The 10 essential games of 2021 that helped us define who we are now
It's not the shooting, or the running and the jumping. All those things are fun, of course, and make up the basics of a number of games, including several of my favorites from this year.
"Psychonauts 2" is in many ways a classic 3D platformer, or jump-and-run game. "Halo Infinite" is the modern shooter at its most refined.
But when I look back at the games that meant the most to me in 2021, I largely think of emotional experiences, games that asked me to either rethink how I interact with a digital text, or left me with questions to ponder.
Many, including "The Artful Escape," "Sable," "Unpacking" and others, sought to question our place and our role in the world. They're quests for identity rather than collections of puzzles.
In other words, they're conversation starters, and they're among my top picks for 2021 because they feel like dialogues themselves. Such,
