For the eighth consecutive year, I’ve counted the number of games I finished in the last 12 months. The number has gone up, even as I played fewer games.
I’ve been keeping countsince 2006, the year I didn’t just finish Suikoden V and Star Fox Command but also the likes of Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2 Episode One. That was one high-quality year of gaming!
My full list runs below, but, as always, I need to explain how this list works:
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. Not every game allows for that, of course. I don’t think you can “finish” SimCity. Other games have so much content that I can access after I’ve reached the end credits that “finishing” the likes of a Papers, Please or Assassin’s Creed IV has still left me with at least a dozen more hours to play in each game.
Among the games that I did not finish are games I played for probably less than an hour (Gran Turismo 6, for example) and those I have played for more than 50 (Fire Emblem Awakening). There are numerous 2013 game, from Gunpoint to Luigi’s Mansion to Puppeteer, that I intend to finish in 2014.
This was the first year since I started doing this that I did not have a Wii game to list. (It’ll come back in a way if I ever get around to trying Xenoblade: Chronicles and The Last Story), Facebook gaming is essentially dead to me. The biggest surprise to me is that my iOS gaming petered off. I don’t think it is a coincidence that, in the same period of time, my 3DS gaming picked up.
Finally, a couple of embarrassing 2013 oversights: I never got around to even starting Metal Gear Rising and Mario & Luigi Dream Team, the latter of which is part of one of my favorite series ever. As much as I loved playing Skulls of the Shogun at PAX after PAX, I’ve yet to play it on my own. It’s waiting for me on my iPad. I also really, really need to play DOTA 2 and/or League of Legends. I feel badly out of the loop.
UPDATE: Somehow I forgot to include The Last of Us when I initially published this. I’ve added it and corrected my math.
On with the list!
My 2013 Games Played/Finished List
(Games I started listed below. Finished games are bolded. Games not from 2013 are noted as such)
3DS
(22 games played; 4 finished)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Bugs Vs. Tanks!
Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger
Fire Emblem Awakening
Flower Town
Harmoknight
Kokuga
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds -FINISHED
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move
Mario Party Island Tour
Mii Force – FINISHED
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (also played on Wii U)
Monster Manor
Picross E1
Picross E2
Picross E3
Pokemon X
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (2012) – FINISHED
Sonic Lost World – FINISHED
Warrior’s Way
DS
(1 game played; 1 finished)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box – FINISHED
Facebook
(1 games played; 0 finished)
Half the Sky Movement: The Game
iOS
(15 games played; 3 finished)
Candy Crush Saga
Colossatron: Massive World Threat
Device 6
Dots
Duet
Hundreds
Knightmare Tower (also played on Ouya) – FINISHED
Plants Vs Zombies 2
Ridiculous Fishing – A Tale of Redemption
Robot Unicorn Attack 2
The Room Two – FINISHED
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star
Temple Run 2
The Walking Dead Season One (2012) – FINISHED
The Walking Dead: Assault
Mac
(1 game played; 0 finished)
Leap Day (browser game; I played it on a Mac)
Ouya
(10 games played; 0 finished)
The Amazing Frog
Deep Dungeons of Doom
Dub Wars
The Little Crane That Could
Monocle Man
Mrs. Dad
No Brakes Valet
Shadowgun
Towerfall
Vector
PC
(15 games played;6 finished)
Antichamber – FINISHED (um, with heavy use of walkthroughs)
BioShock Infinite – FINISHED
Cart Life
Go Home, Dinosaurs
Gone Home – FINISHED
Gunpoint
Kentucky Route Zero
Monaco
Papers Please – FINISHED
Prison Architect
SimCity
Splinter Cell: Blacklist – FINISHED
State of Decay
The Stanley Parable
Tomb Raider – FINISHED
PS3
(13 games played; 8 finished)
Assassin’s Creed IV – FINISHED
Disney Infinity
DmC – FINISHED
God of War: Ascension – FINISHED
Gran Turismo 6
Infamous Festival of Blood (2011) – FINISHED
The Last of Us – FINISHED
Ni No Kuni
Papo & Yo (2012) – FINISHED
Puppeteer
Rain
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus – FINISHED
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (also played on Vita) – FINISHED
PS4
(6 games played; 1 finished)
Doki Doki Universe (also played on PS3, Vita)
Killzone: Shadow Fall
Knack – FINISHED
Lego Marvel Super-Heroes
Need for Speed Rivals
Resogun
Vita
(11 games played; 1 finished)
10×8
Assassin’s Creed Liberation (2012)
Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate – FINISHED
Earth Defense Force 2017
Guacamelee
Jack and Daxter Collection
Jet Set Radio
Kickbeat
Killzone Mercernary
Rymdkapsel
Tearaway
Wii U
(11 games played;4 finished)
Game & Wario
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Lego City Undercover – FINISHED
NES Remix
Pikmin 3 – FINISHED
Pokemon Rumble U
Rayman Legends – FINISHED
Sonic Lost World – FINISHED
Super Mario 3D Land
Wii Party U
The Wonderful 101
Xbox 360
(5 games played; 2 finished)
Ascend: Hand of Kul
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – FINISHED
Dead Space 3
Gears of War: Judgment
Grand Theft Auto V – FINISHED
Xbox One
(6 games played; 1 finished)
Dead Rising 3
Forza Motorsport 5
LocoCycle
Powerstar Golf
Ryse Son of Rome – FINISHED
Zoo Tycoon
The final 2013 tally is: 117 games played; 31 finished
That compares to:
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 games played; 21 finished
https://kotaku.com/i-finished-these-23-video-games-in-2012-5973173
I hope you got a chance to play a lot of great games in 2013, too. Finish many?
To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.
