At the end of each year, for the past several years I have given an Indie GOTY Award to the title that I think outshined everything else in that given year. I edit my review with an acknowledgement for the game that wins.

The only real 'rule' is that the game must have been released in that year. No Early Access titles. Winners and candidate titles all share similiar attributes: they are innovative, indie games that change the current paradigms through thinking outside the box and propelling video games forward as both art and entertainment as a whole. These suckers are addictive. They will emotionally move you and you will not see the world the same after experiencing them.


Balatro


2023: Pizza Tower
2022: Vampire Survivors
2021: Webbed
2020: art of rally
2019: Wilmot's Warehouse
2018: Cultist Simulator
2017: Everything
2016: Starward Rogue
2015: Sanctuary RPG: Black Edition
2014: The Talos Principle





While there can be a correlation between time played and GOTY material, that is not always the case. The best crafted games in the world don't have to yield dozens of hours of entertainment, but obviously it is telling when someone gets a lot of mileage out of a title. This is an ongoing list of games that for whatever reason have given me at least 15 hours of fun. I've been getting lots of requests for suggestions on what to play, and I gotta tell ya that you can't go wrong with any of these games. These are notable titles that I by-all-means recommend. I'll note the approximate number of hours I have played so far.

Notes about the list:
+Yes, there are other games that I've logged more than 15 hours - but I have mixed feelings on them and don't necessarily recommend them.
+The categories are certainly debatable, but I put them where I felt they fit best .

FPS
Immortal Redneck - 30 hours; DUSK - 16 hours

Twin-Stick Schmup
Nex Machina - 90 hours; Starward Rogue - 50 hours; The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - >1,000 hours (alt account plus the original); Neon Chrome - 25 hours

Experimental
Cook, Serve, Delicious!!! 2!! - 50 hours; Everything - 25 hours; Cultist Simulator - 90 hours; Open Sewer - 20 hours

E-Sports
Rocket League - 18 hours; ShellShock Live - 24 hours; Ultimate Fishing Simulator - 20 hours; Fire Pro Wrestling World - 20 hours

Score Chaser
Russian Subway Dogs - 30 hours

Adult
HuniePop - 20 hours

Story Driven
LISA - 18 hours; The Talos Principle - 25 hours; Night in the Woods - 16 hours

RPG
Tales of Maj'Eyal - 25 hours; Sanctuary RPG: Black Edition - 18 hours; Caves of Qud - 220 hours; Grim Dawn - 22 hours

City Builder/Colony Management
Banished - 30 hours; Gnomoria - 50 hours

Rhythym
Crypt of the Necrodancer - 120 hours; The Metronomicon - 22 hours

Coffee Break
One Finger Death Punch - 30 hours

Turn-Based
Into the Breach - 40 hours; XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 20 hours; FTL - 50 hours; Space Grunts - 20 hours; HyperRogue - 16 hours

Platformer
Spelunky - 50 hours; Super Meat Boy - 80 hours; Cave Blazers - 15 hours

Tower Defense
Plants vs. Zombies - 100 hours

Sandbox
Minecraft [minecraft.net] - 1,000s of hours; Stardew Valley - 80 hours; Don't Starve/Don't Starve Together - 70 hours

Puzzler
The Witness - 40 hours; Opus Magnum - 20 hours; The Hexcell Series/Matthew Brown Puzzle Games - 30 hours; Stephen's Sausage Roll - 23 hours; Paint it Back