owned by, what's his name? Ben Collins, who is a pretty big social media presence. I think he was an NBC contributor for a bit, and he like-
I think the owner's name is Jeff Lawson, but the head director, I think, is Ben Collins.
Oh, he's the CEO. He's the CEO.
He's the CEO. Like, he's the head of the company.
And he orchestrated this group of investors to buy it and spin it off and make it independent again.
Yes, it's owned by a company called Global Tetrahedron, I believe is the name.
Which is an Onion running joke.
Yes, it's very much, yeah, I get their newsletter in addition with my subscription. And their like email newsletter is very silly. It's like a parody of a newsletter. And it's constantly like, it's kind of like LinkedIn. I would say it's like a parody of LinkedIn language and of the whole like vibe of LinkedIn. That's amazing. You know, typically psychotic way. So the print edition of The Onion, though-
I would have seen that. Oh, man.
Yeah, me too. You know, anyone, especially my age, you know, any oldsters like me, what else would you call a person who's unusually old? There's no other word. There's no other word.
Only there is this slang word.
Any, uh, any oldsters like me who will remember the, the print edition of The Onion. And actually, that was the way that you read The Onion. Uh, it was a, a print thing that you would just kind of find around and then that went away and it went online. And it did really well online. Its headlines in particular are so funny that people love to just post them to Twitter. And then you see the headline and you usually don't even have to read the article. And of course, a lot of Onion articles are only a headline because that's all you need. But it loses a lot and reading the print edition has reminded me of how much it loses without the print edition. Partly just because sitting down to read The Onion is very different from like clicking a link. Cause then you usually just read the one article. Maybe you see another funny thing and it makes you laugh and you click it.
It's just not the same as sitting down with like newspaper and just going through it and reading all of it, which you can do. It's not that many articles, but you can read it in like 10 minutes or something. But also it's just a really fun thing to leave lying around. Whenever we've had guests over, they've like opened, they'd be like, oh, The Onion, whoa. And then they look through it and I see something I haven't seen before. There are fake ads that are so fucking funny. Like every ad inside of the newspaper looks real, but is actually fake. Some of them will really like make you pause for a second because you'll think, oh, this is an ad for a real thing. There's one and it's a, it's Xfinity and it's an Xfinity ad and it says, Xfinity, reliable internet 217. When your eye just scans over that, you just feel like, oh, an Xfinity ad. Because you're so used to seeing ads everywhere.
And then I looked at it again and I was like, oh. And like, a lot of the ads are that way. They're all really funny. There's so many great articles. I mean, it's just a reminder of how great those people are at what they do, of a whole bunch of different formats. You know, because they have print, they can do like a Pete Hegseth, you know, Q and A. That's like a big picture of him on the whole page with all these stupid answers that the fake version of him is giving. And like, it's so good. I mean, I really, I highly recommend it, just like supporting this thing and also trying a print edition of something. Because I think, you know, it, it totally tracks with a bit of the zeitgeist right now. Like it, the internet is feeling exhausted. It's all a kind of becoming AI slop or who knows. Like it just doesn't feel tangible. Getting something like this that is like curated and put together and really, really well done.
It's better than I could have anticipated. It was such a good gift. So I'm just very grateful to have it and looking forward to the next edition. So yeah, that's my glowing recommendation for the Onions print edition. They're killing it. Good job to everyone out there. If anyone working on it listens to this, like you guys are crushing it. And yeah, anyone out there who needs a gift or who just wants to get something really fun for themselves, a strong recommendation.
Cool. Good stuff.
Yeah, the onion rules.
All right, that is that for this week's episode. We will see all of you subscribers very soon with our best other things of the year. And to everybody else, I hope you have an excellent new year and we will see you in early January, January 8th, for our annual predictions episode.
Yay.
Very fun. Yeah, I will see you all in 2026.
Bye.
Triple Click is produced by Jason Schreier, Maddy Myers, and me, Kirk Hamilton. I edit and mix the show and also wrote our theme music. Our show art is by Tom G. J. Some of the games and products we talked about on this episode may have been sent to us for free for review consideration. You can find a link to our ethics policy in the show notes. Triple Click is a proud member of the Maximum Fun Podcast Network. And if you like our show, we hope you'll consider supporting us by becoming a member at maximumfun.org/join. Email us at [email protected] and find links to our merch store and our Discord server in the show notes. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
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