The Unforgettable Games Of 2016; The Most Popular, The Most Googled, And The Most Radical
It has become a tech tradition to name the top video games of the year before it closes. 2016 is no different with a dozen writers posting a list of the titles that they see as most popular or simply as "the best." But other media sites and their writers take a different and unique approach, like checking which ones were the most Googled. They also took a look at breakthrough games that defied the standard and set their own.
Popularity is one measure of what can catapult a game to a 'Top' list. But as acknowledged by Time Magazine, it can be flaky. "Pokemon-G"o was a rage throughout the first three-quarters of 2016. Not only did it drew in a huge fan-base, but it literally disrupted the workings of society. Company managers threatened to fire employees who leave their posts for chasing a Pikachu. Hospitals banned the game from the premises for security purposes. But by the fourth quarter of the year, the enthusiasm for the game has slowed down, and Pokemon-Go buffs started living normal lives again.
Nobody can argue with numbers, though. What better way to gauge a game's impact than by the number of searches its millions of gamers had done for it on a search engine? Time Magazine literally asked Google for a list of the most-searched video games in 2016. Here's the list, from top to bottom:
1) "Slither.io"; 2) "Agar.io"; 3) "Overwatch;" 4) "Battlefield 1"; 5) "Warcraft"; 6) "Dark Souls" 3; 7) "Blade and Soul;" 8) "Madden 17"; 9) "No Man's Sky;" and 10) "Call of Duty Infinite Warfare."
GQ's list includes some of these titles but it breaks away from the norm by citing a couple of games for their uniqueness. "The Witness" is a mind trip to a mysterious island that looks boring at first play. But the more patient gamers discover they can't let go. It's also the first game that requires a pen and paper in hand in order to sift through the innumerable puzzles - and win. "The Inside" makes the cut because of the slow anguished way it draws the gamer into its nightmare, and it is a journey he won't forget even after he stops playing.
These games may or may not whet your appetite but, regardless of personal taste or opinion, they are the ones that gamers cannot forget. Because of that, they might keep on playing them until the next year.
