Speed Dating for Games

Welcome to my new series where I speed date games and give an honest review on if I will continue playing or backlog it!

Yes that was the only name I could think of and yes, my Instagram community voted for it over “first impressions” so this is my life now.

I’m rolling with it.

Why speed dating for games?

This might be just a me problem but I’ll share the story anyways.

I’m someone who has a lot of games. Whenever there’s a sale and I see a game I’m like WOW great deal! I need that!

Honestly it only gets out of hand a few times a year but that’s enough for the damage to be done to both my wallet and ever growing backlog of games that still sit in the plastic or Steam library untouched.

At the start of the year I made a resolution to finish 12 games. That’s finishing one game a month.

It sounded like an easy task but for some reason by like March I gave up. I think the idea of having to finish a game became daunting so I abandoned that project lol.

I’m also someone who feels like they have to finish a game once I start it. Is that an inherent gamer thing?

Even if I’m not having fun anymore, there are times I’m like well I just gotta push through to finish!

I think I do this because I am a perfectionist which in turn makes me feel like I must be a completionist. Even though I’m really no where close to one.

So that just ain’t me. And I have to accept it.

My sister helped me purge my house at one point and she gave me some pretty solid advice. She said,

“Some things we buy and in that moment they make us happy. That moment of happiness we get when we buy the item is that item’s purpose. So now you need to let it go.”

– My wise little sister

Phew, maybe I’m a low key hoarder too because that was hard to take. But it makes complete sense! My little sis is wise hehe.

So I’ve applied that to my backlog and accepted that I am a video game collector 🙂

No I will not be letting them go. Not yet atleast… so it’s a library now lol. In mint condition too keke.

I bring this all up because that looming backlog and feeling that I need to complete games actually kept me from trying new games.

Even when I would buy a new game, I’d put it on pause due to this looming feeling.

Then it would go into the backlog only to rinse and repeat this cycle.

Self perpetuating problem, look I know! That’s why I’m here trying to fix it.

Enter Xbox Game Pass

I picked up Xbox Game Pass recently for one reason, to try out Disney Dream Light Valley. No lie, that was my sole purpose.

When I got it and was able to explore the library a little more I realized just how many games I had been sleeping on!

Like so many games that have been on my oh I should play that some day list.

And worse, games I had picked up on sale and not played yet. Ouchiez.

I’m pretty good at adding to cart and making lists so my Xbox Game Pass library was accumulating fast.

I know the way my brain works but I also knew I wanted to play all of these games. Mostly to make the subscription worth it by actually using it but also I just really wanted to try these games out.

I think I’m stuck in a weird crux that gaming content creators fall into where we love to game but we don’t seem to have enough time due to life plus the content creation we’re trying to do on top of that.

It’s something I’ve been mindful of this year and always self evaluating that I’m letting myself actually relax and unwind with gaming.

So I thought why not just give all these games a sample. Just a taste.

My time is pretty limited and I always want to maximize the time I have for gaming.

So usually I go back to my comfort games which is okay. But I want to push myself outside of being comfy all the time and play new games I’ve been interested in.

Thus was born speed dating for games!

What is speed dating for games?

Speed dating for games is the new series where I give myself permission to just try a game with no commitment to having to finish it.

For this series I will play games for 30-60 minutes to decide if it will get a second gaming session or go into the backlog.

I’ll share my honest opinion on how I felt and give it a rating: love it, like it, or backlog it. I’d also love to hear from you on for your thoughts on the games I’m trying!

I’m starting with the Xbox Game Pass working through a list of familiar titles. I didn’t realize when I started adding games to the library that I easily stacked up 50+ games. While that is awesome for what we’re paying, there’s no way I can play 50 games even just to try it out in one month.

And honestly, it kinda gave me huge decision fatigue. I think that was the same issue I was having with my current library too when I would want to play a new game.

Nothing really jumps out and tbh I just don’t want to make a decision lol.

So I made a reel highlighting the games I was most excited for, so I’ll start there. It nearly slims the list in half which is more manageablish I think?

But then I put them in categories and rated how interested I would be based on the category. Oof, exposing my organizer brain here lol.

I’ll probably jump around the list but this will atleast help me feel *less* overwhelmed.

Here are the top candidates for Speed Dating for Games:

1. Disney Dreamlight Valley
2. Unpacking
3. Power Washing Simulator
4. Coral Island
5. Moonglow Bay
6. Beacon Pines
7. Coffee Talk
8. Undertale
9. Lake
10. Garden Story
11. Forager
12. Turnip Boy
13. Let’s Build a Zoo
14. Starbound
15. Taiko no Tatsujin The DrumMaster!
16. Pupperazzi
17. House Flipper
18. Genesis Noir
19. Grim Fandango
20. Persona 5
21. Dreamscraper
22. Ghost Song
23. Omori
24. Citizen Sleeper
25. Death’s Door
26. Mind Scanners

Honorable mentions still on my to try list:

1. Amazing Cultivation Simulator
2. Before We Leave
3. Cooking Simulator
4. Dyson Sphere Program
5. Eville
6. Frog Detective
7. Gorogoa
8. Hollow Knight
9. The Little Witch in the Woods
10. Lootriver
11. Flight Simulator
12. Need For Speed Heat
13. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
14. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered
15. Outer Wilds
16. Slime Rancher 2
17. Tunic
18. Two Point Campus

All of these titles are available on Xbox Game Pass as of writing this post (11/11/22). I will update this list as I play through the games so be sure to check back!

Do you have Xbox Game Pass? What games did I miss?

I’ve definitely done additional scans and found gems I had no idea were on there. I’m so excited to jump into these games and see if they’re worth the hype!

Good luck on your quest!
Momo

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Hi, I’m Momo! If I’m not on a virtual farm, I’m mostly likely re-watching some comfort anime or an old Big Bang concert. I love a quiet weekend in hanging out with my husband & pups while gaming on the couch and drinking an iced coffee.

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