It is difficult to believe another year has passed, but we have tons of games and reviews to show for it. And what better way to celebrate the passing of another year than with a look back to give credit where credit is due by giving props to those special titles that stood head and shoulders above the rest.
This is our fourth annual "Best of" the year feature and, like each one before, we invite you to participate...
Vote for the Best of Casual Gameplay 2007
On behalf of everyone here at JIG, HAPPY NEW YEAR! \o/
Be sure to check out our previous "Best of" the year features:
Oh goody :) I can't wait to see what wins. On a couple pages I wasn't able to vote, sadly, as I hadn't played any of the games on it which can only mean that there were a lot more good games out there I didn't even have time to play!
Let the voting begin ^^
Thanks to everyone who helps to make JIG "THE" place for games on the web. This is, by far, the premier site and we, the fans, thank you all for your hard work and dedication.
How are the categories determined? I thought it odd that octlien comes under adventure and the shrine (afai can remember, the same author and very much the same kind of game) falls under point and click. Speaking of which, I think that particular author gets shafted a bit by having 2 titles under adventure (escape from the island & octlien) since that's likely to split the vote.
Another year, hundreds more handpicked games that are the best on the web. Thanks, jayisgames reviewers, and may 2008 be your best year yet!
*virtual toast*
OK, great batch of games, but a couple questions:
1)Why no Warbears 3? Did I not see it?
2)Arcade vs. Platform: How is this decided? I would have put Jack Frost and Avalanche in Arcade before platform, and Hot Air 2 seems a bit out of place, as well as perhaps Twang. Some of these feel very similar, and I sure couldn't decide which category to put them in, but I would like to know what the criteria is.
Still glad to see all these great games. There are certainly some I will be playing again.
\o/ Happy New Year. Thanks for another year of great games.
Of course, if you really want to get picky about the categories, there could have been a separate category for colorful pixel art games with midi style synth music (AKA Nitrome)
Given the inherent arbitrary nature of genre labeling to begin with, I think the field looks fairly fair and balanced.
The only other solution is to simply have everyone vote on all the games and rank the top five or ten vote-getters, which isn't nearly as fun.
"Site registrations are now implemented(!) Please consider creating an account if you're a regular visitor here even if you already have a TypeKey identity, as it will allow us to create an even better experience for you."
So...exactly WHERE do we sign up for site registration anyway?
Anywho, it figures that Point & Click is flooded with my favorites, but still I was able to pick my fave, out of many.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Let's hope for another amazing year for casual gaming (and everything else, too!) :3
Yes, Happy New Year everyone. :) Let's hope 2008 brings lots of awesome games our way.
Voting was not easy!
I had a really difficult time in a couple of the categories, but I finally narrowed everything down.
I feel kind of bad about voting for Hammerfest, as I only started playing it today - but what a great game!
Excellent bunch this year - I can't wait to see what 2008 will bring!
Corona - sign out, and then go to sign in, and instead of "sign in with typekey" - register with jayisgames.
Wow, had an immediate favourite in most of the categories so I didn't have to spend much time deciding.
And, forgot to mention, a huge thanx jay and staff for all the work you did and all the best for 2008.
Of course, I voted the tall stump !!
*is now a member*
man, a couple of those votes were hard! but, others, for me at least, offered no question whatsoever!
Wow, so many good games and only one vote per category! Makes me wonder why Jay said it is a daunting task to choose the games, if we are the ones who are voting.
A happy new year for everyone, especially the JIG team, who worked very hard all these years. Keep it up!
Of course I'd vote for Powder Game. Long live the powder!
Donut - you should have been here for the nomination selection. It was very, very difficult to select what we feel is the best of the best.
About the categories: we did the best we could to select the dominant category for each entry. I'm sure there will be some that disagree with some of our choices, but we hope you will forgive us for that disagreement. It was not an easy task.
likephilshead - as for Warbears 3, it very nearly made the cutoff, but there were just too many entries in the point-and-click category. It was eliminated in the final reduction phase. There were issues with the game that prevented it from being as good as other games in the category.
If you disagree, we hope you won't hold that against us. We honestly did the best we could.
If anyone feels that you could have done a better job, then we want your help for the Best of 2008! Please send us a note to the email address at the bottom of the sidebar to the left.
w00t!!
Vote Powder Game for webtoy!
I was upset to see that Trilby: The Art of Theft wasn't nominated for Download (free).
Yes, I think Trilby: Art of Theft would have been appropriate to include, but we didn't actually feature a review for it. Also, Dwarf Fortress belongs among the list of the best free downloads, too.
Instead, we will feature full reviews for those two games this year, and hence they will be available for voting in the Best of 2008. :)
Jay, it would have been impossible for you - indeed, for anyone - to create a selection that everyone agrees with. So, I'm pretty sure noone would have been able to do a better job.
It's like the Miss World or the Oscars - there are always gonna be a lot of folks who disagree - because this all is about personal taste and stuff...
So it's just fine the way it is. Both the categories and the nominees.
Thank you, bioLarzen! ^_^
Must be my functional dyslexia, but I don't seem to see the deadline. Is there any?
We purposely did not set one. Expect to have at least a week (or more) for voting. I'll post an update when the deadline is near.
While you're at it, make a full review of I Wanna Be the Guy as well. I'm sad to not see it up there.
My favourite was definitely Hoshi Saga. Such a great game. Was Bart's balls game (gosh, that sounds dodgy) included in the nominations - did i just miss it? I really enjoyed that one, too - thought it was the best in the competition.
im surprised the escape series games werent on the point and click list. I like them a lot, they were actuall possible to figure out without pixel hunting
I discovered Quadradius when it was reviewed on this site back in February. I was immediately hooked even though I was playing as a guest.
The more I played, the more addicted I got. I took the reviewer's advice and got a lifetime membership - which is no longer offered by the way. This opened up a whole new set of powers and arena options as well as access to the rankings.
Over the next several months, players' suggestions were solicited and new features were added. New powers, new graphics, and new sounds were all incroporated into the game - making it even better.
Quadradius is an incredibly rich game that can be picked up immediately but has enough depth to keep you coming back for months. It continues to evolve and is scheduled for a major redesign.
QR gets my vote for best game, not just best multiplayer. Thanks JayIsGames for pointing me to Quadradius!
<\end plug> not affiliated with the game in any way
Hey Jay, Have you ever considered allowing users to rate games that have been posted? Maybe allowing us to choose between one and five stars, or joysticks, or JIG guys. This would be nice feature to find games that someone may have missed, but others think are really great or a maybe not so good. I personally would like to see what others thought of some games and think it would be nice to have an easy way to find highly rated games from the past for when I've played all the new ones and just need something different to pass the time.
I'm, bioLarzen. I'm not posting from home and for some strange reason I can't login to my Typekey account from here, but who cares? :)
So, OncoByte, I just came here to say that I couldn't agree with you more! Quadradius was, for me, the game of the year. I play every day. For months I lost like 9 out of every 10 games but since then I seem to get more luck.
I don't see a real reason to register - even if it's really cheap. Playing there as a guest is heaps of fun.
What's your username there? I usually play under the name "I'm A GUEST" - if you see me waiting for an opponent, just click on me for an easy win :D
Bio - I play QR as OncoByte. If you haven't tried the full member game, you're in for a treat.
Challenge me to a game if you see me in the Quadradius lobby. If you win, I'll spring for a one-month membership!
Also, check out the message board associated with QR. It called the Quadboard and is accessible through the QR lobby. Good luck!
OncoByte,
I think i know what I'm missing by not registering and I don't think I mind it. It's really not the money I wouldn't pay, I'm just satisfied with the guest games.
I'll be looking for your nick and if i find you, you'll also find me - breathing down your Jump Proof's neck :D
Oops, stupid me,
my username for Quadradius is "Just a GUEST", not "I'm a GUEST" :DDD
I found out about QR through some comment on the jelly battle review
(you could try that, it's quite fun, not as good as quad) and I've played it most days since, It's so good I play it even though I lose about 15/1 games. I agree with all the complements on this page, it's easily the best multiplayer game, possibly best overall, I've ever played. I will be subscribing very shortly (grrr slow paypal transactions) but can see why you wouldn't bother subscribing - the guest games I've played have been awesome. (and I'll miss making up funny GUEST usernames!)
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