2011’s full list of actual Game of the Year contenders isn’t short, neither is it lacking any variety or depth. But no single game charmed, challenged, and awed us this year like Portal 2. Valve expertly pulled back the curtain further on Aperture Science’s history and mythos, introducing compelling new characters and wild new mechanics in equal parts. Stephen Merchant’s Wheatley was a tour de force. Combined with Ellen McLain’s reprisal of her show-stealing GLaDOS role, Valve has again forever raised the stakes in video game writing and voice acting. Mining the origins of Aperture with the ghost of Cave Johnson while puzzling your way around with the many gameplay additions, including Excursion Funnels, Hard Light Bridges, Redirection Cubes, alongside game-changing Propulsion, Repulsion and Conversion gels, was a revelation. Add a brand new world-class multi-player co-op campaign starring affable robot test subjects Atlas and P-Body, and it all adds up to a must-play game that sent us over the moon.