If ten years ago you had said that some of the best games available on the market would be available only for download, people would have thought you were crazy. This once again proves that we do, in fact, live in the future.

Runners Up:

Hotline Miami (by Addam Kearney) – If the film Drive was a video game, Hotline Miami would be it. The game is fun and brutally gory, with a fantastic soundtrack backing it.

Fez (by Addam Kearney) – From the outside, Fez appears to just be a 2D platformer. Once you get past that, though, you discover that it’s one of the deepest puzzle games ever created, requiring players to translate the games made-up language. It’s proof that you never should judge a book by its cover.

Mark of the Ninja (by Kyle Orr) – Stealth and 2D platforming have never gone together as well as they do in Mark of the Ninja. It revolutionizes the stealth genre by providing unique ways to perceive visual and audio cues. It also provides multiple types of stealth, so you can sneak the way you want to.

Lone Survivor (by Addam Kearney) – Lone Survivor is, for all intents and purposes, the best Silent Hill game that’s not a Silent Hill game. Jasper Byrne clearly has a better understanding of survival horror than Konami and, as a result, Konami should hire him to be in charge of the failing franchise.

AND THE WINNER IS:

Minecraft XBLA (by Kyle Orr) – It’s such a simple concept. The world is made up of blocks and you can destroy these blocks, collect their remains and use them to build things or combine them to make items. That’s essentially it. However Minecraft becomes a transformative experience by allowing you to use these tools to do whatever you want to. Want to build a massive farm? Want to explore a complex cave system? Want to build a portal and visit the nether? Want to just kill monsters? Minecraft gives you the freedom to do all of that and more. Just beware if you delve too deeply, you will become addicted.