Although most of the time I’m busy playing MOBAs and MMORPGs, I had some time to explore other games this year. Here is a list of my self-proclaimed best games of 2015!

Best Mobile Game: Hearthstone (2014)

In early 2015, one of my favorite internet card games made by one of my favorite publishers, Blizzard, became an app. In its early years, I sold my beta key for in-game World of Warcraft currency. However, I soon realized how fun, simple, and addicting Hearthstone was. It reminded me a lot of Magic: The Gathering.

I was upset when I discovered my phone didn’t support the new app in early 2015. However, I now play on my Kindle Fire, which I got for Christmas. I’m now proud to consider this a mobile game.

Best Co-Op Game: Portal 2 (2011)

Portal 2 is one of my go-to games to play with a friend. There’s nothing more satisfying than putting two brains together to solve complicated puzzles. Although I know my way around the game pretty well by now, I would have to say it’s always a new and interesting experience with a new partner!

I have yet to complete the additional puzzles that come after the five main chapters. In addition, there are player generated levels!

Best Old-Ass Game I Finally Finished: Tomb Raider (2013 edition)

Well, if you consider 2013 to be old. I’d been gifted Tomb Raider during a Steam sale around the end of 2014. I never had any real plans of playing it, and to be honest, I don’t even remember what made me start in the first place. As I mentioned earlier, I play a lot of MOBAs and MMORGs, so it’s very rare for me (if at all) to play a single player game. I loved it.

The characters and plot in Tomb Raider 2013 made me feel like I wasn’t playing a single player game, but a game full of interesting characters and juicy plot. Finishing the game this year made me feel like I’d been missing out on something for the last two years.

Game of the Year: Fallout 4 (2015)

The only story game I found better than Tomb Raider was Fallout 4. I hadn’t played any of the other Fallout games, but everyone at work (I was hired seasonally at GameStop) was talking about the release of this one. I thought that these people must have good taste when faced with the release of a new game, not to mention we had over 400 pre-orders on file for the release. I knew it had to be something special.

I bought the game several days after the release. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I tuckered through it and followed Codsworth’s on-screen advice. For the first several weeks, I was touch and go with the game. I could only play it for a couple of hours at a time without being bored. Until, something clicked. I felt like I was seeing the game for the first time. I started to care about the characters and the plot. After 72 dedicated hours of play time, I can say that I’ve well surpassed the time I put into Tomb Raider.

Most Anticipated Game: Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015)

I was irrationally excited for the release of this game, only to be heartbroken when I discovered that the scheduled November launch was intended for Xbox users only. Now, of course I could have just bought myself an Xbox and called it a day, but I just couldn’t seem to justify that. I wanted to play on my PC, but most of all I didn’t want to give Microsoft what they wanted by purchasing an Xbox.

So this leaves Rise of the Tomb Raider as my most anticipated game of next year. I cannot wait to rejoin Lara Croft in her adventures again.

Read all of Nerdy but Flirty’s GOTY 2015 articles here.