I am fond of resolutions. In the same way that my dog can't resist the food left on the table, I can't resist the urge to make a bunch of ambitious goals for the coming year. As a child, receiving a bunch of Christmas presents was the most exciting part of the holiday season. But as an adult… well, it's still a gift. But the second best gift I could ask for is the opportunity presented by the New Year to imagine how life might change over the next 12 months.
And so, every year, I resolve how many games I want to lose in the coming months.
My goal this year was 60 and I am currently 41. PC Game Pass' “Take a Game Break” tab, which recommends games you can finish in under five hours, is doing some heavy lifting this month.
How to finish unfinished
Multiplayer games are included in that list if I pass a certain hour count. The initial hit time was 50 hours, but I reduced it to 30, because that's how much time I spent with XDefiant before it became clear that all of its players had jumped to Black Ops 6. I didn't just play 20. More hours against bots. I added such a rule as an incentive to multiplayer games because in the first few years I participated in this gamer ritual, the resolution to finish games was, by definition, driving me away from unfinished games.
But even with that goal, I'm only playing multiplayer games that I can play alone. There are no co-op games like Content Alert or Black Ops' Zombies mode, and no squad-based shooters like Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, or Valorant. I put 30 hours into the XDefiant, but did it completely alone.
This has always been my hang up with modern gaming. I enjoy playing games with other people, but I've never had a regular gaming group. As a child, it was for sleep. On the GameCube, my friends and I played Super Smash Bros. We put endless hours into multiplayer games like Melee, Kirby Air Ride, Sonic Riders, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and Worms 3D. In college, I didn't play a ton, but would go to some Melee or Pokemon Stadium if the people on my floor were playing games. After school, I moved in with my high school friends and we played Smash Bros again, and even passed the controller around until the wee hours of the morning.
These were all personal experiences, which are still my favorite form of multiplayer gaming. The most fun I've ever had playing Fortnite was teaming up with friends in the same room on PS4, Switch and laptop.
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The future of multiplayer is indie
A developer getting a successful indie game is like winning the lottery, whether it's single player or multiplayer.
As a game critic, I obviously started getting involved with online multiplayer – especially when I was a freelancer and taking on any project that a website would throw my way. I reviewed Risk of Rain 2 with a college friend, and had a great time catching up with him. We went to Left 4 Dead after that, and had a lot of fun. But he lives in Thailand and after a while, the 13-hour difference became unbearable.
Changing my gaming habits in the new year
So, as I look ahead to 2025, I want to finally change that. My goal is to make playing with friends a weekly part of my gaming regimen.
The time for this change is great. Baldur's Gate 3 adding crossplay will be a game-changer; I know a lot of people who play the game, but not all are on the same platform. My wife will be able to play on the PS5, I'll be on my laptop, and our friends can play whatever version they want. It's a game I love and a good excuse to dedicate time to another playthrough with other people.
I like to use sports as a way to keep in touch with my high school and college friends. I try to text my friends once a week but, in general, guys don't like talking on the phone. If I'm really going to know what's going on in their lives, multiplayer games are the best way forward. So I also resolve that, in 2025, if I want to play any of my friends, I will say yes.
I have a pathological aversion to being on the mic with strangers but, in 2025, I'm committed to at least regularly being on the mic with friends. And, if some of those games can be in person like the old days, even better.
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