Here is a list of my top 5 that I bought this year. Keep in mind, my favorite game types are Survival and FPS when not playing MMO's.

1) The Forest: This game is all around one of the best games in alpha. It's a survival-horror-and so much more-game. You can be a crafter, base builder, hunter, and trapper. You have to defend your base from attacks from cannibals and even some other horrors. There is a big story behind the game, but it's best for you to figure that out on your own. The best part of the game, for me, is how scary it is to explore the caves in this game. I highly recommend playing this game with others....else you may pee yourself...then again, that may still happen.

2) 7 Days to Die: This is a recent purchase, but I'm having so much fun with this game it ranks high on my list. This is one of my favorites b/c it is an all around survival game with zombies. My best description of this game is Minecraft 2.0 on crack. The graphics can look a little distorted when viewing items in the distance, but they look great up close. When building bases, it is done in a Minecraft fashion with blocks, but the blocks are all different types and dimensions. If zombies know where you are, they are going to try and get to you and that means breaking down doors or walls. At night, zombies get fast and stronger. You may need to find a nice quiet out of reach place on your first night. Every 7 days, it doesn't matter where you are, the zombies know. You either need heavy defenses that you hope can hold out till dawn, or you need to fight. And, if you survive the first 7 days....it get harder.

3) Empyrion: I love this game because it is the best space game I've played in a long time. It has some Space Engineers elements that allow you to build your own ships. At the same time, you have to defend yourself again drones and sometimes the local creatures on the planet. After you clear the planet you start on, you then have to deal with harder drones in space. You have to mine materials off the moon before you can build the ships that allow you to travel to other planets. The only negative thing about this game here is that the number of planets is limited and there isn't much of a difference between the planets. Nonetheless, it has the best crafting/building system of any game I've played this year. I love building bases and ships. I only wish there was more variety when you went to other planets. The funny thing is, I bought this game while waiting for No Man's Sky to come out and Empyrion ended up being better.

4) ARK: Scorched Earth: ARK is my number 1 favorite game of 2015 and is still my favorite overall with over 1000 hours invested in the game. This expansion was nice in how a new map was added to the game with more flavor, but I still prefer the base game (which is the only reason it's in my top 5). ARK is about to even get better with the TEK upgrade coming out this week or next. If you don't have ARK, you should really check this out. IMO, it's the best money you can spend on a game.

5) The Division: I easily put 200+ hours into this game over a short period of time. The downside was, I got bored with it. Great shooter. Lots to do, even more fun with friends, but once those friends stop playing, the game is boring solo. Still one of my favorites this year.

Other games:

FortressCraft
GRAV
How to Survive 2
Miscreated
No Man's Sky
Osiris
Out of Reach
PULSAR: Lost Colony
Rising World
Star Rangers
Tom Clancy's Rainbox Six Seige
TOXIKK
Wurm