DISPATCHES MARCH

Champion sound

At the end of the year, I, like many, compiled my games of the year list, and many of the standard culprits were there. In fact, to a great degree, 2019 felt quite homogenous in critical response – the same 15-20 games mentioned across the board in varying positions. I don’t think this is a bad thing – quality spotted by a number of publications. However, when I looked at my ‘hours spent’ this year, three games challenged the top of my ‘proper’ list – Homescapes and Pixel Puzzle on phone, and Super Kirby Clash Deluxe on Switch. As far as I know, none of these titles have troubled any of the main publication lists this year, and that is not unexpected.

These are lightweight, throwaway games without the emotional complexity of a or the heavyweight mechanics of . But, with the dust settling on 2019, and with my own list ignoring them, I am feeling quite remorseful about neglecting them – these are