PixlBit

What were our favorites in each genre in 2012?

Fez - Winner

To call Fez an indie darling would be the understatement of the year when it comes to the video game industry. Phil Fish’s baby was winning awards when it was just a concept, and it’s been the source of inspiration to indie devs around the world for years. Fez (and Fish) were a big part of the popular documentary Indie Game: The Movie, and after a long and tortured development cycle Fez ended up being something completely different from what anyone could have expected.

The core concept is genius just on its own. Take that 2D platforming gameplay that you grew up loving and twist it, revealing another side to the world. It takes the simple art of getting from point A to point B in a side scroller and changes it into a test of your brain’s ability to navigate in 3D space. Combine that clever idea with gorgeous pixel art and a quirky soundtrack and you have a recipe for a successful platform game.

That’s not where Fez ends, though—not by a long shot. Only by delving into the game completely can you begin to understand that there’s much more to Fez than a simple, smartly designed platformer. The sense of discovery brings memories of trading NES tricks and strategies on the playground as a kid. If Fez had been released in 1989, it would have been the focus of multiple editions of the Howard and Nester comic in Nintendo Power. Such is Fez, a stealthy love letter to the mystery and early language built in those early days of Nintendo, and a brilliant game in its own right.

Write-up by Julian Titus

Quantum Conundrum - Runner Up

Before this year, Kim Swift and Portal were synonymous. However, the budding game designer left Valve and spread her wings at Airtight Games, creating this year's wonderful Quantum Conundrum. While most certainly built in the same mold of Portal, the first-person puzzle-platformer offers a brand new piece of machinery to master, fresh voice "support" from John de Lancie, and similar mind-bending challenge rooms that will leave you scratching your head.

Instead of opening portals, Quantum Conundrum's Inter-dimensional Shift Device (IDS) allows players to oscillate between as many as five dimensions, assuming the proper batteries are in place. Switching between the normal, fluffy, heavy, slow, and reverse gravity dimensions is all a part of the fun and the puzzle solving process. This variety and challenge helped propel Quantum Conundrum to the runner up position of our Puzzler Game of the Year award.

Write-up by Nick DiMola