SOREN JOHNSON

Mohawk Games It’s hard to imagine a videogame that embraces its medium more enthusiastically than Spelunky. Games with authored, static content have long dominated the industry; however, they are still – at best – a shortcut, a temporary illusion that blinds us to the true potential of videogames, which can and should be much more than frozen obstacle courses. The audacious

Spelunky destroyed this illusion by showing that one of the most traditional authored genres, the 2D platformer, could be just as fun – and infinitely more replayable – if the levels were created by the computer instead of by the designer. Still, what makes Spelunky the best game is that Derek Yu and Andy Hull took the time to execute and polish the game so that it was much more than just a conceptual achievement – it’s fun whether or not the player appreciates what’s going on under the hood.