Normally I don't like talking about a game of the year because it's hard to choose one, but this year is going to be different.
This year, I discovered Rowan, Rook & Decard's Spire (affiliate link) on Kickstarter. I decided, mostly on a lark because I liked the art-style, to back it.
I played a lot of games that I liked this year, and since I consider games for my Game of the Year based on when I play them, not their release date, Spire had to compete with a lot of different games. It beat them all to such a degree that I didn't have to question my choices.
However, my review of Spire is already out there, so I'll recap what I like about it and be brief. This commentary applies to all the supplementary content that's been released after the core rulebook as well, as it's all been of really good quality and I've been enjoying it.
Spire combines humor (dark and zany, sometimes combined and sometimes independent of each other) with one of the most compelling core conflicts I've seen in a roleplaying game.
It also has a world that's compellingly deep without requiring you to commit to any one interpretation of the setting. The sheer poignancy and inflection of culture found in Spire's world allows for a setting that provides endless possibility, and honestly stands up well in comparison to any other game universe I can think of. I can compare it to the deep worlds of Shadowrun, Battletech, Avernum, Eclipse Phase, Faerun, Sryth, and Eberron that consumed the imagination of my youth, and I have no doubt that it will be a fond staple of my imagination for years to come.
Spire's mechanics are so good that I've used them in my own games; Waystation Deimos is the only one that's out now and uses a modified version of the system (which is itself borrowed from another developer), but there's an elegant simplicity to them that allows them to blend narrative and mechanics without sacrificing anything to either.
The art is what first drew me into the world of Spire, and Adrian Stone has done a tremendous job at illustrating it in a way that reminds me of Failbetter Games' style, but with its own twists. It's evocative, dark, and colorful simultaneously, and unfortunately I'm not enough of an art critic to find the words to do it justice.
I cannot speak too highly of Spire. It's a game that has earned its place among the greats.
