Touch Arcade forums’ 2013 Game of the Year Outcome Thank you to all participants for voting and discussion. It was a close call. First Place Warhammer Quest (34 votes) Second Place: Badland (31 votes) Third place : Xcom: Enemy Unknown (29 votes) Nomination Timeframe and Rules [Outdated] Participants may vote for the Touch Arcade forums' Game of the Year for one week, from January 8 through January 15, 2014 at 1:20pm (Central Standard Time)! Developers/publishers are discouraged from voting for their own game or rallying for votes, but no vote will be disqualified. Tap an icon to see that game's Touch Arcade forum thread discussion Previous Touch Arcade forums' Game of the Year threads: Touch Arcade forums' 2012 Game of the Year Thread Touch Arcade forums' 2011 Game of the Year Thread Touch Arcade forums' 2010 Game of the Year Thread Big credit to Crex for Game of the Year hosting in past years and originating the Touch Arcade forums' Game of the Year polling. Kudos to Red1 for editing title to reflect nomination progress, adding material, 5 star review link and posting banner. Thanks to Bronxsta for creating the Touch Arcade forums' Game of the Year banner. If you prefer to discuss only iOS original indies, removing ports and large scale games from consideration, Awp69 is running an iOS Original/Indie Game of the Year subcategory here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=212954
January 8 - Nomination Outcome Here is a complete breakdown of frequencies from the 578 total nominations including 199 unique games from the 78 members who participated. Seventy-four games received more than one nominations, to make the top 10 a game had to receive 11 or higher nominations. Sixty-four games had three of more nominations, 41 had four plus nominations, 31 with 5 or higher nominations, the top 29 had 6+ noms, 22 with 7 or more, 18 with 8+, 14 had 9+, 13 games had 10 or more. Oceanhorn 26 Badland 21 Xcom Enemy Unknown 18 Warhammer Quest 17 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 15 Boson x 13 Asphalt 8: Airborne 12 Junk Jack X 12 Infinity blade III 11 Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption 11 iCycle: on thin ice 10 Slayin´ 10 Star Wars:KOTOR 10 Tiny Thief 9 9th Dawn 8 Dungelot 8 Kingdom Rush: Frontiers 8 Little Inferno 8 Device 6 7 Heroes and Castles 7 Mikey Hooks 7 Starborn Anarkist 7 CRABITRON : Giant Space Crab Simulation 6 Deus Ex:The Fall 6 Duet Game 6 LIMBO 6 Rayman Fiesta Run 6 Republique 6 Year Walk 6 Breach and Clear 5 Meltdown 5 Bobbing 4 Continue?9876543210 4 EPOCH.2 4 Joe Danger 4 Paint it Back 4 Plants Vs Zombies 2 4 Plasma Sky 4 Savant-Ascent 4 Terreria 4 Tilt to live 2 4 868-HACK 3 Air Supply Infinite 3 Block Fortress 3 Cyro 3 Dungeon Plunder 3 Football Heroes 3 Heroes of Loot 3 Indiana Store 3 Kinetic Damage 3 Kingturn Underworld 3 Knightmare Tower 3 League of Evil 3 3 Octagon 3 Penumbear 3 Pocket Trains 3 Quadropus Rampage 3 Repulze 3 Room Two 3 Silent Age 3 Sine Mora 3 Sorcery! 2 3 TypeRider 3 WALKING DEAD SEASON 2 3 1001 Attempts 2 Anomaly 2 2 Beatleap 2 Bit.Trip Run! 2 Bombcats 2 Colossatron 2 Dead Effect 2 Delta-V Racing 2 Doom & Destiny 2 Drive to Moscow : War in the Snow 2 Dungeons and Dragons: Lords of Waterdeep 2 Gurk III 2 Kidd Tripp 2 Minion Rush 2 Monster Adventures 2 Pixel People 2 Ravenmark:Mercenaries 2 Riptide GP 2 2 ShadowRun 2 Skulls of the Shogun 2 SmallWorld 2 2 Space Hulk 2 Spiral Episode 1 2 Stealth inc 2 Touchgrind Skate 2 2 Wolf Amoung Us 2 Worm Run 2 Ace Patrol 1 Agricola 1 Alhambra 1 An Alien With A Magnet 1 Avenger Alliance 1 Banana Kong 1 Battle Camp 1 Blastrax 1 Blek 1 Blip Blup 1 Blitz Brigade 1 Bloodmasque 1 Book of Heroes 1 Bounty Hunter: Black Dawn 1 Brutal Loop 1 Bus Derby 1 Call of Duty: Strike Team 1 Can Knockdown 3 1 Chippy 1 Cling! 1 Combo Crew 1 Cool Clash 1 Cordy 2 1 Costume quest 1 Crazy Bill 1 Cut the Rope 2 1 Danmaku Unlimited 2 1 Dead Ahead 1 Dice with Buddies 1 Doctor Who Legacy 1 Dokuro 1 Don't Shoot Yourself 1 EMPIRE 1 Etter Drei 1 Extreme Road Trip 2 1 ExZeus 2 1 Fangz 1 FIST OF AWESOME 1 Fiz 1 Fractal Combat X 1 Frozen Synapse 1 Futuridium EP 1 Game of Watchcraft 1 Gemini Rue 1 Geovertex 1 Giant Boulder of Death 1 GoatUp 2 1 Gregg! 1 Groove Vortex 1 Hatch 1 Hero of many 1 Hero Siege 1 Hoplite 1 Hundreds 1 Hyper Breaker Turbo 1 I Am Level 1 Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage 1 Impossible Road 1 Inner World 1 Invaders From The Dead 1 Isle of Bxnes 1 King Cashing 2 1 Kung Fu Quest Jade Tower 1 LEGO Batman & DC Superheroes 1 LEGO Star Wars Saga 1 Little Luca 1 Magic the Gathering 2014 1 Marvel Puzzle Quest 1 Melodive 1 Mijnlieff 1 Mimpi 1 Neon Shadow 1 NimbleQuest 1 Ninjin 1 Orborun 1 Organ Trail 1 Pandemic 1 Panzer Corps 1 Penny Arcade the Game 1 Pivvot 1 Quarriors 1 Quest Lord 1 Rayman Jungle Run 1 Real Racing 3 1 Reaper. Tale of a pale swordsman 1 Ridge Racer Slipstream 1 Ronin 1 Rymdkapsel 1 Shadow sun 1 Ski Safari Adventure Time 1 Sky Tourist 1 Smash Bandits 1 Solar 2 1 Sonic 2 Remastered 1 Space Qube 1 Squ4re 1 Star Command 1 Strike Force Heroes Extraction 1 Table Top Racing 1 Talisman Prologue 1 Tank Battle: North Africa 1 Terminator 2 1 BlockHeads 1 the Cave 1 Quest Gold 1 Time Surfer 1 Vector 1 WazHack 1 Participants included: DannyTheElite, Bronxsta, iPadIsGreat, Sidgoku1234. Habakuk. Phoenix24. Wolfie9090. Awp69. Bool Zero. Exact-Psience. Aventador. Qwertz55. September. Psj3809. Red1. Avatre. Nobunaga. Shiatama_0. Undeadcow. Lost_Deputy. Edmilan. Jerutix. Slamraman. CygnetSeven. Roger_NL. AlexsIpad. Sivad. Ojtitus. Connector. Background. OldSnake. Sherlock EB. Ninjackid. Fenderbendr. Mr_bez. Killercow. Dotie. vii-Lucky. Sweetdiss. Alister. Bantocks. Fangbone. PeteOzzy. JCho133. _Max_. Tops2. HeliApps. VicSark. Lee Games. WaxandWane. Coil_Whine. NullZero. Andre. Turakm. Zzandrezz. Cloudpuff. Socom39. WilliamJoe, TheFrost, C.ihls, Saansilt, Sink_or_swim, Dclose, Copaeci, Hoggy110, Crex, Ausar, M44, Lena, Advaith33, Dalbertson, Gcl, C.Hannum, Wrequiemz, Karl Schmidt, Andy_C83, Chaos_envoys, Ramaz1234
You can vote any game for Game of the Year 2013, here are some references: Click here for: TA Front Page 5-star reviews: Touch Arcade forums' Game of the Week Outcomes 2013 http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=213383 - December 19 [final], Colossatron: Massive World Threat http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=212393 - December 12, Starborne Anarkist http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=211775 - December 5, The Wolf Among Us http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=210794 - November 28, Icycle: On Thin Ice http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=210289 – November 21, Space Chicks http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=209448 - November 14, Oceanhorn http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=208858 – November 7, Rayman Fiesta Run http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=208126 – October 31, Anomaly 2 http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=207616 – October 24, Deadly Bullet http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=206868 – October 17, Paint It Back http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=206277 – October 10, Monster Adventures http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=205699 – October 2, Level 22 http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=205182 – September 26, Boson X http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=204453 – September 19, Infinity Blade III http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=203550 – September 12, Heroes of Loot http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=203287 – September 5, Call of Duty: Strike Team http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=202158 – August 29, Junk Jack X http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=201481 - August 22, Asphalt 8: Airborne http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=200699 – August 15, Plants Vs Zombies 2 http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=200017 – August 8, Mickey Hooks http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=199006 – August 1, Knightmare Tower http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=197954 – July 25, Sky Tourist http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=196935 – july 18, Breach & Clear http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=196216 – July 11, Tiny Thief http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=195226 - July 4, Limbo http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=194573 – June 27, Bounty Hunter: Black Dawn http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=193796 – June 20, X-Com: Enemy Unknown http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=193033 – June 13, Quadropus Rampage http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=192140 - June 6, 9th Dawn http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=191450 - May 29, Warhammer Quest http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=190142 - May 22, Dead Ahead http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=189223 - May 15, Frozen Synapse http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=188555 - May 8, WazHack http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=187500 - May 1, SurvivalCraft http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=186627 - April 24, Robot Unicorn Attack 2 http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=185787 - April 17, Fangz http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=185137 - April 10, Kingturn http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=184369 - April 3, Badland http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=183770 - March 27, Nimble Quest http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=182942 - March 20, Plasma Sky http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=182134 - March 13, Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=181131 - March 6, Dungeon Plunder http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=180060 - February 27, tie with King Cashing 2 and Penumbear http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=179297 - February 20, Year Walk http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=178408 - February 13, Rock Runners http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=177598 - February 6, QuestLord http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=176827 - January 31, Table Top Racing http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=175929 - January 24, tie with Banana Kong and Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=175014 - January 17, Heroes and Castles http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=173851 - January 10, Dungelot http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=173189 - January 3, Hundreds
Metacritic (a composite site compiling reviewer scores) posted a list of the top 25 most critically favored iOS releases from professional review sites: Link: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-ios-games-of-2013
Touch Arcade Reviewer's Game(s) of the Year 2013 - http://toucharcade.com/2013/12/25/best-iphone-and-ipad-games-of-2013/ More Touch Arcade Site's Game of the Year Picks: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=214012 Link: http://toucharcade.com/2013/12/24/toucharcade-game-of-the-year-2013-ridiculous-fishing/
Touch Arcade forums’ 2013 Game of the Year Outcome Thank you to all participants for voting and discussion. It was a close call. First Place Warhammer Quest (34 votes) Second Place: Badland (31 votes) Third place : Xcom: Enemy Unknown (29 votes) No votes were deleted but there appears to be no obvious suspicious voting patterns. Thanks to Red1 for moderator help with title changes and information, Bronxsta for the 2013 GOTY banner, and Crex for starting the GOTY tradition.
Please feel free to discuss feedback to propose guidelines or suggest changes. I suggest we allow whoever wants to vote. If some developer is capable of creating some epic top 10 nominee then wants to stoop to stuffing the ballot that'd seem unlikely. Due to the controversy last year and difficulty enforcing new user limits on a large scale I propose no holds barred. Since we're talking about games of merit I feel optimistic that developers will allow fair polling. Votes will be made public but I'd like everyone to be invited to participate - new members or old. In Game of the Week, when 40-60 people vote it's easier to change the outcome I wonder if a Game of the Year poll won't have more participants make cheating, if attempted, more difficult. Last year there were 249 counted GOTY votes, and I recall a ton were deleted without clear explanation.
Yeah, it might be better just to leave it wide open after the contraversies in the past few years. I have a feeling it will become a facebook and twitter campaign for votes, but maybe it is better to do so, just to make it clear.
I'd like to imagine a Touch Arcade that isn't some restricted community but open to anyone motivated enough to create an account. If a developer spams Twitter and Facebook, then that just suggests those fans are dedicated enough to create an account and vote... maybe that's the mark of a GOTY winner reflecting actual popular opinion (and not some negative cheat tactic). Touch Arcade is an interface for anyone to discuss iOS gaming so if average Joe pops in to vote and never comes back then so be it. I seems improbable a developer would create 40+ shill accounts just to win.
Thanks undeadcow for taking the time to do this. Another couple of questions: 1. Can any game released during the year 2013 be nominated? It does not have to be a winner of the GOTW right? 2. And assuming it is any game released in 2013, is this for the official US release date? What about soft launches, pulled games, etc? 3. If there are ties in the nomination process, how many games will be listed in the final ballot? Guess as a reminder to folks after this post, the nomination process happens after the end of this month, so no need to nominate now.
My suggestions: 1. Game should be released December 2012-December 2013. This would give games that were just released some extensive playtime and allow the playtime to affect the decisions to include the games. 2. No ports. Ports had their time when they were first released. We could probably include those where the original was also released in 2013, coz it suggests it wasnt ported but planned to be released on iOS as well. 3. Since we are looking to make a Top 10 list, each one should list their top 20 instead. This should make ranking games easier when we have a final top 10. I hope these make sense, and that these are taken as they are: suggestions.
I still think it should just be release dates (US) in 2013 to make it clearer. Though you have a point. I know you don't like ports or clones, but seems to me a game is a game, and it shouldn't matter if a game was popular or not on a pc or console before. Personally I think 10 is probably enough cause we have alot of members here, and all of the nominations are added up. Makes it more work for the organizer if there are too many nominations.
Everything's up for discussion but here's my thoughts... I edited to original post to, for now, indicate that ANY release in 2013 should be nominated. I suggest people nominate whatever game was in their top 10 for the year. If a game was released in any capacity for the year I think it should be eligible. Granted, if your favorite game is a soft launch product it's less likely to win. People should vote their favorite games, regardless of wide availability - this is a contest of merit. In the unlikely event there is a tie for 10th place then I will announce that in the tread and request some tiebreaker input - likely a specific timeframe to allow more nominations for either game (one hour tiebreaker). I think it's important we allow 10 games a chance to be considered. [Versus in Game of the Week tied games for 10th place are all omitted]. I will count ANY nominations people make so if the community decides everyone nominates a December 2012 title in large enough mass it will make the poll. That should exclude any debate of eligibility, whatever game enough people nominate makes the poll. I personally prefer to allow any iOS release to be eligible, even ports, but would like more community feedback on this. For the overall poll we're limited to only 10 general games, but one idea is that after nominations I could specify try to offer some sort of categories (i.e. "most nominated port" versus "most nominated mobile original," "most nominated RPG, etc"). The GOTY has been very general in the past and I wish there was more of an option to diversify into categories. Edit: Regarding December 2012 eligibility I changed my response here and indicated in the original post to say this poll will include ANY game people want to nominate.
Personally I share EP's opinion on ports, but that's a fine line. Because if we excluded ports, then we couldn't include games like Boson X or Incredipede, both of which are PC ports. While I don't think ports should be allowed in GOTW threads, I think they're fair game for GOTY
I thought Boson X wasnt a port. According to Boson X's Press Kit, The Boson X app (v1.0.24) actually went live September 17 according to itunes.
Huh. I always considered it a port because it was on PC first, before coming to IOS. But anyway, ports should be included for the GOTY year poll And I like the Dec '12 to Dec '13 period, I think that's fair
^I guess it would be easier to just include all games released 2013. That way, no terms or specific rulings need to be defined.
How many nominations? I'll start with 10 1. Strike Force Heroes Extraction 2. XCOM enemy unknown 3. Slayin 4. Avenger Alliance 5. Bombcats 6. Stealth Inc. 7. Blitz Brigade 8. San Andreas 9. Mikey Hooks 10. Ridiculous Fishing
I personally prefer originals to ports, but it gets pretty dicey. There's probably more games than we know of that started out as PC or even browser based games. So as much as I hate to nominate ports, I know there will be a few in my list.
If the dates are made in dec of last year, a game could theoretically win GOTY twice if it released in dec. I still think we should make the requirement just releases in the calendar year, would hate to see people nominating games from way in the past too.