EXP Podcast #602: The 2020 Gamey Awards

Whisk us away to Gamey-land, Flight Simulator.

Neither plague, nor fascism, nor new console scalpers could stop it: The Gameys have arrived.  This week it's time for our annual game awards.  Our yearly counter-programming/trolling of Geoff Keighley let's us blow off some steam while also recognizing the games and categories that truly matter.  We got gear grinders, waifus/husbandus, baffling Nintendo moves and more.  And of course we bestow the title of gamey-est game of the year to one special title.  Thank you for attending and please do not take the gift baskets home; they are for decorative purposes only.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.


 

Show Notes:

- Runtime: 1 hr 16 min 2 sec

- Music by Brad Sucks

 

Spoilers for Gamey category nominees and winners below!

 

 

 

 

 

2020 lockdown game of the year

• Jackbox
• Hades
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Spelunky 2
• Among Us
• Blaseball

The hopefully first annual "Did that come out or was it just buried under the crushing weight of this hellish year?" award

• Kentucky Route Zero (final chapter)
• Dreams
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Nioh 2
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Star Wars Squadrons

Prettiest game of the year

• Ghost of Tsushima
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake
• The Last of Us Part II
• The Pathless
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Spider Man: Miles Morales

Trending Gaming Character of the Year/character that would be the best social media influencer

• Beffica from BugSnax
• The new league character that is literally an influencer (Seraphine)
• Dionysus from Hades
• Jesse from Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Roffy D. Sloth from Spelunky 2
• Fall Guy (Fall Guys)

The Biggest Gear Grinder of 2020

• Cyberpunk 2077 (Launch & Community)
• Animal Crossing as a whole
• New console launch mess: weird compatibility issues, minimal new games, poor storage capacity
• New console scalpers
• Epic vs. Apple slap fight
• The Inaccessibility of Crusader Kings

Most baffling Nintendo action of the year

• Releasing Super Mario Bros. 35 and Super Mario Bros. 3D All Stars for a limited time
• Continuing to antagonize the Smash community (shutting down melee tournaments)
• Another fucking sword character in smash
• Cease and desist for Eticon joy con skins for charity

Death Stranding presents 2020's most superfluous game mechanic

• Petting Cerberus in Hades
• Petting your eagle in The Pathless
• Writing Haikus in Ghost of Tsushima
• Genital Customization (Cyberpunk 2077)

The George Orwell award for outstanding achievement in the pursuit of elegance

• Spelunky 2
• Hades
• The Pathless
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Blaseball

The most annoying Animal Crossing game mechanic of the year

• The couch co-op implementation.  Second player has no inventory, can't make any meaningful contributions.
• The inventory and everything about it.
• Having to click through multiple dialog boxes and confirmations to do simple transactions (like buy/sell, visit another island, donate museum material, etc.)
• Crafting
• One island per switch but only one player can be the mayor

Waifu/husbando of the year

• Meg from Hades
• Thanatos from Hades
• Jesse from The Last of Us Part II
• Jessie Rasberry from Final Fantasy  VII Remake
• Isabella from Animal Crossing
• Miles (Spider Man: Miles Morales)

The "Wow, I did not see that coming" award

• Halo delay
• Cyberpunk actually being released
• Microsoft buys ZeniMax (owners of bethesda, id, arkane, and others)
• Among Us being inexplicably popular
• Microsoft shuts down Mixer
• They somehow pulled off the Sonic the Hedgehog movie

Gamey-est Game of 2020

• Animal Crossing
• Genshin Impact
• Hades
• Ghost of Tsushima
• Fall Guys
• Blaseball
• Cyberpunk 2077