If you have not already listened to the podcast of this category, this is the final results, so this will spoil the course of the discussion on that podcast! Be warned!
What is it we value about multiplayer games? Over time I’ve realized it divides into two different desires: a desire to compete and push ourselves against others, and a desire to just do something social with other people. Games can satisfy these both at once, and a lot of games I love do. But in a year (not the first year!) where we felt particularly isolated, we here particularly appreciated games that helped us connect to others. Here are the Social Games of the Year.
The Winner
Mahjong Soul
Mahjong simply consumed 2021 for us, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping in 2022. Jen is a respectful outsider, having played a few hands but not really getting the appeal, but Kyrie and I? We’re far gone. On the back of that alone Mahjong Soul might have won, as being a means of playing mahjong online. But it also has charm, anime girls, emotes, and a great interface that makes the game much easier to understand and learn than other mahjong clients out there.
If you want to learn mahjong, really: just ask. We want the world to enjoy this game with us.
The Runners-Up
Hell Let Loose
The title of Hell Let Loose sounds like an appropriate description of a game centered around voice chatting with strangers towards a common goal, but that’s not actually the case. The Hell of the title is the lovingly rendered vicious particle effects of tank and artillery fire ripping you to pieces on a World War 2 battlefield: the people are actually quite pleasant, in my experience. This is HLL’s big success- building a game around making internet randos cooperating, and getting them to actually do so.
Of course there are stinker games, rough rounds. But more often than not, the medic will run for your body shouting “don’t you give up on me!” The squad leader will offer clear and concise orders supplemented by covering fire. And the commander will save your ass more times than you can count. How’s that for social- getting you to trust strangers with your digital life.
Mario Party Superstars
God, I feel mixed about this one. It’s Mario Party. And it’s the best of Mario Party, and it’s on the internet. I feel like there are two types of people: people who KNOW they don’t want that, and people who sometimes want it and sometimes want anything else. Oh and I guess a third type, Dan Ryckert. But I digress.
As divisive, mean, random, and petty as Mario Party can be, it’s a singular experience, and Superstars is the best way there has ever been to experience of it. Whether that appeals to you or not, that’s worth celebrating.
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We leaned into the social side of multiplayer in 2021, but I’d love to celebrate and explore a different side of it in 2022. Best Teamwork Game? Best Competitive Game? We’ll have to see what the year and its games bring. Whatever happens, though, I am grateful for the way these games let me spend time with my friends, laughing and sighing and everything else.
One category left for today: Stream Friend, where we talk about the games we streamed in 2021! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
A big thank you to daanboii (@daanboii on Twitter) for our Game of the Year art!
