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

[teddymeow]

Well then, with the delay to Advance Wars, I'm freed up my April slot.

 

May pick-up Ghostwire Tokyo towards the end of the month (may get the usual Bethesda discount after sales don't hit their projected target).

[PikaStu]

I assume the Itch.io pack for Ukraine doesn’t count, does it?! I mean it’s for charity and would’ve been rude not to chuck some money their way. 😉

[AlexM]

Mid-March, no purchases, really not fussed either. 
 

GT7 was the one game that could have broken me, but after reading about the grindy nature, always online requirement and micro transactions I’ve put that one to bed. 
 

Lots on my ‘to play’ list that I already own & more to come from Game Pass. The only purchase on my wish list is a Steam Deck, and I don’t see that happening until 2023. 

[ox1973]

I reckon Elden Ring's going to keep me going a good bit longer. Not even thinking about buying (or playing) anything else at the moment.

 

120 hours in and still not finished, and that's without NG+.

[Jamie John]

7 minutes ago, ox1973 said:

I reckon Elden Ring's going to keep me going a good bit longer. Not even thinking about buying (or playing) anything else at the moment.

 

120 hours in and still not finished, and that's without NG+.

 

Yup - I feel the same way. No urge to play anything else, almost a month since it came out. I might not be getting through my backlog, but at least I'm not buying anything new.

 

I think I might have a bit of a Game Pass binge once I'm done. Tunic, FAR, Outer Wilds and GotG all need playing.

[teddymeow]

Kirby on Friday. Really looking forward to it!!

 

I've struggled to give Horizon FW much time since I bought it. Combination of long work hours, wife going through some work related challenges and the kids going through an "over-excited at everything" phase means I've been regularly falling asleep in front of the TV at about 8.40PM most evenings so haven't been gaming much.

[Qazimod]

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

1. Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Feb)

2. Elden Ring (Feb)

 

Notables:

 

February: maybe FFVI Pixel Remaster, but I might be able to put this off.

March: maybe Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, but I'm not desperate for this.

March: maybe Tunic, but I'm not desperate for this.

TBC: maybe Replaced but I don't know a lot about it.

 

The first three notables have been out for a bit now, but I haven't bought anything since Elden Ring. Because Elden Ring.

[Paulando]

Had a little wobble in March:

 

Spoiler

January

Burnout Paradise (£3)

Cardfighters Clash (£7)

Uncharted upgrade (£10)

 

February

Dragon Quest XI (£31)

 

March

Faraday Protocol (£10)

Lost in Random (£11)

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (£38 £0)

Faraday Protocol was 50% off and I had it on my wishlist, I’ve also started it straight away. Seems to be a <5 hours puzzle game so I should have that one out the way pretty quickly.

 

I picked up Lost in Random as that was also on sale (I resisted before), as it was giving me Alice: Madness Returns vibes. Kind of wish I didn’t as the performance on Switch isn’t great and the opening of the game didn’t grab me. These purchases are exactly why I started this in the first place, so hopefully the memory of this shall stay with me long into the year.

 

And Kirby. I had a voucher to use from Christmas so it didn’t come out of my own pocket, it’s reviewed incredibly well, and it’ll hold most of its value if I ever come to sell. Why not.

[Boothjan]

Still £0 net spend for the year. Got a load of reward points which I used a small amount of to buy the Plunder Pass for the new season of Sea of Thieves but other than that, nowt.

 

I think the new Lego Star Wars game might be my biggest temptation yet, but I'm feeling strong. 

[spanx]

Looking good for a zero cost March. God knows when I’ll next buy a game, Elden Ring’s fucking massive

[Jamie John]

Got paid today and saw that Kirby was discounted so I couldn't resist:

 

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

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I'm going to play it with my boy as a nice palate cleanser alongside Elden Ring.

[Jolly]

Still only on OlliOlli and Elden Ring bought for this year. Attempting this challenge in 2022 does feel like you're playing on easy mode given the quality and size of the later. 

[Ninja Doctor]

Buying cheap retro stuff doesn’t count does it? Managed to avoid buying anything so far this year. 

[spanx]

1 hour ago, Jolly said:

Still only on OlliOlli and Elden Ring bought for this year. Attempting this challenge in 2022 does feel like you're playing on easy mode given the quality and size of the later. 

Ditto. Exactly the same purchases. Not entirely sure what can even follow Elden Ring TBH. 

[acidbearboy]

February

£30 eShop voucher purchased for £27.
Wii-U Downloads:

• NES remix 1 £8.99
• NES Remix 2 £8.99
• Tengami £6.99
• Olympia rising £4.49

54p left over on account.

 

March

Wii-U Downloads:

• NES VC - Duck Hunt £3.49 (cost me £2.95 using 54p credit)
• NES VC - The Adventures of Bayou Billy £3.49
• SNES VC - F-Zero £1.49 (offer price as I had bought it on the Wii VC)

Switch Downloads:

• Bridge Strike 89p (cost me 66p using gold points)
• Shinobi (Sega Ages) £2.09

GAMES PURCHASED: 9

TOTAL SPEND: £37.68

 

That's the maths. But what have I played?

 

Not a lot from the backlog - just Breath of the Wild a couple of times.

I did load up FFX once but the boss I'm stuck on (Spectral Keeper) is tricky.

Played quite a lot of NES Remix 1 and will continue to chip away at 3 starring all the challenges. 

Played Olympia Rising a couple of times and enjoyed it, so hope to play more. 

Played a few games of Duck Hunt and so did the kids - nice easy title to dip into.

Had a quick go on Bayou Billy, which was harder than I remember.

F-Zero is one of my faves and another easy title to dip into.

I played Bridge Strike once but it was boring. I might give it one more try to make sure, but I can see that getting deleted and forgotten about.

I played through Shinobi once from start to finish. It was alright but I don't think I will be rushing to play it again.

[glb]

What’s the feeling on trades? Got a couple of completed PS5 games I was going to ship in for Cyberpunk now the PS5 update is available.

 

Feels a bit snide though as developers don’t get anything, and CEX smells funny.

[Qazimod]

March recap: nothing. I still have plenty to do in the things I picked up during February.

 

April doesn’t look that eventful either, but maybe I’ll pick up some things that are already out…

[Jamie John]

Not much to report for March. I've been playing Elden Ring exclusively, apart from the occasional bout on Kirby with the boy. 27 games in the backlog, and not much on the horizon for April that interests me.

 

Once ER is done, if I don't decide to jump straight into NG+, then I'm going to work my way through some Game Pass stuff. Guardians of the Galaxy, FAR: Changing Tides, Outer Wilds and Tunic all need a look-in. I should probably dust off the PS5 at some point, too.

 

With BotW 2 delayed now until next year, the only non-Game Pass game on my calendar is God of War 2, and I'm still not convinced that's coming out in 2022, either. I still want to give Horizon: FW a go, if only to have something shiny, but that's about it. If I do end up getting my Steam Deck over the summer, however, I imagine the allure of cheap PC games on the go will be hard to deny.

[spanx]

Soo I’ve made an additional purchase — Death Stranding Directors Cut upgrade — for a measly £8. Death Stranding was already in my backlog though so I’m counting that as upgrading my backlog rather than growing it. 
 

Means I’ve spent £58 on three titles so far this year. Not bad

[glb]

Done a buy. Felt giddy. 
 

Hit a fatigue point with Valhalla over the weekend after slogging through a temple only for a poxy helmet. Probably got another 50+ hours of it if I want but fancied something a bit different but in the meantime.

 

Purchased

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (January)

LEGO Skywalker Yortcakes (April)

Cyberpunk 2077 (April) - trade

 

Completed 2022

Black Ops: Cold War

Deathloop

Doom Eternal (GP)

 

Wishlist

Cyberpunk 2077

God of War Ragnarok
Horizon Forbidden West

Saints Row

Stray

 

Currently Playing

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Lonely Mountains: Downhill (GP)

Madden ‘21 (GP)

Two Point Hospital (GP)

 

Backlog (Owned not subbed)

Bound

FIFA ‘22

Mortal Kombat 11

Resident Evil 7

Soma

[acidbearboy]

Been on holiday this week. Brought my Switch with me and have exclusively been playing Hyper Light Drifter from my backlog. I remember playing it briefly when it came out on PC but I’ve never been much of a PC gamer. Enjoying it, generally, but have found it a little frustrating in places. Also, the dreamy graphics and music make me sleepy. 

[PikaStu]

So this isn’t going well! Due to upgrading to an Oled Switch (from a Lite - what a difference!) I’ve bought a few more games thanks to the opportunity to use TATE mode and the ultra-vibrant screen…

 

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

 

There’s going to be more Switch games soon no doubt 😂

[glb]

Forgot I picked up Death Loop in a trade last year. Having finished it have traded it in for Cyberpunk. Doesn’t count as a purchase, but I’ll include it as one of my twelve allotted games for the year.

 

A game a month is pretty generous really. Having Valhalla, Lego Star Wars, Cyberpunk and probably Horizon FW next, which are all hefty games in terms of time to complete, should mean the final total for the year is fewer than twelve.

[Nobuo's Organ]

Jan 26 - Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum'n'Fun!

Feb 9 - Destiny 2: The Witch Queen Deluxe Edition

April 12 - Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST & Halo 4

 

I bailed on Halo after 2 and felt like it'll be time to catch up near the end of this season of Destiny, plus it was only AU$16 for everything I didn't already have in the Master Chief Collection.

[PikaStu]

On 15/04/2022 at 09:02, PikaStu said:

So this isn’t going well! Due to upgrading to an Oled Switch (from a Lite - what a difference!) I’ve bought a few more games thanks to the opportunity to use TATE mode and the ultra-vibrant screen…

 

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

 

There’s going to be more Switch games soon no doubt 😂

April - Quake Switch - £3.19

 

I mean, it would’ve been rude not to… 🤦‍♂️

[teddymeow]

Halfway through April and no purchases yet.

 

Can't believe I've actually only bought two full-price games this year (Horizon & Kirby) with Uncharted upgrade being the Jan purchase.

 

Go me!!

[gospvg]

I've purchased nothing yet so far this year, working my way through the Yakuza Games & got distracted at the moment by helping my daughter play Story of Seasons.

Only two games I do want to get at some point is Horizon 2 & GT7 but not until later in the year.

[ox1973]

So, finally done with Elden Ring (for now at least) so what to fill the void with? Re-installed DayZ for a bit of nostalgia. Continued making a dent into the backlog with some Death Stranding and Ace Attorney Adventures. But wanted to play something 'new' as well.

 

Decided on Peglin. It's a rogue-like Peggle if you can envision such a thing. Played the demo, liked it, so took the leap as soon as it was released into early access. It's a bit content light (the curse of early access) but the core gamplay loop is great and I am enjoying it very much.

 

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

2. Elden Ring (PC) - £36.99

3. Peglin (PC) - £13.49

 

Four months in and only three games purchased - if you told me this is how it would be at the start of the year I wouldn't have believed you.

[teddymeow]

Well, that's April done for all intents and purposes.

 

No gaming purchases at all. Finished the PS5 upgrade of Uncharted 4, 100% finished the Ghost of Tsushima Iki Island DLC and played a fair bit of MK11 on GamePass for the MS Reward points for earning achievements.

 

Just starting Lost Legacy.

 

Nothing on the list for buying in May, either.

[Jamie John]

I got given some eShop vouchers for my birthday and picked up Pikmin 3 and Dragon Quest XI. I wrote in the OP that gifted games don't count towards the challenge, but games that you buy with a gift voucher is a grey area, I guess, so I'll just count one of them. Pikmin is more for my son than me, so...

 

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

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