This one's kinda weird. It started off great and was supposed to be tied for the #4 spot, but somehow ended up being less fun with each update (added a bunch of grinding to the game mostly and nothing was retroactive - won't affect new buyers but it certainly felt like my first 30 hours went down the drain). It also increased in price compared to how much I paid for it initially, so that also makes it harder to recommend. Now you might think this sounds pretty negative for something that made the list, but it's still one of the better roguelites on the market both in terms of gameplay itself and unique ideas, although it does have its flaws - particularly, it's trying to be a story-based roguelite except it gets kinda stale after a few runs which defeats the point of a roguelite. Yes, you will meet new characters but no, you won't necessarily have new encounters - it'll likely be the same ones with a different character name/model. The new ones are pretty clever but that's going into spoiler territory so I won't talk about that

As you might be able to tell, my first impression of this was really nice - not only was it one of the cheapest roguelites you could buy, but also one of the best. Over time it just felt like they were trying to screw over early buyers which just killed my mood to play it, but I still felt like it deserved a spot on my list, even if it was the last place. Of course, my complaints don't really apply to new buyers, but this may be the first time I felt like I got boned for trying to play it early.

Never thought I'd put a rhythm game in any of my lists in this lifetime, but here we are. Maybe the easiest rhythm game to recommend currently on the market as you only have 2 buttons basically (up and down) which makes it super easy to learn at first but somehow also ends up being incredibly difficult for the "endgame" songs (There are far more difficult ones, this one's just popular in every rhythm game ever). Very cheap as well, sitting at $3.49 for the base game which has quite few songs (there is a $30 dlc which includes a bunch of extra songs already in the game as well as all the future ones, which keep getting added every other month - I bought it personally, but you could technically play all of these for free if you're fine with playing them during the weekly rotation).

Another Klei game, huh? Feels like cheating to add this one as I've played the original version years ago and only ended up replaying this after buying the dlc earlier last year, but honestly the game deserves it. I've had a stealth binge for about a month or so during 2020 in which I've played a bunch of stealth games and honestly I felt like nothing really came close to being as satisfying as this one. Probably because it's also one of the few that caters to every playstyle instead of forcing you into one. Wanna be a ghost? Cool. Wanna terrorize and murder the entire map? Be my guest. Maybe a mix of both? Sure, why not? Point is, outside of some optional objectives, you can play however you so desire without missing anything just because a girl slipped on a banana peel near a pier and ended up bashing her head, going unconscious, falling into the water and drowning. Too specific? well, it's not a made up story for the most part. Anyway, this probably tops the list in terms of stealth games for me, especially when it comes to 2D ones.

Back when I played Flowers -Le volume sur printemps- I mentioned that it was my favourite yuri VN at that point and it was for a long time - now this game happens to be a sequel that focuses on my favourite character from the first game so naturally I ended up loving it even more so. Same gorgeous aesthetic, OST and of course voice acting. Already looking forward to reading the 3rd game in the series, but I'm not in a rush considering I'd still have to wait for the localization of the 4th and final one to even be announced.

This one was a massive surprise for me. Now some people might've seen this abomination of a trailer they've had for the game that makes it look like a p2w mobile game and turned away instantly - and honestly? I really can't blame you if you did. But still, behind that atrociously misleading trailer hides my favourite deckbuilder currently on steam (yes, I've played Slay the Spire - yes, I stand by what I said). The 3-lane system, double-faction decks and all the upgrades make this one so much better in terms of strategy and replayability without feeling burned out. There are just so many weird combos you can make that probably sound bad on paper but can still work. Really looking forward to the next updates just to have an excuse to put some more hours into it.

Now uh… how do I even describe this one? This is probably the most "alive" kinetic novel I will likely read in this lifetime. I know you might raise your eyebrow when someone tries to describe a visual novel as "action packed" or something along those lines but… that's what Marco & The Galaxy Dragon is (the killer soundtrack definitely helps in this regard as well). Feels a bit weird for such a short game (unfortunately only 5-6 hours of reading) to become my favourite VN of all time considering how many other well-writen stories there are in this format but ah well, I'm not gonna complain. Certainly a very easy VN to recommend if you're into the genre and maybe even if you're not, considering it throws some cartoon network-style animation in there as well (Well, unless you're from Japan where for some reason it costs $60 instead of $20 - in which case maybe it's a bit expensive for its length :) ). Anyway, I wasn't expecting a VN to make my top 3 this year considering all the amazing roguelites I've played.

Oh right, it also has a fairly lengthy demo on the store page if you wanna try it out (the first 2 hours or so)

Metroidvania meets Pokemon, or so is how most people describe this. Now I've never played a pokemon game so I can't really compare it to that and give you detailed info on what this does better or worse, but what I can tell you is that this thing kept me glued to my PC for about 5-6 days or so - saying it was addictive is a massive understatement. Now I've talked about Mark of the Ninja earlier mentioning the ability to play how you want and such, right? Well see, the thing is - in this game every single monster is viable at any given moment, more or less. Sure, you won't obliterate every boss fight with your team of 6 blobs you got in the first area of the game, but can you finish the game with it? The answer is… probably yes. This game managed to strike a pretty amazing balance which gives you so much freedom of choice in building your team it's actually disgusting (of course, you can still counter/get countered to some extent). Combine that with some pretty satisfying combo systems, metroidvania style of exploring that unlocks based on your monsters' "map skills" and well, you get one of the more unique experiences currently available.

Oh right also, your character doesn't actually have any health so if you're worried about any difficult platforming sections or whatever, they're not a thing. You have maybe 1 or 2 optional chests that have some pretty tight timing, but that's about it. Don't go near the PvP part of the game though. This would've been my game of the year but alas, I am a roguelite addict so…

…can't have it any other way now, right? I absolutely hate Hades. I hate Supergiant for making Hades. Why? Because there is nothing they can make to top this game for me. This is their magnum opus. Not only is this ludicrously good, but it's also in my favourite gaming genre? How is this fair? How is anything they make from now on supposed to compete with this? Supergiant's usual artstyle, soundtrack by none other than Darren Korb, characters with so much personality coupled with some super fitting voice acting and a story that progresses at just the right pace to keep you doing run after run after run after run…

sigh I hate Hades.