As I am chronically incapable of playing just one game at a time there is usually a host of games I cycle through as I get tired of one and need to play something else. I try to keep the genres varied and usually have some simple casual games on stand-by.

Since my pain levels fluctuate as well I cannot always play what I want and have to make due. If my hands are cramping up too much or I just cannot sit in my chair without pain I may couch game something simple instead.

There are games that keep returning to my playlist year after year, especially when new DLC or a whole new version is released like Civilization which is a franchise which I have literally played on and off since its first release in 1991. It is probably one of my most played games.

Then there’s the open world games that I have a big love for but have to add is still sadly not always done quite right. Too much traveling back and forth or too many side quests so that I forget what I was even doing doesn’t help. I like content but games like those often lack a proper internal journal of some sort other than the most basic “this is the quests you are on”. Thanks, but if I leave the game for a few weeks, or even months, it can take hours (or days) to figure out what I was going for and what my personal goals were. Like going for a certain skill in order to be able to upgrade a weapon or combining certain quests in the same area.

I mix these games with easier games like point and click adventures, which is a passion of mine, and true casual shit like card games and picross of which I have played – and finished – many. The casual games I often play while thinking about some of my current tech projects as they don’t take a whole lot of brain power and the added input, along with some music in the background, helps me focus.

Currently my playlist looks somewhat like this:

Big Games

  • Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
    Currently on hold waiting for the major re-balancing patch. I also have trouble finished games in this one as turns start to take a very long time and it can get a little boring when you’re just going through the motions when you’ve technically already won but you still have to play 100 long turns.
  • Fallout 4
    As I have played this for well over 300 hours and have finished the game before, I am now doing a (slightly modded) survival run which keeps me busy but also made the game significantly harder. If I die before being able to sleep after doing a 1-2 hour run I may lose interest for a while so it can take a bit before I pick it up again. The “What was I doing again?” factor I mentioned above plays a big factor here as well.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Oldrim)
    Heavily modded because honestly it is needed to make it interesting. While highly praised and a game practically everyone has played at one point I find it hard to keep going. The lack of color and diversity in dialogue doesn’t help. While I have well over 100 hours in this game I have never even come close to finishing it. Maybe one day.
  • Assassin’s Creed IV:  Black Flag
    I keep coming back to this game. It’s just ..fun? Some people say it’s not actually a good Assassin’s Creed game but I don’t care about that. I just care about how much enjoyment I can get out of a game and this is one that hits a lot of the good spots for me. Except the Quick-Time Events. Fuck those.

Inbetweens

  • The Sims 4
    Another franchise I have played on and off since its inception. It just captivates me. Yes, the DLC can get out of hand but there literally is no other game like it. I always play it completely without cheats, starting with a dirt poor Sim trying to make ends meet and attempting to add more Sims to the (very gay) family and playing those and making them all succeed at their life goals. While highly enjoyable I do take long breaks between sessions as it’s easy to get burned out on it. Still, it’s one of my favorite franchises of all time.
  • Euro Truck Simulator 2
    Now I only got into this relatively recently but I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I snagged it during a good sale which included a bunch of DLC. It’s been hard work doing enough trips to make the money to buy my own truck but it was worth it. The game is very soothing and relaxing to play though I yell at other drivers sometimes. Just like real life! It’s not a game you can just play for a few minutes though and I have to be in the right mindset so my playtime frequency varies a lot with this one.

Casuals

  • Faerie Solitaire Harvest
    One of my many, many card games I have played over the years. I don’t always finish them but they are good time-wasters and easy to just play for a few minutes.
  • Sam & Max Save the World Remastered
    I recently played through this. There was a bit of controversy about the rewrite of a handful of lines of dialogue and the replacement of a voice actor but it was way overblown and mainly came from SJW haters. The game was fun and fine. Worked great on the couch with a gamepad too!
  • Catlateral Damage
    This was a gem that made my days better, really. I just recently finished it and it was a great experience that I wrote about here.

Now this may not seem like that big of a playlist (or maybe it does, I don’t know) but this is far from an exhaustive list. I only named the ones I have played the most in recent months. The above game are all interspersed with others like Cities: Skylines , Star Wars: The Old Republic , Plague, Inc: Evolved , Slime Rancher , and many others. They are just less frequent staples at the moment. I have also finished some shorter games in the mean time. Then there’s Rocksmith 2014 Edition which takes actual hardware to set up that I don’t always have the energy for so I don’t play it as often as I would like. Plus I have to take my neighbors into account as I don’t play it quietly.

All of this is not taking into account all of the games I have on my “want to start” list. This list is absolutely massive but I try to keep it down to a few each time so I can replace one of the above games with a new one once I finish something or get too tired of it.

This list of games include quite a few nice titles that I simply have not gotten around to yet:

To-Do List

  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
    Not everyone seems to be a fan of this Tomb Raider reboot but I enjoyed the previous two installments quite a bit and am looking forward to finishing off the trilogy.
  • BioShock Remastered
    I never got very far the first time around when I quit it but I hear so much good stuff about these games that I do want to get back into them eventually.
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
    I’ve replayed Asylum and City a few times but since this game had a rocky start with lots of bugs it had fallen way down my list. Supposedly all of those issues have been fixed and the game is perfectly playable now.
  • So many point and clicks!
    There’s the Wadjet Eye developed games I haven’t started yet like Primordia , and Technobabylon ; the Grim Fandango remaster; Fran Bow ; and I haven’t even touched that new King’s Quest from The Odd Gentlemen yet!

There’s more. There’s always more. But those are pretty high up on my list. Too many games, too little time!