Game of the Year 2021
Honorable Mention: Loop Hero
Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: This year has been an embarrassment of riches for indie fans, and Loop Hero was simply the cream of the crop. This is easily one of the most unique games we’ve played all year; for a game that’s a mishmash of several different genres rolled up into one, Loop Hero is a surprisingly cohesive experience that brings everything together into a neat little package.
It’s a deck-building game with rogue-lite elements, along with a dash of some RPG mechanics, as well as a camp and base-building mechanic thrown in there for good measure. It sounds like a mess on paper, but it totally works. Almost every card combination you could think of comes with some sort of unexpected synergy that may or may not throw a wrench into your plans, and it’s a blast just trying to work with what you have and creating a build strong enough to survive loop after loop with minimal player input.
Loop Hero rips away all control from the player, and you’re unable to influence anything aside from the cards you put down and what you’re equipping your character with. Make the right decisions, and your adventure could go on for literal hours. Make a wrong move, and everything comes tumbling down like a house of cards.
