Game of the Year 2011: 40-31

Our countdown of 2011's best games begins.

2011 is gradually becoming a distant memory, but before it's completely forgotten we're brining you our Games of 2011 list. We've picked the 40 best after a fair bit of arguing. Over the next week or so we'll count down from 40-6, then deliver our top five in video form complete with thoughts from each of us at VideoGamer.com. If you turn away in disgust at the sight of our faces, there'll be a text Top Five too.

40. Crimson Alliance

"For better or for worse, Crimson Alliance intends to be an unabashed time-waster of a game" said Emily in her 9/10 Crimson Alliance review. "It could have joined the white noise of dungeon crawlers, but developer Certain Affinity has managed to design a solid and - more impressively - distinctive game, regardless of whether the simple, pick-up-and-play approach turns off a few hardcore fans of the genre."

39. Football Manager 2012

"Improvements are significant without breaking the fundamentals," said David Brown in his 9/10 Football Manger 2012 review, "It seems that Sports Interactive has thought long and hard about how it can implement changes that would bring back the disillusioned without enraging the devotees." Be warned, though, as it's "painfully addictive, screen-shatteringly frustrating at times but so moreish it's like the computer game equivalent of Chocolate Fingers."