Brainy Gamer

I'll soon record my annual Gamers Confab holiday podcast, and I'm looking forward to it. If you happened to catch last year's edition, you know that I ask my guests to name their favorite game of the year and briefly discuss why they chose it. 

Sometimes the game that makes the biggest impact on us isn't necessarily the game we consider "best" of the year, and I enjoy hearing people talk about why certain games appeal to them personally. Last year, for example, I thought Fallout 3 was GOTY, but my favorite games of '08 were Little Big Planet and No More Heroes.

This year, I'd like to add more voices to the mix, so I'm asking you to post a comment and tell me your favorite game of '09. If you can, please offer a few thoughts on why you chose it too. I'll periodically update this post to list the games you cite, so folks can quickly see a compilation of all our favorites. Maybe we'll jog each others' memories of titles we overlooked or identify games that simply didn't receive enough love this year.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for pitching in, and happy gaming!

Update: Many thanks for all your thoughtful responses. I'm startled, in the best possible way, by the wide range of games you've mentioned as your favorites. Rather than update this post with a long list, I'll write a new post this weekend that accounts for all the games recommended in your comments. The variety and general lack of consensus suggests something important about the current state of the games community, broadly defined, that I'd like to explore. 

Thanks again for your comments, and please feel free to keep them coming!