An anonymous phone call, an animal mask, and the room turning red in a matter of seconds.

From what the community has seen so far, fun is what stands out most: Hotline Miami sits ahead of nearly nine games out of ten on the question of the game you fire up for five minutes and put down hours later. The soundtrack pulls in the same direction, ahead of three quarters of all titles, though that rests on a single vote, so take it as a hint. The feel in hand and the urge to rediscover it stay closer to the middle, on very few duels. The picture holds together: a nervous, electric game built for the compulsive loop more than for pure mastery of the controls.

In the top-down shooter genre, it's a strange beast. Where most bet on precision, this one bets on trance, on rhythm, on music carrying you from one room to the next. Few games give off that hypnotic tension.

So, who's it for? You, if you love short, brutal, addictive runs driven by an OST that lodges in your head. Much less so if you want something calm or a feel that's all about finesse.