These websites are populated by a diverse cast of internet archetypes extant in the ’90s, as now. The game tasks me with working as a community enforcer, administering a code of behavior across its ugly, bizarre user-created pages. It’s a funny piece of work that’s nostalgic about the past without getting too misty-eyed.

Set entirely in a late-’90s GeoCities-like online hub, Hypnospace Outlaw is a flawless piece of historical fiction, a savage work of contemporary satire, and a genuinely tricky puzzle game. Image: Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs Media/No More Robots 49. To see a collection of other titles we recommend that might not have made the Essentials lists, check out Polygon Recommends. If you’re looking for something more platform-specific, check out Polygon Essentials, a collection of persistently updated lists of the best of the best games for each platform - from the hardware’s launch to its end of production. For a deeper look back at our top 5, check out our dedicated GOTY 2019 hub.

Here it is, our list of the top 50 games of 2019. That’s why we’ve included a bit on what makes each one special: So you can find the best games of 2019 for you. Ultimately, we recommend all of these games. And who could forget whatever the hell Untitled Goose Game is? This was a year in which it was possible, if not exactly easy, for strange, exciting new ideas to make an outsized dent in the zeitgeist.ĭon’t worry too much about the ranking.

There was Kind Words, which was always there for you if the news became a little overwhelming. There was a Star Wars game that could be mistaken for a Tomb Raider game. Outer Wilds mixes the expected influence of the past few years into something completely new, while The Outer Worlds brought familiar design into a brand-new galaxy that served as a pointed critique of capitalism. While next year will have new consoles and likely many new entries in huge, tentpole franchises, this was a year with many experiments and unexpected surprises. 2019 was a very strange year for games, and that sense of adventure is clear in our list of the top 50 games of the past 12 months.

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