The games I played in 2023

So another year has passed. During that year, a lot of has changed. One thing remained the same, I played a large amount of games. Below is a record of those games with some personal commentary on them. Some of them were good, many of them were not. I finished some games, but most I did not. If I finished a game, I put a *** at the end of the entry. If it’s a game that you cannot “finish” but I really honestly played it a lot, I put that *** at the end as well. If you read all the way to the very bottom, you can see some honourable mentions for games that didn’t met my stringent criteria.

My stringent criteria are:

• The games on this list must be have been released (or re-released) in 2023

• I have to remember playing them

That’s it. Please enjoy the list.

The list:

Persona 3 portable (Xbox) - It’s a re-release of an old game. I was a big fan of the PS2 original, and this is sort of that game. Teenagers in a monster tower!

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On - A weird game about playing solitaire and racing horses. The original was great, this version less so. Best horse card game of the year. 

Hi-Fi Rush - A cell shaded music rhythm game. Kind of like playing a Saturday morning cartoon. 

Dead Space - Another remake of a classic horror game. Space is a terrifying prospect even without horrible creatures eating you alive. Less than ten minutes into the game “cut off their limbs” is written in blood on a wall, so that’s the vibe. 

Tomb Raider Reloaded - A vampire survivors inspired Tomb Raider game. Stretches the concept of fun, in a bad way. ***

Atomic Heart - Explores some alternate history where everything has Soviet styling. Visually appealing, but it’s also an alternate history where games have lacklustre performance. Not a great game and it really drives home that making Bioshock is hard. 

Tetris Effect: Connected - Tetris a perfect game. This is a sublime version of that game. Giant neon space whales swim around while you clear blocks. They keep releasing new versions, so I’ll keep reviewing it. ***

Terra Nil - I really want to like this game, but it doesn’t really seem like it’s the game I want it to be. Sim City but ecology remains a good idea. 

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - I still can’t believe this is real. Best game where Sonic the Hedgehog gets murdered of the year. ***

Ghostwire Tokyo (XSX) - How could a game about spirits and the paranormal set in Tokyo be bad? Try this game and find out. Boring, and repetitive. 

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp - What a title. A remake of two great GBA games. I read the Will Wright used to play this game every morning, so I suspect I’m a genius now too. 

The Last Case of Benedict Fox - The first time I played this game was also the last time. 

Redfall - I love Arkane so I gave it a try even though the reviews were bad. The reviewers were almost too kind. A huge disservice to this studio that this game was so visible, because it doesn’t represent the quality of their studio. Woof. 

Darkest Dungeon II - A sequel to a spooky rogue-like RPG that I barely scratched. It’s the same but different. I have once again purchased a game I suspect I’m not going to play much of. That’s on me. The narrator has a great voice. 

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - It is an unreal game. They’ve probably gone ahead and made the best version of this type of Zelda game possible. I probably didn’t even see 25% of this whole game. Probably best game of the year? ***

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon - Ehhh. I need to give it another shake, but it didn’t exactly move me. 

Connections - The new hotness when it comes to NYT word games. Fun, approachable, good. ***

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - They remade it! Best game where you’re a ghost solving a murder, and also there is a tiny dog. Great soundtrack and a true classic. 

The Queen’s Gambit Chess - What if chess wasn’t fun? 

Baldur’s Gate 3 - Larian Studios has shown that it’s possible to make a modern CRPG that is fun and accessible. Amazing game that feels boundless. Maybe game of the year?

Overwatch 2 - I play it every day. People hate on it for whatever reason, but it’s a fun FPS that is loaded with personality. Obviously the monetization sucks ($20 skins, anyone?), but it’s no different than the rest of the horrible F2P practices in the market. ***

Quake 2: Enhanced Edition - Finally I can play Quake 2 at 60FPS in 4K. Still a great game that clearly helped setup the future of FPS games. 

Sea of Stars - A nice tribute to 16bit JRPG classics. It’s not completely absorbing, but it’s fun. Graphics and music are very good. 

Chants of Sennaar - A very approachable puzzle/platform game where you set out to decipher languages you don’t speak. A nice visual aesthetic too! ***

Starfield - This is easily the biggest letdown of the year for me. I expected to be swept away by the usual Bethesda formula, but instead I’d generally just prefer to sweep this game into the garbage. The story is clunky, and the game is largely just fast travelling back and forth from one spot to another. The space aspect is not utilized in an interesting way. A big game, clearly, does not make for a good game.

Counter-Strike 2 - It’s Counter-Strike, but with a 2 at the end.

Cocoon - What if you were a bug man? What if the bug man carried around the universe in his hands? What if there were multiple universes and you could carry them in and out of each other? Great puzzle game with an almost undersold premise.

The Lamplighters League - I thought it would be X-Com with a paranormal Indiana Jones setting. It was sort of that, but much less fun than you’re currently imagining.

Forza Motorsport - I wanted to like it, but really I didn’t. It’s a car racing game, but it doesn’t feel as fun at Forza Horizon, and it doesn’t feel as enjoyable as Gran Turismo. I get it, but was it really a good idea to make users run practice laps before they can jump into a race?

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Finally, Mario can get a power-up that turns him into an elephant. A much more challenging 2D Mario game in some respects, and I liked it! I 100% this game. Best talking flowers of the year. ***

Cities: Skylines 2 - Unpopular opinion, but I feel like the original has never been as good as classic sim city. The way that roads lay and zoning is done have never felt right to me. Snap roads to grids, let me zone areas that aren’t just jammed up against roads. The sequel seems to continue with design decisions I don’t enjoy, and unfortunately adds a bunch of truly terrible performance issues. Maybe check this out in a year and it will be good.

Jusant - The walking/climbing simulator you didn’t know you were waiting for. Beautiful music, visuals, and environmental storytelling. I got a little choked up at the end. ***

The Finals - A really interesting team based shooter. It came out at the tail end of the year so I don’t have too much to say about it yet. But it seems fun. 

Sonic Dream Team - It’s kind of the more regular old 3D Sonic. You run around and bounce into things and whatnot. Gotta go fast!

Puzzmo: Cross|Word - One part NYT mini, one part full-size crossword. It’s a modern and approachable crossword puzzle. ***

El Paso, Elsewhere - Takes the gameplay of Max Payne, mixes in its noir-core writing, and fuses it with vampires, and PS1 era graphics. It works way better than it should. It’s a slow motion vampire slaying romp.

Dave the Diver - What if you played a sort of rogue-lite diving game where every 5-10 minutes a new gameplay system emerges? What if that game had incredible pixel art? Within a few hours the game has me diving, exploring, being an archeologist, running a sushi restaurant, managing staff, and running a fish farm. This is a great game. Best 2D/3D tuna of 2023.

PARANORMASIGHT: The seven mysteries of Honjo - This a visual novel of sorts with spooky things going on. I just finished reading a horror novel recently, so this is maybe a little too fresh for me at the moment.

Final Fantasy 16 - Final Fantasy is a series that I love and hate. I play every game in the series, and each game has about an equal chance of being one I love or hate. FF16 is more of a love than a hate. It’s a little weird that the characters swear and that blood is flung everywhere, but it is its own thing.

Slay the Princess - A weird twisted game where you’re an amnesiac who is being narrated to. Much like the Stanley Parable, an unseen narrator speaks to you and tells you your task. Walk to a cabin in the woods and slay a princess inside, or the world ends. Strange atmospheric horror storytelling. I didn’t finish this one, but the narrator should be familiar to anyone who has listened to the Magnus Archives.

American Arcadia - It’s like the Truman show, but a video game. It’s fun, but not really the most polished thing I’ve played this year. If you know what shader compilation means, you’ll know there are some technical issues with this game.

***Honourable Mentions***

Final Fantasy 13 - This was somehow one of my most played games of the year. It has bugged me for 14 years that I have never finished this game. I was near, what I assume, is the end of the game when my PS3 died along with my save file. I was just starting to really enjoy the game when it died, and I didn’t want to put the time back into it. I decided this year to finish it. I am just past where I was 14 years ago, and I still only sort of like the game, and I have no idea where or what I am supposed to do next. I am looking forward to beating this game and then likely never playing it again. 

Vampire Survivors - This game still rocks. Endlessly satisfying and dead simple.

The Messenger - I finally put some time into this game and it’s pretty fun. I am at a part of the game where I don’t really love the progression mechanic, and I will probably just start turning to the internet to push through.

Desperados 3 - This game is unreal good if you loved the old Commandos series. You play as cowboys in a stealth real time strategy game. Also you have a mission where a giant burly dude lays down a rake for enemies to step on. Best rake 2023. ***

Neon White - Still a great speed running and precision shooting game. Somehow it tells an interesting story about a group of hitmen/thieves who die and end up fighting heaven and hell? Or something like that? Great game.

Hades - Speaking of hell, this game remains stylish and fun all these years later. Diverse cast, great writing and performances, incredible art, memorable soundtrack. I am beyond excited for the sequel to begin in  2024.

Person 5 Royal - Back in 2006, when I was but a young lad, I really loved Persona 3. The weird story about high schoolers living their lives, but knowing that there was a horrible secret world that others couldn’t see, completely captivated me. Now almost twenty years later I still enjoy that story, but now everyone is an acrobatic thief. Best tuxedo cat.

An abridged tour of my deranged top songs of 2022

At the end of the year a few things happen that get people excited. For some it’s gifts, for others it’s winter weather and for a single day everyone panics and shares a series of infographics that lay out some interesting facts about the music they listened to over the last year. I suppose I could just share that information here, but instead I have written out for you an abridged tour of the music that I listened to.

This is not all 100 something songs, but it is a list that is honest about the order in which these things appear. However, seeing as how entire albums are on here, I’m not going to go over every track.

I will say, for the record before the list starts, that this isn’t an endorsement of what I think the best songs of the year are. I don’t believe that we all listen to the best music all the time. Instead this is just a snapshot of what I was listening to.

1. We’ll Be Together Again - McCoy Tyner // I couldn’t tell you why or how this became my number one song of the year. I suspect it was one of the top tracks on a jazz playlist I listened to a lot. Tyner is a really talented pianist and he worked with Coltrane. If you like jazz music, this is a fine choice.

2. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky - Mikel & Jokabi // This is a track from The Ghibli Tape. A bunch of tracks from this album feature in my top 10. It’s because this is a very good lofi album that pays tribute to one of my favourite animation studios.

3. Whispers of the Shore - Mama Aiuto & Dan Gregory // I legitimately have no idea where I was listening to this. It’s a breezy lofi summer song. My consumption of lofi has really gone up as I look for background music.

4. The Loneliest Time - Carly Rae Jepsen & Rufus Wainwright // This is an extremely good pop song. I think people do not believe me when I say CRJ is the best pure pop artist going, but I am sincere in this. CRJ is a hit factory that people are sleeping on. Anyhow this duet is super good and the music video reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins.

5. Jiggle Jiggle - Duke & Jones & Louis Theroux // Louis Theroux is a really interesting director and documentarian. This is a meme song, I get it, but it has a strangely transcendent quality. Anyhow, I played it a lot during a brief period and it was enough to place very highly on this list.

6. Hope - Arlo Parks // Arlo Parks has a great voice and I really love the soulful quality to her music. This song is pretttttttty good.

7. Downwards - LoL & Allem Iversom // Oh boy, another lofi song and album hanging around. This is from a collection of music that Riot Games put together to play royalty free during streams. It’s from the Diana Sessions, and it’s the “chill” album they put out this year.

8. The Very Thought of You - Red Garland // Another jazz piano piece. Garland is another extremely talented pianist and he worked with Miles Davis. It’s a great tune if piano jazz is your thing.

9. Stardew Valley Overture - Coffee Date, DJ Cutman & GameChops // It’s more lofi, but this time it’s from the farming simulator Stardew Valley. I have learned that I listen to a lot of lofi.

10. Diving Woman - Japanese Breakfast // A very good song from a super good indie-pop band. A little haunting and ethereal sounding.

11. Fade Into You - Mazzy Star // A 90s hit that is a little sad sounding, from a band with a pretty sad story.

12. Mykonos - Fleet Foxes // This is probably the most typical example of the music I’d listen to. Fleet Foxes is a perfect example of the indie folk that I think is the best/most interesting genre of music today.

13. Wandering Eye - Born Ruffians // This is a bonus track from their third album. It’s an acoustic cover and has a sort of country lilt to it.

14. Slowly - NewDad // A clean sounding 90s inspired song. This would’ve been a lot of mix tapes in 99/00.

15. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac // It’s a classic.

16. No Real Place - Say Sue Me // This is a new find for me. Say Sue Me is a Korean indie rock band that has some big time Pavement and Cat Power vibes. Great stuff.

17. Summer 3 (2022) - Max Richter // Max Richter is probably one of the most interesting modern composers working today. His Vivaldi Recomposed work is one of the most interesting pieces created in classical music in the last decade. The latest recording is powerful and punchy with some changes to the original composition.

18. Spin Me Around - The Marias // A very gaze-y band. There’s a lot of gaze-adjacent bands at the moment that are way too melancholy for me. This is still honest and fun.

19. That’s for Sure - Billy Taylor // I thought that this would be closer to the top of my list. Another jazz pianist doing great work.

20. One Twice Melody - Beach House // Lush and orchestral. It sounds like a lot of mid 2000s indie rock in a nice way.

21. Honeydew - Young Prisms // Big Kevin Shields energy.

22. Silver Into Rain - Luna Li & beabadoobee // Also some Kevin Shields energy.

23. Lost - LORA // This song has the sort of pop vibe that seems to come from viral TikTok hits. I don’t know if this was popular on TikTok but it’s a great pop song.

24. Levitating - Dua Lipa // I think that pop music is good, but I also think a lot of pop is bad. This is a good pop song. I prefer the version without the featured rapper because he’s bad, but that’s the only reason why.

25. Porcupine - Tummyache // That very specific sort of drowsy indie rock-pop.

26. If It Makes You Happy - Wesley Schultz // A cover of the 90s hit. It’s good!

27. Dead of Night - Orville Peck // If you’re a fan of Orville Peck you’ll probably be well familiar with this sort of song. If you’re not, get ready for how high his notes can get.

28. Fantasy - Mariah Carey // Mariah’s early albums are unreal. This is a great song.

29. Saint Simon - The Shins // The band that showed me that indie rock could take inspiration from different sources than just The Cars.

30. Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen // This song is 100% here because I can’t get over how Will Smith’s Men in Black is basically a cover.

The games I played in 2022

I only update this site about 1.2 times a year. Most of those posts are just a list of the games I played in a given year. This is that post.

I played a fair amount of games this year, but completed very few of them. This is the trend of aging. More games, less completing them. Anyhow here is my very technical setup for this list.

To be on this list the game needed to:

1. Be released in 2022

2. Be a game I remember playing

If I include a little *** at the end, this means that I beat the game and rolled credits or I completed its highest objective. At the end, keep an eye open for the honourable mentions, which are games that for some reason or another didn’t fit on this list, likely because they released before 2022.

Nobody saves the World - The press (or maybe just Polygon) loved this game, I don’t understand why. It’s fun that you can be a rat and also a disgusting Mermaid creature, but the gameplay wasn’t doing it for me.

Horizon Forbidden West - A really beautiful game that captures the magic of the first. What magic is that? Killing dinosaur robots and discovering how humanity killed itself in the first place. ***

Tunic - A game where you play as a cute fox cosplaying as Link. An honestly wonderful game with an incredible in-game manual that’s loaded with secrets. Best fox of 2022 ***

Apex Legends (PS5) - Not new in any way or form, but it was released for PS5 so I tried it again. I am bad at this game, but it’s fun.

Crusader Kings 3 (XSX) - Not new in any way or form, but it was released for Series X so I tried it again. I am bad at this game, but it’s fun.

Patrick’s Parabox - A game where you push blocks around. Also sometimes those blocks have a looping image of the universe inside of them, and you can interact with that infinite universe. A challenging puzzle game.

MLB The Show 22 - I like the mode where you roleplay your career in baseball. I made it out of the minors just for my dream team to trade me to someone else. Savage.

Chinatown Detective Agency - I suppose it’s possible that this game is good, but I never encountered that. Instead I played about an hour’s worth of a not super great point and click game. Chinatowns are cool though.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - A sort of remaster but also a new version of the classic game where you take on the role of Stanley, the only person left in an office space. You walk around and things get really weird and/or funny. I don’t know how to describe this game, but the end is not the end. ***

Rogue Legacy 2 (PC) - The sequel to the generational rogue-like. It makes you really wonder about genetics.

Citizen Sleeper - This game is popular with people who must know something that I don’t. Vaguely an RPG. You roll some dice and things happen. I guess it’s not that different from Disco Elysium in that sense, but it really doesn’t compare.

Drainus - A shmup most excellent. I can’t even describe the bizarre story where you have a time travelling frog man as a companion, but you fly a ship and dodge an insane amount of bullets. If you liked Gradius and games like that, this is a winner. ***

Hardspace: Shipbreaker - You play as an indebted engineer who breaks ships apart in space. I didn’t get into it, but I sincerely like the premise. Although the part about massive debt hit too close to home.

Sniper Elite 5 - I didn’t finish it, but nor did I finish any of the other games. You play as some generic sniper man from the first 4 games, who seemingly goes around winning WW2 by himself. It’s fun, and shockingly violent.

Diablo Immortal - If you ever wondered, what would Diablo be like if they made it bad, this is the game for you. Graphics are cool though.

Disc Room(XSX) - A game where you enter into rooms and giant saw blades are just floating around trying to kill you. Once you live long enough, you can go into a new room where more different saw blades fly around and try to kill you. Fun!

Resident Evil 2 (PS5) - Not new in any way or form, but it was released for PS5 so I tried it again. I am scared of this game, but it’s fun. Also, the graphics are nice if you’re into seeing viscera.

Neon White (PC) - This game rules. You play as someone competing for a spot in heaven, by speed running courses full of weird demons. Also the courses are styled in a sort of vaporwave aesthetic. Weird, freaky, fun and a neat little story too. ***

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge - Some of the best pixel art in recent memory. Full of great animation and joyful visuals. It plays like you remember TMNT2 and Turtles in Time feeling like, but it’s even better. So good. Best Turtles of the year.

Fall Guys (PS5) - Not new in any way or form, but it was released for PS5 so I tried it again. I am good at this game and it’s fun. ***

Escape Academy (XSX, PC) - It’s an adventure game that runs you through a series of escape rooms. It’s pretty fun, but some of the puzzles feel a little obtuse. Still I enjoyed the story and the challenge. Best RPG set in an escape room.

PowerWash Simulator (XSX, PC) - I cannot explain how much I enjoyed this game in a reasonable way. You literally powerwash things until they’re clean. It’s very good, somehow.

What Remains of Edith Finch (XSX) - I missed this game when it was originally released several years ago, but it really is a wonderful little story of family and heartbreak. It’s a little scary, but ultimately sweet. ***

Cult of the Lamb (PC) - Have you ever wanted to start a cult where you and your followers are all cute animals? This is the game for you. The gameplay is tight and the base management is fun.

Immortality (PC) - Three films starring the same actress are completed, but never released. You can put together the footage and discover why. An odd and haunting story, told through three films. I cannot imagine the difficulty in putting this game together. It’s audacious, flawed and a must play. ***

Outer Wilds (PS5) - Not new in any way or form, but it was released for PS5 so I tried it again. I love this game and I won’t beat it so I can always go back for more. You play as an alien who lives for about 15 minutes before their solar system explodes. Turns out you can’t die, so you relive those 15 minutes and solve the mysteries of the solar system and maybe more!

Shovel Knight Dig (iOS) - A sort of meh Shovel Knight game. I honestly don’t even remember what the gameplay is like, but I guess I didn’t care for it very much? Maybe it was good and I didn’t give it a try, but clearly it made little to no impact.

Grounded (PC) - A Honey I Shrunk the Kids survival game. I played around with it and it didn’t really click with me. Probably more fun with friends? Also giant spiders, which is a big no for me.

A Plague Tale: Requiem - A sequel to a great game. The last game had you dealing with a giant swell of rats. This version of the game has you dealing with even bigger swells of rats. Gross! Also, a touching story about family and sacrifice. Not quite done this one, but it’s good.

Alan Wake Remastered - About a solid 15 minutes into this game. I wandered into a diner and people recognized me as the famous author Alan Wake. I suspect there’s more it than this given that the first 10 minutes of the game had me being chased around by a shadowy ghost version of myself.

God of War Ragnarok - Once again you play as Kratos, the tortured God of War. This is probably the peak of Dad story video games. Also, graphic violence abound!

Spiritfarer (iOS, PC) - A cozy little management sim/adventure-light game where you ferry the souls of the dead to their final destination. A little sweet, a little sad and a lot of joy. Also the main character has a cat that walks around with you and acts cute all the time, so that’s good too.

Pentiment (XSX) - An adventure game where you are sort of solving a murder? I’m not done yet, but it’s really good. The writing is amazing and the fonts are wild and wonderful. Oh, also the art direction has the entire game looking like a renaissance illuminated bible.

Dwarf Fortress Premium (PC) - This is a game where you simulate hundreds or thousands of years of a great dwarven empire. This game is almost 20 years old and is so complicated it makes my brain hurt. Great stuff. My dwarves seem to be starving but I don’t know how to save them. I look forward to restarting.

Disney Dreamlight Valley (XSX) - Kind of a lesser than Animal Crossing game with disney characters. I largely spend my days running around collecting gems to buy fancy clothing and not helping others or expanding the city. 

Overwatch 2 (PC, PS5) - Moving from 6v6 to 5v5 has been a surprisingly smooth transition. I wasn’t sure that I was completely sold on the new feel of the game, but in the end it’s probably a good change that makes the game more fluid and fun. The new battle pass system stinks and I miss loot boxes with interesting seasonal items. I cannot fathom spending $20 on a skin. ***

Taiji (PC) - Sort of like The Witness 2D, but the puzzle design is not quite as good. It’s really impressive and I get the sense that it’s a really small team that made it, so I’m willing to let a lot slide. 

Stacklands (PC) - A card stacking game where you build a little society? I think? It’s kind of a flowstate game, but I suspect it will become a stressful game at some point. At some point one of my characters killed a rat and that was kind of neat?

Vampire Survivors (PC) - So the 1.0 release came out this year so I can talk about this masterpiece again. It’s a reverse bullet hell game where you just launch a sickening amount of projectiles out and hit monsters and kill them. I have 50 hours logged on this game. It is so good. ***

The Case of the Golden Idol (PC) - I’m not very far into this, but it’s a vintage inspired game where you try to solve a murder mystery in each mission. It’s a point and click game, but it feels like there are a lot of secrets just sitting below the surface.

Marvel Snap (iOS) - This is card collecting battle game that has a bit in common with the big boys in the genre, but drastically simplified when it comes to getting started. It’s sort of fun, but it’s not blowing me away. 

Railgrade (PC) - You’re some sort of person who has the job of building railroads to transport dangerous chemicals around. You analyse the efficiency routes and build better ones. It’s fun, but my definition of fun and yours may not exactly align. 

-Honourable Mentions- 

Steam Deck - Maybe finally hopefully Valve has created a piece of hardware with staying power. This has brought my steam library back to life. It’s a pretty good piece of hardware, but I suspect if they make a second version that it will have some slightly nicer finishes. That being said, I think this is an excellent device.

Playdate - A very cute and fun little handheld designed to capture the joy of a simpler handheld device. It’s very developer friendly, but I have to admit that I didn’t find developing for it to be the most straightforward experience I’ve ever had. I’m looking forward to tinkering with it more.

Cuphead - This was a big deal a while ago, but I didn’t get around to playing it. It is hard like people say, but the 1920s style animation and art is very charming.

F1  21 - I don’t really closely follow F1 or anything like that, but somehow I found myself completely absorbed in the story of this game. ***

Desperados 3 - I didn’t even know there were two other games in this series, but it plays just like Commandos and Shadow Tactics so it became a great game just like that. Best game where you wear a disguise and then kick people in the shins. ***

The games I played in 2021

Another year of COVID times, another list of games I played. I have no idea if the number of games is larger or smaller than previous years, but it felt smaller this year. I could go back and count them, but I won’t because I’m a bad boy like that. Tough guy characters like me refuse to count lists, that’s just a rule.

To be on this list the game needed to:

1. Be released in 2021

2. Be a game I remember playing

If I include a little *** at the end, this means that I beat the game and rolled credits or I completed its highest objective. At the end, keep an eye open for the honourable mentions, which are games that for some reason or another didn’t fit on this list, likely because they released before 2021.

The list:

Hitman 3 - The bald, kind of buff man with a barcode on his head returns to end the lives of some bad dudes. I’ve enjoyed this franchise from the beginning for its bizarre mix of humour and gameplay. ***

Cyber Shadow - This is kind of like Ninja Gaiden with more things and explosions going on. It was fun.

Control: Ultimate Edition (PS5) - This was one of the best games of 2019 and replaying it, even a little bit, was so good. You play as the “director” of the FBC, a fake organization that deals in spooky things. Also features the best janitor in gaming. ***

Yakuza: Like A Dragon - I’ve never really clicked with a Yakuza game before. It’s odd mix of comedy and super dramatic stories has always rung oddly for me. This one works a lot better and is a turn based RPG. The characters are fun, goofy and charming. The only problem is that this game is like 100 billion hours long. I have no idea if I’m near the end of the game. There is a mini-game where you build a financial empire and one of your best employees is a rooster.

Maquette - If you know anything about me you’ll know that an indie puzzle game that tells the story of love and loss is right up my alley. That is this game, but some of the puzzles are not very good at communicating what they want you to do. I want to go back and finish it, but I haven’t.

Loop Hero - A weird little PC game where you control a hero who is seemingly stuck in a time loop wandering around a torturous little world where everything has been destroyed. It is a lot of fun and pretty hard.

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut - This game is so insanely good. I haven’t given it nearly the time it warrants and demands. The dialogue and roleplaying systems are sublime. You wake up as a disgusting amnesiac cop who seems to be at war with his own brain. And that’s just how the game starts! Fun!

Rogue Company (PS5) - Kind of like 3rd person CSGO, but with “edgy” characters. A perfectly serviceable but kind of boring game.

Returnal - A really, really hard science fiction shooter. I am halfway through this game and it’s fun. It’s also torture.

Call of the Sea - A puzzle game that I kind of liked. It was like easy Myst, but with a story about water people or something. It was okay. The title would also be great for a jazz album. ***

Knockout City - It’s a dodgeball game. It’s a perfectly fine multiplayer game that I had no time or attention for. Fun idea, but its longevity wasn’t there for me.

Final Fantasy 14 (PS5) - I have never been able to get into an MMO before, but this seems like maybe a good one? It has the usual ridiculous things where everyone is super powerful but you go around doing menial chores for merchants. They say the story is amazing, but I don’t think I have the literal 100s of hours to pour into this. My character looks cool though.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - A powerful entry in the category of ridiculous video game titles. This is DLC for FF7 Remake that lets you play as Yuffie. It was fun and Yuffie is a great character, but the story is weird and I don’t really care for it all that much. ***

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS5) - This game is the only souls style game I’ve ever finished. It was fun then and it was fun now. Make more of these. ***

Wildermyth - I have played about 20 minutes of this game. It’s sort of a generational RPG? I think? I honestly don’t know. Seems good.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance - Do you like broken games? Bad and unfun games? This is the one for you. Would not recommend. 

Mario Golf: Super Rush - I really like Mario Golf games. I wish this one was weirder. Mario playing a round of normal golf is not really the point of a cartoon fantasy golf game.

Scarlet Nexus - The sort of game I would’ve really sunk a lot of time into when I was 16. Stylish and hilariously melodramatic (The game, not me at 16). Sadly in this era of a million games, it didn’t grab me enough to finish it.

A Plague Tale: Innocence (XSX) - A surprisingly good game. A wonderfully gripping story with some impressive visuals. I’m looking forward to the sequel. Best use of “giant swarm of rats” technology of the year award. ***

Microsoft Flight Simulator (XSX) - The Series X release of this game was a revelatory experience. All the fun, with less hassle and way better performance. I sunk a hilariously tragic amount of time into this game, just mindlessly flying routes locally. 

The Ascent (XSX) - Fine game, I guess. The neon drenched future punk aesthetic was cool, but I didn’t really gel with the game and stopped playing after a couple hours.

Hades (XSX) - Just an excuse to plug this game again. I didn’t finish it on the Series X, but I’ve beaten this game so many times already. It’s good, just play it already. You play as the son of Hades and you’re mad at your dad. What else do you need to know?

Humankind - This is sort of supposed to be Civilization, but it wasn’t. Maybe I should go back and give it another try, but for now, no thank you. Civ 4 was voiced by Spock; you’ll need to do a lot better.

Twelve Minutes (XSX) - A tense mini-timeloop adventure.You relive the same 12 minutes over and over as an intruder breaks into your house and tries to hurt you and your partner. It’s spooky, tense and a little upsetting. The story will be polarizing to say the least, but FWIW I enjoyed the game. ***

Deathloop (PS5) - Arcane is one of my favourite studios and this game is excellent. A man relives the same day, and has to learn how to break free from the loop. A thrilling and fun action game with a little bit of sleuthing too. Excellent performances too! ***

Metroid Dread - A nice return for the Metroid series. It’s not my favourite, not even close, but it is a very good Metroid game and I enjoyed it a lot. Pretty tough, but I kind of think most of the games in the series are a little on the challenging side. ***

Back 4 Blood (XSX) - I didn’t really give it a chance, it seemed fine. A very obvious pseudo-sequel to Left 4 Dead. You shoot zombies and make your way through a map with other players. Your mileage will vary, but it’s fun enough.

Unpacking - A game where you unpack a person’s belongings. You experience every move of their life. It’s a sweet game that is surprisingly zen and affecting.

The Riftbreaker (XSX) - A sort of tower defense game where you also build a base and drive a giant mech. It’s kind of janky but also a lot of fun. Probably better to play on PC, but I didn’t.

Nobody Saves the World - It’s a zelda-ish game where you walk around and fight monsters. You also can turn into a horse and a rat. Really weird and mostly fun.

Dodgeball Academia - I really wanted to like this lite-RPG where you attend a Dodgeball school. Ultimately I didn’t like it that much.

The Good Life - I know there are big fans of this studio’s work, but I am not one of them. This game has brutal graphics, presentation and gameplay. I’m sure there’s a clever story or something, but I don’t have the endurance with so many better games to play.

Inscryption - A freaky card game/adventure game. I’m not very far into this, but I really dig whatever is going on. A surprisingly freaky game when a horrifying man/thing reaches across a table to kill you.

Guardians of the Galaxy - This game was fun, but it wasn’t exactly amazing. A decent story and passable gameplay. The performances were great, but I can only shoot a gelatinous cube so many times before it gets old. ***

Age of Empires IV - The main problem with this game is that it isn’t AOE2. I liked the documentaries about medieval and ancient warfare because I’m 1000 years old.

Forza Horizon 5 (XSX) - This game is really a lot of fun. I’m not a big fan of cars or car racing, but this game opens with you landing a car out of plane onto the side of a volcano. That’s a good game.

Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-Shot Adventure - Borderlands is tiring.

Battlefield 2042 (PS5) - Kind of broken at launch. I think this game is good, but it needs some help. The negative press makes it out to be a lot worse than it is. 

Death’s Door (XSX) - You play a crow/raven that is kind of like a grim reaper for creatures. It’s a fun and challenging adventure game. Best crows of the year.

Halo Infinite (XSX) - I’ve been trying to make my way through this series this year starting from the first Halo. It’s a pretty boring series for the most part and the hero is a faceless but surprisingly violent guy in a helmet who has a crush on the future equivalent of Siri. This is the continuation of that man’s story, if that sort of thing interests you.

Vampire Survivors - Did this game come out in 2021? I don’t know and I don’t care. This game where you play as some sort of hero and you just endlessly shoot things and waves of enemies is honestly one of the best games in recent memory. It costs $3 on steam and you should play it.

Wordle - The world’s hottest simple word game. I like it, but I also find the need to play it everyday to be a slow but steady drag. Also, words with double letters are nasty.

- Honourable Mentions -

Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Another really great game in the series. I’ve been really impressed with the output from this team. It’s more metroidvania goodness mixed with a sincerely touching story. ***

Dyson Sphere Project - I think I’m bad at this game, but any game where you mindlessly harvest resources and build giant factories in space is a good game by me.

Rocket League - You are a car with giant rockets attached to it. You play soccer while you fly through the air. This is the greatest sports game in ages.

The games I played in 2020

As with every year, I have played many games. This year, being the year that it was, I had a lot of time to play games. A disgusting amount of time. So play games I did. This is a somewhat exhaustive list of games, but I’m sure I’m forgetting something, probably something I enjoyed.

To be on this list the game needed to:

1. Be released in 2020

2. Be a game I remember playing

If I include a little *** at the end, this means that I beat the game and rolled credits or I completed its highest objective. At the end, keep an eye open for the honourable mentions, which are games that for some reason or another didn’t fit on this list, likely because they released before 2020.

The list:

Dreams - The incredibly ambitious spiritual successor to Little Big Planet. It’s a sincerely amazing title, but I never felt like I really understood the tools. Everything I made looked like... well it looked bad. 

DotA Underlords - Autochess was a flash in the pan, this is the flash in the pan I enjoyed the most. It was fun and fine and I haven’t thought about it in ages. ***

Two Point Hospital - A fun game that reminds me of Roller Coaster Tycoon, except you’re caring for sick people instead of making people sick. 

Murder by Numbers - This game is like Phoenix Wright mixed with picross. It’s the adventure game formula I didn’t know I wanted. Good stuff. 

Call of Duty: Warzone - This game elevated the entire battle royale scene for me. I’ve logged a disgusting amount of hours with this. It’s ridiculously fun with friends and few things feel as well earned as a big win. ***

Team fight Tactics - Another Autochess game. This one is set in the LoL universe. I didn’t like it, but it honestly seems about as good as any other. 

Doom 64 - For some reason this version of Doom has lingered in the back of my brain since I was a kid. It has been fun replaying it. I’m still bad at it, and I’m not convinced that old school shooters are my thing... but it was under $10 so the nostalgia won out. 

Doom Eternal - I haven’t been able to completely get into the rebooted Doom games. I like this version a lot more than the previous instalment, but it still isn’t clicking with me. 

Half-Life: Alyx - This isn’t HL3, but it’s so much more than what I was ever expecting. This game single handedly revived a franchise that everyone thought was dead. One of the best games of the year and it’s a pity the barrier to entry (VR) is so high because a lot of people are missing out on something amazing. ***

Bleeding Edge - An incredibly boring game that despite some interesting visual design ends up feeling like a soulless and dazzlingly dull experience. I would be shocked if the servers were still running. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered - This game is still so iconic. It’s as stupid and off the wall as it ever has been and I loved every minute of it. ***

My Friend Pedro - A game where you are an assassin or something like that, and you’re guided by a talking banana. It’s fun and hectic, but got old faster than I expected. 

Final Fantasy 7 remake - A project so stupidly ambitious I’m shocked it ever got made. It was never going to be the game I wanted, and in the end it wasn’t. I really enjoyed it, but some of the design decisions left me feeling a bit cold. I’d go into more detail, but the spoilers are too much. Despite it all, I’d still recommend it to any fan of the series. ***

Gears Tactics - Gears of War always felt vaguely like it was real time X-Com. This game proves it. Honestly, it’s almost more fun than the mainline series. 

Legends of Runeterra - Another CCG, but I like this one. Removed the major RNG factors of Hearthstone and implements some interesting new systems. I’m not playing it a lot, but it’s a decent game for anyone interested in the genre. 

Streets of Rage 4 - What a sublime specimen this game is. Great art, music and gameplay. Old school beat em ups are back in fashion with this unexpected sequel. ***

Golf With Your Friends - It’s mini golf. With your friends. ***

Minecraft Dungeons - A family friendly Diablo game that was more fun than expected. Captures the feeling of Minecraft in a charming way. A little too easy to really sink into long term. 

Clubhouse Games (NS) - A charming package of board games. They’re presented in a really lovely way and I keep going back to it. ***

The Last of Us Part 2 - This game was so ambitious in its scale and scope that I’m still surprised that Naughty Dog had the willpower to make this game. Brutal, beautiful and divisive this game will leave you feeling something. I have plenty of criticisms, but this is a must play if you have the stomach for it. ***

Pokémon Cafe Mix - I don’t understand this game at all. It’s supposed to be a puzzle game, but it’s so easy that the puzzle doesn’t really exist. Honestly, try it for yourself and marvel at the complete lack of challenge. 

Superliminal - Kind of a Portal like puzzle game. I kind of liked it, but also kind of didn’t. It had some charm and some good puzzles, but at times the mechanics felt a bit loose and poorly implemented. I love the genre, but this isn’t my favourite. 

Superhot: Mind Control Delete - I am a pretty big fan of the series and I like this game a fair bit. It changes the formula just enough to do something fresh while keeping the core of the game together. The slow motion bullet time gimmick doesn’t get old. 

Ghost of Tsushima - Sucker Punch really had a good thing going with the Infamous series of games, so I was curious to see how they would do with such a radical departure from their most recent work. I’m happy to say they’ve done very well. The art driving this game is outstanding and the combat is no slouch either. It’s a must play for PS4/PS5 owners. ***

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - A smash viral hit. It’s a battle royale platformer. Good idea! I’ve won a few times. You play as a bean. It’s delightfully weird. ***

Hyper Scape - Another FPS battle royale. It was designed to tap into live streaming, but the problem is that it isn’t popular enough and no one streams it. Makes the whole thing kind of hard. The game is meh and will probably go away sooner than later.  

A Total War Saga: Troy - I had never played one of these games. I didn’t really understand the tutorial and eventually got confused and bored and stopped playing. I should give it another go at some point, but that point isn’t now.

Factorio - A 2D mining, adventure and conveyer belt automation game. It’s fun, but I think I prefer its 3D cousin, Satisfactory. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator - This is a weird one because this is not even a game. That being said, I love it and I’ve logged a ton of hours playing it. It’s a beautiful and impressive technical marvel. ***

The Last Campfire - Kind of plays like a puzzle based Journey like game. I don’t hate it, but I don’t really love it either. I think I need more time with it to see for sure. Seems okay. 

Crusader Kings 3 - At some point my cousin tried to make some moves against me, so I exiled him and then made him marry an enemy’s daughter so I could strengthen the ties between our nations. This was like 3 turns in this game. It’s a wildly complicated legacy simulating, dynasty building game where sometimes the head of the church becomes a nudist. Fun stuff. 

Spellbreak - Another battle royale. In this one you are kind of anime kids who do magic. It is less exciting than that sounds. It’s fun, but it’s not more fun than most. ***

World’s End Club - I have barely played this game. So far it seems very anime like. That’s really all I know. 

Hades - Hades is a game that looks like a fake game on a TV show. The art is stunning, the music is divine and the combat is flawless. This is a tough as nails roguelike that has a wonderful story and some unforgettable gameplay. A must play and probably my game of the year. ***

Super Mario 3D All-Stars - It’s Mario 64(A), Mario Sunshine (B) and Mario Galaxy (A+) all in one package. It’s great. Buy this before Nintendo removes it from their store because they’re crazy. 

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - This is a lovely looking game where you navigate no less than 13 intertwined stories involving teenagers, time travel, WW2, the future and giant robots. The art is beautiful and the story so far has been rather compelling. 

Genshin Impact - This is a game that I don’t like. It’s got a wonderful aesthetic, but it pales immensely in comparison to Breath of the Wild. I just can’t get into a game designed to constantly ding players with In-Game purchases. It’s free, so it’s worth checking out if you’re interested, but I think you can do better,

Super Mario Bros. 35 - Another battle royale. In this version you play a variation on the original Mario Bros game. It’s a good idea, but the gameplay stinks. I’m kind of surprised they released this to be honest as it doesn’t really live up to the quality of most Mario titles.

Rogue Company - A free to play third person character shooter. It is utterly charmless, despite trying to lean into their characters. That being said, the gameplay is actually pretty tight and fun. I played more of this than I expected, but I don’t see myself going back for more.

Star Wars: Squadrons - Love it or hate it, it’s a multiplayer focused X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter style game. I wanted to love it, but I didn’t. It’s pretty popular and the reviews were decent, so if you’re a Star Wars fan, it might be worth trying. In the meantime I will continue to wait on a new Rogue Squadron game.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla - I can’t and/or won’t stop playing this series. AC: Odyssey marked a high point for me. I loved the combat, characters and setting of the last entry and this one I like a little less on all fronts. The game is drop dead gorgeous and if you’re a fan you won’t want to miss out on some of the bonkers lore elements dropped in this game. I’m still not finished with it, so I expect my opinion could change a little as I progress further.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light - Every once in a while I let Destiny back into my gaming heart. I had a nice run with it this year and I enjoyed it. I don’t have the energy or gaming group required to get back into it, but it’s a legitimately fun game that continues to impress.

Maneater - This is an action RPG where you play as a shark that wants to get revenge on the fisherman that killed your mother. That says everything you need to know.

Demon’s Souls (2020) - I have never finished a Souls game. This one is set to join their ranks. I have a love hate relationship with these games. I feel like the mechanics kind of stink, yet I always want to play them. This remake of the game that started it all is a stunning looking game and an incredible achievement for BluePoint Games.

The Pathless - A fun little adventure game where you effortlessly run and glide around the world while shooting a bow and arrow. It’s a nice little game, but I played it on iOS and the performance left a little something to be desired.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales - A sort of sequel to the excellent Spider-Man game for the PS4. It is a beautiful game and extremely fun. Sony has done a good job of selling me on a character that I can’t stand. ***

Astro’s Playroom - A cute little pack-in game for the PS5 that does a great job selling the new controller. It’s cheery as all get out and the visuals are surprisingly endearing. Every console should launch with something like this. Also, the celebration of the history of the PS family of systems is a nice touch, so many great little easter eggs.

Alba - A sweet little game where you play as a little girl who documents wild life while saving her local island from evil land developers. This game is so pure it almost hurts.

Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows - I know next to nothing about Game of Thrones, but this idle game was surprisingly fun. Really simple with lovely art. Who knew?

- Honourable Mentions - 

Heroes of the Storm - I’m back in baby. No other MoBA has been able to keep my attention. This game is just so focused and fun. MoBAs are brutal, toxic cesspools and I love to bathe in this one.

Ori and the Blind Forest - I missed out on this game when it was released but played through it this year. A really fun and challenging Metroidvania. 

Satisfactory - It’s in early access but I dumped about 50 hours into this game.I love building giant factories, who knew?

Forza Horizon 4 - This game is so good. I haven’t played an arcade racer this compelling in ages. I drove my car off a cliff at 250 km/h and it was great.

The games I played in 2019

So here we are, in 2021 and I haven’t even posted my list of games from 2019. It’s a funny story because I wrote this post back at the start of 2020 and then never posted it. Why? I have no idea. So while I work on this new list for 2020, here is the list from what basically feels like two years ago.

There were a lot of great games in 2019. Any games that I completed, I will mark them with an exciting ***. Some games you can’t really complete, but if I feel like I beat it, I will still mark it as such. At the bottom is the honourable mentions section, where I talk about games that don’t really and truly qualify for this list, but I wanted to talk about them anyway.

Slay the Spire - This game officially came out this year. It’s a fun game that would be perfect for mobile. It is not on mobile. (Update: It is now on mobile, the port is bad)

Resident Evil 2 (2019) - This is an incredibly graphic remake of a game that scared me like crazy back in 1998. There’s a scene where a man’s face is chopped through like a melon. Cool!

Apex Legends - This was a big surprise entry into the Battle Royale genre. I really like it compared to Fornite, but unfortunately I am not great at it. ***

Tetris 99 - This is a Battle Royale Tetris game where you play against 98 other players to see who is better at placing blocks. I always thought I was good at Tetris, this game proves it. FLEX. ***

Anthem - Oh boy. I thought flying around like Iron Man in a science fiction Destiny-like would be fun. Somehow, I was wrong. Brutal game. One can only hope that Bioware can somehow make this game fun.

Baba Is You - You are Baba, or a rock, or a flag, or a pool of water. You push blocks together to form simple phrases that alter the nature of the game world. It’s just as weird as it sounds. Outstanding game.

MLB The Show 19 - I like baseball. This game lets me live out the unrealistic dream of going on a 55 game hitting streak and having a batting average of .456. Despite this, I still got pulled at the all-star game. What the hell?

Islanders - You take buildings and plonk them down on islands. If you do a good job, you can do this again on another island, and then another and another. A calming but shallow and repetitive game.

Katana Zero - Finally, I get to live my dream of being a ninja that can slow time and deflect bullets out of mid air. I had some fun with this one.***

Days Gone - This is a huge game where you drive a motorcycle and kill zombies. Critically derided, but a commercial success. It’s better than the critics said, but also kind of boring and the story aims higher than it delivers.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite - If this is what Harry Potter is like, I’m glad I didn’t read the books or watch the movies. A boring waste of time and battery life.

Samurai Showdown - This is probably a great fighting game. It’s not for me. The girl who has a hawk attack people is pretty cool though.

Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers - I don’t really understand this game, but my character looks great. Typical MMO where you’re super powerful and everyone wants you to kill rats for them.

Dr. Mario World - This is what happens when you take a good game, and make it bad.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 - Minecraft and JRPGs blend together to make for one of the most pleasant games of the year.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - I really like Fire Emblem, and I’m glad this entry has done so well. This is not my favourite entry and the new combat mechanics feel like a half step back. Generally speaking, everyone else loves it though.

Oxygen Not Included - I played this game a lot when it was in pre-release. It’s a fun goofy game and I’m terrible at it. It’s the sort of game I aspire to be good at. You can turn human poop into fertilizer!

Control - I desperately want to play more of this game. A game that uses brutalist architecture to tell a Lynchian science fiction horror story is too good to pass up. ***

Sayonara Wild Hearts - A neon bath of good vibes and pop music. Ride a motorcycle and swing a giant sword at things. An amazing game that can easily be completed in one sitting. ***

Cadence of Hyrule - A rhythm game set in the Zelda universe where you defeat beasts to the remixed beats of iconic Zelda music. Great game.

Mario Kart Tour - Visually it looks like Mario Kart, and it sort of plays like Mario Kart… but it’s also exactly the sort of game that makes mobile look bad.

Dragon Quest 11 S - A “best of” edition of the highly regarded JRPG. I haven’t been able to click with a new JRPG in a long time, but this is doing the trick. 30 something hours in and still going. Slimes are cool.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep - Starting to get back into Destiny 2. It’s a fun game, but rolling without a consistent party is hard. The story still makes no sense to me.

What The Golf - What if when you went golfing you shot a tree into a cat? Or the ball stuck the roof? Or you hit yourself into the hole? This is that game.

Death Stranding - A haunting and beautiful looking game where you slowly rebuild a broken country. Also there are ghosts sort of and you make weapons out of your own excrement. This is the sort of game where I’m always on the edge of “the good part”. I want to like it, but so far, I don’t.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - A game that kind of borrows from everything and yet still works. It’s a very fun game and I get to double wield lightsabers. Honestly, it’s fantasy fulfillment. ***

Shovel Knight: King of Cards - I kind of missed the boat on Shovel Knight when it first came out, but I’ve been slowly playing through the collection. A great game that reminds me of NES classics.

Kingdom Hearts 3 - This game is a turd. I love the graphics, but the gameplay is mindless and the story is brutal. If you like it, you’ll like it.

Observation - A really cool game where you play as a robot helping a scientist on a failed space mission. Very cinematic. You’re basically HAL, which is fun in a dark way. Controlled a little poorly and sometimes it was unclear what exactly you needed to do next.

Outer Wilds - The less you know about this bizarre space sim adventure game the better. What I will say is that it defied my expectations to a wonderful degree. Charming, exciting and contemplative.

Dauntless - I’ve been told this is like Monster Hunter. This game is about as entertaining as punching myself in the head. Hard pass.

Builder’s Journey - A lego spin on Monument Valley, sort of. It’s a cute, sweet game you can complete in about an hour. Defied my expectations. ***

Super Impossible Road - A game where you roll a marble down a hill. I prefer Marble Madness.

Guildlings - A fun game where you form a magical team to do stuff teens do. Fun!

Marble It Up - A marble game that harkens to Monkey Ball. Fun! Marbles! Rolling around!

Minecraft Earth - An AR version of Minecraft that pulls from the Pokemon Go formula. Somehow it makes Minecraft boring.

Manifold Garden - A game where you explore the concept of infinity while moving blocks around. Just like scientists do in real life! A genuinely fun puzzle game.

Mini Motorways - Have you ever wanted to build a mini version of a motorway? Now you can. Charming graphics and perfect for short sessions. ***

Grindstone - A matching puzzle game where you’re a buff man that smashes monsters to make enough money to pay for his family to go on a vacation. Great game with a wonderful aesthetic.

- Honourable Mentions -

Hearthstone Battlegrounds - This is the first time in years that I’ve had fun with Hearthstone. It embraces the randomness and Hearthstone and frees itself from the agony of collecting cards.

Overwatch - A big comeback for me this year. Overwatch can kind of lost its hold on me, but some of that magic came back. OWL proved to be way more fun than expected and the game remains a polished gem.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey - Last year I didn’t really have time to play this and this year I did. This is the best this series has had to offer in a long time. Maybe the best game in the series? ***

The new Carly Rae Jepsen album's tracks definitively ranked because I DARE TO!

Those who know me well know that I have a fondness for pop superstar Carly Rae Jepsen. Having listened to the new album Dedicated a nearly nauseating amount of times, I now present to you the songs definitively ranked.

15) Real Love - This song is too busy and the chorus sounds vaguely like a siren. Lyrics seem to be twisted to fit the music. Not that great.

14) For Sure - A little busy and synth-y. The drums and background vocal work are interesting, but stylistically it misses the mark for me.

13) Automatically In Love - A decent tune, but it doesn’t really do much. Hits a lot of the same notes again and again.

12) No Drug Like Me - Despite being an early single, I don’t really think it’s representative of the best music on the album. The backtracked sounding chorus is pretty good, but on the whole, not the strongest tune.

11) Everything He Needs - This is such a good track and the “borrowing” of Shelley Duvall’s He Needs Me should make this an instant home run. However the unfortunate speaking part at the end of the track is not good.

10) Feels Right (feat. Electric Guest) - An obvious nod to The Jackson 5 sounds, this is a great song. Punchy and funky.

9) Too Much - Seems like it was probably written to be a club hit. I could see it working. A tune maybe a little slow for the dance floor, but it seems to be trying to accomplish similar things to Cheap Thrills.

8) The Sound - The musical intro to this track is quite misleading. The soft piano gives the impression that you’re going to be listening to a ballad or something. This is not that. Great chorus.

7) Right Words Wrong Time - Sounds like a song written for Lily Allen. This is awesome. Carly mixed with Brit Pop is a good mix.

6) Julien - A very good song. Much better than it initially seems. A disco-y sort of vibe. I dig it.

5) Now That I Found You - An obvious choice for a single. The anthem like chorus does a decent job of filling the gap left behind by Cut To The Feeling.

4) Want You in My Room - A very 80’s dream sounding track. Shades of Cyndy Lauper and some Spice Girls harmonizing.

3) I’ll Be Your Girl - Another song with shades of Lily Allen; Not as sarcastic lyrically, but rather in its production. Funky and upbeat, this song is an easy win.

2) Party For One - I’m sure music executives are very good at picking lead singles. This is a bumping song and it’s pretty much flawlessly produced.

1) Happy Not Knowing - This song sounds like it could have been cut from Emotion and then reworked for this album. This is a gold song that represents Carly at her best. I suspect this song will not be getting radio play and that’s a darn shame.

The games I played in 2018

Here it is, the big show. The heart stopper. The apex of lists. Every game I played this year, in a completely unordered list. To appear on this list, the games needed to fulfill a very strict set of rules.

1. The game had to be released in the year 2018

2. I had to remember that I played the game. If I don’t remember playing it, how good could it really have been?

That’s it. I also included this little tag “ - * - “ at the end of some games. This indicates a game that I played through to the end credits. Also, I added a cheat section at the bottom of the list for a couple items I wanted to mention, but didn’t really work within my tough as nails rules. Anyhow, here’s the list:

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Subnautica - Underwater survival with a hint of Minecraft, sort of, but not. Genuinely terrifying and has a real sense of wonder in its exploration. The base building part of the game unfolds a little too slowly for me though. Let me build my sea lab. 

Celeste - An absolutely perfect platformer. Lovely music and a great aesthetic. Challenging and then even more challenging. Controls are tight and gameplay is divine. There’s even a sweet little story at its core. Probably my game of the year? - * -

Shadow of the Colossus - A beautiful remake that I didn’t finish playing. This game is a classic and will probably evoke some real wonder if you’ve never played it before. Turns out, this would have been my millionth play through and I didn’t need to experience it again.

Bayonetta (Switch Version) - A fun game that is pretty throwback-ish in its take on game mechanics and everything. Fun, but not world altering. - * -

Bayonetta 2 (Switch Version) - A more fun game than the first. Better style and combat. If you were going to play one, I’d probably make it this one. They’re both fun games, but this one is the better one. - * -

Into the Breach - A challenging but fair tactical game. You are robots that punch aliens. Save the city, save the human race, save time itself. Or something like that. Fun, but didn’t quite light my fire. For what it’s worth the critics loved it. 

Valkyria Chronicles 4 - It is exactly like the first game, which is kind of perfect because that’s what everyone wanted out of the other sequels. It’s fun and still challenging. Storytelling has evolved though, and VC4 struggles a bit in this department.

A Way Out - A genuinely fun co-op adventure. Some people didn’t like the ending, but I think it was clever. - * -

Far Cry 5 - Speaking of endings. An unsatisfying ending didn’t sour the experience of Far Cry 5 for me, but it didn’t exactly leave the impact I was hoping for. The gameplay in this game is as tight as ever. Will the stories ever achieve something more meaningful though? - * -

Minit - A game where you live in 60 second bursts. A very fun, very clever game. I wish I had the idea first. - * -

God of War - A beautiful game. This game series has had ups and downs and this is its pinnacle. Visceral combat, excellent acting and compelling storytelling. A must play and easily one of the year’s best. - * -

Ikaruga (Switch Version) - An old classic. You’re a ship shooting other ships. It’s a hard game where you can flip between black and white and absorb black or white bullets. Yeah, it’s weird.

Yoku’s Island Express - You’re a beetle postmaster who must deliver mail over a multi-biome island. Also, you push a giant ball around and the traversal mechanic is pinball. Also, the art is all hand drawn. An overlooked hidden gem of 2018.

Cultist Simulator - This is a game where you flip cards on a giant board and slowly lose your mind. It’s kind of card game, but also kind of a meter filling game? Really lovely, but maybe a little too loosely explained for me to wrap my head around.

Hollow Knight (Switch Version) - Somehow 2 people more or less made this lovely and tense metroidvania game where you play as a little bug knight. Tight controls and a great hand drawn look. Also, really cheap for some reason.

Lumines Remastered - Lumines is a game that I have fond memories of. It’s a very different puzzle game. Its mashup of music and shapes makes it a distinctly fun experience even today. - * -

Octopath Traveler - Most interesting visual style of the year. Mashup of 3D and 16bit era graphics wrapped around a vintage JRPG battle system. Fun, but I wanted more from the story.

Sonic Mania Plus - The most convincing Sonic game in a decade or two. Great visual style that perfectly captures all the charm of the classic era of Sega.

Guacamelee! 2 - Another great game in the year of the metroidvania. Very similar game to the original, but successful in its own right. The Mexican art style is really cool and something not often seen in gaming.

Spider-Man - One of the best superhero games in ages. Great visuals and excellent controls that have you flying around New York city in no time. Probably the most polished game of the year. - * -

Shadow of the Tomb Raider - This is probably the best of the rebooted series. Fantastic visuals and fun gameplay. The series continues to struggle with creating an engaging narrative though. 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey - I love this franchise, but I would struggle to accurately express why. I have barely touched this one, but if critics are to be believed, it’s another good entry.

Red Dead Redemption 2 - A worthy sequel to one of the all time open world greats. This is a huge game that will devour your time. The controls are so-so and the combat leaves something to be desired. However, you will not play a game that is as fully realized as this one for a long time. Shocking in its detail. - * -

Circle Empires - A weird, simple RTS game that I played a surprising amount of this year. You just mass giant armies and then dump them into enemy territory. Fun, but you’re not missing anything special.

Tetris Effect - What if my favourite game, was remade by one of my favourite creators? You would end up with an incredible blend of sounds and shapes. Tetris Effect is a fever dream of joy. If you like Tetris you need to play this. If you don’t like Tetris, I am sad for you. - * -

Battlefield V - Battlefield is a very good FPS that plays differently from its brethren. If you like them, you’ll like this one. The visuals are mind-blowing.

Florence - A charming little game that explores first love. A beautiful soundtrack and a genuinely touching story. - * -

Minesweeper Genius - Minesweeper + Sudoku. Very good. - * - 

The Red Strings Club - A cyberpunk adventure game where you bartend and make pottery. That’s a descriptor that should have anyone hooked.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate - Everyone is here. Every character ever from this classic franchise is back. I will never play one of these games as much as I played the original and the Gamecube version, but this one is still fun.

Return of the Obra Dinn - A murder mystery insurance game on a 19th century ship. I enjoyed what I played, but it eventually lost me. I think I need to give it another try.

Detroit: Become Human - I barely gave this one a shot. I played it, but then I stopped. The visuals are neat, but maybe I’m done with David Cage games.

EXAPUNKS - A really cool game if you’re into the niche of playing computer programming games. You hack into things, including the human body! Comes with printable zines. Zachtronics is a cool developer making things for the fans.

Alto’s Odyssey - The lovely sequel to the ultimate llama snowboarding simulation. A charming simple game that will burn away hours of free time you’ll never miss. 

The Room: Old Sins - I’ve really enjoyed this series of puzzle games. They’re a little strange and not especially challenging, but they do keep me engaged from start to finish. Spoopy too. - * -

Holedown - A brick breaking game where you attempt to mine down to centre of objects. A great time killer that really captures the “one more game” feeling. - * -

- Special Shoutouts for games that didn’t make the list or qualify for some reason -

Heroes of the Storm - This remains my daily driver. What a great game. The team continued to update it at an awesome speed in 2018 and it was, for me, a genuinely interesting professional scene to follow. Seems like Blizzard is winding down support, which is a real shame. This might be my most played game of all time.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Came out in December of 2017, so it didn’t make that list. To be truthful, I don’t like this game at all. The art direction and music is okay, but that’s kind of it. The combat is tedious and the audio design is frightful. I hope you enjoy characters shouting the same 3-4 lines for endless hours. I’m 10-15 hours into the game and story is either bad or taking too long to get going. It would be a miracle if I got back into this one. 

The games I played in 2017

Here it is, the list of all the games I played this past year.

Gravity Rush 2 - It’s an interesting game, with a charming look and soundtrack. Easily buried under everything else that came out this year.

Horizon Zero Dawn - Robot dinosaurs roam a post-post apocalyptic landscape. Probably the best looking game of the year. Ashly Burch gave a really good performance as Aloy.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - A very long title for a very good game. You’d be hard pressed to play something better this year. Please make Zelda a playable character.

Mass Effect: Andromeda - I actually really liked this game. I encountered a weird bug and stopped playing, but despite the tremendous amounts of vitriol heaped on this game, I thought it was not half bad.

Super Mario Run - In what will likely be a trend this year, I liked this one button Mario game and everyone else was less enthused. I can’t believe people balked at the meagre $10 price tag.

PaRappa the Rapper Remastered - A game from a simpler time. A dog who raps is the main character, enough said.

Persona 5 - I love everything about the style of this game. I should probably finish this game. I did not like that the character Ann’s name was pronounced as “Awn”.

The Disney Afternoon Collection - These games were awesome and the Disney Afternoon is awesome.

Puyo Puyo Tetris - I played so much of this game. Tetris is always good. The Puyo Puyo part was so-so.

That’s You! - This game is the garbage version of the Jackbox Party Pack. Not good.

FFXII: The Zodiac Age - I put an insane amount of time into this game. I felt like I never beat FFXII when I was younger, but as I approached the end of the game I think maybe I did? Either way, it’s a pretty good game.

Splatoon 2 - Because my Wii U mostly lived under a pile of dust, I never played the original. This game is pretty fun. Am I a squid or a kid? Who knows.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Uncharted is an amazing franchise. I liked this game a lot and hopefully Naughty Dog will continue to keep Uncharted going somehow.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - This game looked like a joke. The rumours felt like a joke. This game is not a joke, it’s good. Rabbid Peach, best character of the year?

Destiny 2 - I played through the campaign and had fun. It was enough. Some people will continue to play this game religiously. I wish them luck.

Golf Story - A really fun arcade style golf game. I liked the RPG elements, but ultimately not enough to complete the campaign.

Star Fox 2 - I can’t believe this game ever got an official release. It’s nuts.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins - A pretty fun return to form for the AC franchise. The story still struggles to reach the heights of previous entries (specifically Ezio’s story).

Super Mario Odyssey - An amazing game. Jump Up, Super Star! Is the best song of the year.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - I didn’t really feel it. I liked the original but the level design in this one kind of stinks and you just get shredded by bullets and die in like 2 seconds. Story was neat though.

Oxygen Not Included - Like the sims, but in space and things go horrible all the time. Pretty fun!

Fortnite - I can’t bring myself to pay for the PVE, but the PVP mode is pretty good. PubG is probably great and all, but it looks janky as all get out.

The Sexy Brutale - An interesting puzzle with great style and music. Likely to remind people of Ghost Trick.

Doki-Doki Literature Club - A surprisingly spooky game that deals with some heavy stuff. I’m worried it has haunted my computer.

Gorogoa - A beautiful game that was clearly a labour of love. Mechanically it’s a little lacking and it didn’t take long for the novelty to lose its lustre.

Undertale(PS4) - Pretty late to the party on this one, but the console release gave me an excuse to finally finish this game. It was fun and the soundtrack was amazing. Generally speaking, I liked it. I don’t think the game is as good as Earthbound, not even close.

Pyre - Beautiful game from Supergiant. Part choose your own adventure and part sports game. It’s a really lovely game.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Probably the most controversial game of the year. If you can look past all the angry gamers shouting into the void, it’s a perfectly serviceable multiplayer game with a pretty boring single player campaign. Jedi Knight came out so long ago, why can’t they make another Star Wars single player game that’s fun like that?

Snipper Clips - A fun cooperative game where you cut shapes out of your friends. Sounds violent, but it’s not.

Universal Paper Clips - Have you ever wondered what it would be like to make a paper clip? What about a hundred or a thousand or a million paper clips? If that’s your dream, this game can make it happen. A surprising and genuinely interesting clicker.

Bridge Constructor: Portal - Games where you build bridges are, despite everything about them, really fun. Games where you build bridges and conduct science experiments with portals are very fun. Valve will never make another game you want, so this is as close as you’re getting to Portal 3.

SteamWorld Dig 2 - A sequel to a game where robots mine the earth. A lovely aesthetic and a super refined Metroidvania style game.  

Vivaldi recomposed

When I was a kid, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, I decided to buy a CD of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. I can’t be sure why, but I think it had to do with the relative cheapness of the album. It was a crummy disc in a cheap case at the local London Drugs. It had a stock photo of a forest on it, and it cost probably about five dollars. Maybe it was all I could afford, maybe I wanted to stretch my pocket money as far as possible, it’s hard to say with any certainty at this point. I don’t remember if I bought a single other thing that day, but I remember taking it home with me.

I popped the disc in and I loved it. Maybe not every single piece hit me immediately, but the sprightly burst of joy I got from Spring was incredible. I had almost certainly heard it before, but it still had me buzzing with delight. I listened to that CD off and on for years. I bet I still have it in some box.

As I got older I did come to recognize the ubiquity of the songs. Hardly something special I had discovered, it was present everywhere. It didn’t stop me from listening to it, but it did shift my appreciation from something rarefied to something simply fun. I took a certain delight in my ability to pick it out quickly. I enjoyed asking other people if they knew what was playing, and if they did, if they knew which season it was. I enjoyed humming the opening notes.

Fast forward two decades, driving down the highway I get the sometimes itch to listen to this guilty indulgence. To hear the explosive sounds of summer and the steady march of winter. However, behind the wheel I can’t fiddle with my phone, so I put my blind trust in Siri to do it. Siri has been known from time to time to get it a little bit wrong. Once I asked her to play "Bird of Prey", the not so classic song by Fatboy Slim, instead I got a song wholly unrecognizable to my ears. So I've learned to be a little bit more specific with my requests.

"Play The Four Seasons by Vivaldi," I asked her.

No way to misinterpret that. Except there was apparently. A strange, haunting and glowing swarm of strings warming up. An echo of the familiar over lush textures. Whatever immediate urge I had to stop the music fades away. What is this? I pulled into the parking lot, eager to find out what I'm hearing. It's "Recomposed by Max Richter - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons". It's almost overwhelming in its richness. 

The rest of the day I perseverate on it. I listen to it again and again- in car, in my home, at work, while I brush my teeth- it becomes rather consuming. It's like hearing something I know for the first time.

There is every chance, that like decades past, this too will fade ever so slowly in my esteem. Today, however, I am sure that this is the greatest thing I've ever heard. Today, I am convinced that this will convert anyone into a classical music fan. Today, I'd really like it if you gave this a listen, if only the first three minutes.