Gaming abstinence challenge: buying just 12 games in 12 months in 2022. Clear your pile of shame!

[Qazimod]

Not much to report. I finished Elden Ring around the end of March and then about a week into April I dug out the RS97 and jumped into another blind retro playthrough (FFV Advance) so my time has been dominated with all of that (and the occasional Destiny 2 weeklies) rather than any "new" games.

 

I'm not too bothered about May's offerings so I might look at some older recent releases. Although I think I said that last time...

[PikaStu]

The Switch sale means I’ve gone bust. 
I really did have good intentions for this year, but upgrading to an Oled Switch has meant I’ve been enjoying the platform a lot more, and I have a terrible habit of double dipping on titles just to have them on a portable device 🤦‍♂️
 

Jan - Metro Exodus PC - £4.94 after using voucher

Feb - Hotshot Racing Switch - free after using credit

Feb - Tiny Combat Arena PC - £10.84

Feb - Elden Ring PC - £36.99

March - Kirby & Forgotten Land Switch - (£34.99) free from Currys after converting Microsoft points to Currys vouchers.

April - Gunbird 2 Switch - £4.69 I think?

April - Cruisin’ Blast Switch - £19.99

April - Mercs (Capcom Arcade) Switch - £1.69

April - Scott Pilgrim Switch - £3.99

April - Sonic Mania Switch - £7.99

April - Civilisation VI Switch - £7.99

April - Street Fighter Anniversary Collection Switch -£9.99

 

Honestly, if I hadn’t bought the new Switch I would still just be playing Elden Ring and probably wouldn’t have bought anything for a couple more months… Ah well, maybe I’ll be able to limit my game purchases in 2023!

[Jamie John]

8 hours ago, PikaStu said:

The Switch sale means I’ve gone bust. 
I really did have good intentions for this year, but upgrading to an Oled Switch has meant I’ve been enjoying the platform a lot more, and I have a terrible habit of double dipping on titles just to have them on a portable device 🤦‍♂️
 

Jan - Metro Exodus PC - £4.94 after using voucher

Feb - Hotshot Racing Switch - free after using credit

Feb - Tiny Combat Arena PC - £10.84

Feb - Elden Ring PC - £36.99

March - Kirby & Forgotten Land Switch - (£34.99) free from Currys after converting Microsoft points to Currys vouchers.

April - Gunbird 2 Switch - £4.69 I think?

April - Cruisin’ Blast Switch - £19.99

April - Mercs (Capcom Arcade) Switch - £1.69

April - Scott Pilgrim Switch - £3.99

April - Sonic Mania Switch - £7.99

April - Civilisation VI Switch - £7.99

April - Street Fighter Anniversary Collection Switch -£9.99

 

Honestly, if I hadn’t bought the new Switch I would still just be playing Elden Ring and probably wouldn’t have bought anything for a couple more months… Ah well, maybe I’ll be able to limit my game purchases in 2023!

 

 

No, only playing. Well done for lasting this far. I found the Switch sale difficult to resist, too. Still, you've got your 12 games now, so if you don't buy any more for the rest of the year then you'll have completed the challenge...

[PikaStu]

1 hour ago, Jamie John said:

 

 

No, only playing. Well done for lasting this far. I found the Switch sale difficult to resist, too. Still, you've got your 12 games now, so if you don't buy any more for the rest of the year then you'll have completed the challenge...

Yeah, I’ve already bought Huntdown due to peer pressure in the eshop thread 😂

And I plan to pickup Samurai Shodown at CEX today because it’s only £22 and I’m weak. 
 

[Jamie John]

1 minute ago, PikaStu said:

Yeah, I’ve already bought Huntdown due to peer pressure in the eshop thread 😂

And I plan to pickup Samurai Shodown at CEX today because it’s only £22 and I’m weak. 
 

 

Yeah, I just saw that in the eShop thread, ha. I was very tempted by Huntdown myself, after everything I've read, but it's on sale quite frequently, so I'll pick it up next time.

 

Anyway, checking in for the start of May:

 

I was still playing Elden Ring for the first fortnight of April but finally put that to bed after getting all the achievements. After that I moved onto Kirby on the Switch, which was a great palette cleanser. I'm currently in the middle of a Switch binge, so I moved onto Slay the Spire to finally finish off as much of that I'm prepared to play, and now I'm a few hours into Blasphemous, which I'm enjoying, despite some of the arbitrary Soulsborne mechanics which feel outdated post-ER. Once I'm through which that I'll go onto Dragon Quest, which I'm sure will keep me busy for a good while, and my son and I started Pikmin 3 yesterday.

 

Overall, I'm starting May with 26 games in the backlog, so only one fewer than last month. Game Pass titles continue to stack up, and with the release schedule looking quite thin for the foreseeable, I can't see myself buying anything this month.

[glb]

Sniper Elite V being on Gamepass is a massive boon. Got headroom only having bought two and traded one game so far but nice knowing that’s another 30-40 hour game for no extra cost.

 

Still mulling over buying a new Switch but found my Vita, which could scratch the portable itch. If I can understand how to mod it then even better.

[teddymeow]

Resisted the urge to pick up a £10 copy of Deathloop in ASDA today.

 

The plan is currently:

 

1. Finish Uncharted Lost Legacy on PS5

2. Play through Kirby on Switch

3. Actually break the seal on Metroid Dread and play it

 

That should keep me going in May.

[teddymeow]

3 hours ago, glb said:

Still mulling over buying a new Switch but found my Vita, which could scratch the portable itch. If I can understand how to mod it then even better.

 

I managed to mod mine with SD2Vita with very little issue. Having the majority of my games ready to go with the need to delete / download due to a lack of storage space is great!!

[spanx]

April purchases were expensive, although all linked to MSFS…

 

Bought a new plane, Kodiak Turboprop, for £30, then spunked £350 on a new throttle.

 

No new games though

[Qazimod]

On 29/04/2022 at 11:53, Qazimod said:

I'm not too bothered about May's offerings so I might look at some older recent releases. Although I think I said that last time...

 

On 31/12/2021 at 20:46, Qazimod said:

1. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Feb)

2. Elden Ring (Feb)

3. FFVII Remake: INTERmission (May)

 

Technically DLC/mission pack fare, but so is The Witch Queen.

 

It's been a while since I've picked anything up for a couple of reasons. For one, Elden Ring and WQ have kept me occupied for a pretty long time, but I've also done a couple of large first-time retro playthroughs via emulation; initially with FFV Advance over April and then almost immediately into FFIII (not western VI) because they'd been on my bucket list for a while. But so has INTERmission. So now I'm finally free of a few ongoing "commitments" and am looking forward to trying this.  

 

Also, you know it's the right time to catch up on older games when you have recent threads literally asking if there are no more worthwhile releases this year.  

[Jamie John]

1 hour ago, Qazimod said:

Also, you know it's the right time to catch up on older games when you have recent threads literally asking if there are no more worthwhile releases this year.  

 

Yup, we picked a pretty good year for it.

 

Apart from God of War (which I'm sure will be delayed any day now) I don't think there's anything I'm desperate to buy day one for the remainder of the year. Everything else I know I want is coming to Game Pass.

 

As for what I'm currently playing, I've sort of coming away from games a bit in a post-Elden Ring state of restlessness and have been watching films and TV programmes instead. I'm sort of playing Dragon Quest XI on the Switch, but only here and there. I've been thinking of picking up the Skywalker Saga at some point, though.

[spanx]

No new games but added another new plane to MSFS last week. Another £50 😕

[Jamie John]

End of the month (almost) check-in time, people! I'm up to six games:

 

1. Inscryption (PC) - 7/1/22

2. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4) - 28/1/22

3. Elden Ring (XSX) - 21/02/22

4. Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - 25/03/22

5. Dragon Quest XI: Definitive Edition (Switch) - 28/4/22

6. Horizon: Forbidden West (PS5) - 27/5/22

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

 

I haven't played a great amount this month, and one of the games I have played (Superliminal) was Game Pass, so the backlog still stands at 26 games.

 

I'm currently deep into Tunic, another Game Pass title, but once that's done then it'll be time to get stuck into Horizon, which I've heard lots of mixed reports on. Apart from that, still with no God of War release date forthcoming, there's little else this year that I'm planning to buy. I might be tempted by The Starwalker Saga, if I see a digital version going cheaply. Otherwise it's all stuff coming to Game Pass anyway. Maybe the not E3 conferences over the next few weeks will bear fruit.

 

How did everyone else do this month?

[Qazimod]

No change from my earlier post: INTERmission was picked up, but nothing else. I'm bracing for the Steam sale at the end of June though!

[drkbfhmmr]

I'm gonna give this a go, but for the sake of my own sanity I'm going to count bundles and collections as single entries on the list (as I've already got hundreds of games through the Bundle for Ukraine)

 

1. Dead Cells: Road to the Sea Bundle

2. Deep Rock Galactic

3. GolfTopia

4. Bundle for Ukraine

5. Monster Hunter World

6. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

[Talvalin]

I'm still playing Elden Ring so absolutely zero desire to buy any new games. That said, I'm thinking of picking up Blasphemous after I finish for more Souls-like pain.

[spanx]

End may checkin

 

Bought

1. OlliOlli World (£15)

2. Elden Ring (£38)

3. Death Stranding Directors Cut Upgrade (£8)

4. Kodiak 100 Plane for MSFS2020 (£30)

5. BAe 146 plane for MSFS (£50)

 

Doing pretty well sticking to one purchase per month. However not making any dent on the backlog as MSFS is dominating gaming time completely. About 60 hours flying time in the last two months 😕

[ox1973]

Not much to report:

 

1. Capcom vs SNK Card Fighters Clash (Nintendo Switch) - £4.19

2. Elden Ring (PC) - £36.99

3. Peglin (PC) - £13.49

 

Still only 3 games this year and nothing at all in May. I see that Biomotor Unitron is out on Switch so might pick that up to feed my Neo Geo Pocket obsession but otherwise nothing much on the horizon. Maybe Mario Strikers depending on how it reviews.

[glb]

Downloading Sniper Elite V, so still only on three purchases as well. Think I’ve got another 15 hours or so of Lego Star Wars to reach 100%.

 

Horizon Forbidden West won’t get bought until Autumn at this rate, and unless anything major comes out of the blue don’t think I’ll be making too many purchases this year other than that. Maybe an upgrade to one of the fuller PS+ tiers once those are available, and if there are a few tempting titles.

 

Purchased

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (January)

Lego Skywalker Yortcakes (April)

Cyberpunk 2077 (April) - trade

 

Completed 2022

Black Ops: Cold War

Cravkdown 3 (GP)

Deathloop

Doom Eternal (GP)

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

 

Wishlist

God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West

Saints Row

Starfield

Stray

The Callisto Project

 

Currently Playing

Sniper Elite V

 

Backlog (Owned not subbed)

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (incomplete)

Bound

Cyberpunk 2077

FIFA ‘22

Mortal Kombat 11

Resident Evil 7

Soma

[Sarlaccfood]

10 hours ago, spanx said:

4. Kodiak 100 Plane for MSFS2020 (£30)

5. BAe 146 plane for MSFS (£50)

Hold up.

 

Are these prices for just one plane?

[Qazimod]

10 hours ago, Talvalin said:

That said, I'm thinking of picking up Blasphemous after I finish for more Souls-like pain

Are you subscribed to Prime Gaming and its PC freebies? Blasphemous was given away there a while ago…

[spanx]

30 minutes ago, Sarlaccfood said:

Hold up.

 

Are these prices for just one plane?

Yup

[HarryBizzle]

On 06/02/2022 at 17:58, HarryBizzle said:

Jan: nuffink. 

February: Sekiro (£10). Elden Ring. 
 

Horizon and Dying Light 2 will fit into other months. 🙂

March: zero

April: nada

May: zilch

June: Horizon: Forbidden West. 

[Qazimod]

Ruh-roh.

 

On 31/12/2021 at 20:46, Qazimod said:

1. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Feb)

2. Elden Ring (Feb)

3. FFVII Remake: INTERmission (May)

4. Hades (Jun)

5. Clustertruck (Jun)

 

Damn you Steam sale! Technically still on track though  and it's not like anything gets released over the summer period anyway.

 

I had been looking at buying Outmode, but I'll leave that for now. Nothing else on my radar except P5R on PC. And, uh, the next sales...

[teddymeow]

On 31/12/2021 at 22:31, teddymeow said:

@DarkCrisis Are you buying the Uncharted PS5 upgrades as a new game or are you doing the £10 update?

 

Trying to figure out if this counts as my first purchase of the year or not. 🤔

 

Jan - Uncharted Legacy of Thieves (PS5) - £6.79

 

Feb - Horizon Forbidden West (PS4 with PS5 upgrade) - £52.95

 

March - Kirby & The Forgotten Land (NSW) - £39.45

 

April - Nothing

 

May - Ghostwire Tokyo (PS5) - £24.99

 

June - Mario Strikers: Battle League (NSW) - £42.95

 

July - ??

 

August - ??

 

September - ??

 

October - ??

 

November - ??

 

December - ??

 

Defo purchases still to plan in:

 

God of War Ragnarok

 

 

Still going well. Even better after selling Mario Strikers.

 

Stray being added to the new PS+ thing is also good news.

[Jamie John]

Checking in for the end of June and it's the first time this year where I've gone an entire month with no new games, which I'm pleased with.

 

I started off the month playing Horizon: Forbidden West, which I ploughed on with for about 25 hours before handing in the towel. After that, I replayed Fez the Switch, which remains excellent, but seeing as it was a replay it's done nothing to reduce the backlog (25 games). I'm currently an hour into Citizen Sleeper, playing via Game Pass, which I'm enjoying, but I've been watching TV series a bit more than usual this month, so I haven't been spending quite as long playing games. Once I'm done with CS, however, I think I'll give Neon White a go, as those who are playing seem to be enjoying it a lot.

 

How was June for everyone else?

[Qazimod]

Hoping that my extravagant spending (£16 on two games) above keeps me busy through a quiet summer. Hades and Clustertruck are both lovely immediate experiences that I can jump in and out of, whilst June's announcement of various Persona ports gave me an appetite to play P3P again, so that's going to be a bit of a timesink. I've also decided not to pick up Outmode just yet - it looks great, but picking up a brand new game plus sale games is a bit much.

 

Based on my personal interests I'm expecting a drought now until September (Metal: Hellsinger) or October (P5 Royal PC), but we'll see.

[glb]

52 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

How was June for everyone else?

No purchases for June, just been hammering Cricket ‘22 and Sniper Elite 5* on Game Pass. Find downloading games on the service also scratches the ‘new game itch’ without spending any further money.

 

Still intend to pick up Horizon Forbidden West, but there’s enough in my backlog along with ‘free’ content in the next few months to mean that HFW will be bought in the Autumn, and will likely be my final purchase for the year. The Callisto Project looks to be shapely up nicely but unless my slate is clear doubt I’ll day one it; more likely to do that with the Dead Space remaster in Jan ‘23, then play Callisto as a pseudo sequel.

 

*may buy the extra level, but that’s the only amount I envisage spending before HFW.

[teddymeow]

If you buy a game and then sell it on, does that mean you're back to zero purchases so can buy something else?

[Jamie John]

5 minutes ago, teddymeow said:

If you buy a game and then sell it on, does that mean you're back to zero purchases so can buy something else?

 

That's up to you and your own conscience.