Eurogamer Readers' Top 50 Games of 2006

30. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent

(Ubisoft, Multi) - Cube Gamepage -PC -PS2 -Xbox 360 -Xbox -Wii -PS3

Kitts: Sort of like Prison Break, but without the convolution. Actually, wait.

29. LocoRoco

(Sony, PSP) -Gamepage

Darren Tanner: It's all about the fun! And the singing: Pori nirumpa yamuta, Puru sorekya anchekku, Yamu pirita shuko papurareta, Kar-bankooer-jeg, Sanii kirita yamuta, Bu-gu soresya ateku, Yamu pirita shuko papurareta, Kar-bankooer-jeg!

Gerald Grote: Unique. The colors, the music, the cuteness, the secrets, the style. Opens your heart and fills it with happiness... for the short time it lasts (enough for me).

28. Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy

(Traveller's Tales, Multi) - DS Gamepage -GBA -Cube -PC -PS2 -PSP -Xbox -Xbox 360

Michael Gormley: It's Lego and it's Star Wars...

Ed Bradley: It's pure fun and I like fun. Don't you like fun? If you don't like this game you don't. Everyone likes fun. Unless they're weird and play games for weird reasons that don't involve fun. But who could fathom those weirdoes anyway?

27. We Love Katamari

(Namco, PS2) -Gamepage

Elliot Rayson: This game stands out by a Japanese brightly-coloured mile for its ridiculously simple yet fun gameplay. I can never forget the first time I grew large enough to pick up the building I started the game inside, and you really cannot get that feeling anywhere else! It's a totally unique gaming experience and I haven't had this much pure unadulterated fun since I first used my Mega Drive. All those pretty colours... and nowhere else can you make a ball from squashing animals.

Terry Gallagher: Possibly one of my favourite games ever. Simple controls, a daft plot and catchy tunes. Above all - imagination. Months later - and it's still guaranteed to make me smile. Stupid, stupid fun.

Jack: Superb replay value. Contrary to what some "purists" say does improve on part one and manages to multiply its craziness in the process.

26. Hitman: Blood Money

(Io, Multi) - PC Gamepage -PS2 -Xbox -Xbox 360

Patrycja Wardzala: Great, complex game with an open-ended approach to the level design. Excellent visuals and audio, memorable 'hero' and mission locations. And it's nice they were able to make the game both brutal and tasteful.

Florian Kratke: Strangling hookers! STRANGLING HOOKERS!! STRANGLING HOOKERS!! STRANGLING HOOKERS!!!!

25. Animal Crossing: Wild World

(Nintendo, DS) - Gamepage

James Kenny: Like my own little private world in my pocket. Full of beautiful sights and sounds, it made the summer days and nights seem so much nicer. A real gem that says it all about Nintendo - simple, friendly, and fun.

Ben Richardson: Depth, addiction, beauty, appeal, atmosphere, character, personality... All these things and more!

David Hopkins: I hate that Lobo left, just after we seemed to be finally friends, in a Grumpy Old Men sort of way. I hate Tom Nook and his extortion, reeling me back just when I think I'm free. I hate it when someone calls me something rude after I was good enough to teach them the word. Such smut!

Tom Nook (very good): It causes people who are jerks to post on internet forums inane comments like "I wouldn't play this it's gay" - showing they're mindless trolls. And then, you can dig holes around the mindless trolls in your town, and trap them. And they can't get out.

24. Psychonauts

(Double Fine, Multi) - Xbox Gamepage - PS2 -PC -

Mike Bowden: Genius level design, humour and a thoroughly enjoyable game to boot. Schafer's a genius.

Kevin Young: "Should have been an adventure game"? It was a bloody adventure game! A rip roaring adventure game filled with intelligent adult concepts and humour in a fully 3d interactive environment. In which you could jump. A lot.

Stephen Burbidge: Tim Schafer. Almost every aspect past the first level is a work of genius. Things like the psychic smell of bacon or the cap wearing kid and squirrels or the reason you can't go into the water. Brilliant touch stacked upon brilliant touch till you're not sure core mechanics or level ideas begin. Even the nuts and bolts of how the levels work is mind-breakingly good. Even saying where levels take place would be a major spoiler. The only reason this won't win because not enough people bought it. (Evil Idiots) Terra Nova all over again.

23. Medieval 2: Total War

(Creative Assembly, PC) - Gamepage

Simon Ayrse: Mostly killing the French. Sometimes the Danish, but mostly the French.

Michael: It's really, really good, like. I like making everybody charge and fight the enemies. That's why it's good.

James Walsh: I only stopped playing Rome when M2TW came out, and will only stop playing M2TW when the next one comes out. Played Total War more than Halo 1, 2 plus online put together.

twelveways: One of the most immersive games ever! The battles are quite simply jaw-droppingly awesome and the campaign is as in-depth as you could ever hope for. Hundreds of hours of gameplay and millions of corpses, what more could you ask for?

22. Neverwinter Nights 2

(Obsidian, PC) - Gamepage

Twinkle: Sand. He's ace.

Christopher Soulsby: It's a proper RPG unlike Oblivion. It has a good story unlike Oblivion. And most importantly it doesn't have Sean Bean in it.

21. Canis Canem Edit

(Rockstar Vancouver, PS2) - Gamepage

manuel_garcia: Absolutely inspired setting for a game. Everyone can relate to school, and everyone will relate to at least one of the factions in the game, which makes the experience so much more personal and engaging. Top marks for the way that the story flowed across the seasons in a school term as well, which aided to the cinematic quality of the story, and also the way that they managed to lampoon so many references to all the classic high school / college / frat party movies. The icing on the cake though is the audio. Its rare for a game that has an original score to not take the intense, orchestral route. It sounds as if they scored this like a low-budget independent movie, with gives it a fantastic tone. The simplicity of the tunes that accompanied each in-game situation were nigh-on perfect. Ground-breaking audio in my view.