Then Subnautica came along, and plunged that treadmill into an alien ocean. ThereвЂ™s satisfaction in overcoming a world that doesnвЂ™t want you in it, but I was loath to start trudging on another treadmill of mundane tasks. Matt: My interest in survival games tends to perish pretty quickly. It helps that it doesnвЂ™t offer any worthwhile weapons, and maybe itвЂ™s a sad condemnation of humanity that in order to learn humility within the natural world we must be entirely disarmed, but the result is the same: a survival game thatвЂ™s about knowing nature, not beating it. ItвЂ™s still about exploiting natural resources, sure, but it does this in its own gentle, thoughtful way. The most useful thing you can do when a terrifying new seabeast emerges from the shadows isnвЂ™t to blast it to bits, but whip out a scanner and learn what the hell it is. The best way to get teeth from those Stalkers isnвЂ™t to kill them, but to play fetch with them using scrap metal. To thrive, you have to work within it, not against it. And you quickly learn that the best way to live here is to accept that nature is king. YouвЂ™re not top of the food chain in this water world, not even close. In Subnautica, it feels the other way around. Most survival games are about overcoming nature, dominating it, bending it to your human will. YouвЂ™re stranded on an ocean planet, one of untold humans who have conquered the stars, but forgotten the sea. I like this fishy survive вЂem up because it puts humanity in its place. It surfaced from the slimey seas of early access in January, so it qualifies as a 2018 game, and if any of you want to argue about that, I will feed you to the deep. You can still read the calendar in its original calendar form, but otherwise hit the buttoms below to start paging through enough great games that it'd take you all of 2019 to play them all.Д«rendan: Subnautica is a game of wondrous dread. The list isn't in any particular order, except for the one at the end which is factually, objectively, 100% the best game of 2018.

The point is to celebrate the games we loved this year, not to quibble over such trifles as time. Any game from a previous year is also valid if it feels of 2018 in a particular way, whether due to a substantial update, re-release or anything else. Any game released in 2018 is valid for inclusion, whether it was released as early access or left early access during that period. Those doors are then opened, one a day, revealing the game inside like a delectable surprise. If you're not yet familiar, each December we pick our 24 favourite games from the previous year and cram them behind 24 different doors. Below you'll find all of our favourite games from 2018, gathered together in a single post for easy reading.

The doors have been opened, the games inside have been devoured, and now it's time to recycle the cardboard.

Best detective games 2018