Between its innovative puzzles, impressive presentation, and undefeated vibes, Cocoon needs to be experienced on Xbox Game Pass and beyond.
The 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards finalists have been revealed, and it looks like the lands of Hyrule and Faerûn may be poised for an epic showdown—along with an adventure across worlds within worlds.
VGChartz's Evan Norris: "One of the best parts of any year is surveying the indie game landscape and finding those hidden gems and sleeper hits. For 2023, the voters zeroed in on the following five: Blasphemous 2, which elaborated on the grim action-adventure foundation of its predecessor; Cocoon, which captured the hearts of gamers with its mind-bending puzzles; Dredge, which deftly merged Lovecraftian horror with fishing simulation; Sea of Stars, which excelled in presentation and turn-based RPG mechanics; and, finally, Trine 5, which delivered the same rewarding puzzle-platforming gameplay that has defined the series for two generations."
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "2023 was a stupid year for smart puzzle games. While 2022's final voting round presented more options, thus implying a wider net of favorite puzzle games from the community, I'd argue those didn't consistently reach the sheer quality seen in 2023. That's not to take away from those finalists' superlative achievements either; hell, making engaging brainteasers is hard enough on its own. But it really says something when even some choices that didn't make this list could still go on to be considered "classics" in due time. So, it says something impressive about the final four that did."
This was probably the most overrated game of 2023 that I played