25 Jan

The Roll the Dai 2019 Definitive Games of the Year List

Is it 2020 already? It is, isn’t it. I suppose I owe y’all some sort of top ten list of games and I’ve been slow to deliver so you’re here to make sure our transaction comes to a satisfactory end.

Well, set yourself down. I ain’t one to renege on deals I’ve made, not while my good name is the only true asset I may have left to barter with. I’m sure I have that list o’ games somewhere ’round here. Just give me a shake of a lamb’s tail to clear out some of this mess and find it.

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07 Jan

The Roll the Dai 2018 Definitive Games of the Year List

Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. Looking a bit worse for the wear, ain’t ya? No worries, mate, cuz I got plenty of stew and no one to share it with. Wait a jot now, you look familiar. Do we know each other? I don’t mean to get all mystical on you, but haven’t we done this before?

No? Right. What precisely are you looking for then? Advice? Life lessons? Oooooh, video game recommendations, is it? That I’ve got, friend. That I’ve got. Settle in and know me better through these titles that found their way into my life in 2018.

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04 Jan

The Roll the Dai 2017 Definitive Games of the Year List

Hello fellow travelers! I’m glad to see you that you made it to the year 2018. Before we continue further down this road – for who knows what darkness lies ahead? – let us pause and glance back at the year behind us.

What games are those that helped us along our path? Look carefully! Do you see them? Do you see how each is a meaningful part of the journey – this journey that we call life? Perhaps we had better camp here tonight. As you prepare the fire, let me warm you with stories of the games that touched my heart in 2017.

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18 Jan

The Roll the Dai 2016 Definitive Games of the Year List

“So…what are you playing these days?”

I get that a lot. I know, I know, I’m a game designer. I should have a ready list of games to recommend, but it’s hard. Every player is different and something that may blow one mind may glance off another harmlessly. Neither player is wrong. Neither player is right.

Which is all a long way of saying: game of the year lists are not meant to be objective judgments of quality. They are not meant to be arbiters of perfection. Heck, I didn’t even play some rather popular 2016 releases, including XCOM 2, Far Cry Primal, The Division, and The Last Guardian (just to name a few). This list is just the 10 games from 2016 that connected with me.

If you want some bonus commentary about games that didn’t release in 2016 or somehow otherwise were pushed off the list for some reason, stick around after the list for some Premium Content (assuming you’re a Premium Member).

All right, future heroes. Let’s do this. Read More

12 Jan

The Roll the Dai 2015 Definitive Games of the Year List

This is perhaps as far from random as I can get. This post – this comeback post, this reemergence, this magnificent Girl-On-Fire entrance into the Capital post – is instead a very intentional though somewhat sloppily judged list of what I consider my top games of the year.

What is a game of the year? It’s a game that came out in 2015, which is both limiting (because I play lots of random games that are a few years old) and unclear (because lots of games are released before they’re released now), but I’ve tried to keep it relatively tight. Stick around after the Definitive Ten for some bonus content if you’re a Roll the Dai Premium Member.

I want to make clear a few things before we start. First: this list is it. You don’t need to go read any other game of the year lists, because game of the year lists are dumb and subjective and you should just enjoy the games that you enjoy. Also, because this list is the best and only correct game of the year list.

Also, I didn’t play a bunch of new games this year. For example, I didn’t even touch The Witcher 3Bloodborne, Pillars of Eternity, Assassin’s Creed London Bridge, or Halo 5. I didn’t play the following games enough to feel like I could include them: Life is StrangeRise of the Tomb Raider, and COD: Black Ops 3. So, forget those games.

All right, all right, all right. Here are my top 10 games of the year. Read More