2023 has been a stacked year, to say the very least, and for those who enjoy single player games in particular, there’s been an embarrassment of riches over the last 12 months, with excellent new games ranging across multiple platforms and genres. Given how crowded the year has been though, there have been quite a few excellent games that have sort of slipped through the cracks and failed to receive the kind of attention they deserve. Here, we’ll be highlighting a few such games.
THE INVINCIBLE
By its very nature, the deliberate pacing and philosophical bent of The Invincible’s story make it a game that not everyone might be able to get into, but if you’re looking for a strong narrative and an excellent realized setting, it almost feels like a must-play. Not only does it earn its emphasis on storytelling with some truly captivating writing and character development, it also combines its sci-fi setting with a retro-futuristic art style to great effect, creating an experience that feels quite unique from what you usually find in narrative-driven adventure titles.
VIEWFINDER
The first person puzzle genre has seen a lot of creative ideas being brought to life over the years, but very few do it as well as Viewfinder does. Its central hook of capturing images and manipulating them so they magically become a part of the environment is just as mesmerizing as you begin the game as it is when you’re deeper into the experience. At just 4-5 hours long, it isn’t a particularly lengthy game, but it makes a lasting impression with what it does with that runtime.
JUSANT
As a zen, meditative platformer that is all about rock climbing, Jusant is very different from the kind of games we’ve come to expect from DON’T NOD, but it exhibits the confidence of a developer that knows exactly what it’s doing. On top of striking the perfect balance between simplicity and enjoyability with its core gameplay loop, Jusant delivers in a number of other areas, from storytelling to environment design to art style and much more.
DAVE THE DIVER
Dave the Diver is the sort of game that you probably wouldn’t be able to sell very well with a short elevator pitch. From underwater diving to working at a sushi restaurant, from collecting items, resources, and upgrades to engaging in boss fights, Dave the Diver’s core gameplay loop pulls from a lot of different genres- and yet, it manages to make it all work together to great effect. It’s honestly surprising just how addictive it can be.
DREDGE
As much of a cozy, relaxing fishing game as it is an ominous, Lovecraftian horror experience, Dredge is a game that can oscillate wildly between different tones and gameplay loops, and yet, regardless of what you’re doing in the game, it keeps you constantly engaged and captivated. It combines those two drastically different elements together so masterfully, it’s hard not to come away thoroughly impressed with the end result.
COCOON
The mark of a good puzzle game is how well it can balance simplicity and complexity, and by that metric, COCOON may very well be one of the best games we’ve seen in the genre in some time. Diving in and out of its orb-like worlds to tackle excellently crafted puzzles never loses its charm, nor does the minimalistic approach it adopts on the storytelling front. Even though you can roll credits in less than half a dozen hours, COCOON manages to get everything out of the vast majority of its (very unique) ideas that it possibly can.
PARK BEYOND
Many games have tried to chase the RollerCoaster Tycoon high, and though Park Beyond isn’t as successful in its efforts to do so as something like, say, Planet Coaster, it sets itself apart in some key ways that make it worth a look. Chief among them is how gleefully it embraces its whimsical side, allowing players to populate their parks with the most over-the-top and out-there rides that your mind can conjure up. No, it’s not a game without some significant issues, but building the park of your dreams in Park Beyond is still quite an enjoyable endeavour more often than not.
FORT SOLIS
From its short runtime to the extreme simplicity of its gameplay, there are certainly some issues with Fort Solis that cannot be ignore, but it’s also a game that does enough to justify a playthrough. Its greatest strengths lie in its top-notch production values and the incredible performances of its core cast of characters, not to mention its ominously atmospheric and horror-adjacent sci-fi setting. Does it do everything it can with those elements? Perhaps not- but even so, there’s enough to be impressed by here.
AMNESIA: THE BUNKER
2023 has been a banger year for survival horror games, and though Amnesia: The Bunker didn’t make the sort of impact that other major releases in the genre did, it’s still an incredibly easy game to recommend. In spite of making some pretty notable changes to the Amnesia formula, it manages to retain the series’ greatest strengths, crafting an experience that’s dripping with dread and atmosphere in all the ways you’d expect from an Amnesia game. Like a few other games on this list, it does fall a bit on the short side, but even in that short runtime, it delivers more than enough scares to last a lifetime.
SYSTEM SHOCK
The wait for Nightdive Studios’ remake of System Shock was a long one, but thankfully, it turned out to be worth it. From the foreboding atmosphere, to the rewarding exploration, to the incredible level design, to, of course, the chillingly villainous SHODAN, Nightdive’s incredibly faithful remake does an excellent job of capturing what made the original game so great. Remaking a game with such a massive legacy is never an easy task, but it’s one that this year’s System Shock tackles with great aplomb.
PLANET OF LANA
One of several games to have gotten lost in the shuffle that was 2023’s packed release schedule, Planet of Lana is a game that deserves a lot more attention than it got. It’s a game that succeeds on several fronts, simultaneously telling a compelling story with endearing characters while also delivering solid yet simple gameplay mechanics that are used to great effect in everything from puzzles to exploration. Add to that its gorgeous art design and environments, and what you get is a truly unmissable game.
SEASON: A LETTER TO THE FUTURE
Season: A Letter to the Future is probably one of the more unique games we’ve included in this list, and that’s thanks primarily to how it takes an inherently melancholic premise and manages to turn it into an experience that’s simultaneously enjoyable and somber. Its engrossing story and the excellently-realized characters that populate it would have been enough to earn it a spot on this list alone, but with gorgeous art direction and relaxing gameplay loop added on top, our endorsement for the game grows that much louder.
OXENFREE 2: LOST SIGNALS
Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals doesn’t have the novelty and freshness of its predecessor, so it’s easy to understand why it failed to make the same impact (especially in a year like 2023), but for those who liked the first game, it’s an easy game to recommend. Thanks to excellently written and voiced characters and a captivating central mystery (not to mention a healthy pinch of techno-horror), Oxenfree 2 keeps its hooks in you from the first second until the last, while also expanding on its predecessor’s gameplay ideas in interesting ways.
MIASMA CHRONICLES
Coming from the developers of Mutant Year Zero, Miasma Chronicles obviously had high expectations to live up, and though it doesn’t hit the highs of the studio’s previous outing, it’s still a compelling turn-based tactics experience that’s well worth experiencing. On top of its endlessly enjoyable combat, Miasma Chronicles does a solid job of keeping you interested in its story, which, of course, is thanks in large part to how expertly realizes its unique setting (even if the writing can be a bit inconsistent).
BOMB RUSH CYBERFUNK
We’ve seen our fair share of Jet Set Radio spiritual successors over the years, but very few of them have managed to replicate its aesthetic and sense of style as well as Team Reptile’s Bomb Rush Cyberfunk did. Thanks to some issues with the combat and its repetitive mechanics, it does feel like a bit of a diamond in the rough, but for those who’ve been desperately hoping to recapture the highs of Jet Set Radio, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is an unmissable game.
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