What I played in 2022
What a year! Not so much for games that I have played but more about the circumstances around the ones I managed to get my hands and time on. I gave birth to my first child in May and since this was an event that was vaguely predicted I put a lot of effort to spend a lot of time playing games beforehand. I am not kidding. 13 out of the 15 games this year I enjoyed before May and at some time that month I sold my Nintendo Switch and prepared for the life ahead of me.
Nevertheless, after the baby arrived it turned out playing games was one of the great ways to spend time while said baby is sleeping, which they do a lot in the beginning. My husband and I started Stray a week before we were embarking on a journey to Europe for three months. We really needed that distraction while also packing everything we own, putting it either into suitcases or storage, while at the same time taking care of a very small human. Someone actually told me that Stray is a very cute and simple game (compared to all heavy open world games people play these days). I believed them and then spent couple of evening sweating on the action sequences. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish Stray on time and we had to continue when we came back to Australia in November, but this framed our travels somehow. In a way I knew I was back.
Right before Stray we tried Myst and I have to say, we were so bad at this. We spent most of our time scratching our heads and walking around. I thought I knew how to play puzzle games, I was wrong and maybe I will postpone playing Outer Wilds some more until I live in better times with more sleep involved in them.
Inmost was a title I have been wanting to try for quite some time. And I probably would have finished it if my laptop didn’t get completely fried one morning. It never turned on again and so I don’t know what happens at the end of this depressing story.
Then, to address the elephant in the room, I liked Twelve Minutes. Not because I think the ending is cool or I enjoy watching pregnant women being murdered while being pregnant myself (ugh), I just thought it was original and well made. Also, it was quick, which is a very desirable quality when you don’t have 180 hours to enjoy something.
And finally, I would like to mention Wytchwood and The Wild at Heart. Once in a while I play games and when I finish them I already miss them. Last time this happened it was with the fantastic Eastshade. This year I had the pleasure of finding two games that I would like to live in. In the case of Wytchwood, not because the world is particularly pleasant, but because I grew up with these fairytales and felt at home with them. And The Wild at Heart, well this is just a childhood in a box.
In the end of the year we also played Portal with RTX. It ran well on our system, so no complains. And the visuals are breathtaking, I loved it.
No time for pie charts! But simply looking at the short list I can say that adventures win by a long shot.
Now for my favorite part of this post, ranking games! We people always like talking about the things we love the most. So my top 5 games I played this year are:
1. Wytchwood
Yes, this game beat Stray for first place on my list. It has everything I want in a game: exploration, a not-too-complicated crafting system, fairytale-oriented lore, beautiful art, and funny dialogue. I loved every single minute of it and the end surprised me, I thought it was brilliant.
2. Stray
Everyone’s favorite game of the year was my favorite game too. And how can it not be? To put aside the fact that everybody wants to be a cat, the setting is beautifully crafted, the story is engaging and the puzzle pieces are very well distributed with some action in between.
3. The Wild at Heart
I know I have loved a game when I remember how it felt playing it and I get nostalgic. Maybe this one reminded me of simpler times and childhood. I can also see some similarities with Wytchwood, it takes place in a forest where you are free to explore, collect stuff, and complete quests. The puzzles were also the right complexity to keep me engaged without putting me off.
4. Unpacking
Oh, I did enjoy playing this more than the actual packing and unpacking I did in my real life this year. The simplicity here is what caught me, I love ideas like these for games and the end result is also great. As it has become usual for me, the fourth place is taken by a sweet small game that can be played on a Sunday morning, no stress.
5. Twelve Minutes
I know, the ending is bonkers. I still think this was a very well-made game with cool mechanics and, well, awesome voice acting.
The whole list, ladies and gentlemen. I didn’t expect to make it to 15 games, but here I am. I don’t expect to hit this number anytime soon too. The ones in bold are finished, as usual.
- Hoa by Skrollcat Studio
- Wytchwood by Alientrap
- Inmost by Hidden Layer Games
- Unravel 2 by Coldwood Interactive
- Unpacking by Witch Beam
- Recompile by Phigames
- Flynn: Son of Crimson by Studio Thunderhorse
- Twelve minutes by Luis Antonio
- The Wild at Heart by Moonlight Kids
- Townscaper by Oskar Stålberg
- Sable by Shedworks
- Lion’s song by Mi’pu’mi Games GmbH
- Myst by Cyan Worlds Inc
- Stray by BlueTwelve Studio
- Portal with RTX by Lightspeed Studios™
That’s all from me and 2022. It will be interesting to see how much my priorities will be shifted in 2023 and if I will be able to sneak some games on the table. For now, I don’t even have a list of games I really want to play. Oh no, I lied. I want to play Bear and Breakfast if I get the chance. A friend also recommended LUNA The Shadow Dust as a good game for new parents, so we will probably give it a go.
And about something I haven’t really covered before much, but I noticed how much I always look forward to games published by either Annapurna Interactive or Chucklefish. But Humble Games are promoting some really great games out there and I just wanted to give them a shout-out.
Now go and play some games for me too!
