2017 gaming awards – App Trigger superlatives edition

‘Muh Feels’ Award – RiME

In a year filled with a wide variety of emotional games, none hit as hard as RiME did. The innate fear, confusion and marvel of a mystical island at the heart of a young boy who washed up ashore are reflected in its gameplay and story, which takes non-traditional paths to its puzzle-solving and gameplay mechanics.

As difficult as it is to provide a game without spoken word driving the narrative, doubly so is the task of creating an emotionally taxing story with a “show, don’t tell” game filled with puzzles and exploration. The innate beauty of RiME’s stylized graphics plays into this aspect, providing a charming visual effect to evoke the appropriate emotions throughout the journey.

It’s hard to go into much detail about what makes RiME worthy of “muh feels” without going into further detail, but let’s just say that the payoff is a gut punch that will shake you to the core if you play through the game without playing the role of story-solver. Let the journey take you where you need to go, and the game will do its magic.

Runners-up: Last Day of June, What Remains of Edith Finch