The arbitrary list of games that made it into our Game of the Year deliberations these past three years. The real question: how many have you played?
Read MoreCastle Couch Top 10 Games of the Year 2015
It has been quite the year. Games of all shapes and sizing make up any year, but 2015 has been a vehicle for some endlessly fascinating conversations about our industry. Without further ado, here's our list of awards, Top 10, and personal lists for Game of the Year.
“Editors’ Picks”
“Category Awards”
Discussion Podcasts
Building our Top 10: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |
We played an enormous lot of games. Don't forget we chronicle each year on our 'Canon' page.
10. Plug & Play
“The conversations we can have about Plug & Play are infinite; there are infinite angles to appreciate Plug & Play from”
“The Souls games change the system enough that they feel like a new game.”
“When I’m in my most happy and imaginative states, the game I imagine I am playing is Bloodborne”
Appears in: Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Spoilercast | Art of Challenge |
8. Ori and the Blind Forest
“Some of the best Metroidvania level-design I’ve ever played, along with one of the best upgrades”
“SOMA ebbs and flows without batting an eyelash.”
“It’s the end of an empire.”
“All 45 of the words Kiefer Sutherland speaks are of the utmost quality.”
Appears in: 'The Picture of Big Boss' | Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10 |
5. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
“I love how slow paced it is, how much empty space there is, and how it gives you the time to ponder.”
“Best soundtrack of the year. Lovely, lovely, beautiful, beautiful.”
Appears in: Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10 | Walking as Device (winner) |
4. Life is Strange
“Life is Strange is very explicit with it’s themes. It doesn’t beat around the bush.”
Appears in: Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10 | Choose your own Adventure (winner) |
3. Super Mario Maker
“Nintendo took everything they’ve ever done and just packaged it ... This is what they learned in 30 years of making videogames.”
“To put it in the least hyperbolic way that I can: it is infinite Mario.”
“You’re going to see so many different levels, so many level designers coming up with different ideas. Even if a lot of those are bad, the good stuff there is going to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”
“The player, in absolutely brilliant design, chooses the order in which they learn about things”
“It’s accessible. Everybody who uses Google would be able to play this game.”
“The most engrossing game of the year by leaps and bounds. There is such a good push and pull between being a narrative-first game that also has player input. Story like this don’t exist outside of games.”
“A self-feeding machine illustrated so clearly.”
“Certainly the game that was the most emotionally resonate this year.”
“Level-design as an aesthetic.”
“Being so eager to fix a problem that doesn’t necessarily exist. That’s what did it for me. ”
Appears in: Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10 | Walking as Device | Inside Baseball (winner) |
Top 10:
- The Beginner's Guide
- Her Story
- Super Mario Maker
- Life is Strange
- Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- SOMA
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Bloodborne
- Plug & Play
Raph's Top 10 | Olivier's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10 |
Thanks for reading! One last time don't forget to check out the 'canon' page.
Please consider donating to Castle Couch. All of our content is handmade with real love — we couldn't do it without you.
Olivier Bouchard's Top 10 Games of 2015
10. Life is Strange
“I’m not mad. It adds up in my mind as people letting me down.”
Life is Strange is a teenage game. It is messy, painfully earnest, and goes in all directions at once. While it has a ton of issues — mainly in how it deals with some of its secondary characters — Dontnod Entertainment outdoes any other game in the genre that came out this year. It tackles a lot of very heavy subject matter, and while it does not succeed all of the time, it is certainly daring.
9. Fallout 4
“We’re so delighted you’ve chosen us for your shopping needs. We buy and sell everything. From everyone. Always.”
By Bethesda’s standards, Fallout 4 is exactly what you would expect. Still, no other studios make games like Bethesda does, and thus Fallout 4 has the most interesting open world to explore this year. It is a pure sequel —with only incremental additions— but Bethesda's games are so unique in their genre that Fallout 4 is absolutely something to see.
8. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
“My, my, how you’ve changed.”
I do not care much about the Metal Gear series. Of course, it is still the franchise primarily responsible for bringing the “author” into videogames . Still, I can say that I think Hideo Kojima is far from a great writer, and is too prone to use slow motion everywhere, to stand on his own as a director. That being said, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain brings innovation to open-world and stealth gameplay on a scale you would not expect that kind of experimentation to take place. Big budget games are more and more scared to try something new these days, but because of his status, Kojima had the opportunity to bring all his crazy ideas to The Phantom Pain. Some are awful and some are amazing, making this latest installment of Metal Gear the most innovative big budget game of 2015.
essay: "The Picture of Big Boss" |
7. Snakebird
“*poof*”
Snakebird teaches everyone a lesson. To puzzle game designers: it shows that you can have the bare-minimum as far as content goes as long as everything is meaningful. To players: it teaches you that your brain is capable of working in crazy ways that you never thought possible before. And to quitters: maybe you were not as smart as you thought prior.
One Hour of Snakebird Puzzle Solving |
6. Plug & Play
“I don’t think you do.”
I am not going to state that Plug & Play is made for everybody (no game is, anyway), but I might say that everyone should experience it at least once ... granted they are an adult. Plug & Play is the weirdest kind of absurdist humor you can find made into a game. That it succeeds in having some sort of metaphorical gameplay and a meaningful point to make only adds to the experience.
5. Bloodborne
“You need only unravel its mystery.”
You have to give it to From Software , they know how to make sequels. Sure, Bloodborne is not an actual follow-up to any of the Dark Souls games, but it is similar enough to be considered part of the same series. Still, like the Souls sequels themselves, From Software changes just enough here to make Bloodborne feel like something different. The art direction and the gameplay design is absolutely top-notch, enforcing the thematic elements of the game without sacrificing actual gameplay. Bloodborne is simply in a league of its own, and it is far from surprising to see the From Software’s games getting more and more popular with the mainstream audience.
4. Super Mario Maker
“Whoa! Looks like someone left this course unfinished...”
Look, most of what will come out of Super Mario Maker is going to be complete trash. As such, you should probably make some really good levels because the Course World looks like a barren apocalyptic land straight out of Mad Max — except populated by a bunch of auto-playing levels. Still, that the tools are there and that they are oh so easy to use is simply amazing. Infinite Mario is a crazy proposition, one that is worth seeing. Let’s cut down the crap, shall we?
critique |
3. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
“What’re you doing? I saw you doing that!”
The Chinese Room are the creators of the so-called “Walking Simulator” and as such it should not be surprising that Everybody’s Gone to Rapture is all about walking. For all the strange criticism about how slow the movement speed feels in this game, I feel it is actually on point. It is a game about wandering and not about going as fast as possible in pursuit of the next story beat. Empty space is not something a lot of game developers use, and it is used to wonderful success here.
2. Her Story
“They have two kids, really sweet kids.”
I think one of the strongest successes of Her Story is that the gameplay will be immediately understandable to anybody that ever used Google. As such, Her Story might be the game I can share with the most people this year. It is an absorbing experience that is extremely easy to get into, and that unveils its story organically through player input.
critique |
1. The Beginner's Guide
“The door at the top of the stairs opens.”
I had an emotional reaction to The Beginner’s Guide that no other game this year could top. Conceptually, it might not be as interesting as Her Story is, but the way it uses level design to inform a single character is enough to make you look at other games differently. It is a potent examination of the author myth in all its beautiful and sometimes awful ramifications. For this, The Beginner’s Guide is my game of the year.
Top 10:
- The Beginner's Guide
- Her Story
- Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
- Super Mario Maker
- Bloodborne
- Plug & Play
- Snakebird
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Fallout 4
- Life is Strange
Raph's Top 10 | Andrew's Top 10 | Anna's Top 10
Visit our 'canon' page to see the best games of yesteryear.
Please consider donating to Castle Couch. All of our content is handmade with real love — we couldn't do it without you.
Raphael Bennett's Top 10 Games of 2015
They came in all shapes and sizes this year (and mostly towards the end).
Read MoreAnna De Cicco's Top 10 Games of the Year 2015
Come with me! And you'll see! A WORLD FULL OF IMAGINATION!
Read MoreTranslating Traditional Story Genres
Engaging with familiar settings and story genres in a game can be pretty exciting; watching a literary or cinematic tradition unfold in the context of a game breathes new life into classic forms of fiction.
Read MoreRhythm of Explosions
You would be hard-pressed to find a more state of the art piece of bubble gum.
Read MoreTeenage Scrapbook
There was a time when the internet felt humane.
Read MoreThe Picture of Big Boss
The Phantom Pain’s literary contemporary is The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.
Read More
Behind the Scenes at Castle Couch: Capturing Mood in Procedurally Generated Worlds
Originally, I had a different thesis to the essay: Capturing Mood in Procedurally Generated Worlds.
Read MoreCapturing Mood in Procedurally Generated Worlds
By investing in procedurally generated levels, developers can narrow their focuses, play to their strengths, buckle down, and work smart.
Read MoreRaph Rambles - September 2015
Here be rambling. Thanks for all the love and support. Happy birthday to us!
Read More
Year Walk - Short Form Critique
Where Year Walk truly shines, however, is in its platform-specific design.
Read More
The Fall - Short Form Critique
The Fall captures a sense of stillness in its ambience, which is coupled with religious symbolism and a dystopian setting.
Read More
Whispering Willows - Short Form Critique
In terms of play and narrative, the game isn’t very nuanced; it has the substance of a Goosebumps novel.
Read MorePhilosophers on the Race Track
It is still one of the best racer out there, but it is because its predecessor was already at the top of the crowd.
Read MoreIntegrity in AAA Boxes
The Magic Circle is about: the integrity of my box over here against your box over there.
Read MoreBeyond Eyes Critique
The actions your character can perform in a game are an expression of who that character is.
Read MoreVolume Critique
Volume stands as an idea —a good idea— that never completely materializes.
Read MoreGamifying Design
Super Mario Maker is a powerful resource to put in someone’s hands.
Read More