219 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
219 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
# My thoughts on games
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This article contains a highly subjective tier list of most of the games I've played. You can click on the different tiers or games to be taken to the section of the article exploring my thoughts on said game. Everything in this article is spoiler-free, unless otherwise stated in a certain game's section. Enjoy!
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{ role="tier-list" }
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``` =yaml
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id: games-tier-list
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tiers:
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- name: Beyond
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id: beyond
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members:
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- alt: Arcaea
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id: arcaea
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image: arcaea.png
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- alt: Factorio
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id: factorio
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image: factorio.png
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- alt: Rain world
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id: rainworld
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image: rainworld.png
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- alt: Noita
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id: noita
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image: noita.png
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- name: Masterpiece
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id: masterpiece
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members:
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- alt: Tunic
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id: tunic
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image: tunic.ico
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- alt: Ultrakill
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id: ultrakill
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image: ultrakill.png
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- alt: The Talos Principle
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id: talos
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image: thetalosprinciple.jpg
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- name: Amazing
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id: amazing
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members:
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- alt: Celeste
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id: celeste
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image: celeste.png
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- alt: "Rain World: Downpour"
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id: downpour
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image: downpour.jpg
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- alt: Hollow Knight
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id: hollow-knight
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image: hollow-knight.png
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- alt: Slay the Spire
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id: slay-the-spire
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image: slaythespire.png
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- alt: Hade
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id: hades
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image: hades.ico
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- alt: Portal 2
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id: portal2
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image: portal2.png
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- alt: Baba is you
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id: baba
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image: babaisyou.png
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```
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``` =html
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<div class="tier-list">
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<div class="tier">
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<a href="#beyond" class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Beyond
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</div>
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</a>
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<div class="tier-elements">
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<a href="#arcaea"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/arcaea.png" /></a>
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<a href="#noita"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/noita.png" /></a>
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<a href="#rainworld"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/rainworld.png" /></a>
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<a href="#factorio"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/factorio.png" /></a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<a href="#masterpiece" class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Masterpiece
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</div>
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</a>
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<div class="tier-elements">
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<a href="#tunic"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/tunic.ico" /></a>
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<a href="#ultrakill"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/ultrakill.png" /></a>
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<a href="#talos"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/thetalosprinciple.jpg" /></a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<a href="#amazing" class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Amazing
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</div>
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</a>
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<div class="tier-elements">
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<a href="#celeste"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/celeste.png" /></a>
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<a href="#downpour"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/downpour.jpg" /></a>
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<a href="#hollow-knight"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/hollow-knight.png" /></a>
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<a href="#slay-the-spire"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/slaythespire.png" /></a>
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<a href="#hades"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/hades.ico" /></a>
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<a href="#portal2"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/portal2.png" /></a>
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<a href="#baba"><img alt="ooo" src="icons/babaisyou.png" /></a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<div class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Very fun
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<div class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Fun
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<div class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Decent
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<div class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Meh
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="tier">
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<div class="tier-heading">
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<div class="tier-heading-text">
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Childhood
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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```
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{ #beyond }
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## Beyond
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This tier contains games that have truly done something special. Games that are not only amazing from every angle, but which managed to repeatedly taken over my imagination, thoughts and dreams, refusing to let go.
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Each game in this tier deserves it's own article, but for now, a short description of what each of them does so well will have to do.
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{ #factorio }
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### Factorio
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If you're reading the scribbles I left in this forgotten cave, you're probably aware of what [Factorio](https://factorio.com/) is all about. Factorio is an amazing automation game about building, well, a factory. This game managed to spawn an entire flourishing genre — and for good reason. Subjective in nature as this list might be, were I to pick a best game in the objective sense, Factorio would have to be my choice. Factorio is the one game that managed to climb into this tier by what feels like quality alone.
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Factorio's ability to simulate gigantic bases on pretty much any old laptop is a technical marvel. In an age where [Hollow Knight](#hollow-knight) struggles to run a pre-rendered cutscene at more than 1 frame / second on my laptop (I am not kidding, this is not a hyperbole. I had to search the cutscenes for that game on YouTube, half a decade after it's release....), the developers have done an amazing job at not only optimizing the living soul out of this game, but decided to then follow in Dante's footsteps throughout the circles of hell, only to optimize the (now dead) soul of this game even futher. Ok, I have no idea where I was going with that. The game is fast, which is super cool.
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The gameplay is very polished, and infinitely replayable. There's not much I can do to explain that without... writing a giant essay about every single mechanic Factorio has to offer. Again, there's a reason Factorio managed to spawn an entire genre — be it the core belt logistics made all the more interesting by each belt being split into two independent lanes, the majestic interlocking systems trains enable, the explosive automation that would seem absurd without the existence of bots, the super fun circuit system (I have on multiple occasions started working on programming languages meant to compile to Factorio combinators, and I am not even close to the first, nor the only one) — these mechanics come together to build an amazing sense of depth. I haven't even mentioned the military side of the game, nor any of the features added by the amazing expansion. There's also official modding support, with mods downloadable directly from the in-game menu (no laggy steam workshop support involved). There's at least a dozen quality overhaul mods which turn Factorio's campaign into something completely different. Just... go and play it.
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Some people might be put off by the 35$ (70$ with the expansion) price for an indie game which, by principle, has never been on sale (in fact, the price of the game increases periodically to keep up with inflation). Having played the game, I've started to appreciate this stance. It might not be the best for me in terms of money spent, but it shows that the developers believe their game is actually worth the price they ask for. I love the [The Talos Principle](#talos), and while the base price for that game is technically around 30$, it sure doesn't feel the game is worth that much when every few months, you can buy it for under 3$ during one of the various Steam sales. I don't think this point is worth circling too long around. The game has a demo you can try for free, not to mention that uhhh, you can always pirate the game, you know? — that's what I originally did when I was a poor high school student.
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The developers have a (sometimes weekly) [blog](https://www.factorio.com/blog/) where they discuss a range of topics, from technical details about belt optimizations, to an entire year worth of hype that railed the community together on a weekly basis before the release of the Space Age expansion. This is incredibly cool, and I wish more developers would put up similar things.
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I highly recommend not to have your first experience with this game be a co-op session with someone who's played before. Even if the other person is trying their best to let you figure stuff out, they _will_ slip out details or tehniques, if for no other reason than practices feeling _wrong_ to someone who's seen "the light". That's not even mentioning the subset of players whose preferred playstyles involves placing down other people's blueprints. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it can take a lot away from one's initial sense of discovery with the game. I'm saying this because I initially bounced away from the game after trying to play with such a friend. In the end, it's up to you.
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{ #arcaea }
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### Arcaea
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I love rhythm games, and in my humble opinion, [Arcaea](https://arcaea.lowiro.com/) is one of the best ones out there. I'm working on a huge article covering this game extensively, so for now this placeholder paragraph will have to do.
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{ #noita }
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### Noita
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{ #rainworld }
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### Rain world
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{ #masterpiece }
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## Masterpiece
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This tier contains games that are truly special, although haven't implanted themselves in my head for as long (nor as deeply) as the games in the previous tier.
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{ #talos }
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### The Talos Principle
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{ #tunic }
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### Tunic
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{ #ultrakill }
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### Ultrakill
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Ultrakill is a game all about doing cool shit. There's so many instances where you think "wait, wouldn't it be awesome if I could ...", you try it, only for it to exceed your expectations. I don't play first person shooters, yet I've had a very good time ultrakilling demons.
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After each level, the game rates you on three axes: kills, time, and style. Improving until you can chain together stylish combos in order to P-rank (i.e. perfect) a hard level is super fun. Ultrakill has some of my favourite boss fights in all of gaming, all to the tune of a soundtrack that goes incredibly hard.
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The game has some technical issues (it often forgets the resolution you configure in the settings after alt-tabbing around, but this seems to be an issue a lot of Unity games have, so I'll add it to the ever-growing list of justicications for me hating engines). The community seems to be a bit predisposed to spoiling people on gameplay elements, so if you want to go in blind, I recommend staying away from any kind of content related to the game.^
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{ #amazing }
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## Amazing
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{ #hollow-knight }
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### Hollow Knight
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{ #celeste }
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### Celeste
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{ #downpour }
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### Downpour
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{ #slay-the-spire }
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### Slay the Spire
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{ #hades }
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### Hades
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{ #portal2 }
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### Portal 2
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{ #baba }
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### Baba is you
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