Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013) (PC) (Dean Dodrill)
0Dust: An Elysian Tail is one of the greatest-looking 2D games released in quite some time...and it was developed over the course of 3,5 years by a single person, Dean Dondrill, who programmed everything and created all the gorgeous hand-painted cartoon-style graphics by himself. This ambitious side-scrolling brawler may look unabashedly cute - and that's obviously a considerable part of its basic appeal - but the game deals with some surprisingly dark themes and also features light RPG mechanics such as character stats and crafting. The gameplay itself is a mix between a combo-oriented beat 'em up and the not-entirely-linear exploration of a Metroid or a Symphony of the Night, and it's wonderful to see this stunning Xbox LIVE Arcade release migrate over to the PC.