Summary: What was your favorite video game of 2016? We asked 23 of the smartest people we know–game designers, podcasters, YouTubers, journalists, a screenwriter, a playwright–and got 19 answers. <br> Counting Chris and JJ, that’s 25 people and 20 games in our second annual GOTY Podcast Spectacular. Plus, intense disagreement about the merits of “The Last Guardian.”<br> STARRING, in order of appearance:<br> Jason Concepcion & Ben Lindbergh, hosts of Achievement Oriented;<br> Chris Remo, Idle Thumbs host and Campo Santo developer;<br> Austin Walker, Waypoint editor-in-chief;<br> Carolyn Petit, Feminist Frequency writer;<br> Nina Freeman, “Cibele” designer and Fullbright level designer;<br> Theresa Duringer, founder of Temple Gates Games;<br> Adrian Chen, staff writer for The New Yorker;<br> Jon Lovett, a Keepin’ It 1600 host, screenwriter, and former speechwriter for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton;<br> Stephen Totilo, editor-in-chief of Kotaku;<br> Susan O’Connor, writer for games like “BioShock,” “Gears of War,” “Far Cry 2,” and “Tomb Raider”;<br> Virginia Heffernan, author of “Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art”;<br> Clive Thompson, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a columnist for Wired, and the author of “Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better”;<br> Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency;<br> Lucy Prebble, playwright of “The Effect”;<br> Meg Jayanth, writer of “80 Days”;<br> Helen Lewis, deputy editor of the New Statesman;<br> John Davison, Glixel general manager;<br> Gabriel Winslow-Yost, assistant editor of The New York Review of Books;<br> Jason Killingsworth, writer for Riot Games and co-author of “You Died: The ‘Dark Souls’ Companion”;<br> Brett Douville, lead programmer for “Skyrim” and “Fallout 4” and Dev Game Club host; <br> Simon Parkin, contributing writer for NewYorker.com and author of “Death By Video Game”;<br> Laura Hudson, writer for FiveThirtyEight, Wired and Slate<br> NEXT WEEK, WE HOPE:<br> Ronan Farrow: What I Play<br> SHOW NOTES:<br> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/01/arts/new-york-times-critics-on-what-they-want-to-see.html">Chris in The New York Times on “The Witness” and “Quadrilateral Cowboy” as his most anticipated games–of 2014</a><br> <br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/shall-we-play-a-game/id1003517163?mt=2">Review us on iTunes</a><br> <a href="http://facebook.com/shallweshow">Like us on Facebook</a><br> <a href="mailto:shallweshow@gmail.com">Email us at shallweshow at gmail</a><br> <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/groups/shallweshow">Join the “Shall We Play a Game?” Steam community</a><br> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/curator/12047454/">Follow the “Shall We Play a Game?” Steam Curators page</a><br> <a href="https://twitter.com/shallweshow">Follow us on Twitter</a><br> <br>
