Order Up!: In a Rut? 5 Games to Fall in Love With Gaming Again
When the thought hit me suddenly that I hadn’t really enjoyed a game just to enjoy it for a long, long time, I did a double-take. I’ve been writing about games since 2016, and had a mildly successful time doing twitch streaming as a part-time job for a couple years. I’ve gotten review copies of lovely games, and shared all sorts of gems with community members. What is that, if not enjoying video games?
It turns out that turning something you love as a hobby into work isn’t always the dream it sounds like. I wasn’t really playing games for myself anymore. Somehow, I’d gotten into a rut – it happens for all kinds of reasons, and it happens to many of us. When I finally sat down with a game I had wanted to play for a long time, it was a real retreat back into why I loved gaming, and I was so excited to enjoy it with no pressure.
If you’ve been in one of these ruts for awhile, here’s a list of games that are engaging, immersive, and give you wonderful new worlds to explore, indie and AAA alike.
If you want a classic RPG experience… play Octopath Traveler
The classic RPG can seem overwhelming at times, with playthroughs sometimes taking over fifty hours, but the hours put into Octopath Traveler are worth it – the game features not only a cast of eight unique characters drawn together by fate and circumstance, but also a huge world to explore. From the snowy northern mountains to murky ancient forests and sprawling deserts, players will cross the continent and back again. Woven into your travels are numerous side quests and even longer side stories, which makes for a fun discovery when you see travelers you’ve helped before making their way to new horizons as well.
The one area that Octopath really struggles with is that it’s incredibly grindy, and bringing all your characters up to speed requires a lot of time spent on leveling. This is mitigated slightly by having such a sizable world to explore and lots of hidden caves and mini-dungeons to check out – I was delighted by all the secrets I found just going from town to town. Overall, the world is a great one to get lost in and Octopath Traveler is an RPG worth experiencing.
If you’re feeling nostalgic… play A Space for the Unbound
Mojiken has made some beautiful games, so there I had high hopes for this magical, emotional romp through 1990s Indonesia, and it met them all. Atma and Raya – a couple of teens in a rural Indonesian town – are inseparable and ready to start checking off their epic bucket list (like petting the fluffiest animal in the world) together. But when a simple trip to the movies takes strange and wonderous turns, Atma realizes there’s much more to Raya than he ever knew, and every wonderful magic comes with a dark side too.
A Space for the Unbound plays like the typical puzzle-solving adventure game most of the time – you’ll run around town exploring and trying to figure out how to get what you need to move forward. Occasionally there are fight sequences, but they don’t show up too often. On the surface, A Space for the Unbound starts out as a magical urban adventure, but soon it spirals into a heartfelt tale of what it means to live, to love, and to honour the past while moving on to the future. The game is completely playable in a day or two, and will probably make you laugh, smile, and cry the whole way through.
If you want to reconnect to your inner child… play Kirby Star Allies
Regardless of whether or not Kirby was your childhood, Kirby Star Allies taps into one of my favourite parts of growing up with games – it allows for a comfortable, fun, co-op couch experience with 1 to 4 players. The game is fairly low-stakes and approachable, making it a great pick for younger players, but it also just feels fun to play, making it a great fit for pretty much anyone. You have the chance to unlock and play characters from all across the many games in the Kirby series, giving players a chance to try out all sorts of new powers and types of gameplay. The stages are pretty short, making it easy to pick up and put down again.
Together (or on your own, if that’s your thing!) you’ll platform and kick and break your way through colorful landscapes and fast-paced boss battles. Overall, Kirby Star Allies is just a lot of fun to pop in while hanging out at home with your family or friends. It’s a perfect way to reconnect with the feeling of playing together in the same room on a quiet afternoon.
If you want a deeper experience… play Spiritfarer
Spiritfarer’s premise sounds like a heavy one – the player explores the world as Stella, a spiritfarer. Stella’s job is to find the souls of the recently deceased, and help their spirits prepare for a journey into the afterlife. Along the way, you’ll learn about the spirits you pick up and the lives they’ve lived and help them say goodbye, but you’ll also have a large world to explore, as well as a home built onto a large ship that lets you build your resources, learn to cook, and play lots of minigames. There’s a lot of resource management to do, but it’s balanced out well but exploration and story, so it never quite feels like you’re stuck doing one thing over and over.
Spiritfarer’s focus on death is hard sometimes – there were more than a few moments in the game that I cried, I’ll admit. But it’s also quite beautiful. The game portrays death as more than just an ending, and helps explore the joys and sorrows of lives that have been lived to their last day. It also reminds us to think about the memories we leave behind with others – everyone has a legacy. The end result is a game that’s as beautiful as it is fun, and will tug at your heartstrings over and over again until its conclusion.
If you like visual novels… play I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Growing up is already a strange and shocking process, but especially so for the children of Vertumna – a hopeful colony built in space after Earth becomes dangerous and difficult to inhabit. The player will start as a 10-year old inhabitant of Vertumna, and spend each year learning, making friends, and even finding love. As they get older and become more aware of the dangers of their world, they’ll begin developing alliances and a personality that will help them make new high-stakes choices. The visual novel aspect is punctuated by exploration and a card-game mechanic that is surprisingly fun to learn and play.
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is impressively good at handling discussions around growing into adulthood, and each playthrough has a whole new set of possibilities to uncover as you become closer to different characters or change how you use your time. The game ends when the player reaches 20, but each playthrough will give you new knowledge to go back and explore further. With a gorgeous art style and varied cast to engage with, this is a game worth playing more than once.
If you’ve been looking for something to get into or inspire you to settle in with a game again, hopefully something on this list piques your interest! There’s a whole world of fun and engaging games out there to pick up and enjoy, and it’s never too late to find something new to play.