Personally, the only games I’ve found that Im esspecially comfortable to “lock-in” are:

Factorio for Labour of Love, as its an absolute gem of a game that has continued to receive significant improvements even after launch and not even all bundled in to the (itself amazing) expansion. I also considered Stardew Valley or Dota, both of which are great for this, but Factorio really deserves it for Space Age and the updates that have come with it.

Balatro for Best Game on Steam Deck, for its addicting, fun gameplay, good for longer sessions or pick-up and put-down play.

Tactical Breach Wizards for Outstanding Visual Style. There are other games that might have pulled off their themes better, but the mix of military and magical is so cool and charming and unique, that its my absolute favorite right now.

And Balatro again for Sit Back and Relax, for the same reasons I gave for Steam Deck, and just how chill it can be once you’ve learned the basics.

Animal Well.

Persona 3 Reload for best soundtrack.

I’d bet on Tiny Glade being at least a runner up for the Sit Back & Relax category.

Game of the Year : not sure yet what to pick

VR Game of the Year : Metro Awakening, I don’t have a headset but it looks like a great adaptation in the Metro franchise

Labor of Love : Deep Rock Galactic, this time for sure they’ll win 🤡

Best Game on Steam Deck : Deep Rock Galactic Survivor

Better With Friends : Helldivers 2

Outstanding Visual Style : not sure yet

Most Innovative Gameplay : not sure yet

Best Game You Suck At : Balatro

Best Sountrack : not sure yet

Outstanding Story Rich Game : not sure yet

Sit Back and Relax : Tiny Glade

• Game of the Year: Flock

• VR Game of the Year: Picked a random one

• Labor of Love: Journey

• Best Game on Steam Deck: Flock

• Better with Friends: Webfishing

• Outstanding Visual Style: Flock

• Most Innovative Gameplay: Flock

• Best Game You Suck At: Picked a random one

• Best Soundtrack: OneShot WME

• Outstanding Story-Rich Game: OneShot WME

• Sit Back and Relax: Webfishing

I mostly picked these because they were the only ones I’ve played that were released this year, or are Steam Games to begin with in general.

I picked Flock for Outstanding style because I think it has awesome visual style. I also picked it for best game on Steam Deck because it plays very well on Deck and I play it almost exclusively on my Steam Deck. I’ve also never really played a game like it so I feel it is a very innovative game. Hence innovative game-play nomination.

For better with Friends I picked Webfishing because it is honestly better with friends and isn’t as much fun to play alone. I also chose it for Sit back and relax because it’s a relaxing game.

I picked OneShot WME for best soundtrack and outstanding story because honestly it has an amazing soundtrack and story, even though it is a remaster of an old game.

I picked Journey as Labor of love because it’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve played.

The ones I picked at random are ones I haven’t played yet or even own, I just tried to pick ones that were on my Watchlist or that looked like okay games.