Coint and Plick 2014 - The Seventh Annual ILX Video Game Poll

otm, but the setting is so much fun it almost makes up for it

some of these browser games...smh. are these voted for by ppl with super long commutes and time to kill? maybe read a book.

Heaven forbid these games get some votes instead of [REDACTED BIG BUDGET TITLE THAT WILL NOT APPEAR IN THESE RESULTS].

#24: Europa Universalis IV - PC/Mac/Linux - 35 pts - 3 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/8bbhXjA.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Strategy Informer | Gaming Nexus | Fan Fiction | Time Lapse | Trailer

exactly the same game as eu3, which means i have bought this game 3 times now? 4? i guess i have played it for approx a million hours so i figure i am at least getting my money's worth. i don't even know if it is fun but once i start it is like pringles

...

whenever i have played a europa universalis game, whatever my initially strategy, i always end up trying the conquer the world by force. i remember having taken over mainland europe with austria and pushing simultaneously into britain, iberia, asia minor, japan and the americas - every turn took hours and i compulsively couldn't stop playing. but there has always been a tipping point for me where i got enough of a moment of clarity to realize that a particular game is just an elaborately disguised black hole for time and i got out. - Roberto Spiralli

kind of wish i had a PC for that. i think i played 2? hard as shit

I was having a great first time experience playing EU4 as Castile but then I never got the personal union event with Aragon that is apparently almost impossible NOT to trigger for some reason, and then France somehow managed to get a personal union with Aragon, and they both hated me and wanted to destroy me and I had a rage quit. ;_;

it was too bad because I was dominating overseas colonization in South America and the Caribbean - Portugal was the only other power there, and then I wailed over them and vassalised them. Things were looking bright, but I didn't feel like fighting an endless impossible defensive war for 50 years against the giant blue blob (France). But I'm not bitter.

#22 (tie): Candy Box - Browser - 35 pts - 4 votes - TOP BROWSER (tie)

http://i.imgur.com/P99I3PU.jpg

Game | PC Gamer | Mashable | Know Your Meme | Let's Play

Candy Box eventually evolves into a passable rpg, with exploration, looting, and a tangible end game. the constant underlying multiplying accumulation engine is given meaning because you're actually saving up to buy real items that you need for the adventure component of the game. - Karl Malone

I didn't finish but I won't lie, it had me clicking for two days. - Jordan

#22 (tie): Cookie Clicker - Browser - 35 pts - 4 votes - TOP BROWSER (tie)

http://i.imgur.com/jHoSzZV.jpg

Game | Polygon | IGN | Know Your Meme | Deviantart | TV Tropes | Endgame

i can't say i dislike it because i've sunk an embarrassing amount of time into it already, but i don't think Cookie Clicker compares very favorably to Candy Box. Candy Box eventually evolves into a passable rpg, with exploration, looting, and a tangible end game. the constant underlying multiplying accumulation engine is given meaning because you're actually saving up to buy real items that you need for the adventure component of the game. Cookie Clicker doesn't have any similar meaning. saving up for the big upgrade only results in a split second bit of jogged curiosity when you see how much your multiplier increased. it feels much more like checking boxes. - Karl Malone

it automates the clicker! if they add more features to this I've got my save game ready to go. this was my Year of Background Gaming (looking at you Tiny Tower) & Cookie Clicker was better than staring at the clock - Euler

I kept a tab with this open for, oh, a month and a half straight? It was extremely satisfying up until I earned all the achievements, after which the dawning futility of it all filled me with horror and I closed the tab for good. - reddening

i quit cookie clicker earlier today. final score: 537 million cookies per second - abanana

god, don't hold me accountable for the candy box quote. i was in the deepest depths of my candy box addiction and i had no clue what was going on in real life at the time

I liked your quote so much I used it twice in a row!

Candy Box eventually evolves into a passable rpg

PUT IT ON THE BOX

Hahaha, I gave 5 points to both of those. I guess they're pretty high up for what they are, but at the same time they were front-runners in casual gaming trends this year, so kind of deserve it.

to anyone who sees these two games and might be curious
DON'T DO IT

wow, Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing made me laugh a great deal. Pretty much pitch-perfect nerdism. The typagotchi thing struck me as hilarious every time it returned, even before it became, uh, a plot point. The owl breaking out the hax0ring was great.

cookie clicker does not deserve to tie w/ the far superior candy box

I don't know wtf I'm supposed to do in Frog Fractions. Just eat bugs? Music reminds me of The Secret of Monkey Island, so that's a plus. But eh, I guess I'm gamed out for the evening.

Frog Fractions changes a lot as you play it. Keep going.

alright, will give it a shot tomorrow

It never becomes a game, really, but it does become different non-games.

lol @ these terrible, wonderful results

i voted for europa because it was a vote for death

lol @ these terrible, wonderful results

I'm glad I can finally share the lols with others

#21: Tomb Raider - PS3/X360/PC - 36 pts - 4 votes

http://i.imgur.com/W3fY2CS.jpg

Website | Metacritic | PSX Extreme | Push Square | Deviant Contest | Trailer

this game rules, feels kinda like an uncharted but without relying on guns guns guns and hordes of assholes with guns. the bow n arrow shit in this is super fun

― joe bogus (am0n), Sunday, June 2, 2013 2:02 PM (9 months ago)

the best bits of this are where you're actually climbing on and exploring random jungle shit, not running down corridors blasting fuckheads

― Hockey Drunk (kingfish), Sunday, June 2, 2013 11:30 PM (9 months ago)

i hate the QTEs, so pointless

― joe bogus (am0n), Monday, June 3, 2013 11:56 AM (9 months ago)

come on it's like a cutscene you can fail

― goole, Monday, June 3, 2013 12:54 PM (9 months ago)

lost some shine when i played far cry 3 after it. There's definite similarities with Tomb Raider falling short in the lack of open world gameplay, which would be fine but it makes moves towards being that type of game which leave you wondering what if. Still the puzzles are better then FC3 and the protagonist is 1 billion times less annoying. - bnw

I didn't like the lack of actual tombs/puzzles and the ridiculous amount (imo) of gun fighting and shootouts (why does a remote island have a seemingly endless supply of firearms and ammo anyway?) in this game. But the few side tombs in this were pretty good, and the game looked nice, and I somehow mostly enjoyed it despite the imbalance of guns to puzzles. - salsa shark

i only started tomb raider after the rollout began but it's fantastic. the QTE's are ridiculous, yes, but the combat is - unlike numerous complaints - lots of fun and the tomb raiding is as great as ever. the puzzles are great too! and the collectibles are OCD-inspiring!

so i just discovered this exists http://www.reddit.com/r/incremental_games

#19 (tie): Gunpoint - PC - 40 pts - 2 votes - TOP PC EXCLUSIVE

http://i.imgur.com/JDt4Bfl.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Game Informer | Escapist | Trailer

You play as Richard Conway, freelance spy. He's hired by various clients to break into secure buildings and steal their secrets. If that concept immediately makes you jump up and down and say, "Ooh! Ooh! Just like Sega's Bonanza Bros!" then congratulations, you've got a head start in understanding the gameplay. You view Conway in dinky side-on pixel art, and must work out the best way to get him from his starting point at the left of the level, through the building in question to his prize, and then safely to the subway station on the right hand side of the stage. - Dan Whitehead, Eurogamer

I recommend checking out "Gunpoint," which is a funny little digital gumshoe action megajumping game where you can hack building wiring systems for access and/or boobytraps. - kingfish

finally got to play space team last night, and must echo all the praise given to it. and it's free! seriously, anyone with an ipad/iphone must check it out ASAP

definitely would have thrown it 15+ points had i played it in time

lol @ my one tomb raider quote, after a threadful of effusion

lol @ just like Bonanza Bros

did make me want to play it tbf

not a knock!

#19 (tie): Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition - PS3/PS4/Vita/X360/Xbone/WiiU/iOS/Android/PC - 40 pts - 2 votes

http://i.imgur.com/cNaHTB1.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Canadian Online Gamers | Thunderbolt | Newbie | Fan Fiction | Trailer

Netherrealm's obvious follow up to their last two games, the cruddy Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and nostalgic spit-shine pleasure Mortal Kombat (2011) lived up to the hype, improving both MK's casually passable (but still, classically janky) fight system into something balanced and very playable online, as nearly competitive as a serious fighter as your Street Fighters and BlazBlues. I put a lot of enjoyable time into multiplayer, but the B-movie/DC Animated Universe style story mode is where it's at. Also from MK, every other fighting game needs to steal their format ASAP for single player story modes in fighting games, where you get little chunks of story in a grander (still dumb, but fun) plot in a round-robin of playing every character for a few matches as the plot progresses. Lots and lots of cute fan service in this, and not just characters showing up in the background, but in things like the ridiculous amount of alternate costumes and the customized Clash dialogue between most sets of combatants (even the DLC characters got these - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPN16xUygg). Incredibly easy to recommend for a good time whether you're a mild comic book fan or hardcore fighting enthusiast. - Nhex

Playing Injustice on the iPad and it's very grindy, very quickly. I've got as far as Sinestro on the second page and already need to to spend the majority of points earned on upgrading the skills to keep pace with the challenge, so I can't do anything about new characters without grinding through low levels (which, because they're completed, only pay out minor points and minor xp). Also not entirely sure what the point of skills above lvl 1 are since the major attack of the AI seems to be to use the lvl 1 skill and power drain, meaning you struggle to get to lvl 2 power in any case. - aldo

Story mode in Injustice (console vers.) is enjoyable insane. They clearly spent a ton of money on that nonsense - abanana

oh hello youtube embed

#16 (tie): Dishonored DLC: The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches - PS3/X360/PC - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/uSGHxMx.jpg

Website | Metacritic Dunwall | Metacritic Witches | Strategy Informer | Gamespot | Fan Fiction | Dunwall trailer | Witches trailer

Dishonored.

While The Knife of Dunwall's missions may not reach the heights of the Boyle's masquerade or the Golden Cat, the first mission -- which sheds more light on Dunwall's grisly whaling industry -- is undoubtedly one of the best designed game-spaces in both the DLC and game proper. It both encapsulates what makes Dishonored such a delight to play and introduces a few new things, including the horrific Butchers -- a particularly nasty enemy who requires a wee bit more thought that most to dispatch. - Fraser Brown, Destructoid

Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches may not mark a massive departure from Dishonored's appealing blend of stealth and stabbing despite the focus on a different character, but it introduces enough new elements to render its five or six hours of game time as alluring as Corvo's epic odyssey. Taken together with The Knife of Dunwall, The Brigmore Witches affords us a rare chance to see the other side of the story in gaming, with the result that you may briefly find yourself wondering who was in the right after all. This may be the end of Dunwall's story arc, but it's a fitting and quietly triumphant addition that adds true meaning to Corvo's tale rather than a few extra hours of playtime. This is DLC as it should be done. - Leif Johnson, Gamespot

The Dishonored DLC earns its place for its superb level design, on par with or improving on the already sprawling and intricate levels in the base game. - one way street

I just love this game so much. The DLC episodes were just meaty enough, and when I say meaty I mean whale meat, because I mercy-assassinated a whale. - Jordan

Injustice looks kinda amazing -- is one of the characters the dude from Bioforge!?
But uhh, yeah, I haven't enjoyed a fighting game like that since International Karate Plus lolz old dude comin' through.

Anyways, I played Frog Fractions and ... wow? Gave up at the Porn Manager stage and just found a walkthrough to see what was coming up, but it was a pretty entertaining romp. Think the underwater maze was where I found my interest flagging. Then the weird arrow thing that it took me a while to figure out what I was supposed to do on (and uh, even then I failed completely, but apparently the game didn't actually give a shit, so that was nice) Gotta say I preferred Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing!

high five, bro!

also I assume you're talking about Cyborg

Injustice on iPhone/iPad kind of ruled for about a week, then I wanted to play the real fighting game iteration but didn't want to spend any money on it

Haha, I thought it was some mashup thing where they had old video game characters meeting comic book characters. I guess it was pretty idiotic to assume Bioforge would be a source for something like that.

(xp obv)

Is Gunpoint similar to Mappy or Elevator Action?

#16 (tie): Kentucky Route Zero - PC/Mac/Linux - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes

http://i.imgur.com/6tF2HJH.jpg

Website | Metacritic | Escapist | Hooked Gamers | Trailer

And while Kentucky Route Zero does ostensibly exist within a video game space, it is more interested in the function of spaces within that space. It is based on the expressive forms of experimental theater, installation art and modernist literature, not on the ideal of the holodeck. It creates non-Euclidean spaces that cannot exist, not as an expression of the possibilities of video game space when unshackled by the constraints of the real world, but as an outright rejection of the common standard of video game spaces. - Eric Swain, Pop Matters

KR0 is unfinished, mostly linear, and with fairly light interactivity, but has particularly strong writing and an amazing sense of atmosphere, and as a displaced Kentuckian a magical realist take on the state's backroads is irresistible to me. - one way street

I've really been charmed by Kentucky Route Zero, but it strikes me that it could be quite gimicky, or that they'l never finish all 5 chapters. - CraigG

i very much want to play kr0 and will the moment it appears on a humble bundle

Ok although I didn't play it, I'm fairly shocked about the low placement of injustice, I was fairly sure that would go top ten

i am shocked that inj placed top 50 honestly. or am i? is this year that sketch? i mean if you get beaten by fucking dishwasher DLC...

the first official ILX, you are disappoint. at least it got Top 20!

I haven't played a fighting game since Tekken 3 and I was never any good at that, but I had a great time with Injustice. Love the way it makes it's super crazy overpowered moves easily accessible instead of hiding them away behind 20 step input strings.

This next one leaves me with an even 15 to finish next week, although I could do five more today if people approve.

#16 (tie): Counterfeit Monkey - Interactive Fiction - 40 pts - 2 votes - 1 top game votes - TOP INTERACTIVE FICTION

http://i.imgur.com/fhuQzAr.jpg

Website/Game | IFDB | Scatmania | Game Trailers | Horrible Review | Podcast

The game world is a real treat to explore and discover. The setting is rich and detailed; it is possible to examine and interact with everything mentioned in every room description, and you will often see unique messages for certain objects when examining them for the first time that prompt you to “remember” moments from your past, which help round out the protagonist’s backstory and provide information that would be too unwieldy to present otherwise. The story itself is an espionage tale told over about one hundred rooms that span the city of Atlantis; there are many NPCs to interact with, most of which can react to your actions (such as the officer during the protest scene) or carry on conversations with you (even non-story-relevant ones). The presentation of the story flows naturally and smoothly, giving a good balance of puzzles and plot. The conversation mechanic, however, is rather weak; the game essentially presents you with options to choose from during dialogue and is forthright in, effectively, telling you how to play, e.g. “[I want to] ask whether [that item] is for sale” or “[I want to] tell him the truth”. Yes, this does give the player hints on what phrases will carry on the conversation, but this feels less like meaningful interaction and more like “Press X to Plot”. I feel these scenes could have been replaced with zero-input (canned) conversations without taking much away from the feel of the game. However, the conversations are unintrusive and relatively short, so this may not bother you at all. On a similar note, I was a bit put off by one sequence where the game gave me the illusion of having control over a particular scene (i.e. accepting my commands), but then surprised me with the announcement that someone else would be controlling my actions during this sequence and that I could not do anything except “wait” several times in a row until I regained control. But this is a minor detail; the story and setting are both extremely well-written, well-researched, and well-developed, and it is easy to get lost in one’s mind’s eye in the world of Atlantis. - ScruffyED, June 10, 2013

I support this somewhat empty enormous technical achievement 100% - Gravel