The 18 Best PC Games of 2011 That You Don't Know About

The Witness
Publisher: TBA
Developer: Jonathan Blow
Release Date: TBA 2011
Website
Jonathan Blow, the man-so-smart-we're-convinced-he's-actually-a-giant-brain-in-a-vat-somewhere behind time-bending platformer Braid, is back with another experimental game called The Witness. At this point, details are scant, but it's been referred to as a “quiet and philosophical exploration puzzle game on an uninhabited island.” So basically, Lost, but without the part where we sustain multiple concussions from brain-cell-oblitering plot “twists” followed by brain-celll-obliterating facepalms. Fortunately, early screens look nothing like the infamous TV phenom, immediately making The Witness something we can get behind.

Xenonauts
Publisher: N/A
Developer: Goldhawk Interactive
Release Date: TBA 2011
Website
XCOM may have decided to shoot first and ask questions later, but Xenonauts is here to pick up the slack. It's a good old-fashioned strategy game that describes itself as “heavily inspired by the classic X-Com / UFO: Enemy Unknown.” From what we've seen, the game's a modern take on X-Com with some smart tweaks and the addition of real-time aerial combat, which is pretty much exactly what the xenophobic doctor ordered.