By now you probably know Jeff Bakalar. He was the guy hanging around the Giant Bomb East studio so much that they eventually asked him to co-host the Giant Beastcast. Then one day a pandemic hit and everyone left. He wanted that rotating chair to stop spinning so bad, well guess what, joke’s on him now.
Right, so now that the dark prophecy has completed and I’ve moved over full time, it seems appropriate that my 2021 list be mostly video games and not some other collection of things I really like and want to force you to read about.
Full disclosure though, a couple pinball machines found their way on my list this year because they are great games that deserve the attention. You didn’t think I’d let this whole thing be console or PC did you? Aww, you’re silly.
10. Phantom Abyss
What if Legends of the Hidden Temple was really dangerous, procedurally-generated and actually winnable? That’s Phantom Abyss for you in a nutshell. This one took me completely by surprise and I became hopelessly addicted to its weird dungeon enemies, grappling whip and the rinse-repeat loop. Easy to play, supremely difficult to master was the mantra for me during my time with it. I loved the idea that once you died in a run you’d never see the same sequence of traps and rooms again.
9. The Mandalorian (Stern Pinball, premium edition)
This is the way! Right? Is that a thing they say in the Mandalorian? I don’t know! Why? Cause I’ve never seen the show, I’ve only played the pinball machine. In the same way my son’s first exposure to Willy Wonka was through pinball, I’ve only learned about Mando through Stern’s game.
The Mandalorian has a really busy lower playfield which will burn you if you don’t get your shots fine-tuned, but has an ultra-rewarding ruleset if you play disciplined. It also features a unique drop-down scoop that is one of the most satisfying shots around. New code roll-outs has definitely benefited the game’s flow, so make sure you take your time with this one if you find one in the wild.
8. Forza Horizon 5
I slept on Forza Horizon 5 having bounced off the previous installment soon after first checking it out. But Forza 5 stuck with me for a good month, partly because my son really dug driving around off-road and the fact that the game would say his name out loud – which yeah, is pretty cool.
It goes without saying that Forza 5 looks absolutely freaking incredible on a 3080 in 4K and is probably neck and neck with Ratchet and Clank as the year’s best-looking. But what I think Forza 5 does most impressively is funnel down what can feel like an overwhelming amount of detail, XP and perks into an overall digestible experience.
7. Solar Ash
Oh man I love Solar Ash’s skating-on-jelly-clouds vibe. Just a supremely strange game that instantly spoke to me and had me playing regularly til completion. Everything about it just felt so thoroughly realized and fresh. And if we really want to get super granular, this game’s got the best transitions out there!
6. Godzilla (Stern Pinball, premium edition)
I’m kind of speechless with Stern’s last game of 2021, Godzilla. It’s not necessarily a theme I care much about, but the gameplay in this one is just on a different level. Godzilla has a 3-story collapsible building in the upper-playfield that acts as a ball ramp diverter as well as a lock for one of the many multiball modes.
Designer Keith Elwin placed a single pop bumper above the right slingshot for some truly unpredictable action, not to mention the rounded magnetic ball grab that feeds an upper flipper and mega-satisfying top orbit. The game’s got toys and gimmicks galore, a rotating spinner and target ramp and a wildly complete set of modes and depth.
For a pinball game out of the box to have such layered and complete code is wild, but Godzilla does and it's an instant-classic in my book. A must-play if you see it out there.