Each of Hitman 2's locales is a clockwork machine, the pieces of which I toyed around with for hundreds of hours in-game, and hundreds more in my imagination, when I was unable to play. It is a marvelous stealth sandbox made better by the ability to create and share challenges within it.

It is hard to imagine a simpler concept executed better.

Forza Horizon 3 is committed to the idea of letting players make their own fun, even as it provides a sturdy structure to allow for that. In particular, creating blueprint bucket list events and championships scratched a real itch for me that wasn't satisfied by FH4.

It's a game I enjoyed more at hour 50 than hour 20, as I learned to love the environmental puzzles scattered across Hyrule

MGSV offers one of the purest distillations of a gameplay loop I find very satisfying: sneak into an enemy location, take them out as quietly as you can, and get rewarded with new tools for future such jobs. The freedom afforded to you, and the variety of possible approaches is what makes this stand out.