2016 has been a fascinating year both a fascinating year both personally and from a global perspective. For myself, I’ve had near death experience in cars, seen friends find happiness and heartaches as well as traveled to a part of the world filled with mountains and ancient ruins. Yet I’ve have seen anger swelling up all over the world from violence, reactionary and hateful politics and a constant reminder of our own mortality as we encounter far too many of our favourite entertainers passing. It almost seems strange then that 2016 has been such a fine year for video games. Maybe it was entertainments way of saying you might need a bit of escapism. Yet all my personal top ten video games of 2016 aren’t exactly escapism. Some reach into dark worlds of exploitation, others tell tales of loneliness and others the tragic loss of a child to cancer. Still, some made me laugh delightfully with glee as I mercilessly tore demons limb from limb or hung on to the edge of a cliff for one last adventurous hurrah. Video Games our hobby, are as always art which transcends and enriches our human experience, they are also a great deal of fun when the outside world is just a little bit too much. Sometimes we even get to share them with the people we love and sometimes with someone who is skirting puberty while fragging you.

Anyway, here are my top ten video games of the year:

10. That, Dragon Cancer

9. Oxenfree

8. The Witness

7. Battlefield One

6. Forza Horizon 3

5. Uncharted 4

4. Dishonored 2

3. Inside

2. Firewatch

1.Doom

Honourable Mentions:

Thumper, Halcyon 6, Dragon Quest Builders, Mafia 3, Titanfall 2

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Stay tuned for more and feel free to comment on your choices.