Yeah I just realized my most-played games of 2012 all came out before 2012.
Oh man. Superbrothers:Sword & Sworcery EP came out in 2012. Possibly the most beautiful game ever made with such big freakin pixels.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/204060/This game, all the feels. If you give yourself to this game (read: if you actually suspend your disbelief and get into the story) it is emotional as hell, as well as friggin epic. It is somewhat short (I beat it in about 6 hours of gameplay), it is simple (originally developed for touch screen so it is mouse only) but this game had a bigger impact on me than most games I've played.
It only costs a few bucks, so if you're someone who actually has an imagination and will let a game take you with it, this game is worth your time and money.
It is very hard to describe, and to most it will sound like I'm stroking it like a fanboy, but this game had an impact on my life, and I hope it does for you too.
It comes with the soundtrack too, which is really really good, though there are a few tracks that get me all emotional like I'm listening to the song from Aeris dying in FF7. Yeah. That good.
So I had a good reason for saying BL2 was not my GOTY!
blech...rainbows.