My gaming habits clearly identify two categories: the everyday games that I can play in the ‘off’ moments of the day and take less than fifteen minutes to play, and the ones I buy to entertain myself while travelling.
There are exceptions, but I’m not someone who unwinds at the end of the day by picking up a controller - as you know, my evenings are mostly spent watching films.
During this weird year, despite a lot of hours spent on trains, most of the trips were relatively short, and my ageing eyes don’t necessarily enjoy trying to interpret pixels on a very small screen, so overall I have played much less than in 2024.

  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (by Simogo, Nintendo Switch): just to contradict myself immediately, this is one of those games I played a lot from my sofa; it’s the kind of exploration/puzzle game I see as a challenge that the developers designed to defy me, personally: the kind of game I can’t put down until either I prevail or I abandon it in shame. I wrote quite extensively about my experience with Lorelei back in April, so I can point you to that post for more details. Status: completed - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Year Walk and Device 6 (by Simogo, iOS): playing Lorelei reminded me of the previous games by the same Swedish developer duo, so I replayed these two inventive adventures right after finishing the latest game. The post I mentioned above also includes, as a postscript, my thoughts on those. In short: Year Walk is a horror masterpiece, Device 6 is a spy thriller that didn’t engage me as much the second time around. Status: completed (again) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and ⭐️⭐️⭐️ respectively

  • Return of the Obra Dinn (by Lucas Pope, Nintendo Switch): I heard about this game when The Secret Lives of Games (formerly Eggplant) podcast discussed the Golden Idol series, but I had not played it yet. Then, after hearing about my experience with Lorelei, James from Relative Nostalgia recommended it to me; he was right, this game is definitely up my street. There’s a bit of a learning curve to understand the mechanics of the investigation and the way chronology is explored, and it took me some time to get used to the monochromatic graphics style, but then, again, I got immersed in figuring out the fate of each of the passengers and crew of the Obra Dinn ship. I solved it, but it involved some guesswork - which the game itself declares to be fine, so I didn’t feel too guilty. While I played most of it during a trip, hunched on my console, I took the last few steps on my TV - and there I noticed a few details that would have spared me some guessing. So, I think it might be worth playing it again on a bigger screen in a few years, and enjoy it even more. Status: completed - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • The Case of the Golden Idol (by Color Gray Games, via Netflix Games, iPadOS): speaking of the Golden Idol series, last year I couldn’t complete it, so when I started travelling for work I tried to resume from where I had left. Then, a couple of days later, it was removed from the Netflix Games catalogue, so that was it. I enjoyed what I played but I don’t feel like buying it on a different platform and re-doing the parts I have already solved. Status: not completed

  • Clues by Sam (by Ad Artis Oy, browser game): I don’t know where I heard about this daily game first, but it’s a little gem that helps me get my brain in motion, first thing in the morning, while I sip my coffee. By using only logic and the provided clues, it asks the player to identify who’s innocent and who’s a criminal on a grid populated by 20 characters. The difficulty level increases during the week, and I eagerly wait for the challenge provided by weekend puzzles. While writing this, I’ve found out that the developer(s?) is Finnish, so that’s the second Northern software house whose work I enjoyed this year (the third one from a country on the Baltic Sea, if we consider Color Gray Games are from Latvia). Status: completing it every day - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Wanikani (by Tofugu, browser and iOS via the Tsurukame app): I abandoned Duolingo after they started laying off people and relying more on AI, but I still wanted to continue pretending I’m learning Japanese. Wanikani is as grammar-less as the talking owl was, but it’s fully focused on kanji, which is the most interesting and fun part for me. I find the proposed mnemonics, mostly, unconvincing, so I often need to come up with my own, and it’s not that easy. After the first three free levels I subscribed to the paid version, and although my progress is extremely slow (I’ve been stuck on Level 10 for months now), it’s a relaxing activity I practice every day; and it does help me understand a few words - here and there - when I watch Japanese films which adds to the satisfaction level. Status: ongoing (Level 10)

  • Ōkami (by Clover Studio, Nintendo Switch): I was looking for something to play during my summer travelling, possibly themed with my current fascination with Japan, and I found this Switch version of an old game loosely based on Japanese mythology. It’s an exploration game, with battles and quests to complete, with an original (as far as I can tell) method of fighting by drawing brush strokes. The artwork is beautiful, and the game is quite satisfying, but it gets a bit repetitive, plus the maps are unclear, so I often have trouble remembering what path to take to go from point A to point B. As a consequence, it doesn’t engage me a lot, and I have set it aside for the time being. I hope the Issun character isn’t as annoying in the original version as he is in the adaptation. Status: not completed

  • 868 - HACK (by Michael Brough, iOS): the aforementioned The Secret Lives of Games podcast has started a year-long series on designer Michael Brough, so, to follow along, I bought this roguelike game from 2013. You are a smiley-face hacker trying to steal data on a 6x6 grid, while the system defences (viruses? And glitches? I’m not sure I understand these cyber-defence techniques) try to destroy you. I played it a few times, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to spend time thinking of strategies and ways to complete even one run. Status: not completed

  • What Remains of Edith Finch (by Giant Sparrow, Nintendo Switch): this game has been on my radar for a while, so when I saw it while looking for something to accompany me during my winter trips, I didn’t have to think twice. The plot - the lead character trying to find the truth about the demise of the members of her family in their bizarre family home - is thin, but intriguing. On the negative side: this game looks too beautiful to be played on a small screen, and the first-person point of view - as well as the often dimly lit setting - doesn’t agree much with playing it while in a moving vehicle. I was prepared for an interactive narrative with very few choices to make except for moving in the right direction (almost always excellently signalled by the on-screen monologue by the lead character), so not having a real challenge (except for the cat part) wasn’t a problem. The stories of the family members are told in different styles, always with a touch of surrealism that I liked very much; I probably loved them all (though little Gregory’s events are so heartbreaking), with the highlights being the comic-book slasher featuring Barbara (equipped with the Halloween soundtrack) and especially Lewis’ fantasy world, that perfectly triggers one’s brain’s ability to do two things at the same time. My only issue is that I was expecting some sort of revelation to justify the events depicted, but the game is interested in a different kind of resolution - one that I found, personally, a bit disappointing. It’s for sure another game I should replay on a big screen. Status: completed - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️