=========================================================================
Getting Over It: Effectively combines emotion and gameplay. Satisfying AF.
TIS-100: Immensely gratifying open-ended puzzles. Cured my depression.
Spiritfarer: Feels delightful to play. Really got me thinking about things.
Eliza: Instantly absorbing. Thought provoking. Genius in premise and practice.
A Day of Maintenance: Has demo. Has Orby. Has good story. Has Orby.
A Good Snowman: Tough puzzles that go down smooth. You can hug the snowmen.
Undertale: Humour, music, story, gameplay. Strong all-round.
Lovely Planet: Great challenging game to play in short respites.
DayZ: Abject boredom with moments of intense fear, confusion, and stress.
Alba: Collectathon bird-watching. Feels cathartic and provides dopamine.
In Stars and Time: A torture device that really makes you empathize with the cast.
Epiphany City: Prologue free. Playing it didn't leave me dead inside.
=========================================================================
Kitty Horrorshow's Works: Spine-chilling walking simulators. Free on itch.io.
Basements: Pure audiovisual pain. Just thinking of it gives me chills. I love it.
Seven: A series of environments, varying by the day, each resonating with me.
Leechbowl: Damn good choice of environment. Damn creepy.
Grandmother's Garden: The choices I made really made me think.
=========================================================================
The Vale: Uniquely challenging gameplay and a very enjoyable story.
Spaceport Janitor: An inescapable cycle of despair and hope. Music slams though.
Disco Elysium: Thoughts of this game frequently surface in my head.
Unbeatable: Free. Weeb-friendly. Best rhythm game I've played.
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk: Short, cheap, memorable.
Wandersong: Reluctantly, I enjoyed this game. Great story.
Devil Daggers: Either mentally track 100's of fast flying skulls or die trying.
Among Trees: Impeccably charming visuals, uses survival genre as means of relaxation
Cosmic Wheel of Sisterhood: Cool premise, sharply written.
Heaven's Vault: Translate ancient languages. Make impactful choices.
Night in the Woods: Great story, great use of gameplay for story.
Unsorted Horror: 5 short "ignore the horrors, you've got a job to do" games, my favourite genre.
=========================================================================
Honorable Mentions (Categorized by the main reason I like them):
Gameplay: Engare, Nauticrawl, A Hand with Many Fingers, Iron Lung, Home Safety Hotline, Return of the Obra Dinn, Papers Please, Unpacking
Storytelling: Umurangi Generation, Celeste, Norco, Scarlet Hollow
Vibes: Paratopic, A Bewitching Revolution, Exo: One, Venineth, Transistor, Outer Wilds, 20 Small Mazes, Proteus
Emotion: My Life Changed, What Remains of Edith Finch, The Beginner's Guide
AAA (misc): Spec Ops: The Line, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Alien: Isolation