Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

Somehow or another, this year's winner of Best Use of a Creative License, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, managed to be a great game in spite of working with not one, but two licensed properties. You see, as the game's title suggests, it stars one of modern literature's most famous private detectives as he attempts to solve a new mystery. However, this particular game not only stars the renowned sleuth created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but it also incorporates the seminal Cthulhu mythos created by legendary horror novelist and poet H.P. Lovecraft.

Normally, a game that tried to incorporate elements from just one of these complex licenses would be in a pretty challenging spot, so the fact that this adventure handles both properties so well is nothing short of remarkable. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened manages to work these literary influences into a well-designed experience that deals respectfully with both, while also presenting an enjoyable story that, appropriately enough, could've been pulled from an early 20th century pulp novel. And you know what? It also turned out to be a respectable (if traditional) adventure game that was enjoyable to play, thanks to its entertaining, intuitive puzzles and a solid implementation of detective work baked right into the gameplay.