2023 has been a fantastic year for game releases. The thing is, with so many amazing games, there are even more that fly under the radar. There are also so many great games that, on just a recommendation, could quickly become one of your favorites of the year. All you need is to try them; before you know it, you’re hooked. After playing (quite possibly) way too many games in 2023, here are three games that just shocked me for how much fun I’ve had with them, and I think you should try them too.
Figment 2: Creed Valley
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Developer: Bedtime Digital Games
Publisher: Bedtime Digital Games, 4Divinity
A musical action game doesn’t always sound like a good idea. It usually means a rhythm game that needs you to follow the beat to do actual damage. That’s not what Figment 2: Creed Valley is. Taking place in the person’s mind, you’re helping someone control their emotions through top-down gameplay and puzzle solving. This game is great because it uses music to enhance boss fights, tie puzzle solutions to rhythm that even rhythmically impaired people can complete, and so much more. Combat is simple and fun, the environments are varied, and it’s not a long game either. In just an afternoon, you can complete this game and get the catchy boss fight tunes stuck in your head, too.
Pikmin 4
Developer: Nintendo EPD, Eighting
Publisher: Nintendo
Now, I’ve never been a Pikmin fan. The original release on the GameCube was stressful for little 8-year-old me because of its tight timeline (and watching Pikmin die because of stupid mistakes). 22 years later, Pikmin 4 is the one that finally got me into the series. It has a different perspective, new mechanics, and new Pikmin, and it is MUCH LESS STRESSFUL than any other Pikmin release. Plus, the game is beautiful, with every new area you visit continuing to look almost like photorealistic miniature settings of our human world. If you haven’t played a Pikmin game before, give Pikmin 4 a shot and see why it made it on our list of games from 2023 that you should try. It could be the one, too, to let you play this cult Nintendo favorite series.
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
Developer: Turbolento Games
Publisher: Turbolento Games, Tunnel Vision S.R.L.
Who doesn’t love plastic duckies? Does anyone else feel like they’ve had a major comeback lately? Companies are partnering with rubber duck companies to create highly detailed versions of the Little Yellow Guys to look like movie and video game characters. They’re like Funko POPs but not monstrosities sitting on your shelf. Placid Plastic Duck Simulator is the game for a stressful day. It is a game that, even if you just enjoy collecting things, is fun to turn on and let it run in the background while you watch YouTube, grind in a game, or just make dinner. You don’t control the little guys except to make them quack. All you do is choose a pool, the collection of ducks you want to spawn, and hit go. It’s really simple but so much fun! Ducks interact with each other; they float around a pool and accidentally do things, like pop inflatables, light things on fire, get abducted by aliens, or score a goal in hockey while just being little rubber guys. And every 3 minutes, you get a new duck, and you can’t help but be excited about what new duck you’re about to get.
From indie to AAA to watching little ducks float around a pool. I just picked three, but so many games shook up the gaming landscape in 2023 in their own way. What games did you think would not be your cup of tea that you can’t stop thinking about?
