Well, that was close! Thousands of loyal Kotaku readers voted in our Game of the Year poll last week, and they have chosen The Last Of Us as their favorite game of 2013. But what's the game in the number two spot? The one that missed the top spot by just 24 votes?
Why, it's erotic game Monster Girl Quest 3! Read the safe-for-work argument for the game from the reader who nominated it as the best game of 2013.
Did regular Kotaku readers really think this was the second best game of the year? Probably not.
This is what happens when we accept nominations from staffers and readers to highlight any game they'd like and then let everyone vote. Democracy, people! This is what it looks like. And this is what we get when one of those games is from a series that's beloved by the Internet hellions at 4Chan 4chan.
Just a few days ago, GTA V and BioShock Infinite were the only contenders for the number two spot. Then a surge! The poll closed last night. So close, 4chan. Sooooo close.
Also of interest: Zelda beating Fire Emblem by one vote (!) and Super Mario 3D World, a fine game whose absence raised eyebrows in our staff vote, ranking a bit low in the reader poll, too.
Aside from all that, thank you to everyone who voted (well, to almost everyone who voted). And congratulations to Naughty Dog for the reader pick.
Everyone can also look forward to the Speakies—the awards put on by our reader-run sister site Talk Amongst Yourselves—in the days to come.
To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.