OK, I am very much behind, because of time constraints, but let's start off with some honorable mentions.
Halls of Torment (2023, Windows)
There are quite a lot of games recently, that follow the success of Vampire Survivors. I tried some of them and Halls of Torment is a noteworthy addition. It has the basic gameplay you know of Vampire Survivors, but puts it into a more dark, gritty, gothic setting, not unlike to the original Diablo. It also adds equipment and quests. A lot of fun, if after Vampire Survivors you still aren't burned out.
Starfield (2023, Xbox Series)
Yes, I list Starfield here (which means it isn't in TOP 50, hint). Yes it has gotten quite some critcism, and I share a lot of it. But despite all that we shouldn't forget, that at the core we still have a fun play if you let it work on you (and you can see online, a lot of people do have fun with the systems). It is just released in a year with really great bangers of games (and you will see that reflected in my TOP 50). Still i think it is worth mentioning Starfield and I think it is great if you want a more realistic space game. NASA-punk if you will. That realism works at times against the fun, but sometimes it is what makes it worth. Not a game for everyone, but still a good game.
SimCity/Micropolis (1989, DOS)
OK, last year I had Cities: Skylines as a honorable mention, but I thought I also include from where it all started. When I played Cities:Skylines it all felt familiar, because not too much has changed to the original SimCity (and most of these changes happened in SimCity 2000). So back in 1989 Will Wright already developed the bones for a great game. Initially they wanted to call it Micropolis (a fitting name) but, that name was already trademarked back then, so they switched to SimCity, starting the Sim*-branding that they used a lot going forward.
The original game already let's you build your city, see it go stuck in traffic, have it hit by events like earthquakes and... Godzilla. It could thrive or you could go bankrupt for mismanagement. A lot of fun back then.
The source code has been released in the open and the game is now Open Source and ported to more modern platforms. As the brand SimCity is owned by EA, the name was switched to Micropolis, which now was free of the previous trademark. So if you want to play it today, Micropolis might be the best way to go.
Sid Meier's Civilization (1991, DOS)
And if we go down memory lane to games that started a genre, then I should also add Civilization. It kicked off a genre of it's own and still is relevant today as a series, because again the core mechanics are that great, that they still work 30 years later. And I will never forget that intro movie, that showed the formation of earth, the start of life, the evolution and the civilization growing on the earth.
Little Inferno (2012, WiiU/Switch)
Games by Tomorrow Corporation can be pretty weird, but they are also always unique because of that. Little Inferno is no different and has a pretty simple and straighforward gameplay loop: you sit in front of a fireplace and burn stuff. If you burn stuff you get money, which you can use to buy more stuff - which you then set on fire. Burning certain items together can result in combos, which are the achievements. And overall you get a (pretty dark) story told through letters (and a very surprising ending). And that is all there is to it. That may seem simple - and it is - yet somehow it manages to be a compelling concept. The items you buy can become really weird and the physics effects involved in burning them interesting. Was pretty perfect for the WiiU gamepad actually, in off-TV play.
As a reminder, here are my honorable mentions of the past years:
- 2017: Wii Sports Resort (Wii, 2009), Dune (DOS, 1992), Hearthstone (Android, 2014), Chaos Overlords (DOS, 1996), Dillon's Rolling Western (3DS, 2012), Micro Machines (DOS, 1991), Bravely Default (3DS, 2012) and Duke Nukem 3D (DOS, 1996)
- 2018: Undertale (Switch, 2015), Oxenfree (Switch, 2016), Darksiders II (WiiU, 2012), Unreal Tournament (Windows, 1999), Doom reboot (Switch, 2016)
- 2019: Into the Breach (Switch, 2018), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (WiiU/Switch, 2014), Wacky Wheels (DOS, 1994), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018), FreedroidRPG (Linux, 2011), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Switch, 2015), Sid Meier's Colonization (DOS, 1994), Blockout (DOS, 1989)
- 2020: Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, 2003), Doom 64 (Switch/Stadia, 1997), Human Resource Machine (WiiU/Switch, 2015), Worms (DOS, 1995), Hitman (Stadia, 2016), Battle Chess (DOS, 1988)
- 2021: Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise/Rhythm Heaven Fever (2011, Wii), Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (2019, Switch/Stadia), Battalion Wars 2 (2007, Wii), Project Zomboid (2013, Linux), Eledees/Elebits (2006, Wii), Wunderland (1994, Telnet)
- 2022: Balrum (2016, Linux), No Man's Sky (2016, Xbox Series), Diablo (1997, Windows), Cities: Skylines (2015, Xbox One), Falling Skies (2014, WiiU), Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia (2020, Switch)
