I’ve been playing Outer Wilds recently and it’s proved to be a fantastic device for thinking about the things I love and hate about video games. I love all kinds of media, and the comparisons continue to fascinate me: each medium offers certain things that no other can manage.
Outer Wilds is a mystery game. You start the game with no understanding of what will happen and the story is explained to you in-world with very little exposition. It’s set in a galaxy that’s trapped in a time loop. That’s pretty much the description on the Steam store page - beyond that I will try not to spoil anything here. If you’re interested, I do recommend trying to go in blind.
My steam library is comparatively small, but it still contains a great number of unplayed games. The only way out is through. In alphabetical order.
I would hardly call myself a horror game fan. I love horror, but I don’t like jumpscares and I don’t really like being the protagonist: I’d much rather watch someone else have a bad time of things. I do try to keep my hand in, though, because, like other media, when horror is good, it’s very good. Silent Hill 2 remains one of my favourite games.
I haven’t written the full list out this year. I got to play a lot of games, but I don’t have a lot to say about them.
Codenames
Forever a classic. This was my most played game of 2022, and I wish I had counted up how many times I’ve played this over the years because I’m sure I’ve played this more than anything else ever, possibly including chess. Codenames is the best warm-up game - people can join in mid-game, it’s very very easy to teach, games are short, and there are never any hard feelings because it’s always such a team effort.
It’s almost the end of 2022 so I know what you’re all thinking: what did Mac play in 2021? Well, here you are, here’s the list.
Wingspan
We played Wingspan online while we couldn’t meet in person. I don’t think it deserves the hype it got but I do enjoy it very much. It’s very relaxed, the player interaction is subtle and the theme is really unique. It’s a shame the online version doesn’t include the expansions, I really want to try them out.
I don’t always get to watch a lot of films. At some time around March 2022, I realised that I’d watched at least 5 films each month, and I thought to myself, “I wonder if I can keep that up”. I tried, and I did. In doing so I ended up with the most diverse year of film I’ve ever had, and I’ve learned a lot about art along the way. Here are some themes and highlights.