THE ALTERNATIVE EDGE AWARDS
UGLIEST MUGS THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN IDOL Developer Color Gray Games Publisher Playstack Format PC
With bulging eyes, disproportionately huge potato heads and grotesque expressions, the odd-looking folks that populate Color Gray’s detective game could almost be the subjects of a 19th-century Punch cartoon. That proves useful, too, as you track figures across decades. When a minor character recurs, many scenes later, we instantly remember him: ‘Ah, yes, that’s the fellow who looks like a fish’.
MOST DELECTABLE DESSERT CUPHEAD: THE DELICIOUS LAST COURSE Developer/publisher Studio MDHR Format PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
We were made to wait – a considerate choice to avoid crunch – but Studio MDHR served up a more generous extra helping than we anticipated. This fresh crop of bosses offered thrilling, varied fights with even more dazzling transformations; with Chalice newly selectable in the main campaign, it made the original a better game, too.
MOST DESPICABLE VILLAIN MARVEL SNAP Developer Second Dinner Studios Publisher Nuverse Format Android, iOS, PC
Hobgoblin may be a lesser light in Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery, but Snap convinces us a promotion is in order. While most cards add a few points to a location, Hobgoblin is worth minus eight; when played, he immediately leaps across the board, filling a precious slot on the opposing team and draining their score. He’s absolutely loathsome – until, naturally, we unlock him for our own deck. (Cue evil laugh.)
CATCHIEST COMPOSITION IMMORTALITY Developer/publisher Half Mermaid Format Android, iOS, PC, Xbox Series
Most of Nainita Desai’s Immortality score is haunting stuff. This earworm is the exception: a tribute to, and spoof of, the Max Martin era of pop. Effects layered on effects, apparently spontaneous outbursts of impassioned vocals, a slightly wonky fade out: it’s got it all. Having wandered from detective fiction to thriller to horror, maybe it’s time for Sam Barlow to try his hand at the (faux) jukebox musical.
BOLDEST BRASS TROMBONE CHAMP Developer/publisher Holy Wow Studios Format PC
Alternatively, the Most Unexpectedly Accomplished Meme Game, Holy Wow’s viral hit lets players parp out a variety of royalty-free favourites – and to create their own note maps for contemporary hits. Beyond proving beyond doubt that the trombone is the funniest of all instruments, it’s actually a remarkably well-made rhythm game, with a brilliant control scheme that bears comparison with Gitaroo Man.
SHREWDEST SHOWCASE APERTURE DESK JOB Developer/publisher Valve Format PC
Valve’s answer to Astro’s Playroom is a short-form comedy game that doubles as a celebration of the company’s past and a demonstration of the features of this portable device on which you’ve just dropped a few hundred quid. But while it’s undoubtedly best on Steam Deck (indeed, it teaches us how to actually use a couple of its features), this all-toobrief return to the Portal universe is well worth your time on any PC.
MOST TREASURED POSSESSION TUNIC Developer Andrew Shouldice Publisher Finji Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
OK, it isn’t really an artefact of a bygone era, but we’re happy to be fooled by Tunic’s in-game instruction manual, with its gorgeously misty illustrations, coffee-stained pages and level maps that obscure as much as they reveal. There are specific nods to Zelda manuals of old, in particular The Adventure Of Link, but it’s a far broader tribute to all the battered pamphlets we regret chucking out over the years.
MOST AWKWARD CONVERSATION NEON WHITE Developer Angel Matrix Publisher Annapurna Interactive Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch
No game this year (at least none we’d admit to playing) can match Immortality’s sheer quantity of nudity – but frankly we’re far more comfortable with the idea of a partner wandering into the room while we’re watching Minsky’s sexcapades than during some of Neon White’s less wholesome moments. An anime schoolgirl in a rabbit mask talking about spitting into her mouth? No, dear, it’s just for work.
CUTEST MUTATIONS KIRBY AND THE FORGOTTEN LAND Developer HAL Laboratory Publisher Nintendo Format Switch
Between Scorn, Elden Ring and The Callisto Protocol, 2022 has offered up plenty of gruesome body horror. For something less likely to turn the stomach, Kirby’s 3D debut sees him make the most of that extra dimension by opening wide and stretching himself like a pink rubbery tarpaulin over pipes, scissor lifts and much more besides. You’ve never seen such adorable storage lockers.
SHARPEST AUGMENTATIONS CYBERPUNK 2077 Developer CD Projekt Red Publisher CD Projekt Format PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Granted, CD Projekt Red’s open-world RPG released in such a state that it could hardly have gotten any worse. But the Polish studio has steadily, painstakingly, retuned its ambitious future vision, bringing it to a point where it almost stands up to those early promises. A few bugs remain unsquashed, but the bustle and shimmer of the new and improved Night City makes for one of gaming’s most potent urban escapes.
MOST HIGHBROW LOW BLOWS SIFU Developer/publisher Sloclap Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch
Specifically second level The Museum. (Which, incidentally, is something of a misnomer, since this is clearly an art gallery.) Winding up and around to a summit that’s visible from the second you enter the lobby, it might be Sifu’s finest piece of level design. But more important is the opportunity it offers to fight among the exhibits, lobbing paintfilled lightbulbs at goons and ramming their heads into art installations.
MOST RATTLING RATTLE SATURNALIA Developer/publisher Santa Ragione Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
If we gave out awards for individual sound effects, this giallo–inspired horror would be a clear winner. It casts four outsiders into a town whose layout confounds even before it rearranges itself upon death. And Gravoi only gets more unsettling when the creature that patrols its streets is nearby, its arrival accompanied by an urgent, clamorous shaking that is somehow perfectly pitched to leave your nerves in tatters.