What I Played
The last year of gaming has been an interesting one. I ended up playing a lot more titles this year than I normally take on, and I had a good time, but I definitely found myself bouncing around a lot more than usual.
Honorable Mentions
First we’ve got some honorable mentions from 2024. These titles were games that I jumped into and out of pretty quickly, but that I found enjoyable enough to talk about. I’d recommend these to anyone looking for a fun time, though your milage may vary on how much time you put in compared to me.
Helldivers 2
This was as weird start to the year, with a PS-exclusive gone PC mode. The multiplayer experience was great fun and I had a blast running around with my friends trying to fight off waves of space bugs. The progression was limited, unfortunately, and after a dozen or so rounds you start to feel like you’ve played all there is to see. I’ve heard great things about the developer and community surrounding the game, so I wish it the best of success.
Counter Strike 2
A coworker is really good at this one, and after trying to drag them along in various Fortnite adventures, we decided it was time to give in and let him have control for a bit. This game is a new version of an ancient piece of gaming history and it was definitely a unique experience, but there wasn’t a lot of love for a newb in the sessions I joined, so I bounced off it pretty quickly.
Palworld
I always liked playing ARK: Survival Evolved. Palworld took that game, wrapped it in a “what if the dinosaurs were like pokemon!?” skin, and let it rip. I hesitated to play this one until it was well past the hype, but it was fun. As always, having a group of friends to dive into the adventure with you is key to success in a game like this. We got our fill in a few weeks, but it was fun from start to finish.
Marvel Rivals
It’s Overwatch. But Marvel. While I’ve never been a big competitive gameplay fan, there’s always been a special place in my heart for games like this, maybe because of the focus on teamwork, or maybe because they give me a character that I can just click and hold the attack button and do good things for our effort. Either way, it’s a neat game, but really made me nostalgic for Overwatch instead.
Planet Crafter
This one was wild. I loved the unique approach to terraforming an entire planet, and I appreciated the small developer feel of the game and mechanics. I found myself a little confused about the story they were trying to tell, but it was still fun solving some puzzles and finding my way to the next objective while I focused on making the most beautiful base I could.
The Big Ones
While all of those games were fun, there are a few others that I dumped more time in than I’m willing to admit here, and I wanted to give those a bit of a review here as well:
Satisfactory
I don’t know about you, but collecting thing and turning it into other thing was not on my bingo card of gameplay that I thought I would enjoy. Despite that, I couldn’t help but keep coming back to Satisfactory to just finish “one more thing,” which I love in a game more than I realized. It’s that little bit more nagging feeling that keeps the game in your brain long after you turn it off for the evening, and Satisfactory nailed that feeling for me from the first machine to the last delivery.
The multiplayer, as always, is what kept me engaged. If I spent hours refining an assembly line, I got to show it off to my friends when they logged in, and that solidified this game as one I could play for hours on end. I’ve long struggled with playing a game where all my achievements and “time spent” is in isolation. I crave a shared experience, and Satisfactory had me covered.
Timberborn
I love city-building games. I typically shy away from them due to their single-player nature. Timberborn was a game that slipped through my defenses and hit me in the feels. A city builder and economy management game built on evolved beavers attempting to survive on a ravaged planet, where bad tides and poison water can destroy your population in a single swoop.
While I was on winter holiday, I stayed up *very* late playing some Timberborn, and I had a good time in the moment, but I found that I ran into the exact problem I have with other single-player games once I reached a pinnacle of achievement. I had no one to show. That isn’t to say that I didn’t show it off to my friends with screenshots or anything, but the shared experience of the game didn’t land with anyone that wasn’t playing it themselves, and suddenly my time spent in game feels like time I have “wasted” when I could have been doing something else.
World of Warcraft
Obviously, World of Warcraft remains a staple in my gaming catalogue, and 2024 was an expansion launch, so I spent a good chunk of the year sinking my teeth into that.
My relationship with WoW has become “seasonal,” which I think is by design. I show up, we hit the big stuff, and then we all start to switch over to other games or activities that we work on until new content comes our way.
WoW gets a new patch on February 25, 2025, so I’ll be back on the wagon soon.
There’s another big announcement that came down the WoW pipeline that might just change everything for me moving into 2026, but I’m keeping my hopes tempered for now.
Nintendo Switch
I know.
It’s a company, not a game.
But when it comes to Nintendo, they’re an experience. This year my kids started to enjoy their Switch hardware more. My son plays just about any Mario title he can get his hands on, including Smash Brothers, which has been a blast from the past for me. My daughter has tried her hands at a few Zelda titles, but she’s not showing a ton of interest, or she’s just not old enough to really tackle some of the mechanics yet. It’s hard for me to tell right now.
We’ve played Pokemon, Snipper Clips, Mario Party, Minecraft, etc.
If it’s on the Switch, we’ve probably dabbled.
Oh, and Kirby. Anything and everything Kirby.
Looking forward to 2025
So, with all those gems out of the way, what’s coming in 2025?
World of Warcraft (Obviously)
A brand new content patch, 11.1 – Undermine(d) is releasing in just a few weeks. I suspect that’ll kick off the usual six month season cycle where I dive into raiding, M+, delves, and whatever else I can manage to convince my friends to jump in with me.
Remember what I mentioned about the woes of single-player games? Well, ANNO has me covered with a fully immersive multiplayer mode that allows you to dive into all there is to see and do with your friends by your side. I’ve been a HUGE fan of the ANNO series over the years, and getting a new entry is a big deal. The company just opened a signup for people to join play tests in the future and that sounds thrilling, so I’m definitely looking forward to that this year.
Wait… that’s it?
Yup. With more writing on my horizon (another post for another day), I want to manage my gaming time more effectively this year, and with increasing commitments from the kiddos and work, the time I use for gaming will also be the only time I have for *anything else I want to do*.
I’m sure a few other games will sneak in.
Thanks for sticking around to hear about how I spent my time over the last year in gaming!
My next post will be about my creative writing plans, so stay tuned!!!
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