February 2nd 2025.
Is it even possible for a person to play a thousand video games in a year? A reader shared their experience attempting this feat, with a goal of playing at least 83 games each month.
Gamers are a diverse group, with some who only play popular titles and others who focus on perfecting their skills in multiplayer games. Then there are the hardcore gamers who enjoy tackling difficult games or playing through endless runs in roguelikes. And of course, there are those who prefer more casual games or stick to buying popular sequels like EA Sports FC and the latest Call of Duty.
But I consider myself to be a bit of an outlier. I have a passion for playing as many different games as I can, even if it means I don't spend a lot of time on each one. I believe it's important to give every game a chance, even if it's not a genre I typically enjoy. And I also prefer physical copies of games. When I started keeping track of my game collection in 2013, I already had 322 physical games.
I first wrote to GameCentral about my ever-growing backlog of games in January 2016, when it reached 450. Despite selling off some games, my backlog continued to grow and by August 2017, it had ballooned to 763 games. Over the years, I've played many games, but with my job involving selling games and my ongoing subscription to Game Pass, my list only seems to be getting longer. In fact, just a year ago, I had a whopping 1,481 games on my list. That's when I decided to set myself a challenge - to play a thousand different games in 2024.
At first, I thought it would be an easy target to reach if there were no rules. I could simply play a bunch of free browser games for a few seconds each and easily reach my goal. But I didn't want this challenge to be just about increasing my numbers. I wanted it to be a meaningful experience, so I set some ground rules for myself.
Firstly, I decided that every game I played had to be "finished with," meaning I had reached a point where I didn't want to play it anymore. This could mean completing the game, but it could also mean abandoning it if it was too slow, boring, or difficult. Or maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea. I also made the decision to not include browser or mobile games, as well as any illegally emulated games or those available on Antstream (since they have over 1,300 games on their platform, it would have made the challenge too easy).
Playing 10 games every three days for an entire year was no small feat. So I went through my game collection and made a list of how many games I had on each platform. I had collected quite a few free games from Epic Games, but since I didn't have a dedicated graphics card, some of them wouldn't be playable. I also had a couple of compilations of Atari 2600 games. With the Xbox 360 store closing in July, I knew I could find some good games there since the majority of them had demos available. But I didn't want demos to count towards my goal, as I wanted to continue playing the games even after the demo ended. And since I didn't want to only play short games, I also included longer titles that I had been wanting to play for a while.
But even with all my planning, the reality of the challenge set in. I have a job running my own business, which takes up a significant amount of my time. And on top of that, I was also in the process of moving in with my girlfriend, which involved a lot of packing and unpacking. I also had volunteer work, never-ending chores, and other hobbies like playing football, taking partner dance classes, playing the drums in a samba band, and participating in regular pub quizzes. Would I have enough time to complete this challenge?
After doing the math, I realized that I would need to play a little over 83 games each month to reach my goal. But since the challenge started on January 1st, I still had my Game Pass subscription. However, since I had already played all the games on there that were easy to finish with, I knew I would have to spend more time on the games I did enjoy, especially since I didn't plan on renewing my Game Pass anytime soon. And with that month's to-do list including my tax return and packing for the move, I only managed to play 32 games, barely a third of my target.
It was clear that I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to catch up and reach my goal. To be continued... But before I go, let me share some thoughts on a selection of games I played early on in the year.
Gotham Knights was by no means a terrible game, but it didn't quite come together as well as I had hoped. I found myself enjoying riding around Gotham on my bike and admiring the sights more than completing the missions, which often killed the pacing with lengthy cutscenes.
I also played SonSon, an arcade game from the eighties that was included for free with Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium. While it wasn't exceptional, the addition of a rewind feature made it much more tolerable and I was able to complete it in just over an hour.
My girlfriend, Emma, mainly plays mobile games but also enjoys PC titles like Age of Empires. So it was fun to team up with her and play Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise, an escape room type game. We both found solutions that the other had missed as we completed the game. And since it's often on sale for just over a pound, I highly recommend checking it out.
Deadpool was a game that I had sold at the wrong time, as its value shot up after the release of the Deadpool and Wolverine movie. It felt like a remastered version of a mediocre PlayStation 2 tie-in, but Deadpool's humorous monologues still provided some entertainment.
I also played Langrisser 2, a remake of an old Mega Drive game. One of the things I appreciated about this role-playing game was its fast-paced battles, which overcame one of the genre's common failings. However, I found myself getting anxious when playing turn-based games, as I hate it when my character can't move while enemies attack and I have no control over the situation.
Tetris was a game that was supposed to be released on the Mega Drive, but it was cancelled when Sega realized that the company they purchased the rights from didn't actually have them. It can now be found on the Mega Drive Mini console, which also includes some additional game modes.
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes is one of many Dynasty Warriors games and spin-offs, so it's no surprise that it doesn't offer anything new. With plenty of fighters on the screen, it's still a fun game, but it's nothing groundbreaking.
Lost Lands 9: Stories of the First Brotherhood is a hidden object puzzle adventure, which is a pretty common and often boring genre. This game is no exception and doesn't stand out from the others.
I also played Senjō no ��kami 2, also known as Mercs, which is the sequel to Commando. I was a big fan of Mercs on the Mega Drive back in the '90s, but this was my first time playing the arcade version. I chose the Japanese version and was pleasantly surprised that I still remembered some of the boss tactics as I completed the game.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
