10 AMAZING Recent Video Games NO ONE Saw Coming

Given how long it takes to make even a small-scale video game, and how much money is typically invested in their development, publishers naturally want to make sure that everyone is aware of their existence leading up to release.

And so in the AAA space, millions of dollars are typically spent marketing a new game to the masses, because if players aren't aware of a game, it can so easily slip through the cracks regardless of quality.

But every so often, a game will just hit as if it arrived totally out of nowhere, with minimal pre-release hype or anyone expecting it to be quite so brilliant.

And that's absolutely true of these 10 recent games, each of which scored rave reviews from critics and players alike, no matter the fact that few had heard of them until the weeks or even days before their release.

Not a single solitary soul had these games pegged for Game of the Year contention, and yet each of them soared far beyond expectations, emerging out of nowhere and sucking all the oxygen out of the room...

Mouthwashing is absolutely one of those games best played while knowing as little as possible - an easy task given that it became a viral hit after launching seemingly out of nowhere last September. If you're a fan of retro-flavoured horror, it's a no-brainer.

If you need the harder sell, Mouthwashing is a first-person horror adventure game taking place onboard a spaceship in the aftermath of a crash which leaves the crew stranded in space and, without giving too much away, quickly losing their minds.

Mouthwashing makes inspired use of non-linear storytelling to weave a twisted, skin-crawlingly unsettling narrative, and while the game is firmly in the "walking simulator" bucket, the general lack of traditional horror gameplay - namely, combat - in no way detracts from the game's unnerving atmosphere.

The throwback low-poly visual style may be trendy nowadays, but this is an especially inspired rendition of it, the intentional garishness only enhancing player anxiety as they traipse around this claustrophobic spaceship in search of answers.

And on top of all this, it'll probably take you less than three hours to beat.