there’s been a lot of “bad” games over the years, and me and friends have been discussing what “bad” actually means.
for example, Pathologic is considered to be a good game, despite being awful to play, thanks to using its ‘bad design’ to tell a story. meanwhile, Wizardry 4 has unapologetically bad game design all around, with no point to it. there are also games like Cruelty Squad, a well designed and usually fun game, with a deliberately awful aesthetic, or like Getting Over It, where the game and its messaging is built around the clunky controls. another example are Mario Maker troll levels, the best of which are well designed levels that intentionally employ bad game design for humor.
all these games can be considered bad, but notably, some are bad with little redemption, and some are “bad” but enjoyable to play. I suppose I’m asking if a submission should be “fun bad”, or “misery bad”? if the former, what does the “Worst Overall” criteria mean? if the latter, how awful does the game’s design have to be until it’s hard to rank?