Celeste

Celeste is a precision platformer about climbing a mountain and confronting your inner demons — and it succeeds brilliantly at both. The controls are pixel-perfect, the level design escalates beautifully, and the story about anxiety and self-acceptance is told with a sincerity that most AAA games cannot match. The assist mode set the standard for accessibility in difficult games. Matt Thorson and the team proved that indie games can stand shoulder to shoulder with any blockbuster.