The 2023 Backlog Awards, Pt. 1
2023 was a fantastic year for video games…and I say that as someone who skipped most of the heavy hitters this year. That means I’ve got even more great games to look into playing next year, which also seems to be pacing to be chock-full of titles I’m excited to play.
But, for now, it’s time to put on my retrospective cardigan and reflect on my favorite gaming experiences this year.
Each one of these awards posts gets more competitive than the last one. And that’s not just because I’m being more selective with games: Games are constantly getting better, and I’m definitely more aware of the genres and even subgenres that I love. It’s hard to limit this list to just 10, but I will force myself to stick to that so I can sing the praises of each of these fantastic titles.
Author’s note: I split up last year’s awards into two parts, so I could write some “mini reviews” for the 10 best games I played last year. If you’re curious how this year stacks up to 2022, here’s part one (6-10) as well as part two (1-5).
Backlog Awards' Best of 2023 | #10
I’ve explored the concept of “games as art” before, mostly by tackling the back-and-forth arguments on the top. This has become a complex topic for gamers and games journalists, but the reality is that it’s almost an inarguable truth now. More and more artists are making games, and they’re taking the indie route because it gives them the freedom to really fulfill their vision.
GRIS is a perfect example of that. There’s no clear “story” in the way most gamers would understand it, with the narrative presented through music and gameplay shifts. And the gameplay itself could be considered a simple 2D platformer, with a few clever puzzles but mostly-straightforward design.
But GRIS isn’t trying to win an award for its writing, story, or puzzles. What it sets out to do is combine true visual art with beautiful music to create an evocative experience. In some ways, it’s like an interactive art exhibit; I explored different realms, growing the color palette (and the gameplay palette as well) as the unnamed character confronts the emotional and creative blocks that so many artists deal with.
Maybe I connected with it as a writer who has dealt with a lot of writer’s block this year. Or maybe I enjoyed it as a straightforward puzzle-platformer that made me feel something. Either way, it was a fun experiment with stirring music and beautiful visuals; that’s more than a lot of other games offer these days.
Backlog Awards' Best of 2023 | #9
I remember seeing the reveal trailer for Stray and feeling pretty confident it was something I’d enjoy.
Play as a cat? Sure, cats are cool. We have two of them.
Explore a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk setting populated by curious robots? Yeah, sounds cool.
What I didn’t expect, however, was the sheer amount of worldbuilding packed into a game that looked (at least at first) like a bit of a novelty. Stray’s story is pretty interesting in itself: You control a cat that accidentally falls into a subterranean bunker-city, which has been wasting away after the fall of human civilization on the surface. You’re looking for a way back to the surface, but along the way you make “friends” with members of the robot caretakers that have now become the residential community.
But the real magic is in the other stories, the ones that aren’t overt or linear. Exploring the world of Stray lets you unravel the history of this place, putting together what happened in “the world that was” while also seeing how the current inhabitants evolved from automatons into sentient people struggling to survive. It’s a clever mix of slapstick humor, poignant stories, and compelling questions. I went into Stray expecting cute environmental puzzles, and left with an immersive world filled with interesting SciFi stories.
Backlog Awards' Best of 2023 | #8
I’ve kept an eye on three or four games over the past two years, and Planet of Lana was one of them…but I admit that I didn’t particularly know what to expect. The trailers focused on gameplay rather than story, and that gameplay reminded me of the atmospheric platformers I’ve come to love. And with the game launching directly as part of Xbox Game Pass, all my anticipation came at the cost of a subscription service I already pay for.
Thankfully, this is one of the few items on my “most anticipated” list that I actually loved playing.
Planet of Lana is a 2D platformer, which I expected, but it’s more than just a clone of INSIDE. Some of the pieces are similar, but it’s less focused on complex environmental puzzles and more on environmental storytelling. (It’s also more than Studio Ghibli-inspired art, although the visuals are constantly breathtaking.)
There’s a poignant story too, a tale of lost childhood and a sense of wonder. It’s undoubtedly my kind of game, delivering a subdued narrative set on top of a rich world that gives just enough pieces to fill in the blanks around the titular planet’s history and civilization. And it’s accessible enough that I’d recommend it to anyone, regardless of your history with games or ability to solve puzzles.
Backlog Awards' Best of 2023 | #7
I don’t think I would have included Hogwarts Legacy on any “most anticipated games” list in 2022. Not that I didn’t want to play it. In fact, I’ve been a Harry Potter fan since high school; I went to midnight releases of the movies and read the books as they came out. A love for that series is something I’ve shared with family and friends, and especially with Kim.
But I had strong doubts about Hogwarts Legacy. A hugely ambitious game from a new studio? An open-world game aiming to bring Hogwarts to life in a way not even the films could? A Harry Potter game that wouldn’t just retread the same old characters and stories we’ve seen a dozen times?
It turns out that Hogwarts Legacy was great. The developers at Portkey Games really did capture the magic (ba-dum-tiss) of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the surrounding countryside. I can’t remember the last time I had an experience that struck me as powerfully as walking the halls of Hogwarts, exploring never-before-visited areas and really visualizing myself as a student there.
Hogwarts Legacy does a lot well, from the fun and punchy combat to broomriding to collecting/training magical beasts. But the game isn’t without flaws, however. The map is massive, and packed full of useless collectibles and uninspired side quests — things you’ll be required to do if you want to experience the “true” ending, which I couldn’t unlock despite having played 50ish hours of the game and doing a lot of the extra activities. That left a bad taste, but I’d be lying if I said it erased the childlike glee I felt every single time I walked through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Backlog Awards' Best of 2023 | #6
Two years ago, I played a game called Backbone (and it ended up as a Backlog Awards winner). I loved the game’s pixel art, gritty mystery, and noir tones. But I really loved the anthropomorphic characters, and seeing how my natural sentiments toward specific animals “filled in the blanks” for characters in a fictional setting. The raccoon detective is immediately shady and untrustworthy, despite his reckless obsession with doing the right thing. The polar bear club owner is posh and cold, but she wields a palpable sense of power like an unseen weapon.
Anyway, I’ve always had an eye open for similar games. And, somewhat out of the blue, I remembered Blacksad.
The character John Blacksad is a noir detective from a French comic series. But the game, Blacksad: Under the Skin, attempts to merge that with similar mechanics from modern adventure/mystery games like Telltale’s Wolf Among Us. Explore different scenes, find clues, connect the pieces together, and build (or break) relationships with other characters. But your choices carry consequences — sometimes big ones.
Honestly, it’s just the kind of game that Kim and I enjoy playing together. And we loved spending a week playing Blacksad from start to finish. It became part of our nightly routine, solving cases and exploring an anthropomorphized version of 1950s New York City. And it’ll be a game we remember fondly for years.
Part 2 and honorable mentions
If you’ve read many of these Backlog Awards lists, you know I struggle with limiting myself to just 10 winners. The reality is I used to play dozens of games every year, so at first I had specific award categories. But as time has gone on and circumstances have changed, I don’t have the free time (or the interest, really) to play quite as many games anymore.
My shortlist for 2023 included 13 games, so before I move on to part 2 of the 2023 Backlog Awards, let me recognize the one game that just fell short:
Having a PC means I am always on the lookout for indie tactics/strategy games to play. When I think about some of my all-time favorite indies, I remember Bad North and Mini Metro and FTL — games built around a cool premise, pleasing aesthetics, and approachable tactics.
Slipways is a different kind of indie strategy game, instead tackling the always-popular (and always-complex) 4X genre. In most of these games, you build a galactic empire while managing trade, research, combat, and exploration. Slipways took one piece of that pie — trade — and built a game around that, then condensed it in micro-campaigns that you can play in a single 30-60 minute session.
Each planet has 1-3 resources it wants, and 1-3 resource it produces. Connect a trade route from a planet with fresh water to a planet that needs fresh water, and that second planet produces food that you can send somewhere else. The more planets you connect, the bigger your empire; the bigger your empire, the higher your score at the end of your tenure as prime minister of your little empire. It’s a fun little puzzle game that streamlines a notoriously complex genre, and that’s my favorite kind of indie gem.
(Also, Slipways sat at #10 on this list for most of the year but just got bumped off by the highly anticipated sequel to one of the best games of all time. Tough break.)