Game of the Year 2017: Rebekah’s picks

Rebekah’s Game of the Year #6 – Pyre

Pyre is not a game that everyone will love the way I did. It has its share of flaws, such as the lack of actual player agency (despite a pretense of some) and the textually-dense way it ends. Yet, for a set of players with a certain set of interests, Pyre is phenomenal. I was immediately immersed in its rich universe, complex characters, gorgeous music and magic football. Magic football is the best, you guys.

As you try to rescue individual Nightwings from the Downside, a bleak picture of the world above is painted for you, throwing into the spotlight the real meaning of the freedom you’re seeking. You’ll grow attached to your team of friends, but the more you love them, the more important it becomes that you set them free should you prevail in the Rites. But loss is possible too, which changes your story path instead of showing you a Game Over screen. Instead of discouraging victory, the prospect of a loss altering the fates of the Nightwings terrified me and spurred me to give myself every advantage. For me, Pyre’s biggest crime was leaving me hungry for more: more backstory, more pages in the Book of Rites, and more strategic drama in magic football games.