Journey is the surprise of the year. It is also a must-have title for everyone thinking that virtual worlds are meant to be more than just a playground where they would while a couple of mindless hours away.

Hotline Miami is proof that it is possible to create a fresh and addictive action game, even with the game's emphasis on retro. At the same time it evokes truly human feelings the modern-day shooters die trying to deliver.

Is it possible for a title of a dying platform to become a game of the year? The Last of Us is a hot candidate not because it has amazing graphics, but because it has a solid storyline for the generic post-apocalyptic genre. The game proves in a remarkable way that even a great thing may be even greater, and that a whole thing may be even more than just a sum of the individual components.

The visuals are breathtaking, the story is fascinating and the gameplay is never-ending. Uncharted 3 is like a fast-paced locomotive that cannot be stopped. The expectations were high, but Naughty Dog met them and even added an action-oriented frantic multiplayer. This third title clearly honours its parents, but as a child it does tricks with its pulsing vigour.

Dark Souls is a neat, die-hard and time-consuming game – aside from its predecessor the only one of its kind. This game is not for everyone – that's not a flaw, but a virtue.

In its worst moments Skyrim stumbles over its confused artificial intelligence, shutting itself down and its half-done inventory system. In its best ones Skyrim is the king of the new age of the genre.

The CD Projekt Red surpassed all expectations and they really managed to combine a megalomaniac open world with a strong story. Witcher 3 is a masterpiece, which you will talk to your grandchildren about.

The only hint you are going to find after your opening of the readme.txt file is laconical: "Keep on as long as you have questions." With my verdict it's the same thing.

At first sight just another well-executed GTA game, which is by itself a great excuse for our ultimate rating. When you look at it for a second time, you'll get the incredibly immersive and entertaining world that will not let you free. There are flaws indeed. But you know what? When you love it nothing else matters.

In some ways, Dark Souls II is an altered formula of the original game. Not all of its retouches will be to your liking at first, but you will find out eventually there is a reason they are there, and it's all clear consecutively. Dark Souls II is a die-hard fun title holding up for tens of hours. It will let your hands vibrated by adrenaline. It will torment you, but still being righteous. It's just an extremely difficult game.

When someone brings an excellent title, and then announces they are planning a sequel you automatically expect, and sometimes you are right, that the next installment won't beat the original. However, Rayman Legends traverses this belief with its unshaken confidence, and it sets forward the whole Rayman series to the new, LEGENDARY, level.

Hideo Kojima says goodbye to almost thirty years of work on his series in the best possible way. Phantom Pain surprises and tightens, impresses and even torments, but primarily entertains beyond all expectations. It is everything that the stealth game in an open world can be and demands the maximum effort and participation from the players.

A great turn-based strategy game surpassing not only its blood-related predecessors but step-brothers and step-sisters of the Advance Wars series as well. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the new benchmark of the genre that is practically uncriticizable. At the moment on Nintendo 3DS there is not a better alternative.

Just as the people in the colourful world of the Human Revolution want to be better people, the game itself was eager to propel high above the competition from all other games and succeeded quite masterfully. It's true that Human Revolution sticks too much to story templates of the original Deus Ex, but this minor objection becomes irrelevant when the third Deus Ex is in fact your first.

Even if there was only one out of ten indie games like Rochard, then an indie scene would still have its meaning. After all, it is a good thing that mainstream has lost its interest in platform genre. Because of that we may now play games by people with their clear minds and their baskets of ideas.

The Masterpiece, by all meanings. If you want, you get mastered to pieces. It is an undoubted candidate of the game of the year title; you will wish the game never ends.

Amazing platformer nearly without any mistakes. Visually stunning, soulful, great, pleasant and with catchy music. Unravel is a pleasure to play no matter your genre preferences.

In the age of DLC, Blizzard serves up an expansion pack that easily outmatches many great games in its content. Viewed from all angles, Heart of the Swarm is extremely well-made and honest experience of the completely new Battle.net with essential innovations, a long full-blown campaign with a great ending, expanded possibilities of a single-player game or of a precise cutting multiplayer game. Also, let's not forget about Arcade, a powerful editor and first-rate optimization. If you like the classical RTS genre a bit, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is the best thing you may get these days.

Papers, Please is a unique passport stamping simulation game. It becomes surprisingly entertaining because of its gameplay variability and its unusual commentary about an individual working for a totalitarian regime. Bravo.

Almost perfect WW2 turn-based strategy can claim to be a proud successor of the Panzer General classic. Turns and hexes are finally back – and with style.

An exceptionally beautiful tale that is like a Norse windstorm to its homeland - fresh and harsh. This one will make you smile, touch your heart, but above all it will prove that games are not merely superficial.

If Witcher 3 were great novel, Heart of Stone is an equally great tale. It takes place in the universe of the original game, but it tells its own story, that fits perfectly into the universe and belongs among the best, what the creators of CD Projekt invented. It is a touching, funny, extensive... And it's also an absolute obligation for everyone, who liked Witcher 3 a bit.

Funny, sweet and charming is the detective humoresque with two birds in the roles of the snoopers. The new adventure perfectly resembles the life in the 19th century and will address all lovers of an unobtrusive humor, history and slower pace of the game.

One of the best story-driven RPGs that is shining on today's generation of video game consoles. If you own X360 and you love RPGs, there can be no argument, nor any reasonable excuse, against buying this game right now. Head to your nearest shop.

Without the slightest doubt the best action game of the pirate and sailor genre ever. Black Flag is smart enough to keep down the Assassin's Creed mythology, and it puts forward its pirates, and colourful and also deadly Caribbean. Instead of a mere expansion of the traditional formula, a charismatic hero along with his Jackdaw ship creates a great tandem bringing something truly new to the series.

A great arcade game with the perfectly right fun to challenge ratio. If you belong to the fans of Trials HD or to the little old Excitebike and you still don't have your own Joe Danger copy, then there's something wrong with you.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is like complicated scales with their many weighing pans. It's almost perfectly balanced. Firaxis did a great job by transforming the old graphics and atmosphere as well as by optimizing the original gameplay for the 21st century. XCOM is not a game that wants to compete with the old time classic. No, you don't even need to know it - XCOM expands on it. XCOM is the game that deserves a sequel.

Pillars of Eternity is an outstanding game. It can be criticized with number of individual issues, but as a whole it works great, almost perfect. I know that all veterans of isometric RPGs will enjoy this game, and I firmly believe that not only them will do so.