7) Coldwood Interactive – Unravel Two
The original Unravel title was born in 2016 and though there wasn’t much in the way of rumblings about a sequel Microsoft pulled off a surprise announcement during their E3 press conference. Of course, it wasn’t just a game announcement with some far off release date, it was a game that Coldwood Interactive had worked tirelessly to give us all on day one. Unravel Two received quite the positive response from critics and fans alike and was a charming tale sure to give you all the feels. Sure, this may not be the most exciting game of the year to most, but there’s something to be said about a developer that can keep things under wraps until the very moment they want to reveal it to the world and then actually delivering a fun experience. As such, Coldwood truly deserves a round of applause this Thanksgiving for delivering an emotional and worthy sequel that really came out of nowhere.
6) Telltale Games
Okay, so they didn’t handle their closure smoothly at all. We get it. Yet, here’s something immensely sad about a beloved developer announcing that their doors will soon be shut forever. Unfortunately Telltale Games, known for their episodic modern adventures games, like Batman, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us and more, is the latest developer to do so. Though their games may not have always garnered the best response, they really reinvented the art of episodic games. As such their episodic adventures full of branching decisions became quite well known, and was often used as a point of comparison with other titles that featured similar gameplay styles. Additionally, it’s a bummer knowing that we’ll never see sequels or prequels to some of those adventures we had our fingers crossed for, especially The Wolf Among Us. As such, it is with great sadness and admiration that we say goodbye to Telltale Games after 14 years. Thank you Telltale!
5) Skybound Entertainment
Despite the heavy heart about the closing of Telltale Games, as well the other developers that fell victim to 2018, we are abundantly thankful not only for Skybound Entertainment, but also for the countless developers that extended an olive branch to all of those affected by these companies shutting down. It’s a fantastic thing to see a network of people connected by their love of the industry, coming together and helping out in a great time of need. Skybound gets a special shout-out for their work, for free I might add as they’re not double charging for the content, to bring the The Walking Dead to its conclusion. Though the fate of this final season was up in the air, Skybound has not only taken on the project to finish the game, they are doing it justice, by bringing back the original team to do so. Really, Skybound deserves a standing ovation for their hard work on this, and for hopefully making the fans, and Telltale, proud.
4) Toys for Bob – Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Any developer that can bring a classic character to life deserves to have their name shouted from the rooftops and in this case it’s Toys for Bob breathing new life into the first three classic Spyro games. Though a remake might seem like no big deal at first, you’d be amazed by just how much work went into rebuilding all three games included in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy from the ground up. From fresh, new graphics, updated controls, and a whole new and improved soundtrack, complete with the very same, familiar story of a heroic purple dragon and his cute dragonfly sidekick, Toys for Bob delivered in every aspect. Add that to the commercial success the game has seen so far, even knocking RDR2 off its throne in the UK for the top spot, and how well it’s been received critically and now there’s so many reasons to be thankful. Of course, the biggest reason to be thankful is that a whole new generation gets to fall in love with Spyro 20 years after its original release.