Every list and review of 2020 you’re going to read will begin with the usual, expected and deserved rant about the complete shittiness we’ve all had to deal with, individually and collectively. And many of them, like this one, will tell you how grateful all of us should be for being able to enjoy the escapism provided by video games. For me, from a crude list of over 20, there were five in particular that stood out.
Guildlings made its debut at the tail end of last year on Apple Arcade and received a substantial enough update in October for me to include it here. It’s a charming, upbeat game about Coda, who becomes stuck in a hand-me-down smartphone and convinces her sister and friends to use their special abilities to help set her free by . This involves tackling kitchen appliances, crabs and garbage bags, as they can become sentient obstacles during your journey. But you don’t use violence in this fantasy world. In fact, a snide remark is just as useful as recharging your characters’ phones during your “battles”, as the only objective is to manage your guildlings’ moods. It’s so refreshing and unlike anything else in recent memory, but as enjoyable as watching weekend cartoons as a kid.
Emad’s games of 2020AlbaCall of the SeaGuildlingsKentucky Route ZeroTales from Off-Peak City
By contrast, Kentucky Route Zero is tonally different yet just as magical. It begins as a simple story of an antiques delivery driver making his final stop across the eponymous state. As you continue, you encounter characters reminiscing of times spent with each other and elsewhere, creating a deep, dense world where the dialogue could easily fill a few books. I’ve discussed KRZ before, about the politics, themes and messages hiding behind rich layers. What I think is remarkable is just how stuck our own politics has become, similar to how characters in this game feel. For example, it’s fascinating how we’ve made it unacceptable to suggest a return to higher marginal tax rates for the wealthy (let’s try 60%?), or improve environmental standards with better regulations. These sorts of things, about economics and social welfare, are hinted at throughout. And whereas our politics has become an all-consuming culture war, with so many of the docile working poor (who don’t consider themselves that) happily worshipping wealth, it’s amazing to see it portrayed absent of all necessary rage, just with the melancholy and powerlessness in KRZ. It’s a perfect reflection for the pathetic state we find ourselves in today.
Alba: a Wildlife Adventure – Gameplay Trailer Watch on YouTube
Although both of their art styles are wonderful and individually unique, there are similarities in the 1930s-set Call of the Sea and the trippy Tales From Off-Peak City. As Norah in Call of the Sea, you sail towards a mysterious island near Tahiti, aware of some strange details of your husband’s recent journey there. In Tales, you’re tasked with stealing a prized saxophone in the basement of a pizzeria. Both of these stories become creepier and confusing, unsure not just of an end in sight, but where and what the heck that could be. Although I can digest a horror film, horror games have become unplayable for me with age. What I find equally terrifying but more inviting is having a world become stranger as you figure out a mystery. Both of these games have this in spades, and I’m almost certain they will be inspiring many designers for years to come.