I Finished These 31 Video Games in 2013

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 count since 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)

1. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
2. Bugs Vs. Tanks!
3. Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger
4. Fire Emblem Awakening
5. Flower Town
6. Harmoknight
7. Kokuga
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds -FINISHED
9. Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins
10. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
11. Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move
12. Mario Party Island Tour
13. Mii Force - FINISHED
14. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (also played on Wii U)
15. Monster Manor
16. Picross E1
17. Picross E2
18. Picross E3
19. Pokemon X
20. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (2012) - FINISHED
21. Sonic Lost World - FINISHED
22. Warrior's Way

DS
(1 game played; 1 finished)

1. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box - FINISHED

Facebook

(1 games played; 0 finished)

1. Half the Sky Movement: The Game

iOS

(15 games played; 3 finished)

1. Candy Crush Saga
2. Colossatron: Massive World Threat
3. Device 6
4. Dots
5. Duet
6. Hundreds
7. Knightmare Tower (also played on Ouya) - FINISHED
8. Plants Vs Zombies 2
9. Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption
10. Robot Unicorn Attack 2
11. The Room Two - FINISHED
12. Star Wars: Tiny Death Star
13. Temple Run 2
14. The Walking Dead Season One (2012) - FINISHED
15. The Walking Dead: Assault

Mac

(1 game played; 0 finished)

1. Leap Day (browser game; I played it on a Mac)

Ouya

(10 games played; 0 finished)

1. The Amazing Frog
2. Deep Dungeons of Doom
3. Dub Wars
4. The Little Crane That Could
5. Monocle Man
6. Mrs. Dad
7. No Brakes Valet
8. Shadowgun
9. Towerfall
10. Vector

PC

(15 games played;6 finished)

1. Antichamber - FINISHED (um, with heavy use of walkthroughs)
2. BioShock Infinite - FINISHED
3. Cart Life
4. Go Home, Dinosaurs
5. Gone Home - FINISHED
6. Gunpoint
7. Kentucky Route Zero
8. Monaco
9. Papers Please - FINISHED
10. Prison Architect
11. SimCity
12. Splinter Cell: Blacklist - FINISHED
13. State of Decay
14. The Stanley Parable
15. Tomb Raider - FINISHED

PS3

(13 games played; 8 finished)

1. Assassin's Creed IV - FINISHED
2. Disney Infinity
3. DmC - FINISHED
4. God of War: Ascension - FINISHED
5. Gran Turismo 6
6. Infamous Festival of Blood (2011) - FINISHED
7. The Last of Us - FINISHED
8. Ni No Kuni
9. Papo & Yo (2012) - FINISHED
10. Puppeteer
11. Rain
12. Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus - FINISHED
13. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (also played on Vita) - FINISHED

PS4

(6 games played; 1 finished)

1. Doki Doki Universe (also played on PS3, Vita)
2. Killzone: Shadow Fall
3. Knack - FINISHED
4. Lego Marvel Super-Heroes
5. Need for Speed Rivals
6. Resogun

Vita

(11 games played; 1 finished)

1. 10x8
2. Assassin's Creed Liberation (2012)
3. Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate - FINISHED
4. Earth Defense Force 2017
5. Guacamelee
6. Jack and Daxter Collection
7. Jet Set Radio
8. Kickbeat
9. Killzone Mercernary
10. Rymdkapsel
11. Tearaway

Wii U

(11 games played;4 finished)

1. Game & Wario
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
3. Lego City Undercover - FINISHED
4. NES Remix
5. Pikmin 3 - FINISHED
6. Pokemon Rumble U
7. Rayman Legends - FINISHED
8. Sonic Lost World - FINISHED
9. Super Mario 3D Land
10. Wii Party U
11. The Wonderful 101

Xbox 360

(5 games played; 2 finished)

1. Ascend: Hand of Kul
2. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - FINISHED
3. Dead Space 3
4. Gears of War: Judgment
5. Grand Theft Auto V - FINISHED

Xbox One

(6 games played; 1 finished)

1. Dead Rising 3
2. Forza Motorsport 5
3. LocoCycle
4. Powerstar Golf
5. Ryse Son of Rome - FINISHED
6. 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

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 stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.