Justin isn't going to sit idly by after someone hacks into his brain. He's definitely going to fight and fail over and over again until he outlasts all of his enemies. Ruin them with attrition. That's the motto.

Previous Ruiner experience

• That debut trailer was awesome.
• Saw a Devolver logo and cyberpunk. Sold.

Initial Expectations, Hopes, Dreams, Fears

• How hard is too hard? This has multiple meanings.
• So are we talking Smash TV or are we talking Hotline Miami?
• Would there be a story?
• No idea what the mix of gameplay would be like.
• I bet the guns and the soundtrack are awesome.
• Looked kinda slow, would it be fun?

What actually happened

I love it when a game just starts without giving you time to ask questions. Ruiner never attempted to hold my hand, it just gave me a crowbar and a gun and sent me on my way. It's another game where I learned by failure and didn't recognize my education until I executed something awesome. It's brutal but rewarding when it comes together.

I can't say enough about Ruiner's style, but I also could be starved for some good cyberpunk. That's what immediately appealed to me about the game and it delivered on style, setting and story from go. I want to hang out in Ruiner's world, I want to learn about it, and I want to get answers for my character. I expected to only want to jump between action scenes, and I kind of fought the game at first. Ruiner wasn't as fast as I wanted it to be, but after I reset myself a bit I understood its desired pace a lot more. Then I began to appreciate that it allowed me to take in more of the world.

When everything clicks in Ruiner, it's a literal blast. Pulling off quick combos and dispatching thugs in explosive ways makes me feel almost as badass as that helmet my character wears. However, it's going to take a lot of practice for me to get good at Ruiner and I'm struggling to find the motivation to put in the time to make the game fun. I am still trying to decide on which control method to go with (controller or keyboard/mouse) and I couldn't help but feel I was using the wrong one. I fought the controls, I died a lot, and a few early encounters felt impossible. Worse yet, I once I conquered the impossible I didn't realize what I had done to get over the hump.

I wanted mindless arcade shooter and I got a skill-based game. I want to see if Ruiner hooks me now that I better understand its structure and desired execution. I would move on without giving it a second thought if it's world wasn't so damn cool. I think we're going to be better friends soon and I know that I really want to take down that hacker that got into my head.

Will I keep playing?

I probably shouldn't. It's going to be painful, but I also want to kill more bosses in Ruiner. I want to see more of the skill upgrades and how powerful my character gets. With a few more skills at my disposal, I may start approaching combat rooms as fast-paced action puzzles and that promise sounds damn sexy. I've got a few more attempts in me to see what Ruiner has underneath its mask.

Ruiner is available now on PC and PS4.

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Justin literally hasn't cast spells like this before. This unassuming magical adventure has nothing to be ashamed of.

Previous Mages of Mystralia Experience

• Saw it shoot up the sales charts on opening weekend.
• Heard good things from friends that had played it.

Initial Expectations, Hopes, Dreams, Fears

• I was afraid it would be boring or completely forgettable.
• That spell casting system looked interesting.
• Would that spell casting system be too complicated?
• It sure looks pretty, so is there something broken under the hood?

What actually happened

Mages of Mystralia does an amazingly efficient job of setting up its story alongside establishing plenty of reasons for you to have empathy for your playable character. This young girl is outcast by her community for having powers she doesn't understand, and together we're going to figure out how to use these incredible powers to save the world. In short, I'm in! I was pulled into this game world immediately and I cared about what was happening. It's not that the story is all that unique, but a lot of games tend to botch the setup and never recover. Mages of Mystralia starts strong and never wavers.

This is a game that has been crafted with care and feels very comfortable in its own identity. Mages of Mystralia is definitely inspired by some of my favorite action RPGs, but it never uses that inspiration as a crutch. The fundamentals of an action RPG are all in place here. The controls feel great, the setting is interesting, and the enemies are fun to wand to death. Underneath it's familiar atmosphere, is a unique sum of clever and purposeful game design ideas.

After you are let loose a bit, it becomes obvious that the magical spells and the action and logic puzzles that come with them are going to be the stars of Mages of Mystralia. Evolving my fire spell from merely being a means to light torches into a deadly fireball, opened my eyes to the interesting and customizable spell options that are in my future.

It's not just an adventure game though. The action in Mages of Mystralia does keep you on your toes, and the boss fights are surprisingly satisfying as well. I thought I'd get a single stand out game mechanic to hook me and bring me back, but Mages of Mystralia has the total magical package going on here.

Will I keep playing?

I've been going back to Mages of Mystralia on a regular basis since I initially recorded this video. It's easy to jump and out of, and remains a pleasure to play. It all feels incredibly familiar, but I have a strong desire to see how this version plays out.

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If it weren't for a few other amazing multiplayer games released this year, Heroes of the Storm may have never let me go. Blizzard almost had me.  It's no knock on the game, but I"m glad I'm free enough to enjoy some casual HotS.

MOBAs are not my thing, they still terrify me from both their addictive qualities and their level of complexity. Heroes of the Storm is as welcoming as the genre can be. Granted, I kind of feel at home in Blizzard's game universes so starting off with my favorite demon hunter from Diablo certainly helped the first impression. However, it was the simple tutorial and match pacing that pushed me through to trying out my skills in public.

I never felt like the best player or the worst player. I always felt like I was contributing to my team for better and for worse. I actually understood and could predict the ebbs and flows of the match, which is something I've never felt from Dota or League of Legends. HotS is fun. Consider this your warning because I'm probably going to start hunting for teammates this spring. Thanks for being a friend, Heroes of the Storm.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

GO Team is onto something. They got to the core of Hitman, but I wasn't sure how distilling down Tomb Raider would turn out. I figured it would be too slow or other turn-based issues would get in the way of it actually feeling like Tomb Raider. Before the end of the first stage it was clear that Lara Croft GO is the purest form of tomb raiding. It also didn't hurt anything that Lara Croft GO turned out to be a perfect compliment to the console release.

Feels like Tomb Raider? That's enough to get me in the door, but it's the puzzle design and art style that makes the the Lara Croft GO experience so memorable. While it works great as a mobile game that you can pick up and play for any amount of time, I couldn't stop myself. Each new puzzle mechanic is introduced smartly and then integrated into more complex levels without ever treating the player like an idiot. Naturally, this makes each level satisfying while at the same time whetting your appetite for the next puzzle. Thanks for letting me think I could keep up with the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft GO.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

Running into a building with guns blazing and a mask on one second, and the next second I'm cowered around a corner hoping no one knows I'm in the room. My head is spinning. I thought I was the aggressor, so why do I feel like the victim all of a sudden? Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number picks up the action (and my heart rate for that matter) right where its originator left off. Its murder puzzles quickly change up right around the point where you start to decipher a somewhat coherent story.

The devil is in the details of Hotline Miami 2, and I was surprised to find that it scratched a different arcade itch than the first game. I found myself doing a lot more planning and ammo conservation instead of brute force trial and error. The methods are different, so the fun is different, but the victories are still bloody satisfying. Thanks for the murder diversification, Hotline Miami 2.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

I always figured that there was a reason that I haven't been able to fly through space very often in video games. That's why the make or break moment for me in Rebel Galaxy was so simple - how does it feel to jump to lightspeed? Double Damage figured that out and then some. Point in a direction and go. Suddenly you are flying by all kinds of wonderful distractions, and if something gets in your way you jump out of lightspeed and deal with it.

The bonus to Rebel Galaxy is that "dealing with it" is actually really damn fun, too. The key is that while you are in space, all of your movement is in a flat 2D plane. You only have to worry about what is ahead, behind, and beside you because you won't need to fly up or down. It sounds limiting when it's described, but in execution the space battles and escapes you experience are much better for it.

Flying around, flying away from fights, and flying into a surprise battle with a dreadnaught starship are all as exciting as they should be. It's no small feat to pull that off, but Rebel Galaxy fills out the time inbetween the action just as well. The soundtrack immediately makes you feel like a bad ass smuggler, and interacting with various shady characters across the many space stations makes the galaxy feel quite dense. After a few missions, I thought things were feeling a bit mindless when I stopped off a new location and was immediately called out by military for smuggling illegal materials. I have no idea when I picked those up but I panicked, fired, and took off for the next system. I guess I'm a wanted man now. Thanks, Rebel Galaxy.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

One of the benefits to growing up in small towns in the midwest is that you don't have to drive very far to get away from it all. When I was stressed out, I used to just pick a direction and a new CD and drive until the album was done (gas was a bit cheaper, then, too). I'd come back feeling like a new person and ready to focus on whatever was in front of me.

Every time Mad Max frustrated me or even made me bored, I could just get in the car and drive... and rip the doors off of other cars to throw the driver out into the wasteland so that he lands just in time to see his ride blow up in a magnificent fiery bloom. Mad Max has the mindless escapism that has kept me coming back to video games for decades. At its best its as fun as anything I've ever played. I'd say the good times are worth remembering, except all I care about when I play Mad Max is making the next one more satisfying. Thanks for a few moments of peace, Mad Max.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

We've all be coddled by the maturation of various game genres which makes the nostalgic design choices in games like Castle in the Darkness so damn interesting. Older games made a lot of their design choices based on technological limitations. When those limits are gone it is fair to question why some old school tropes are brought back while others are improved upon.

I got lost in Castle in the Darkness in more ways that one. Take away my map and suddenly I'm not quite as adventurous as I thought I was. The branching paths are subtle at first, as I didn't necessarily realize that I was diverging from my original objective until I was confronted by impassable objects or brutally difficult enemies. Castle in the Darkness teaches you the risks of exploring beyond your means. This also means for better and for worse that you will spend a lot of time back tracking as you figure out the correct path to use to make progress. However, getting lost is important for you to know what to come back for once you have the skills you need. Normally, if I had a map I could see exactly where I should stop before turning around, but I found myself exploring a bit further just to find landmarks to make note of for when I was ready to return.

As I was lost, it gave me a lot of time to appreciate how Castle in the Darkness's world comes together. I barely had the energy to worry about where I was going and if I was lost because the moment to moment platforming and combat required my focus and attention. The last thing I wanted to do was figure out the next step in my adventure but not have enough health to survive it or make it to that next save point. Usually, I want to rush through adventures like these as fast as possible so I can get to the next cool moment, but every step in Castle in the Darkness encourages you to play on the screen you are on instead of worrying about screens that may as well be miles away. Thanks, Castle in the Darkness for making me appreciate purposeful pixels again.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

Not all zombies are created equal. It's actually kind of crazy that we now live in a time where pop culture can quickly identify the differences between zombies from different franchises. Dying Light's zombies don't mess around. They are oppressive, hungry, strong, and way too fast. It's actually the first time that the hopelessness of a zombie apocalypse has ever struck me. Climbing to a roof top after the sun goes down, seeing no hiding spot in sight, and knowing how far away safety is is intimidating. It becomes crippling when you realize zombies are climbing up right behind you and you don't have time to stop to think about what to do next. You can only run. And jump. And pray you don't fall.

The zombies complete the experience, but lost in Dying Light's grim atmosphere is the realization that first person traversal can actually be entertaining. In a year full of open world games, Dying Light took some of the biggest gameplay risks in the genre and still managed to make its world fun to run around in. Leaping across rusty rooftops is as smooth watching a zombie fall off a rooftop from your perfectly placed kick. It plays so well, it's almost easy to forget that you are in constant danger. At least until you turn around and the lights go out. Thanks for making me respect the dark again, Dying Light.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

I should apologize to Downwell, as I had the most convoluted excuse for not playing it when it came out. Long story short, its core mechanic was similar to a game my friends and I had started working on right before it came out. The joke's on me though, not only did I waste time not playing the game at first, but there's no way we could have made something feel as great as Downwell. Ironically, I was floored.

Falling is exhilarating. Blowing things up in video games is also exhilarating. So guess what word I'd use to describe, Downwell? Fucking-fun-as-hell.

So yeah, the gameplay is badass, but what takes Downwell to the next level for me is the fact that it has levels. It's a roguelike with structure. Tangible, complet-able stages...while falling. I just assumed it would have to be an infinite runner/faller with no real breaks in the action. It's so easy to prejudge a mobile game and assume it only has a single trick in its design. Downwell is deceptively deep and I'm really trying to avoid all of these puns but I keep falling into them.

It's not all about the guns either. Bouncing off of enemies and using the recoil to float around and line up your next move is essential to surviving and racking up a high score. You also have other decisions to make when it comes to which upgrades you select and which ones you buy. It turns out there's a lot to do while falling through a giant pit. It's not about hitting bottom, which is good because I'm terrible at it so thanks, Downwell, for reminding me I can't even fall well.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

The premise worked. Four versus one. Five friends playing one vicious game of hide and seek, except this time the person hiding wants to destroy the planet. Evolve nailed it. After every battle the voice chat would be filled with stories. The team would be going on and on about the mistakes they made or the last minutes saves that happened. Then, the monster shows up. It is either lauded with yelling or shamed with laughter as it catches up on what all was happening hidden from its view during the game. That was fun, let's do it again.

Getting five adults together at the same time for a gaming session requires the entire universe to align just right, but Evolve rewarded us the few times that could happen. It's ironic, too, because Evolve isn't at its best when things go well. Evolve stands out when everything goes wrong, when chaos happens and friendships are tested. As I sat trapped in a human-sized plant, watching my life slowly drain away and my friends cluelessly running farther and farther away, I thought about rage quitting. In that moment, I had flashbacks to my elementary school playground and the good times when my friends wouldn't casually let me die on the battlefield. Maybe things were better then? Probably not, because even my imagination didn't make monsters as cool as Evolve. I could customize them for free, though, so maybe it is a toss-up. I kid, Evolve, thanks for making me realize who my true friends are.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

We get it, games can go hard again. I couldn't be happier that difficult games come in all kinds of flavors these days, but Titan Souls stepped onto the scene quietly and asked all of us, "But can you beat me with one arrow?" Huh. I never thought about that before. 12 year-old Justin would have dominated that challenge while 33 year-old Justin meekly replied, "I'll try..."

The gauntlet being thrown down got me to hit the start button, but then Titan Souls got even cockier and took away the minions so I just had to fight bosses. The Titans themselves are some of my favorite puzzles of the year, and beat me the hell down. I wasn't frustrated though because I just wanted to hug the game and call the Titans, Colossuses, before throwing them in my pocket forever as my new buddies.

In between beatdowns, I was surprised to find how immersive this pixel world really was. This could have very easily been a single gimmick game, but there's a lot of heart to Titan Souls that ties everything together from its soundtrack down to the nuanced controls of firing the single arrow. Thanks for not taking it easy on me, Titan Souls. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Others Agree This was a Game of 2015

Aaron McNeal - "I figured I had merely gone into retirement from games all about big boss beatings since the days of Shadow of the Colossus, but Titan Souls was a call to get off the couch and keep on slaying giants like I was popping Pringles. It was about the 20th death by a man-murdering plant that I realized I had grown soft after years of what can only be described as mobile game conditioning. Yeah, I blame match-three games and shit. At least battles look cool when you're losing them."

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

Pequod is… I can’t entirely quantify Pequod other than to tell you that it got me (momentarily) past my pixel-art-indie-game fatigue and flipped some sort of switch in my brain that dumped the same dopamine rush I got the first time I saw a Water Bear (tardigrade) in a drop of pond water. It’s supremely weird but fascinating and makes me feel both slightly uncomfortable in my lizard brain and joyous in another part. I played it for an hour the day that In the Heart of the Sea came out and felt really good about myself. Whale hunting is not cool, man. Crushing a flying sailing ship with a whale with a laser shooting out of its face, on the other hand, is super cool.

There’s only one thing wrong with Pequod’s weirdness is this: it’s pay what you want. I hate that. I bought it for $10 and then wrote an article about it and have been obsessing about whether I paid too much or I underpaid and somehow offended the BearMancer by not paying enough for his game that he worked hard to create that gives me the same pleasure/grossed out feeling as holding a giant millipede. Either way, thanks, Pequod.


Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

I actually don't know how Galak-Z ended up on my list of games that I ignored all details about before release, but it just made my jaw go through more floors with each layer I peeled away in its design.

You are immediately hit by the 80's anime presentation that is so well done it's almost unnecessary. As in, it goes so far above and beyond you can't help but be thankful for its existence. I really felt like I was playing episodes of my new favorite space adventure show.

Then, the genres hit you - arcade shooter, roguelike, metroidvania. It shouldn't work, but it does. Once your head stops spinning to grasp how seamless the whole experience is you start to realize that Galak-Z is kicking your ass.

I've never been so intimidated by a cartoon. I also couldn't look away or pry my hands off my controller. Maybe it was the vocal antagonizing of my enemies or my heart rate increasing as I tried to remain as still as possible as a patrol passed by. Galak-Z deceptively hides its depth and intensity, but I can't forget what I've seen. Thanks for burning my brain, Galak-Z.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

Lust doesn't cut it, but whatever the best word for that raw, dirty, and instantaneous form of love is the only one that can describe how I felt the first time I saw a screenshot of Axiom Verge. The connection I have to it is primal and impales the core of why I play games. Axiom Verge just feels good in my bones. It's all in the details, and having a glitch gun chunk up those pretty pixels as well as those chip sounds made me stop to catch my breath more than once.

That's enough nostalgia porn. Axiom Verge doesn't get by on its familiarity alone as that only appeals to sociopaths like myself. This game is smart, it knows its roots, and it isn't afraid to rip em out and turn 'em upside down. I don't guess when it comes to 2D character action-adventure platformers (Metroidvanias, I'll say it), but Axiom Verge was unpredictable in the best ways possible. I would try to go where I wasn't supposed to in an attempt to break the game, and Axiom Verge would laugh at me to let me know that's exactly what I was supposed to be doing. Every power-up and every new weapon contains a surprising twist that is essentially to finishing objectives and discovering hidden areas. A drone gun? Of course, there's a drone gun. Why hasn't there been a drone gun in a game like this before?

It may not be easy to play or even to look at for some players, but Axiom Verge is unapologetic in its design and unforgettable in its execution. Thanks, Thomas Happ. You're crazy for doing this alone, and I'm thankful Axiom Verge had its way with me.

Stay tuned for more Games of 2015 this month as we build towards The 2015 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.