2020 had a handful of dark horses in the running for our favorite game of the year. As the year went on, Supergiant Games’ roguelike Hades was one of the thoroughbreds that came out on top – pulling in awards left and right. Another accolade in Hades’ achievements comes from the New York Game Awards, where it was recently crowned Game of the Year.
The 10th annual New York Game Awards took place virtually this year – hosted by Reggie Fils-Aime and Harold Goldberg. Supergiant Games’ masterful title also won Best Writing, Best Music, and Best Indie Game, with the founder of the awards show Harold Goldberg stating that Hades “touched our critics in many ways." Aside from Hades winning over the Big Apple, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was given the Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake had a favorable ceremony also.
Mythology colored a lot of games last year, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Nordic influences, as well as Immortals Fenyx Rising’s Greek mythology roots – which is also the basis of Hades. The roguelike action-RPG focuses on Zagreus – the son of Hades – and his attempt at escaping the Underworld with Mount Olympus being the end goal. This indie offers addictive hack and slash combat, a riveting narrative, and a colorful aesthetic that’s a real feast for the eyes.
The New York Game Awards wasn’t the only ceremony to recognize Hades’ achievements. Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards gave it the thumbs up for Best Indie and Best Action game – along with being a nominee for Game of the Year. The Game Awards crowned The Last of Us 2 as the winner of the latter, but it was a triumphant awards season for Supergiant Games nevertheless.
To add to its already impressive resume, Hades was noted for being the best-reviewed game on Steam for 2020. It also rubbed shoulders with other nominees in the platform’s Game of the Year category, however, the prestigious award went to Red Dead Redemption 2.