Take, for example, my favorite level - a large kitchen, operated by two grotesque chefs. And what I found as I explored the Maw-the hulking and horrifying ocean liner that the player crept through, was that Little Nightmares’ horrors were unique, fresh and consistently evolving. Little Nightmares isn’t actually Inside-lite, but in a year that was positively flooded with great titles, it was convenient to dismiss Tarsier’s gem as a simple retread of (IMHO) last year’s best game and move on.

So as I write this list, I’m grateful for the dramatic irony of timing that as living in the real world became more and more terrifying, hundreds of beautiful virtual ones were waiting to welcome us in. That anxiety, that Fear Of Missing Out, was painfully omnipresent in the first year of the Trump administration: fear of missing out on great games, yes, but also fear of taking a nap and missing out on the tweet that launched a nuclear catastrophe. So to Wolfenstein 2, Observer, Night in the Woods, Tacoma, Yakuza 0, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Doki Doki Literature Club, Butterfly Soup, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Nioh, Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Divinity Original Sin 2 - I’m sorry I didn’t have time for you. It’s a testament to the quality of 2017’s releases that despite the fact that I played more games this year than I ever have in one trip around the sun-at least 108 by my estimate-I’m writing this list with the nagging feeling that there are at least a dozen other titles that would have had a shot if only I had had time (and money) to play them.

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