Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
It's the ninth annual Writing on Games Game of the Year Awards! Join me as I review the 2023 that was and analyse my favourites of the year.
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Support the show on Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast - http://anchor.fm/writingongamescast
Second Channel - youtube.com/channel/UC1xxfS_HILi09yaELQdmV1A
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I imagine every game of the year list is going to start with some variation on "it was an incredible year for games but a bad year for the people making them." While I definitely agree on the latter, I'm not so sure the former rings true for me. 2023 was a year with a *lot* of games, but staggeringly few left much of a lasting impression on me. That said, those few that did will stick with me for a long, long time to come.
The question is though, which game will take the prestigious number one spot? Baldur's Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? ARMORED CORE 6?! Or something completely unexpected? Keep watching this review/analysis of the 2023 that was in video games to find out!
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Creator shoutouts:
Video Games Are Bad - @VideoGamesAreBad
Pixel a Day - @PixelaDay
eurothug4000 - @eurothug4000
Kurt Indovina - youtube.com/watch?v=e5NQVh73-Yk&list=PLa6be5-uMcnVqZ38Mne6lEaNFko-oAZMM&index=1
Lambhoot - @LambHoot
Other cool stuff worth your time:
Gene Park's interview with Sam Lake for Alan Wake 2: washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2023/12/16/sam-lake-alan-wake-2
Game Informer's excellent documentary on the making of Humanity: youtube.com/watch?v=sdU3FIKry8c
JEMAPUR's transcendent soundtrack for Humanity: jemapur.bandcamp.com
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0:00 - Intro
3:50 - Game 5
8:18 - Game 4
12:27 - Game 3
20:40 - Runner Up
29:53 - Honourable Mentions
35:07 - Game of the Year
42:17 - Creator shoutouts
46:11 - Outro
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Text animation intro by Isaac Holland - twitter.com/drazgames
It's the ninth annual Writing on Games Game of the Year Awards! Join me as I review the 2023 that was and analyse my favourites of the year.
---
Support the show on Patreon - patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast - http://anchor.fm/writingongamescast
Second Channel - youtube.com/channel/UC1xxfS_HILi09yaELQdmV1A
---
I imagine every game of the year list is going to start with some variation on "it was an incredible year for games but a bad year for the people making them." While I definitely agree on the latter, I'm not so sure the former rings true for me. 2023 was a year with a *lot* of games, but staggeringly few left much of a lasting impression on me. That said, those few that did will stick with me for a long, long time to come.
The question is though, which game will take the prestigious number one spot? Baldur's Gate 3? Alan Wake 2? ARMORED CORE 6?! Or something completely unexpected? Keep watching this review/analysis of the 2023 that was in video games to find out!
---
Creator shoutouts:
Video Games Are Bad - @VideoGamesAreBad
Pixel a Day - @PixelaDay
eurothug4000 - @eurothug4000
Kurt Indovina - youtube.com/watch?v=e5NQVh73-Yk&list=PLa6be5-uMcnVqZ38Mne6lEaNFko-oAZMM&index=1
Lambhoot - @LambHoot
Other cool stuff worth your time:
Gene Park's interview with Sam Lake for Alan Wake 2: washingtonpost.com/entertainment/video-games/2023/12/16/sam-lake-alan-wake-2
Game Informer's excellent documentary on the making of Humanity: youtube.com/watch?v=sdU3FIKry8c
JEMAPUR's transcendent soundtrack for Humanity: jemapur.bandcamp.com
---
0:00 - Intro
3:50 - Game 5
8:18 - Game 4
12:27 - Game 3
20:40 - Runner Up
29:53 - Honourable Mentions
35:07 - Game of the Year
42:17 - Creator shoutouts
46:11 - Outro
---
Text animation intro by Isaac Holland - twitter.com/drazgames



![Keep Running Up That Hill: An Analysis of DEATH STRANDING (Spoilers)
SPOILER WARNING! This video spoils Death Strandings story.
Support the show on Patreon - http://patreon.com/writingongames
Podcast (iTunes) - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/writing-on-gamescast/id1124674245?mt=2
Second Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1xxfS_HILi09yaELQdmV1A
Death Stranding (Hideo Kojimas first game post-Konami break up) is a game I have many complicated feelings about, both positive and negative. To try and make sense of them, lets talk about absurdist philosophy and noise music as we take a spoiler-heavy look at one of the most complex, deliberately exhausting games about walking ever made.
Sources:
Kojima Explains 49 Minutes of Death Stranding Gameplay (Now in English) (IGN) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JdEeGHEaNU
Albert Camus - The Myth of Sisyphus (1942, translated by Justin OBrien, 1955)
Friedrich Nietzsche - Twilight of the Idols (1889, translated by Richard Polt, 1997)
Metal Gear Solid Vs nuclear disarmament cutscene (Rock Paper Shotgun) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8kIQ_neK6M
[Guide] How to obtain / steal a Nuke and dismantle it - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (ElectroRage) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg7SgavIwFI
Death Stranding: Inside Kojima Productions (BBC Newsbeat) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjUpYlKs0nM
Kojima Famitsu interview translated by Reddit user damnlee - https://www.reddit.com/r/DeathStranding/comments/dg0n1f/new_information_for_death_stranding_kojima/
Norman Reedus discussing Death Stranding at ACE Comic Con (vgc2) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZuzAFVffA
Twitter thread about MGSV nuclear cutscene integer overflow - https://twitter.com/thesnakesoup/status/959493879950127104
Mads Mikkelsen had no idea what Death Stranding was about after Kojima described it (Polygon) - https://www.polygon.com/2017/2/28/14761696/death-stranding-mads-mikkelsen-hideo-kojima
Konami explains MGS5 nuclear disarmament event mishap, apologises to players (Updated) - https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-mgs5-nuclear-disarmament-event-triggered-this-weekend-but-no-one-seems-to-know-why/
Hijokaidan footage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k-XHlOFtlk
Intro text by Draz - https://twitter.com/drazgames Keep Running Up That Hill: An Analysis of DEATH STRANDING (Spoilers)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jw2MY38L3ng/mqdefault.jpg)






