2025 has been another outrageously good year for video games, and I have hardly scraped the surface. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sits in my steam library and stares at me with big puppy eyes; Hollow Knight: Silksong is purchased but remains unplayed on my Xbox; I am 30 minutes into Blue Prince but threw it aside after realizing that I did not have the mental capacity for its mind -bending puzzle. And then comes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, a game I was so excited to experience but I have not yet found time to get stuck in.
The list also continues before 2025. My order stock is going back year now. The fire ring, the last of us part 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and so many more. Even Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that everyone tells me is one of the best ever written, has barely been touched. My friends and colleagues always rave about these games and try to convince me to play, but usually the more I hear about them, the less likely I am to dive in. I just got a strange thing about trying to play games that are a bit more under-radar. Like the people who were fans before the band became famous but now think they sold out, just not so annoying.
I should probably repay a bunch of these and just accept that I will never play them. But it feels like such a police officer. Can you imagine a movie nerd who says they would not watch the top 10 movies of all time? I feel that I have a duty as a player (non-derogatory) to play these gems. So I continue to buy them, and they continue to sit there.
Too many games, not enough time
One of the biggest problems is how much time these games take to play. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an absolute mammoth task, and after walking into the first assignments left my head spinning, I left it well enough. There is also a kind of strange pressure around these highly ranked games. I know I should enjoy them, because everyone else thinks they are fantastic, but often this gives me an oblique idea of their stories and game mechanics. I usually only play random little games instead, like my beloved Megabonk. There is no social pressure or a little of my brain saying: 'How come it is so rubbish? And why is Henry's voice so annoying in the kingdom 2? '
In fact, when you look at the best ranked games in 2025 at OpenCritic, I have not played a single one. Unfortunately, the “fake player” charges will never be beaten. I have spent my time playing Project Zomboid, Vintage Story, Path of Exile 2, Supervive, Dune: Awakening and Monster Train 2. Project Zomboid is a game that first went into early asset in 2013. How can I keep up with the constantly surrounding release if I play a decade Schedule 1 took over my life earlier this year, and Vintage Story will be my cozy autumn game.
It's not like I don't play new and trendy games. EA Sports FC 26 has eaten my time last week or so (I think it's probably the best iteration in a few years) and I've just booked a whole weekend to play Battlefield 6 in early October. I would even like to give Pokemon Legends Z: AA WHIRL, Arc Raiders is a must-play, Europe Universalis 5 is out in November … The list continues to grow.
2026 looks even worse. I can't ignore the Grand Theft Auto 6, and Crimson Desert looks like one of the most bizarre games I've ever seen. It is not to mention the inevitable indie games, those that appear from absolutely nowhere and completely take over. I can't possibly play them all. My playoff goal for life is to retire to a small village somewhere by the sea and I can finally play all these games. Until then, they will continue to be ignored and the steam list will grow. The library must grow.
