When I play Stardew Valley, I’m nostalgic not for Harvest Moon, but that precious and carefree idea of adulthood. I played Harvest Moon as a kid to imagine life as an adult. But more than its reverence to Harvest Moon, I will remember Stardew Valley for its original touches: the quirky small-town characters, the flirtations with magical realism, and the sincere appreciation of a simple life well lived. Its single developer, Eric Barone, approached the Harvest Moon formula with the eye of a talented editor: trimming, adding, and revising where necessary, and constantly supporting, celebrating, and elevating the original’s voice. Stardew Valley, released in February, wasn’t created by the makers of Harvest Moon, but more so than the two dozen official sequels, it recaptures the original’s essence. Over two decades, its publisher has spread the series like a thin, tasteless paste across more than 25 entries. Take for example one of my favorite games of 1997, the farm life role-playing game Harvest Moon. At times, the industry seems hobbled by nostalgia, overwhelmed with creators so doggedly focused on re-creating objects we loved, they lose track of why we loved them. The unseasonably early arrival of the pumpkin spice latte, the wrong film winning the Oscar for Best Picture, the Kansas City Chiefs collapsing in their first game in the playoffs: I can think of few other things in life as reliable as the monthly drip of video game remasters, remakes, and reboots. Now, without further kvetching about our good fortune, we present The Verge’s 11 best games of 2016. So, we invite you to share your year-end lists in the comments each of our writers will be doing the same.

But we recognize this list, a smidgen bigger than the traditional top 10, still has some notable absences.

Struggling to narrow down favorites is, of course, a nice problem to have. Final Fantasy XV’s evening camps, Stardew Valley’s days on the farm, and Forza Horizon 3’s aimless drives let players find their own fun. Dishonored 2 and Firewatch showed the range of first-person storytelling, a form that no longer requires guns to justify its existence. Indie developers, blockbuster studios, virtual reality tinkerers, and creators who defy labels: all corners of the industry contributed to one of the strangest, most varied, and best years in the medium’s short history.Ĭontroversial games like No Man’s Sky and Pokémon Go let us explore both infinite solar systems and our neighborhood park. We struggle to recall 12 months so crowded with great video games.

Top 10 best video games 2016