From sex on a unicorn to discovering the lost city in Rise of the Tomb Raider, there were many great video game moments in 2015. These were some of my favourite.

Around this time every December, pretty much anyone who writes about video games cobbles together their own best games of the year list. And, to be frank, it’s kind of boring.

Because what is “best” exactly? My game of the year might be your thundering dud, and a game your poured 90 hours into might have bored me after 90 minutes. Plus, if you want to know what critics agreed were the best games of the year, you can simply hop over to Metacritic or some other review aggregate site and look at the numbers. Snore.

I think it’s more interesting – and a little more personal – to revisit those special moments or unusual features in games that really stood out this year. Granted, every game here would likely have made a best-of list anyway, but they all stand out in different ways for different reasons. With that, here are a few things about 2015’s crop of games that will stay with me long into the new year.

Fallout 4 – Settlement building

Building your own settlements in the post-apocalyptic Fallout 4 is a poorly explained, half-baked and completely optional feature in the game – and I couldn’t get enough of it. From a mini-mall of vendors selling weapons and armour to a four-storey steel high-rise housing my town’s many settlers, I spent almost as much time improving my home base as I did exploring the radioactive ruins of Boston.

Rise of the Tomb Raider – Discovering the lost city

This sequel to 2012’s Tomb Raider reboot is one of the best action-adventure titles of 2015, but with all the amazing vistas in this visually stunning title, the one that still sticks with me is gazing across the rooftops of a lost city hidden beneath a massive glacier… and knowing I was going to explore every damn centimetre of it.

Just Cause 3 – Fun with physics

The Just Cause games have always had their own brand of action-movie physics, but Just Cause 3 reached new heights – literally – with gadgets like retractable grappling tethers and grenades that act like rockets, sending whatever you attach them to soaring into the sky. No game offered as many one-of-a-kind, impossible-to-repeat moments.

Bloodborne – Defeating Cleric Beast

I’ve never played a Dark Souls game, because I’ve never seen the attraction in games that are ferociously difficult. Bloodborne, a spiritual cousin to Dark Souls, changed that. I suddenly understood why people love these games so much, and defeating the very first boss in the game – the terrifying Cleric Beast – was one of my biggest adrenaline rushes of the year. Many more dangerous monsters followed, but you always remember your first.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Sex on a unicorn

So much about this incredible open-world role-playing game was so superbly well done that it’s hard to find just one thing that stands out. But while I’ve slain mythical beasts, unravelled dark conspiracies and travelled fantasy worlds in dozens of games before, this is definitely the first game that’s allowed me to have sex with a gorgeous woman on the back of a stuffed unicorn.

Splatoon – Sheer inventiveness

Splatoon nearly earned a spot on my most disappointing games of 2015 list, and my lightly critical review of the game drew no small amount of online ire from Nintendo diehards. But for all its many faults and problems – some of which were addressed in online updates after release – the simple joy of using paint as a weapon, a victory condition, a means of traversal and a form of cover made Splatoon one of the most unique shooters in ages.

Uncharted Collection – The Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta

The Uncharted trilogy is a fantastic series of games, and this year’s re-release of the trio of titles on the PS4 – with sharper visuals and slicker animation than their PS3 predecessors – is a real gem. But for me, Uncharted has always been as much about the oft-overlooked multiplayer component, and the brief taste of the upcoming Uncharted 4’s multiplayer offering that was offered with the Uncharted Collection – with its grappling hooks, sidekicks and mystical powers – is what really grabbed me.

Rocket League – The Rocketreational

The soccer-meets-cars mashup Rocket League is not just one of my favourite games of the year, it’s one of my favourite games, full stop. And while I love playing ranked matches online, my highlight was taking part in the Rocketreational, a mostly-media tournament in which me and my pals finished in the final four. It was my first time in any sort of semi-organized eSports competition (the Twitch streams had play-by-play commentary!) and it added a new dimension to an already unforgettable game.