Might try to post on here at the end of each month with all the different games I’ve played? Dunno if I’ll stick with it the whole year, but no harm in trying!

The first game I played this year was Typecast! It’s a pretty nice little game, but I am incredibly bad at it, so I’ve not played very much of it. Might keep coming back to it every now and then, if I get better at typing.

Having won Wildmender on Christmas, I’d been playing a few hours of it every day, and this continued into the new year. I really enjoyed it! I like games where it feels like your actions have a tangible impact on the world around you, so being able to restore life to huge areas of desert was a lot of fun. Went for 100% achievements, since none were too hard and I enjoyed the game enough to want to do so.

I share a steam library with a family member, so I decided to check out BALL X PIT and Megabonk from their library. Both are really fun! Played a lot of BALL X PIT, and really enjoyed finding all the different ball evolutions. The gameplay loop started to feel slightly repetitive towards the end, but it got another update recently that added some more stuff, so I might revisit it! Megabonk I’ve been playing a little bit of on most days, a lot of it just trying to figure out that one challenge where you’re not allowed to move. It’s probably mainly luck, but I’m still trying to figure out a good strategy to maximise my chances of winning. No luck yet though, but I’ll probably keep playing it throughout February.

Arcane Golf was a little game I decided to check out since it was fairly cheap and didn’t have too many reviews (around 50). I enjoyed it! It’s basically just like a little 2d minigolf game (viewed from the side, so there’s gravity in the mix) with a few different hazards and gimmicks throughout the levels. It was a fun little game to play, and a lot of the achievements are for little challenges like beating a level in a certain time limit or without touching a certain object, and I enjoyed the game enough to go and do them. There are a few extra challenge levels I skipped, as they were just a little too frustrating and precise (you only had one shot in each of them, so you really need to aim perfectly), but none of them were required for 100% achievements, which is nice.

I finally decided to start playing Shovel Knight. I’d bought it for myself back on Christmas in 2024, but hadn’t gotten around to playing it until now. It’s fun! Challenging, certainly, and a little frustrating at times. But ultimately, I’ve been enjoying it! I’ve currently finished the Shovel Knight and Plague Knight campaigns, so I still have the Specter and King Knight ones to go! Also all of the challenges. I… do not know if I’ll be going for 100% achievements on this one. There’s a lot of achievements, and as much as I enjoy this game, I feel like some of the challenges would drive me mad trying to complete them. Also some of the achievements seem very difficult.

I also played VVVVVV, since I got it from an Itch bundle a while back. It’s great! A fun little 2d platformer with a little bit of exploration around the map. I enjoyed it! I can see why it’s a classic.

I’ve been playing some 3D platformers too. Started off with Lunistice, since I got it from a bundle recently. Fun movement, great soundtrack, and I love how the extra postgame modes give you different characters to play as, and that the final level is different for each character! Enjoyed the game enough to go for all achievements, had a blast.

Played Hatch, which I got from an Itch bundle a while back. It’s an interesting game, more a climbing game than a platformer, though platforming does become a little more of a focus towards the end. Took me a little bit to understand the mechanics of the sun, but once I did, I enjoyed it. Climbing up walls that look almost entirely vertical like some sort of mountain goat was fun, and really made it feel like I was climbing something that wasn’t meant to be climbed, that I was overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles rather than just platforming through a clearly laid out obstacle course.
Orbo’s Odyssey was fun! Didn’t entirely get the hang of the controls, and some levels felt a little empty in places, but it was still very enjoyable! Wish it was longer, but still enjoyed the hour and a half of it I played!

Cavern of Dreams was great! I love retro-style games, so the N64-inspired style immediately got my attention. The movement felt a little slow at first, but given I’d just been playing Orbo’s Odyssey, I think most games would feel slow in comparison. Getting more movement abilities and getting more used to the controls meant that that feeling of slowness didn’t last too long. It’s a fun game! Got a little stuck a few times, but managed to figure out what to do eventually. The puzzles are pretty fun, the levels are well-designed and fun to explore, and the story is pretty nice too!

I’ve also been playing a bit of Loop Hero, since I own it on Epic so I can play it on my steamdeck while playing an idle game on my laptop. It’s pretty neat. I’m not very good at it, but I’m slowly building up my village and unlocking more stuff.

I’ve also started playing Tchia! It’s pretty nice so far. I love being able to control animals for a little bit, so I can become a bird to get up to the top of a mountain quickly. I think I’m still fairly early on, but it’s fun so far!