Coint & Plick X: The 50(ish) best games of 2016

Took me long enough! Turns out being unemployed makes me... slower at doing non-work things on the internet? Who figured? (also, I was busy compulsively playing games for my 2017 ballot!)

Anyway, I'm gonna try to do about half of them today, and half tomorrow. I had to re-learn how to use GIMP since I don't have Photoshop anymore! Sorry if my images look cut-rate!

45 - Imbroglio - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/PaYkwyL.png

(yup, lots of ties at the bottom per the uzh)

Wow only one vote for Imbroglio? I thought it was ILG beloved

i don't know it! guess i was reading the wrong threads.

45 - Lego's Marvel's Avengers - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/WgEPoZ3.png

xp is it possible to put format so i don't waste milliseconds of my life looking up stupid ios games?

that said, ppl seem to really love this game according to the itunes user reviews

i forgot to do something like that this year! dang. uhh... i don't really know which games are on iOS/etc.

well i'll manage, somehow

45 - Planar Conquest - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/yn1sflU.png

Fuck, I just looked at what I did for best games of 2014 copy-pasting a bunch of MS excel into the pics with the platforms, i should do that again next year...

anyway that one there is on steam

looks interesting but extremely mixed reviews, can the voter pls make a case

i can't make a case for that one, but i sure can make a case for the next one

45 - The Jackbox Party Pack 3 - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/cQvMMZa.png

Party Pack 3 is by far the best release they've done in this jackbox series, which is still a profoundly novel idea (one person buys the game, everyone goes over and uses their phone as an input device). the new Tee K.O. game (pictured) (this is one of the shirts from a game I played in fact) is a fucking GAS. you draw pictures, write slogans, and then take other people's pics/slogans and attempt to put them together in a way that makes sense, and then they battle. Quiplash is back, and better, there's a trivia game that's the closest to a real You Don't Know Jack in ages, a fun party game that involves pointing at your friends, and then only one clunker (a kind of weird family feud type "we interviewed 100 people" thing that feels completely arbitrary and pointless).

45 - Rodeo Stampede - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/zFgCKkK.png

45 - SteamWorld Heist - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/roxLEJy.png

45 - We Know The Devil - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/zTtvbp2.png

xp shit that looks good, i have literally never heard of it

45 - Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission - 10 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/8JSdhIa.png

that's it for the 10/1 games!

43 - Superhot - 10 points / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/6oq9g5x.png

i still haven't finished superhot, but it is so good!

43 - Ratchet and Clank 2016 - 10 points / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/p1dHXGv.png

I know why, but it's not just me that thinks 10/1 should come higher than 10/2, right?

disagree, imo it's more notable (especially in c&p where it almost never happens) if more than one person votes for a game

when you only have 16 ballots and half of everyone's ballot is pretty much unique there's not a lot to go on! anyway, here's a game that got more than 10 points

42 - Pokemon Go - 11 points / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/o70zK4l.png

my phone has an absolute piece of shit battery but i never stopped playing a game for that exact reason until pokemon go rolled around. what a battery vampire.

lol. nice try pokemon go.

41 - Uncharted 4 - 13 points / 3 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/BWOesJ6.png

37 - Dishonored 2 - 15 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/WE6Aais.png

I was the lone vote for imbroglio. Imbroglio rules, although I burned myself out on it.

37 - Pocket Card Jockey - 15 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/sC4TDu1.png

i dunno what pocket card jockey is, i kinda have a feeling i wouldn't get into it, and yet i love that lil picture so much

i liked the first dishonored but i haven't once thought about picking up the sequel. i don't even know why.

37 - ABZU - 15 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/17an59Q.png

I feel bad that I stalled out on Dishonored 2. It's really fun once you get into a level and pick it apart, but starting a new one can be kinda overwhelming with the amount of secret runes and paths to figure out. Gotta get back to that someday.

37 - Total War: Warhammer - 15 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/bPEKQqm.png

35 - RimWorld - 15 points / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/8ejXM9G.png

another one of my votes, i had abunch of fun with this one!

35 - Pokemon Sun & Moon - 15 points / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/lltdjlc.png

34 - Pocket Mortys - 16 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/AtpeQNJ.png

i voted for RimWorld as well - there was a bit of a learning curve to it, and just as i was getting a handle on everything the difficulty ramped up as the invasions became more powerful and i wasn't quite prepared to fight back. it's a lot of fun though, and i imagine there are people who installed RimWorld a year ago who are still just as obsessed with it right now

in a lot of ways it feels like a more playable dwarf fortress to me, which is v v v v high praise!

33 - The Last Guardian - 17 points / 3 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/h4nXHph.png

pocket card jockey seems like my kind of lunacy, shame it's only on 3ds

29 - Mini Metro - 20 points / 1 Vote
http://i.imgur.com/HHrhEK4.png

i voted for last guardian. at the time of my vote, i had just started playing the day before and was still enthralled. it would still make my ballot now, i think, but maybe with only 5 points instead of 10. the main attraction - Trico the dog bird dragon beast - is very well done. it is genuinely fun to just fuck around in a room, crawling around on Trico, petting it, watching Trico pace around the room, looking for food for Trico. it helps that Trico is very similar to my own dog, Bird. very similar mannerisms.

but the actual puzzles - not so much fun. and the controls are a goddamn shame. it's too bad, because the rest of the game is so well done.

How do I filter this thread to iOS only games???

shocked those two aren't at the top

7 - Firewatch - 41 points / 1 First-place vote / 3 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/gj1tMAb.png

firewatch: highest-rated -watch game of ILX 2016

(i was the #1 vote, i loved it, fite me)

6 - Marvel Puzzle Quest - 45 points / 1 First-place vote / 2 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/q7hBgsu.png

MOVING ON

5 - Salt & Sanctuary - 50 points / 3 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/ri8nNl1.png

4 - Stardew Valley - 75 points / 6 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/bYIUlOz.png

lol i only didn't vote MPQ because i thought you'd shit the bed again :P

mpq voters should just have their ballots destroyed at this point

Cosign

ban Roberto Spirelli and Jeff

it just looks like a hideously ugly Bejeweled knock-off.

I like the look of Stardew Valley tho

stardew valley is good - very cute and at least worth playing through one year. i couldn't get beyond that tho you exhaust the new stuff pretty quickly and outside building larger and larger farms (which just means more clicking since everything is > click here to plow this > click here to put seeds here > click here to water seeds here or > click here to milk cow > click here to put milk in cheesemaking machine) and an underbaked combat system (that reminds me a lot of princess maker).

3 - The Witness - 90 points / 2 First-place votes / 7 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/8f4fOtV.png

i'd be cool to destroy mpq ballots if they didn't make up double-digit percentages of total number of ballots

2016 was not a great year for video games

I didn't vote since I only played around 5 games from 2016. The Witness was definitely my favorite.

i forgot to put it on my ballot but the witness rules

2 - Dark Souls 3 - 90 points / 2.5 First-place votes / 3 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/f7q1m6t.png

1 - Inside - 94 points / 0.5 First-place votes / 6 Votes
http://i.imgur.com/9ehFq5R.png

Everything that got a vote:

1 - Inside - 94 points / 0.5 First-place votes / 6 Votes
2 - Dark Souls 3 - 90 points / 2.5 First-place votes / 3 Votes
3 - The Witness - 90 points / 2 First-place votes / 7 Votes
4 - Stardew Valley - 75 points / 6 Votes
5 - Salt & Sanctuary - 50 points / 3 Votes
6 - Marvel Puzzle Quest - 45 points / 1 First-place vote / 2 Votes
7 - Firewatch - 41 points / 1 First-place vote / 3 Votes
8 - Overwatch - 37 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 2 Votes
9 - Witcher 3 Blood and Wine - 36 points / 1 First-place vote / 2 Votes
10 - No Man's Sky - 35 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 2 Votes
11 - Doom - 33 points / 1 First-place vote / 2 Votes
12 - XCOM 2 - 30 points / 1 First-place vote / 3 Votes
13 - Devil Daggers - 30 points / 1 First-place vote / 1 Vote
13 - Plants vs. Zombies Heroes - 30 points / 1 First-place vote / 1 Vote
13 - Rez Infinite - 30 points / 1 First-place vote / 1 Vote
16 - World of Warcraft: Legion - 30 points / 0.5 First-place votes / 1 Vote
16 - Rusty Lake: Roots - 30 points / 0.5 First-place votes / 1 Vote
18 - Skyrim Remastered - 30 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 1 Vote
18 - Steep - 30 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 1 Vote
20 - Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- - 25 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 1 Vote
20 - Street Fighter V - 25 points / 0.33 First-place votes / 1 Vote
22 - Hitman - 25 points / 3 Votes
22 - Crashlands - 25 points / 3 Votes
24 - Severed - 25 points / 2 Votes
25 - Titanfall 2 - 22 points / 2 Votes
25 - Picross 3DS Round 2 - 22 points / 2 Votes
27 - Nuclear Throne - 21 points / 2 Votes
28 - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - 20 points / 2 Votes
29 - Mini Metro - 20 points / 1 Vote
29 - Rusty Lake Hotel - 20 points / 1 Vote
29 - Watch Dogs 2 - 20 points / 1 Vote
29 - Teeny Titans - 20 points / 1 Vote
33 - The Last Guardian - 17 points / 3 Votes
34 - Pocket Mortys - 16 points / 1 Vote
35 - RimWorld - 15 points / 2 Votes
35 - Pokemon Sun & Moon - 15 points / 2 Votes
37 - Dishonored 2 - 15 points / 1 Vote
37 - Pocket Card Jockey - 15 points / 1 Vote
37 - ABZU - 15 points / 1 Vote
37 - Total War: Warhammer - 15 points / 1 Vote
41 - Uncharted 4 - 13 points / 3 Votes
42 - Pokemon Go - 11 points / 2 Votes
43 - Superhot - 10 points / 2 Votes
43 - Ratchet and Clank 2016 - 10 points / 2 Votes
45 - Imbroglio - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - Lego's Marvel's Avengers - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - Planar Conquest - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - Jackbox Party Pack 3 - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - Rodeo Stampede - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - SteamWorld Heist - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - We Know The Devil - 10 points / 1 Vote
45 - Star Wars Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission - 10 points / 1 Vote
53 - Battlefield One - 9 points / 1 Vote
54 - Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor - 8 points / 1 Vote
54 - The Playroom VR - 8 points / 1 Vote
56 - Really Bad Chess - 6 points / 2 Votes
57 - Battle of Polytopia - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Disney Magic Kingdoms - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Dragon Quest Builders - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - EDF 4.1 - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Spaceplan - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Bullet Hell Monday - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Burrito Bison: Launcha Libre - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Human Resource Machine - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - King Rabbit - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Pony Island - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Stellaris - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Job Simulator - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - Pinball FX2 VR - 5 points / 1 Vote
57 - The Lab - 5 points / 1 Vote
71 - Disney Crossy Road - 4 points / 1 Vote
71 - Harvest Moon - 4 points / 1 Vote
71 - Let it Die - 4 points / 1 Vote
74 - Glittermitten Grove - 3 points / 1 Vote
74 - Stories: The Path of Destinies - 3 points / 1 Vote
76 - Owlboy - 2 points / 1 Vote
77 - Hero Slide - 1 points / 1 Vote
77 - Twilight Struggle - 1 points / 1 Vote

My ballot:

17 /// XCOM 2
16 /// Nuclear Throne
15 /// Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
10 /// Titanfall 2
9 /// Battlefield One
8 /// Hitman
8 /// Stardew Valley
7 /// Inside
5 /// The Witness
5 /// Stellaris

18 /// Doom
17 /// Stardew Valley
12 /// Titanfall 2
12 /// Overwatch
12 /// Hitman
8 /// Dark Souls III
8 /// Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
6 /// Witcher 3 Blood and Wine
4 /// Let it Die
2 /// The Last Guardian
1 /// Really Bad Chess

Thanks for doing this Will!

The only game to get two "disappointment of 2016" votes was No Man's Sky. other disappointments:

- I didn't play enough games
- Final Fantasy XV
- people still play MOBAs and match three games
- Stellaris

No repeats in "non-2016 game of 2016" category. The list:

Trapball
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Assassin's Creed II
10 Second Ninja
Tearaway Unfolded
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Witcher 3
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014)
Puyo-Puyo Tetris

Thanks for ballots everyone, hopefully by the next time I run a poll I have a job and therefore am actually sitting at a computer for more thna 5 minutes at a time

i might actually hand this off next yr, doing two of these a year is kind of a pain (and i wanna keep doing the generational polls in late summer-early autumn)

lol at ds3 - 3 votes, all 1st place. i guess by this point you aren't playing the series still if you don't love it. cool with inside getting #1, wonderful game

the ballot I didn't send in:

1 // Crashlands

the from software & borderlands blocs will run this poll by next year at this rate of vote decay

Nah we're gonna get better

2016 wasn't great. non-election years should be better

Sorry I didn't vote, but I seriously only played maybe 2-3 2016 games. Now that PS3 is almost dead and Vita is slowly slipping away (although it did just get a Salt & Sanctuary port), I'd guess I'm pretty much tapping out of contemporaneous C+P polls for the foreseeable future.

I would have really gone in hard for Total War: Warhammer and MiniMetro had I voted.

30 /// The Witness
i think i have raved enough. i love this game, which is so much more than just solving a series of line puzzles on panels.
15 /// Stardew Valley
a slightly different spin on harvest moon. that's all i wanted, and it delivers! i heard a rumor about local multiplayer coming at some point and i really hope it's true.
10 /// Salt & Sanctuary
dark souls + castlevania. tbh i'm more excited about a S&S sequel than a proper souls sequel.
10 /// RimWorld
higher learning curve than you'd think, but it's not terribly cumbersome to learn. just takes a bit of effort.
10 /// The Last Guardian
i mentioned this upthread. ultimately disappointing despite nailing the dogdragon dynamic.
10 /// Imbroglio
it feels like this came out ages ago. i would esp. recommend this game for people who enjoy building custom decks and optimization. i don't, but the default settings were enough to provide plenty of puzzle fun for quite a while.
5 /// Inside
it was really good. not best game of 2016 good.
5 /// Dragon Quest Builders
lighthearted minecraft style sandbox but with a nice set of structured goals.
5 /// EDF 4.1
only for local co-op purposes. this game is ridiculously stupid, relentlessly so. and all the levels start to blend together after a while. but man, when you are sitting there on the same couch desperately trying to fend off waves of giant ants it is sooooo much fun.

my ballot is all ps4 except for rimworld (mac) and imbroglio (iOS)

i didn't vote bc i didn't play that many new games. Dark Souls 3 and DOOM and No Man's Sky, that's it. i was looking forward to playing FFXV but they STILL haven't issued a PC release date.

Yeah I feel bad that I got two games to #16 just because I didn't play a lot of games last year. I promise that I'll play more this year, not just WoW.

*realises with horror that he's playing WoW while posting this*

I voted for all three games I played a ton last year:

Skyrim
Steep
No Man's Land

i checked out the Rusty Lake games because of this thread, and played through all of them over the last week. so good! really clever and creepy. and i only cheated a couple times, i swear.

i did not, however, get through the final time-challenge sequence of (whichever one)

RL: Roots was even moving, if that edward gorey/wes anderson type of thing does it for you

Aw great, I'm glad of that - yeah all of the free games that Rusty Lake made before those two are also good, but Roots is the best.

I have got into Inside this week. So many gruesome ways for the poor child to get killed! I like it's sense of mystery and total lack of daft voice-overs so far.

I hate the dogs in Inside, they terrify me.

The bastards are so fast, there is that bit where you can scare them off with fire - but then they start coming at you from both sides.

I love the Abe's Oddysee style mind control puzzles as well.

The worst dog part is where you've got to climb a fence, pull boards off a doorway and then run back to the fence before the dogs get you, and then do it twice more. I was a nervous wreck after doing that one.

fyi there's an extra lil puzzle in rusty lake: cave. when you're in the sub, go to some familiar landmarks! p cool.

Shoulda participated in this, feel like I played more games this year than I typically do. Wouldn't have added too much that was novel though, DOOM and Dark Souls were my go-to's.

Coint & Plick 2017 - ILX's best games of the year - NOMINATIONS (Deadline: March 4)