Hi readers, I’m Joseph, a Singapore-based father of 2 kids and a game developer. I've been an avid gamer since I breaking the spacebar while playing Double Dragon on a hand-me-down PC from my uncle. (Star Goose & Alley Cat count among my first games as well—anyone else remember those?) Though I managed to keep gaming while navigating adult life, becoming a father naturally led to less gaming time and more sensible spending. As a result, I've still accumulated quite a gaming backlog—not just from my phase of buying dozens of games during Steam sales (who hasn't?), but also from freebies from Epic Game Store and Prime Gaming.
Inspired by the video by Darryl Talks Games about completing his backlog in a year, I decided to create a more conservative (or so I thought) list of 25 games for 2024. Here was my thinking:
A methodical approach would help overcome the analysis paralysis of choosing from an ever-growing backlog
I wanted to distribute my gaming time across different platforms
I'm the kind of person who enjoys tracking stuff (my HowLongToBeat stats go back to 2017)
It was a chance to revisit and finish games I'd previously started but set aside
I planned to add brief notes whenever I completed, retired, or re-backlogged a game (hopefully avoiding the latter. Spoiler alert: I failed), aiming to be more mindful of my gaming experience. I also committed to providing monthly updates.
Throughout 2024, I posted monthly updates about this "experiment" on Facebook, including my progress and notes about the games. As my notes got longer, Facebook became increasingly inadequate as a platform. That, plus other reasons for wanting to leave Facebook, brought me here to Substack. (Should I migrate my Facebook posts here and backdate them? I might be the only one who cares...)
2024 in games
Now that we're in 2025, it's time for my gaming wrap-up of 2024 and to see how this experiment went.
So the most important question: did I clear my list of 25 games? Yes but not really:
Planned: 25
Completed (Purple): 14
Retired (Red): 5
Evergreen (Green): 3
Punted (Yellow): 3
By Q4, I knew I wasn't going to make the year (No, I wasn't producing my backlog yet—I only put together the "burndown" and category breakdown charts at year's end). I faced a choice: either rush through the remaining games by retiring them quickly, or find another way to move them off the list.
That's how I came up with "Evergreen" games—titles I've played enough to form a solid opinion about. These fall into two categories: forever games like Griftlands that I'll always return to, and games like Marvel's Midnight Suns and Death Stranding that I'll continue playing on the side, tracking them as part of my off-list efforts.
Then there are the "Punted" games—ones I've put back into the backlog for future attempts. These are games I didn't want to rush through or ones that require the right headspace to properly enjoy: Judgement, Outer Wilds, and Breath of the Wild (Maybe it's just how wild these games are...)
Beyond my planned 25 games, I played an additional 15, bringing the total to 40. Of these off-list games, I only completed 4—Paper Trail, Organ Trail, South Scrimshaw: Part One, and Alan Wake's American Nightmare. One game, Fallout: New Vegas, I've decided to save for proper attention in the future.
Total Played: 40
Total Completed: 18
The committed list definitely helped with focus—I completed more games from it than from off-list plays. This is actually my highest completion count in 8 years. Even without buying any new games, my existing backlog and incoming freebies provided plenty of off-list distractions.
Using HLTB's notes section, I tracked what I liked, disliked, and moments that stirred emotions. This made me a more active player instead of just consuming games—similar to how I learnt to provide competitive analysis feedback at work. Interestingly, saving the monthly summaries for later let me reflect properly, read others' thoughts online, and discuss with friends instead of just posting knee-jerk reactions.
For all these reasons, I'm definitely continuing this in 2025. (If not, this would be a very awkward one-post publication.)
Noteworthy games of 2024
In chronology of when I played them:
Prey: Mooncrash (2018)
An immersive sim rogue-like. Arkane Austin made it work somehow and they will be missed.Final Fantasy XVI (2023)
After FF15's disappointment, the spectacle of 16 rekindled my curiosity about the franchise's future.Football Manager 2024 (2023)
Tried a fresh save using an attribute-less skin, relying purely on data. Also explored custom game databases for the first time with a Japanese lower league save.Vampyr (2018)
Despite its flaws, the writing and unique quest system delighted me enough to put Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden on my radar. Sadly, Don't Nod faced layoffs in 2024.Demon’s Souls (2020)
Returned to where it all began, now with a shinier coat of paint. You can trace some systems from later Souls games back here. The tension build-up and release remains unmatched in FromSoft's games.Alan Wake Remastered (2021)
Can't believe I slept on this game for so long. Fully aboard the Remedy hype train now.Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017)
An unique immersive experience of stepping into the shoes of someone with psychosis. Thoughtfully crafted, as shown in the behind-the-scenes documentary.
See you (hopefully) soon for the 2025 list and some changes to this continued futile effort…