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I have a habit of buying too many games whenever Steam sales come along, but I also have a habit of these games eating a lot of hours. I've spent considerably more time playing Team Fortress 2 than I have listening to Muse, and that's saying something. Here I just wanted to highlight my top 10 games I've enjoyed the most that I played for the first time in 2016. I'm also restricting it to generally recent releases. Most of these are from 2016, but like the people inadvertedly pushing Adele towards the #1 spot on the album chart at the moment, I do have a tendency to not be able to keep up with the hype when it's relevant.

10. Clustertruck

This game I'm pretty sure is one where the title was conceived and the concept built around it. Basically think of the old children's game wherein the floor is lava. This is like that except instead of doing it on furniture, it's done on trucks. These trucks have at times rather erratic driving patterns, and as you progress, you enter increasingly absurd locales, to the point where you have giant pendulums or death lasers wreaking havoc with the poor trucks. In a way it has a bonus of showing off a really fun physics engine, and of course it wouldn't be quite as fun if it didn't control really tightly.

9. Ultimate Chicken Horse

It's a brutal platforming game where you and your friends build the level progressively as you go. You start with a simple map that (usually) can be finished with very little skill, but every time you play through it, everyone gets a chance to add one obstacle to the map. These obstacles range from simple planks & stairs, to more dynamic items like arrows, conveyor belts, hockey puck launchers, rotating saws etc. Essentially your aim is to try and make the map difficult in a way that you are able to solve it while others perish. I especially enjoy the use of honey which can be used to glue parts together, which can be used to make some truly over the top obstacles. It's at times a frustrating experience, but all up can feel so rewarding when something great comes together.

8. Stardew Valley

Remember Harvest Moon? This game is basically that, thanks to a dedicated fan who pretty much just wanted to make a more fleshed out version of it. The attention to detail really shows, with this being much more than just a farming simulator. Honestly probably the only reason that it's not higher is that I've still barely scratched the surface of it, even with a lot of hours put in. I'm eager to go back to it soon though, it's been a great relaxation agent.

7. Owlboy

This is also potentially not higher just because I haven't had the chance to finish it yet...which is probably because of all the time I've spent on working on my list/Hottest 100 votes/AGDQ. This is a 2D puzzle platformer that's just loaded with so much charm that it puts a smile on my face. It's a game that's been about a decade in the making and there is just so much attention to detail that makes it one of the most beautiful looking games I've gotten to play. The characters are really charming and the dialogue often hilarious.

6. Furi

The most recent game I played on this list. I only played it through about a week ago but I loved it every step of the way. It's sort of a hybrid of a hack 'n' slash and a bullet hell, while also operating as a boss rush. The entire game is just a series of lengthy boss battles, all of which have unique designs and gameplay elements that frequently turn normal gameplay on its head. In addition to that, this is a really stylish game with a great '80s inspired soundtrack. Most importantly though, it's tough as nails making it thoroughly satisfying when you manage to overcome an enemy.

5. The Binding Of Isaac: Afterbirth

This is an expansion of an expansion of an old flash game. There's even recently been another expansion though I haven't played it yet. It's admittedly a highly frustrating game that took me months to get into. I gave up early after a lot of frustration due to not knowing how to properly play the game, only to come back to it months later and absolutely hooked. I spent most of last year hunting down the hundreds of achievements in the game. As for the game itself, it is a procedurally generated roguelite dungeon-crawler, which means that each time you play it, you start from scratch in a randomly generated level. The basic gameplay is much like the first Legend of Zelda game, but it should be noted that this is made by the same person who made Super Meat Boy, which means that there's a thoroughly slimy and gross aesthetic. The heart of the gameplay comes from the many different items you pick up along your playthrough. All random (though in cases able to be manipulated), but items have a habit of interacting with each other, leading to crazy combinations that can make your character potentially super-overpowered, which is never not satisfying considering the humble beginnings. Every playthrough is different which makes for a lot of replay value; my 200+ hours of playtime speaks something to that effect.

4. Life Is Strange

This borders on being a walking simulator, though that serves more as a way to achieve the game's main goals. It's based on a relatively simple concept. You're a photography student starting up at an artsy private school in your old hometown, and via a series of events discover that you have the power to rewind time. Because of this, the game is anchored on your decision making, as you'll frequently have to pick between dialogue options to alter fate. It frequently messes with the player as sometimes decisions that seem wise at the time will turn out to have negative effects in the future. And this isn't just a light frolic, this game deals with corruption, extortion, rape, murder and the like. The game is split up into 5 episodes that roughly correlate to a weekday each. As you venture further into the game, you slowly will unravel all of the mysterious happenings in town. I pretty much played the game across the space of a week and by the end of it I felt so engaged and invested in all the characters lives. It really did a good job of setting me into the locale by making the setting feel so real. I mean, you live in Portland and you listen to artists like Jose Gonzalez & alt-J, I've never related to a video game character more in my life!

3. Enter The Gungeon

This was basically making it clear that I have a deep love of roguelite games. It's much the same as The Binding of Isaac, though with one major difference: guns, oh so many guns. Don't mistake this for some jingoist American propaganda, this is far too silly of a game for that. It's a game that takes a concept and takes it to the absolute limit. You've seen games with big weapon rosters before? This game has about 200 different guns that save for some basic ones, are very varied. The majority of them have puntastic names (this game absolutely loves puns, they're everywhere), and range from stupid joke weapons to unstoppable killing machines. You traverse through floors taking down mostly bullet-based enemies who have guns that shoot bullets. There's a great amount of attention to detail that makes this feel like sheer refinement of a genre, and the game utilises a great dodge-roll mechanic to give a fresh, exciting layer to some super intense bullet hell sequences. I got every hellish achievement in the game and it was extremely satisfying when I got there.

2. Rocket League

This is my ultimate time vulture. I have on many occasions fallen behind on things I planned to do for the day because I had an intense craving for some Rocket League. What is Rocket League you ask? It's basically just soccer...but with rocket powered cars! The strength of the game is how wonderfully it nails this concept. The physics in the game are top notch and it's really satisfying to see the ball fly all over the place. Actually it's not just the ball that's flying, these cars are rocket powered, so with the right amount of skill, you'll start to see a lot of the action in the game take to the air. It's a truly intense competitive game that I always have a blast playing, even when I'm rubbish.

1. UNDERTALE

I had to put UNDERTALE at #1. This game had a profound effect on my perception of video games as an artform, and what can be accomplished with them. Another way to look at it is that this is a game that gave me back my drive to create video games. It's perhaps appropriate that the game was largely made by one person who is about the same age as me, and with tools that I have at my disposal. If you don't know what UNDERTALE is, it's an RPG with very simple sprite art. The main concept is that there is a morality system, meaning that when you do battles, you have the choice in your opponent's fate. You are in control of whether you kill or spare that enemy. This might seem like a simple gimmick, but the core of the game is anchored around the way that you approach these situations. This has quickly become an all time favourite game for several reasons. One is the general humour of the game and by extension the characters. I love the characters in this game, it's like you're entering this bizarre, twisted world with a new normal, and everyone acting in ways that are bizarre only to you. I've had two characters from the game as my aus-charts profile picture for months on end because I adore them so. The other main thing I love this game for is the way it frequently subverts typical tropes and expectations. There are simple amusing things, like the way almost all shopkeepers refuse to let you sell things to them, because what would they do with your junk, or inns that you use to rest, but you only go to sleep for a few seconds so they just give you your money back. It's something I don't want to spoil, but the game also manages to break the fourth wall on occasion, and even mess with its own interface. There are a lot of aspects that really need to be experienced first hand, so I implore anyone to try it. I might even be willing to gift it to someone on Steam if they ask nicely enough, I'd love to be able to share the experience with someone.