Notable Games I Played This Year - That Did Not Necessarily Come Out This Year
Sorry I am extremely late with this one so lets get to it:
Ah, as you will see I had a tower-defense bent this year and but I promise to keep it brief and at the bottom include something different genres.
Bad North Jotunn Edition is seemingly simplistic and not much strategy. Hey at least it had an appealing vibe/artstyle to it.
Plans vs Zombies blew me away just how much depth it had or at least more than I expected given first appearance. I am very surprised I had never picked it up until now. Excellent game and when playing it they knew precisely when to mix the formula up too and they did it in always surprising ways.
Gem Craft - Chasing Shadows had a little too much depth to this one for my liking but probably, no definitely the best tower defense out of the lot if that's your thing. Found the art style a little murky too but really only a small complaint I really need to find more positive things to say about this game other than it's the best of the lot (if you like depth)...
Bean Beasts (demo) - Solid tower defense does nothing new, but has that aspect of trying to figure out the stages like puzzles which is pretty much perfect for me, cute pixel art too.
Element TD 2 - O M G, superb tower defense I love the UI and the statistics it provides like the damage output of specific towers. I love it doesn't take itself too seriously with its comical enemy designs, I love the OST it's dramatic in game and a vibe in the menu screen etc. It's just so far lacking a little in depth sure there seems to be incredible variety in the skill tree but alas in campaign it's slow to progress other wise game is great!
Infested Planet is more RTS than tower defense, kinda reminds me of Eufloria in its simplicity not much more to say on this one.
X-Morph Defense I don't know, something about this game irked me, I felt much more bullet hell than tower defense I guess.
Kingdom Rush is without a doubt my favourite everything about this game is perfection A little too hero reliant for my tastes but still cannot be beat in the top down tower-defense genre for art music and gameplay.
Other than the tower-defense I explored this year, I mostly played:
Raft is what it says on the box, an excellent survival crafting game the janky look is part of its charm.
Age of Mythology: Retold is considered a remake, as it was built using a new engine and features updated graphics and gameplay elements, while still retaining the core experience of the original game. One of my favourite RTS if not favourite.
GOTY
Grounded absolutely nails the Honey I Shrunk The Kids vibe with excellent proportions and deadly encounters. I also played this with my brother who is really creative, me not so much, I would just stand back and admire his creations. Excellent co-op with amazing exploration and good progression if as always with this genre a little rough at first.