Gallery: The Best Games You Might Have Missed in 2015
Techland/Warner Bros.01Dying Light
__*Dying Light*__ (PS4, Xbox One, PC): Listen, I know one more open-world game, this one starring an obnoxious white guy during an obnoxiously stereotypical zombie apocalypse, might be a hard sell after the year we've had. But *Dying Light* was criminally slept on. Head and shoulders better than anything Techland has done in the past, this game gives you a lush, detailed Middle Eastern metropolis and teaches you how to run, jump, and scramble your way through it. Your protagonist is a bit flimsy, and the zombies are numerous, so the best bet in most situations is to use some of the best first-person freerunning since *Mirror's Edge* to make a desperate escape. Avoid the missions where the game tries to make you use a gun, and welcome to the world's premiere Running Away From Zombies Simulator.---Jake Muncy
Klei Entertainment02Invisible, Inc.
__*Invisible, Inc.*__ (PC): Dense and stylish, *Invisible, Inc* rethinks the stealth genre to work at a slower pace. Taking on the structure of a turn-based tactical game (think *Final Fantasy Tactics*), Klei Entertainment's inventive sneaker has the player running a series of capers, leading their agents into enemy territory to gather intelligence, resources, and technology by any means possible. The only directives: don't be spotted, and get out alive. The learning curve is steep here, but the play is substantive, and a variety of difficulty levels and procedurally generated campaigns can keep a dedicated player busy for a long time. Planning makes perfect. Well, that and a stun gun.---Jake Muncy
Gritfish03Killing Time at Lightspeed
__*Killing Time at Lightspeed*__ (PC): Classic science fiction has failed to predict some of the most interesting parts of our present. One aspect of life that I don't think much sci-fi could have imagined is the prevalence and sheer strangeness of social media. *Killing Time at Lightspeed*, part of Zoe Quinn's Antholojam game jam from earlier this year, takes a stab at fixing that problem, imagining the role social media might play in the excitement and alienation of a space-faring future. As years pass outside, keep up with the world during a faster-than-light space odyssey using nothing but a Twitter-like social media feed and a reddit-like news aggregation site. What does history look like through the lens of 140 characters? ---Jake Muncy
Nintendo04Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
__*Kirby and the Rainbow Curse*__ (Wii U): Nintendo makes a lot of *Kirby* games, but this is the one to play, a sequel to 2005's *Canvas Curse* that makes the Wii U GamePad's touchscreen sing. It's a Wii U game played entirely by drawing on the screen; you'll never look at your TV or push a button. The Claymation-style graphics are executed perfectly and tie it all together. ---*Chris Kohler*
Asteroid Base05Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
__*Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime*__ (PC, Xbox One): In the best of all possible worlds, this game would herald the return of local multiplayer, sitting on the couch, bonding with a buddy over a screen full of lights and adventure. Take control of an adorable pilot in an adorable galaxy full of love and also laserbeam-shooting frogs, steer a ship that looks and handles like a sliced mango, and try to save love itself. You can't go this ride alone, though; bring along a trusty pet helper, or, ideally, plug in that second controller and enlist the help of someone you trust. With the power of friendship, not even the meanest baddies in this or any spacetime can stand in your way.---Jake Muncy
Ade McT06Map
__*Map*__ (PC): It's pretty rare for a game to look at the world from the perspective of a middle-aged woman, but in the [interactive fiction game *Map*](http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=wttpef6vhl48hepx), that's exactly who you become: a lonely, agoraphobic housewife who feels abandoned by her family and paralyzed by a lifetime of mistakes. But all hope is not lost. Something strange is happening inside the house you're too afraid to leave---it's growing. Each day a new door appears, opening into a moment in the past where you made a crucial decision. With the power to do it all over again, will you find a way to make a happier life, or unravel so much of yourself that your world falls apart completely? ---*Laura Hudson*
Dinosaur Polo Club07Mini Metro
__*Mini Metro*__ (PC): As a rule, city planning isn't sexy. But *Mini Metro*, a minimalist subway simulator, somehow manages to make it irresistible anyway. Your task, like the visual layout of the game, is simple: design a subway system to route passengers around cities like New York, London, Hong Kong and Berlin. As demand grows and new stations pop up unpredictably (and inconveniently) around the map, you'll have to unwind and reroute the colorful coils of your subway lines before your city gets paralyzed by underground gridlock. It's an easy game to pick up and play---just drag a line between two points---but be warned. It’s a difficult one to put down.---*Laura Hudson*
Hit-Point08Neko Atsume
__*Neko Atsume*__ (Mobile): A brilliant evolution of the bent many mobile games take toward low-investment, simple experiences, *Neko Atsume* roared out of Japan this year with one perfect question: Hey, you want to take care of some cats? Heck yes I do. A smash hit in the States even before it was available in English, this game lets you populate a peaceful garden home with toys, treats, and various things that cats like. Turn off the game, and next time you load it up, there might be some cats around! Actually, hang on, I'll finish this as soon as I check my cats. Oh, my god, is that cat dressed like a pharaoh? And he brought me a fish!---Jake Muncy
The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment09Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
__*Everybody's Gone to the Rapture*__ (PS4): The videogame equivalent of a passion play. It's sweeping, operatic, and deeply interested in the things of higher minded contemplation; mortality, death, the frailty of human connection. Set to a sweeping, wistful soundtrack by brilliant composer and The Chinese Room developer Jessica Curry, *Rapture* mines its quotidian British village for all the significance it can muster, investing every action of its characters with feeling. A mysterious force has caused all of Yaughton to disappear, leaving only you to make sense of the aftermath. Follow the light.---Jake Muncy
Question10The Magic Circle
__*The Magic Circle*__(PC): *BioShock 2* director Jordan Thomas parodies the foibles of big-budget, endlessly delayed vaporware games from the inside, with a game about a game that's not getting finished any time soon. "Hack" the enemies and items to do whatever you want, solving problems creatively. Lots of clever narrative twists will keep you guessing about the ending. ---*Chris Kohler*
Matthew S Burns and Mike Bissell11The Writer Will Do Something
__*The Writer Will Do Something*__ (PC): Ever wanted to work in game development? *The Writer Will Do Something* is here to break your rose-colored glasses. Written by game development veterans Matthew S. Burns and Tom Bissell, this text game is a tragicomic glimpse into the fictional development of big-budget system seller *ShatterGate: Future Perfect*, a game with a name so terrible I'm surprised it doesn't actually exist. Welcome to a world of high pressure, long hours, and unrealistic expectations. It's always good to learn about how the things you love are made, even if the results aren't pretty. And you're rarely going to find a way to learn that's as clever as this.---Jake Muncy
Thomas Happ/Sony Computer Entertainment12Axiom Verge
__*Axiom Verge*__ (PS4, PS Vita, PC): Standing out among the herd of recent "Metroidvania" indie games (inspired by the open, explorable 2-D world of Nintendo's classic *Metroid*), *Axiom Verge* looks, sounds and feels like a mid-90's videogame, complete with "glitches" that are woven into the story. It's the culmination of five years of work by a single developer, Tom Happ, and the attention he has poured over the game's every aspect is palpable. There's a true sense of mystery in his alien world; the “stranger in a strange land” is something a lot of other, larger games get wrong and that *Axiom Verge* nails. ---*Daniel Feit*
Ivy Games13Gravity Ghost
__*Gravity Ghost*__ (PC): So, you're a little girl floating through space, searching for your best friend. Who just so happens to be an astral fox. And you might be the grim reaper? Welcome to *Gravity Ghost*, a soothing and heartfelt game set at the odd intersection of mystical astronomy, a puzzle game, and a gorgeous children's book. You play as Iona, daughter of a lighthouse keeper, as you explore the far reaches of space, guiding animals to the afterlife and collecting flowers to grow out your magical hair. The game's core conceit is orbit: you use the gravitational push and pull of various astral bodies to fling yourself from place to place, dancing, drifting, marvelling at how simultaneously relaxing and perilous it all is. Play it with your kids.---Jake Muncy
