Here we go again. For the ninth year in a row (since 2006!), I’ve counted up how many video games I either started or finished in the past 12 months. Let’s see how I did.
As always, some notes:
- I only list games I played on my own, outside of any shows like E3 where I may have tried a new game on a demo kiosk. All of the games you listed are games I either bought or was provided access to. I played most of them at home or during my commute.
- I don’t play old games very often, but even if I do on rare occasion return to an old game, I only list games that I either started or finally finished in a given year.
- People justifiably get hung up on what I mean when I write that I “finished” a game. I basically mean that I got to the credits or storyline conclusion of a game. That’s why I’ll count Diablo III as “finished” even though I only cleared Act V with one character on a non-Torment difficulty and only have one level-70 hero. There is a lot more that I can and will get out of playing that game. I considered dropping the “finished” part of this list this year, since I think it’s interesting enough to tally which games I started playing. Doing so would keep me from listing older games that I finally finished in 2014, and I thought that was still worth noting. Maybe I’ll change things next year.
- I played no games on Facebook or Ouya in the last year, so I’ve eliminated those categories. I did play a GameBoy game on my 3DS, so I’ve added that one. I played very few games on my MacBook Air—none that I didn’t also play on my PC—so I’ve eliminated that listing, too.
- I’m including standalone DLC as games this year. I’m not trying to pad the count. It just feels like something like Burial At Sea or Freedom Cry can be seen as its own thing.
- I’ve included Early Access games, some of which I’ve put quite a few hours into. After all, it isn’t just the idea of a player finishing a game that is a murkier concept these days; so is the idea of when a developer is finished making a game. Some supposedly unfinished games that I played this year (Crypt of the NecroDancer!) gave me plenty to play.
- I’m surprised to see how many games I played on PS4, especially because I’ve been using my Xbox One more regularly this fall. The PS4 had the early-year advantage.
On with the list!
My 2014 Games Played/Finished List
(Games I started listed below. Finished games are bolded. Games not from 2014 are noted as such)
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3DS
(16 games played; 6 finished)
- Bravely Default
- Fantasy Life
- Fire Emblem Awakening (2013) - FINISHED
- Kirby: Triple Deluxe
- Luigi’s Dark Moon (2013) - FINISHED
- Mario & Luigi Dream Team
- Paper Mario Sticker Star
- Picross e4
- Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy - FINISHED
- Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball - FINISHED
- The Starship Damrey (2013) - FINISHED
- Steel Diver: Sub Wars
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Tomodachi Life
- Weapon Shop de Omasse
- Yoshi’s New Island - FINISHED
DS
(2 games played; 1 finished)
- Professor Layton and the Last Specter (2009) - FINISHED
- Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
GameBoy
(1 game played; 0 finished)
- Metroid II
iOS
(33 games played; 1 finished)
- A Dark Room
- Adventure Quest Dragons
- Alternative Function IV
- Angry Birds Epic
- Boom Beach
- Circle Stop
- Civilization Revolution 2
- Clash of Clans
- Craft the World
- Crossy Road
- Farmville 2
- Flappy Bird
- Framed
- Hearthstone
- Helix
- Hitman Go
- Hoplite
- Incredipede
- Kingdom Rush Origins
- Kiwanuka
- Monument Valley
- NarcoGuerra
- Pako
- SimCity Buildit
- Subete al SITP
- Sunburn!
- Swing Copters
- Summetrain
- Tengami
- Threes
- Tilt To Live 2
- Trials Frontier
- Year Walk (2013) - FINISHED
PC
(25 games played; 2 finished)
- BioShock Infinite Burial At Sea Parts 1 and 2 - FINISHED
- Broken Age
- Civilization: Beyond Earth
- Cookie Clicker
- Crypt of the NecroDancer
- Dungeon Of the Endless
- Endless Legend
- Far Cry 3 (2012) - FINISHED
- Habitat
- Hack ‘n’ Slash
- Infinity Runner
- Invisible Inc
- Jazzpunk
- LA Cops
- The Nightmare Cooperative (also played on iOS)
- Nom Nom Galaxy
- Nuclear Throne
- Road Not Taken (also played on PS4)
- Serena
- Spacebase DF-9
- Sunless Sea
- The Talos Principle
- Ultimate General: Gettysburg
- This War of Mine
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
PS3
(4 games played; 4 finished)
- Assassin’s Creed Liberation - FINISHED
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue - FINISHED
- The Last of Us: Left Behind - FINISHED
- Puppeteer (2013) - FINISHED
PS4
(24 games played; 8 finished)
- Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry - FINISHED
- Child of Light
- Destiny
- Diablo III Reaper of Souls - FINISHED
- Far Cry 4
- Infamous Second Son - FINISHED
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes - FINISHED
- Lego The Hobbit - FINISHED
- Mercenary Kings
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - FINISHED
- OlliOlli
- P.T.
- PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate
- Rollers of the Realm
- Secret Ponchos
- Strider
- The Tomorrow Children (Alpha)
- The Lego Movie Video Game - FINISHED
- Transistor
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War - FINISHED
- Velocity 2X
- Watch Dogs
- Wolfenstein: The New Order
- WWE 2K15
Vita
(3 games played; 0 finished)
- Luftrausers
- Metrico
- Dangaronpa
Wii U
(9 games played; 3 finished)
- Bayonetta 2
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - FINISHED
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - FINISHED
- Dr. Luigi
- Hyrule Warriors - FINISHED
- Mario Kart 8
- Pushmo World
- Shovel Knight
- Super Smash Bros.
Xbox 360
(1 games played; 0 finished)
- Dark Souls II
Xbox One
(11 games played; 1 finished)
- Alien Isolation
- Assassin’s Creed Unity - FINISHED
- Dragon Age Inquisition
- Forza Horizon 2
- Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Kinect Sports Rivals
- Nutjitsu
- Sunset Overdrive
- Super Time Force
- Titanfall
The final 2014 tally is: 129 games played; 26 finished
That compares to:
2013...117 played; 31 finished
2012...139 played; 23 finished
2011...161 played; 28 finished
2010... 195 played; 52 finished
2009... 165 played; 48 finished
2008… 135 played; 37 finished
2007… 118 played; 35 finished
2006… 102 played; 21 finished