Before we get on with the list, I want to make sure you don’t miss this year’s Ars Technica Charity Drive sweepstakes . You can win one of over 100 prizes, including limited edition gaming collectibles, all while helping out a good cause. Entries are due by January 4, so check it out if you haven’t already, and thanks in advance for your donation.

Narrowing an entire year of video games into a list of the 20 titles most worth your attention is always difficult, but it was more difficult than usual in 2015. We could have easily extended this year's list to 30 or 40 games without breaking a sweat or recommending any marginal titles (see our upcoming "best of the rest" list as proof).

The year was just that jam-packed with quality titles. Perhaps that's because the new generation of consoles is finally coming into its own, or because a number of independent developers surprised us with highly polished and utterly unique titles. Whatever the reason, we hope 2016 can capture even a fraction of the joy and variety found in this year's best games.

20. N++

Platforms: PS4

Release Date: July 28

Developer: Metanet Software

The journey to complete a single level in N++ is a long and frustrating one.

A full decade after the release of the original, this second sequel is a perfect combination of refinement and dedication. The key, as always, is a beautiful physics system based on floaty leaps and wall-climbing hops. There's a strong sense of momentum to every movement and an almost balletic feeling of balance in carefully managing your speed and position from moment to moment.

But the real star here is the level design, with over 2,000 single-screen stages in the single-player portion alone and not a bit of filler in the bunch. Those levels go from merely hard to insanely difficult quickly thanks to dozens of merciless hazards and enemies that often require pixel-perfect movement to avoid. Expect an even tougher challenge if you want to collect every piece of gold or unlock some of the more devious secrets buried in the game.

N++ will only appeal to a certain class of player that has been constantly looking for an ever-increasing levels of precision platforming challenge in the three decades or so since Super Mario Bros. For those players, this may the platonic ideal of a largely defunct and unappreciated genre.

- Kyle Orland

19. Pac-Man 256

Platforms: iOS, Android

Release Date: August 20

Developer: Hipster Whale

Sequels are always a mixed bag no matter whether you’re talking about movies, books, or video games. Sometimes the first installment endures so well for so long because the follow-ups are sadly lacking. That was the daunting challenge awaiting Pac-Man 256, a smartphone- and tablet-based follow up to the original Pac-Man (and its own successful sequel, Ms. Pac-Man). Luckily, this sequel was up for the task.

Rendered in a charmingly blocky 8-bit style, Pac-Man 256 offers up an endless, randomly generated maze, filled with more ghosts and more powerups than the original. As you dodge monsters and gobble power-ups, the maze below you dissolves into a mishmash of random characters, just like the rarely seen kill screen on level 256 of the OG Pac-Man. Head too far down in the maze to avoid the ghosts, and you’ll de-rez along with the rest of the maze.

As you dodge new ghosts with different personalities (beware the glitch ghosts), you can gobble up coins that you can then use to unlock and then level up new power-ups like electricity (zaps nearby ghosts), stealth (turns you invisible to ghosts), and freeze (slows ghosts to a virtual crawl). You can also earn coins by completing quests (e.g., use a radar power-up to kill 20 ghosts) and watching advertisements (who knew there were so many games involving dragons?).

Pac-Man 256 rewards quick decision making—and not just when it comes to dodging ghosts. Do you move across a dot-free part of the maze to gobble a power-up or stay with the dot-line in hopes of completing a 256-dot chain and clearing the visible maze of ghosts? Either way, Pac-Man 256 is a great way to distract yourself with your tablet or smartphone when you’ve got a few free minutes… and you probably won’t want to put it down.

- Eric Bangeman

18. Sage Solitaire

Platforms: iOS

Release Date: August 26

Developer: STFJ

Really? A single-player card game as one of the best of the year? Believe it. Sage Solitaire is a much deeper take on the classic Klondike Solitaire you might know from Windows; this is a game that relies on memory and skillful decision making to maximize the value of each random shuffle

The basics are incredibly simple: Match two-to-five of the top cards on nine piles to make one of a few specific poker-style hands, each with varying point values (with bonuses for a different suit each game). You can throw out a limited number of single cards that get in the way, which is handy because clearing entire piles earns multipliers and clearing the entire board earns a substantial bonus. Be careful though; each hand needs cards from at least two different rows on the 3x3 grid, and hands can get difficult to make once you start running low on piles and matchable cards.

After tapping around aimlessly for a few hands, some basic strategies begin to present themselves. After a few dozen games, you’ve probably figured out how to clear the entire board with some frequency. A few dozen after that, and you may be ready to build up a bank in the cumulative Vegas mode or face nerve-wracking True Grit mode, where your initial $500 stake can be lost forever.

Through it all, it always feels like there’s more to learn as you struggle to balance the potential risks and rewards of each potential play with the inherent randomness of the deal. Much more than a mindless twiddling of cards, Sage Solitaire is a great brain workout that makes you feel like there's always a bit more strategy to learn if you just try one more hand.

-Kyle Orland

17. Guitar Hero Live

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360

Release Date: October 20

Developer: Freestyle Games

Will 2015 be remembered as the year that rhythm games made a stunning comeback after a five-year hiatus? Perhaps not. Though Rock Band returned with less of roar and more of a whimper, there was one game that truly pushed the genre forward and gave us all a jolly good time in the process: Guitar Hero Live.

Freestyle Games' reinvention of the Guitar Hero series was a risky move, particularly as it requires players to buy a new controller, but it resulted in a game that is comfortingly familiar, yet surprisingly fresh. The magic lies in the new guitar, which has six buttons spread over two rows of three. This clever tweak makes it easier for beginners to just hit three notes while presenting a new challenge on the higher difficulty levels in the form of chords that require switching between the two rows.

But Freestyle Games went further than just a new guitar, giving the game a thoroughly needed visual overhaul with crisp live-action footage and a way to play a whole host of new songs without having to fork out any additional cash in the form of Guitar Hero TV. The MTV-like streaming TV station is a stroke of genius, working as a music discovery service, a wonderfully compelling meta game, and a party playlist all at once.

Activision could have so easily dialled it in and churned out the same game it did five years ago. Instead, it gave us something far more interesting. Like I said in my review: Guitar Hero Live is the rhythm game for the people who got bored of rhythm games.

-Mark Walton

Listing image by Flickr user: Jim Sheaffer