2016: My Year in Games

Starting on January 1, 2016, I kept a list of every game I played for the whole year, including both videogames and tabletop games. Every game I touched counted, even if I only played it for a few minutes. I didn't especially try to get a large number, I just wanted to keep track of what games I played.

All told, I played 147 games across 10 different platforms in 2016. 

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

The List

First things first, here's the list in chronological order:

January

1. Assassin's Creed Syndicate

2. Quiplash

3. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

4. Castle Panic

5. Codenames

6. Lara Croft GO

7. UniWar

8. Atomas

9. Find Mii

10. Chronicle: Legends of Runescape (beta)

11. Monaco

12. Paladins: Champions of the realm (beta)

13. Rocket League

14. Rust Bucket

15. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (beta)

16. Choice of the Dragon

17. Space Team (card game)

18. Wizard's Choice Volume 1

19. Puerto Rico

20. Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection - Drake's Fortune

21. This War of Mine

22. Crashlands

23. The Division (beta)

February

24. Journey

25. Boom Blox

26. Kill Strain (private access)

27. Sage Solitaire

28. Transistor

29. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

30. Valiant Hearts: The Great War

31. Papers, Please

32. Alto's Adventure

33. Puzzle Craft 2

34. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright

35. Prison Architect

March

36. The Wolf Among Us

37. Clash Royale

38. Uncharted 4 Multiplayer Stress Test

39. The Division

40. Life is Strange 

41. Shelter

42. Sports Friends

43. Star Wars Battlefront

44. Guns up!

45. Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight

46. Gems of War

47. Miitomo

48. Final Fantasy XV: Platinum Demo

April

49. Pokken Tournament Demo

50. Undertale 

51. Mario Kart 8

52. Pokken Tournament

53. Yo Kai Watch Wibble Wobble

54. Disney Crossy Road

55. Kingdom Hearts Unchained X

56. Stories: The Path of Destinies

57. Overwatch (Closed Beta)

58. Pokemon Shuffle

59. The Witcher 3

60. Paragon (beta)

61. Angry Birds Action

62. Downwell

63. Maui

64. Skyreach

65. Metamorphabet

66. Twofold, Inc.

May

67. Table Top Racing: World Tour

68. Overwatch (open beta)

69. Pocket Card Jockey (demo)

70. Pocket Card Jockey

71. Uncharted: Fortune Hunter

72. Tropico 5

73. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

74. Bushido Bear

75. Vlogger Go Viral

76. Overwatch

June

77. Nonstop Knight

78. Blades of Brim

79. Destiny

80. Key to the Kingdom

81. Wii Sports Club

82.Ice Age: Artic Blast

83.Teeny Titans - Teen Titans Go!

July

84.The Secret Life of Pets Unleashed

85.Pokemon Go

86.Pokemon Red (3ds eshop)

87.Monopoly Here and Now

88.Pokemon TCG Online

89.Metroid Prime Blast Ball

August

90.Tricky Towers

91.Vinicius Run

92.Rio 2016 Olympic Games (mobile game)

93.No Man's Sky

94.Pokemon TCG

95.Reigns

96.Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

97.Scythe

98.Tinker Island

99.Titanfall 2 Tech Test

100.Guillotine (Card game)

101.The King of Fighters XIV (demo)

102.Seen (mobile texting game)

103.Lego Juniors Create Cruise

104.Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends (demo)

105.Injustice: Gods Among Us

106.Justice Monsters V

107.Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey (mobile)

108.Epistory - Typing Chronicles (demo)

109.Battlefield 1 (open beta)

September

110.Super Mario 3D World

111.Market Crashers (3ds Mii Plaza)

112.NBA 2k17 The Prelude

113.For Honor (Closed Alpha)

114.Snapimals

115.Rogue Ninja

116.FIFA 17 Demo

117.Bike Race by Top Free Games

October

118.Warlords

119.Transformers: Devastation

120.Steep (Closed Alpha)

121.Shuffle Cats

122.Pokemon Sun/Moon special demo

123.Plants vs. Zombies Heroes

124.Red Dead Redemption

125.Asphalt 8: Airborne

November

126.The Trail

127.High Risers

128.Burrito Bison Launcha Libre

129.Cars vs. Bosses

130.Steep (beta)

131.Titan Brawl

132.Pokemon Sun

133.Sportsfriends

134.The Oregon Trail Card Game

135.Set

December

136.Invisible, Inc. Console Edition

137.Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (closed beta)

138.Bold Moves

139.Super Mario Run

140.Dungeon Defense: The Invasion of the Hero

141.Onitama

142.Solitairica

143.NBA 2k17

144.Madden 17

145.Hogwarts Battle (card game)

146.XCOM: Enemy Within (Android)

(As I wrote this post, I discovered a couple things: I hadn't recorded playing Paperback or Mario Kart Wii. Mario Kart Wii is the only Wii game I played, so the analysis below is only for 145 games and 9 platforms. Also, Sports Friends is on this list twice, so even though the list above ends at 146, there's only 145 unique titles there.)

Great. Now, let's analyze!

By Platform

I played games on 10 different platforms this year. Table in this case means a literal table--I included board and card games on this list.

And 1 on the Wii!

By Personal Review Score

I used a very basic scale and gave my gut reaction to each game. The scale was Bad, Fine, Good, Great, Amazing, and Pile. Pile simply means I played it, but not long enough to really form an opinion. 

One exception: Red Dead Redemption. I didn't really play it long enough to form a full opinion, but I played it enough to know it's at least great. So I'm counting it as that here.

Here's the list by review score:

Rocket League	Amazing
The Witcher 3	Amazing
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End	Amazing
Overwatch	Amazing
Pokemon Sun	Amazing
Onitama	Amazing
Metroid Prime Blast Ball	Bad
Choice of the Dragon	Fine
Sage Solitaire	Fine
Papers, Please	Fine
Shelter	Fine
Miitomo	Fine
Paragon (beta)	Fine
Maui	Fine
Skyreach	Fine
Table Top Racing: World Tour	Fine
Bushido Bear	Fine
Vlogger Go Viral	Fine
Bike Race by Top Free Games	Fine
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire	Good
Castle Panic	Good
Find Mii	Good
Paladins: Champions of the Realm	Good
Space Team (card game)	Good
Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection - Drake's Fortune	Good
This War of Mine	Good
Crashlands	Good
The Division (beta)	Good
Boom Blox	Good
Valiant Hearts: The Great War	Good
Alto's Adventure	Good
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright	Good
Prison Architect	Good
The Wolf Among Us: Season 1	Good
Uncharted 4 Multiplayer Stress Test	Good
The Division	Good
Life is Strange	Good
Star Wars Battlefront	Good
Final Fantasy XV: Platinum Demo	Good
Pokken Tournament Demo	Good
Undertale	Good
Mario Kart 8	Good
Stories: The Path of Destinies	Good
Downwell	Good
Uncharted: Fortune Hunter	Good
Blades of Brim	Good
Pokemon Go	Good
Monopoly Heare and Now	Good
No Man's Sky	Good
Reigns	Good
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft	Good
Titanfall 2 Tech Test	Good
Guillotine	Good
Injustice: Gods Among Us	Good
Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey	Good
Battlefield 1 (open beta)	Good
Super Mario 3D World	Good
Market Crashers	Good
NBA 2k17 The Prelude	Good
For Honor (Closed Alpha)	Good
FIFA 17 Demo	Good
Warlords	Good
Steep (Closed Alpha)	Good
Shuffle Cats	Good
Pokemon Sun/Moon Special Demo	Good
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes	Good
High Risers	Good
Burrito Bison Launcha Libre	Good
Steep (beta)	Good
The Oregon Trail Card Game	Good
Bold Moves	Good
Solitairica	Good
Assassin's Creed Syndicate	Great
Quiplash	Great
Codenames	Great
Lara Croft Go	Great
Journey	Great
Transistor	Great
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons	Great
Clash Royale	Great
Sports Friends	Great
Pokken Tournament	Great
Overwatch (Closed Beta)	Great
Metamorphabet	Great
Overwatch (Open beta)	Great
Pocket Card Jockey (demo)	Great
Pocket Card Jockey	Great
Destiny	Great
Key to the Kingdom	Great
Teeny Titans - Teen Titans Go!	Great
Pokemon Red	Great
Pokemon TCG Online	Great
Pokemon TCG	Great
Scythe	Great
Lego Juniors Create Cruise	Great
Red Dead Redemption	Great
Set	Great
Hogwarts Battle	Great
UniWar	Pile
Atomas	Pile
Chronicle: Legends of Runescape	Pile
Monaco	Pile
Rust Bucket	Pile
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (beta)	Pile
Wizard's Choice Volume 1	Pile
Puerto Rico	Pile
Kill Strain (private access)	Pile
Puzzle Craft 2	Pile
Guns Up	Pile
Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight	Pile
Gems of War	Pile
Yo Kai Watch Wibble Wobble	Pile
Disney Crossy Road	Pile
Kingdom Hearts Unchained X	Pile
Pokemon Shuffle	Pile
Angry Birds Action	Pile
Twofold, Inc.	Pile
Tropico 5	Pile
Nonstop Knight	Pile
Wii Sports Club	Pile
Ice Age: Arctic Blast	Pile
The Secret Life of Pet Unleashed	Pile
Tricky Towers	Pile
Vinicius Run	Pile
Rio 2016 Olympic Games	Pile
Tinker Island	Pile
The King of Fighters XIV (demo)	Pile
Seen	Pile
Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends (demo)	Pile
Justice Monsters V	Pile
Epistory - Typing Chronicles (demo)	Pile
Snapimals	Pile
Rogue Ninja	Pile
Transformers: Devastation	Pile
Asphalt 8: Airborne	Pile
The Trail	Pile
Cars vs. Bosses	Pile
Titan Brawl	Pile
Invisible, Inc. Console Edition	Pile
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (closed beta)	Pile
Super Mario Run	Pile
Dungeon Defense: The Invasino of the Hero	Pile
XCOM: Enemy Within	Pile
NBA 2k17	Pile
Madden 17	Pile

Ratings by Platform

What platform was most worth my time in 2016? Let's find out!

Diving further, I used a weighted scale to score each platform. Each game gave it's platform a certain number of points based on its rating. Here's the scale:

Rating	Points Given
Amazing	7
Great	4
Good	2
Fine	1
Pile	0
Bad	-1

Here are the results:

Platform	Sum Score
PS4	83
Android	58
Table	41
PC	37
3DS	29
Wii U	12
PS3	4
iOS	0
Xbox One	0

But where did I get the most bang for my buck? Take a look at the average score per game by platform:

Platform	Average Score
Table	3.15
3DS	2.90
PS4	2.08
Wii U	2.00
PC	1.95
Android	1.09
iOS	NA
Xbox One	NA
PS3	NA

By Release

I didn't take the time to track down the exact release date of every game, but I did a quick analysis on how many games were released in 2016 or earlier. Here are the results:

Total 2016	79	54.48%
Total Before	60	41.38%
Total Expansion	6	4.14%

In this case, "expansion" means a game that didn't come out in 2016, but had some significant content addition that released in 2016. For example: The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine and Destiny: Rise of Iron.

Fun fact: 25 of the games on this list (17.36%) were not "released" when I played them--they were in beta, alpha, or whatever the developers decided to call it at the time. 2 of them (Overwatch open beta and Steep open beta) were even second pre-releases, meaning I played it in one state, then another state before release.

Did playing a game before it's release cause me to buy/spend any money on the full game? Exactly 24% of the time (6 purchases). One caveat: 2 of the games (Gwent: The Witcher Card Game and For Honor) are not released yet, so I couldn't spend any money of them yet even if I wanted to (though for now I wouldn't in either case).

As for letting me play it twice before launch? 50% purchase rate: bought Overwatch, didn't go for Steep.

Other Fun Facts

• The oldest game I played this year is Key to the Kingdom, originally released in 1990.
• I played 4 games on multiple platforms (Hearthstone, Rocket League, Lego Juniors Create Cruise, and Overwatch). Rocket League wins with 3 separate platforms played: PC, PS4, and Xbox One. What a game! (For purposes of the analysis above, I only counted each game on the platform I played it in on most.)
• My Witcher 3 save file claims I have played the game for 722 hours and 4 minutes. The game was released on May 19, 2015 and I've played it on and off since then. I suspect this number is somehow inflated, but I also can't prove that. For context, that's the equivalent of 18 full-time work weeks. What a great life I have!
• I played no fewer than 8 Pokemon games this year across 4 platforms. Congratulations, marketing team. You really nailed that 20th anniversary thing.
• I helped make one of the games on this list! Maui was my thesis game at the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering Master's Program. Skyreach was published by another team in the same program. I helped test a lot of other games around the program, but only these two are on the list because they're the only ones for which I played the final, public release versions. (I gave both games a "Fine.")
• 5 of the games I played in 2016 were purely for Eli, my 2-year-old son. However, he also got excited by a few games I would've played anyway: Pokken Tournament, Pokemon Sun, Rocket League, and Mario Kart in particular. I can't wait until we can really play games together (rather than just him watching). Maybe that can happen in 2017.
• Only 12 of these games are sitting on a shelf in my house right now. The rest I either never owned, got rid of, or own digitally.
• On that note, there are 4 videogames on my shelf that I didn't touch once in 2016: Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Just Dance 2015, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and The Last of Us Remastered). I'm not even going to bother counting how many tabletop games I own that I didn't play this year. I have a hard time believing I never played The Last of Us or Metal Gear Solid all year, but neither made it on the list.

Conclusions

Here are some things I learned that I hope to apply to my gaming habits in this new year:

• The numbers don't lie: mobile games are often terrible, and they deserve much less of my time than they got this year.
• I really do love tabletop games--it's just harder to find the time/other people for them. However, as the numbers above show, it's worth it almost every time. In 2017, maybe I can drop my mobile gaming time and increase my tabletop time.
• Boy, was I wrong about The Division and No Man's Sky. Both were supposed to be huge releases that took large portions of my gaming time this year. I pre-ordered special editions in both cases. Both turned out to be good, I guess, and quickly forgotten. I haven't played one second of either of the DLC expansions for The Division that I paid for. In 2017, I'm going to be much more cautious before purchasing games. (In fact, I already am--that's why Final Fantasy XV isn't on the list. I didn't want to spend any more money I wasn't sure I would enjoy spending.)
• My favorite games released this year: Overwatch, Pokken Tournament, Pokemon Sun, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. I should make special mention of The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine because, while an expansion, it helped elevate my opinion of the game as a whole. It was already "Amazing," but after Blood and Wine, it's one of the greatest games I have ever played.
• After graduating from a games program, getting a full time job, and having a second child in 2016, I'm very sure that my 2017 list will be shorter--but I do plan on keeping a list in 2017.
• The games I'm most excited to put on that list: Horizon Zero Dawn, Pyre, and Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom.
• I'm also very interested in Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Persona 5, Injustice 2, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Absolver, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Ever Oasis, and Red Dead Redemption 2. But I have no idea which of those I'll actually play this year. Come back next year and find out!

If you really read all of this, you're incredible and thank you so much. Let's talk more about games!