1993, Game of the Year

[Pajderman]

Myst and Doom are both legendary games that defined their respective genres. I have tried both and liked neither. I have never liked any FPS-game and Doom is no exception.
Myst is more of a strange exception since I am a fan of adventure games. I tried playing it a couple of times and got bored within the hour each time. Many puzzle heavy adventure games is created to make the player feel smart. Myst seems instead to be built in order to make the player feel dumb. Can't deny the exhilaration feeling of finally solving one of the abstract riddles that is presented, but for me it just to much of just trying things and having know idea of direction or feedback if one is on the right track. Or the more probable cause is that I'm just stupid.

Links awakening is the game I would rate highest among the selections in the poll. I consider it the best paced game in the Zelda series. But it do have some major flaws, mainly the difficulty of bosses, many are a straight up joke. It is probably the first Zelda game I beat on my own and I have enjoyed it in recent playthroughs as well. Almost any Zelda is a contender for game of the year but I think this is a case where I'm a bit blinded by nostalgia.

Simcity2000 is great. It is the only Sim-game I enjoy playing. The gameplay and graphic style still holds up surprisingly well today. It is only when one of the alien monsters show up and the extremely low frame-rate gets noticed and annoying. Would not give it game of the year still.

Secret of mana gets my vote. The combat is bit clunky by todays standards but the colorful graphics and music make it joyful. I was never a big fan of the turn based combat style of RPGs at the time. The more action oriented combat of secret of mana (even if it is interrupted by using magic) was kind of new at the time. Action RPG would be more popularized in a few years on pc.
This alone is not enough to elevate it to game of the year heights, but the addition of multiplayer is. Playing a story heavy RPG with a sibling or significant other was a real treat at the time and it would take until Divinity Original sin until it was done better for me.