I have very fond memories of Dungeon Keeper. The devious traps, the torture chambers where you could convert your goodly hero prisoners, the way you could backslap your imps into working a bit faster, the way you could take possession of any minion to turn the game into an FPS... all of these, plus many more, were just genius-level design elements that made the game what it is.

The 90s were a special time when it came to video games. I'm a bit saddened that we are unlikely to repeat that era. There are some great games today too, but none of them capture that same zeitgeist.

My game of the year had been UFO 50, which simultaneously distills 80s console and early-aughts Flash game jam ethos. Incredibly inventive takes on a very wide range of game genres; an absolute masterpiece of game design.

I agree with everything you said, but I do see many, many games today that are pretty creative and innovative too! And I look forward to game creation becoming more accessible and seeing more folks able to create games in the future.

I feel like bigger studios have definitely been playing it safer in the last 10-15 years. You used to see a lot more unorthodox ideas and mechanics or just flat out bizarre premises that I'm sometimes baffled even got the green light to go ahead. Today for the most part that kind of daring seems mostly relegated to the indie space. Everyone else looks for the safest option they hope will sell.