If this looks familiar, then congratulations, you’re probably acquainted with the first video game I ever played. When I was quite young, my grandfather had a computer that had one game on it. It was known to me as “Adventure” – called that likely because that was the executable name that you typed to start up the game. Both my Dad and I got very into this little game, even though, at the time, neither of us knew anything about it. This is the game that taught me how to make and read maps, how to have a sense of actual adventure, and that I was going to always love games. If you’re wondering what the convoluted diagram that is the featured image – that’s one of the maps someone made based on this game. And yes.. it’s that complex. Despite the fact that the game I played didn’t have a single graphic involved, it sparked the imagination of my young mind… and is a game I’ve NEVER forgotten. (This coming from someone who has very few memories of a happy childhood.)

Sims 3 is another high point of the Sims Franchise for me. It was when I really started discovering and playing challenges, and – once I found out about challenges – it completely changed the way I played the game. It also marks the beginning of my Blogging “career.” This blog was actually established during the Sims 3 era, and if you’re looking hard enough, some of my old stories from back then (the ones I actually published) are still linked into this site (under retired or completed stories). It also marked the beginning of my love/hate affair with game modifications. I literally could not play Sims 3 without mods. To me, the game was unplayable without it – so while waiting for a mod to update or be fixed, I couldn’t play the game. (Which plays a huge part of my lack of mods and CC in Sims 4 – I just don’t want to come to a point that I cannot play the game without a mod). The game is still installed on my computer, and I *could* play it.. I just don’t. The memories of all the games lost to corrupted files, the long load times from back then, and all the bugs… *shiver*.. just don’t make me want to go back. Maybe someday.

I would be very remiss if I didn’t mention the classic game “Minesweeper” at least once in this year’s game retrospective. As I’ve mentioned, my early history with games was very limited. Tetris and Minesweeper, (and to a lesser extent Solitaire and Freecell) however, were part of my early game education. I very much remember competing with my dad for high score on the family’s computer. I could never beat him in solitaire or freecell, and rarely in Tetris, but for some reason, I COULD beat him in Minesweeper. So I did. repeatedly. I usually played on “Expert” and he had the worst time trying to keep up with me on times. (Which was a big thing, because he usually won at EVERYTHING!)

When Sims 2 came out, I was more than ready for it. I ditched Sims 1 without barely a look back, and was immediately in love with Sims 2. Someday, I want to get it re-installed on my computer, and mess around with my favorite town, Strangetown, some more. I wasn’t really into building back then, nor did I make my own characters very often, but man did the storylines behind Strangetown and Pleasantville pulled me in and I spent so much time playing the sims that came with those towns. I still have all of the original discs from all of the expansions for Sims 2 (and somehow I missed getting the Ultimate Edition).. so I’d need to literally get those discs to work on my PC to re-install it. Last time I tried, I ran into some disc errors, and lost my patience, so I never finished it… hence why this game is NOT on the list of games I will be playing this year. It did still need to be mentioned, though.

Let’s just say I don’t know how many months of my life have been lost in this game. I literally cannot even fathom it. This was the game that pulled me out of my obsession with Asheron’s Call. It’s also the game that allowed me to meet my hubby. So, there’s definitely a lot of history for me with this game. I’ve played on and off for the large part of 15 years, and only really decided to fully quit the game in the last 2-3 years. (My Blizzard boycott was after the fact on the decision, but definitely added some nails into that coffin.) I have spent hundreds on my obsession with pet collecting in this game, and when I realized that the pets were literally the only thing really holding me to the game.. I decided then and there that I was done. My son still plays, and I miss spending time with him in the game, but it’s just not worth paying for a game just for playing once or twice a month when my son actually has time for a play session. So, there will be no more “Rakkii” in World of Warcraft (my usual name in the game), and I will definitely not being going back to this game in the future, even if my boycott does get lifted.

This was my very first MMO. This is what started the obsession. I played this for many years before World of Warcraft finally pulled me away from it. This game is now dead, but I have very fond memories of not only the people I knew that played it with me, but also the time spent in this game.

This game will always hold a piece of my heart, even though it is gone now. I will always treasure the memories I have of this game, and the people I knew through it.

This game has taken up many late nights in my past. It’s also a game that probably needs some introduction, because it’s fairly obscure. If the game didn’t take SO much time to get my puzzle stats up, I would probably still be playing it, because I very much enjoy the game. Unfortunately, it’s just not a “casual sometimes” sort of game.

As the name of the game suggests, it’s a game that’s entirely based on Puzzles. And Pirates. Which is to say: there’s a lot to recommend about this title. It’s an MMO – Massively Multiplayer Online game – but it’s not like any one you’ve probably ever played or heard of. It’s also free-to-play (since 2011), which means you can definitely play without spending any money on it. It’s also fairly low on system requirements, so it can be run on a lot of computers that might not necessarily be able to run other MMOs.

There’s enough Sims games in my list – which is why I’m not including this even in the one-shot played honorable mention games. However, this game deserves recognition because it was the start of an era for me. Back then, I did a lot of building. Some gameplay, to be sure, but a lot of it was building. I wasn’t very good at it, mind you… but I tried. I didn’t use mods (never even considered the possibility) , didn’t know anything about challenges… and just generally enjoyed the game.

This isn’t included in the main “played” list for good reason. Clearly, it’s my favorite game of all time. I took the “bait” when it came out, and I’ll be completely honest, I have never looked back.

When asked what my favorite expansion is, I am hard-pressed to pick one, simply because I can find something redeeming in each and every one of them. I do own all packs, including all the kits – and for the most part, they have been bought on release day at full price. So, calling me a Sims 4 addict might be an understatement.

Back to Overview

This is the second category of Honorable Mentions: The ones that will not be played at ANY time during the year, but that I felt needed to be mentioned are posted on this “Will Not Be Played” page. (below) Again, games that ended up here did so for a variety of reasons – and I reserve the right to add more games to this category as the year goes on (because it’s entirely possible I forgot a game or two in my lists.) Also, be sure to click on the “more” under each title to get more information on each.