The Games That Mattered to Me in 2018

You've seen me list every game I've played in a year before, and even keep track of how much time and money I spent playing every game, but this year I wanted to do something different. After last year, I was tired of keeping track of every little thing and felt like it was distracting me from the experiences I wanted to have with games. So this year, you're getting a much shorter list: the games I played in 2018 that actually mattered to me (GTMTM).

These are the games that made an actual impact on my life--the ones I thought about even when I wasn't playing them, the ones that made me feel something strongly, the ones I talked to people about and shared and loved. There's not real scientific or consistent criteria for what made this list, and that's the whole point. Each for its own reasons, these are the 9 games that actually mattered to me in 2018, in chronological order of when I decided they were going to be on this list:

1. God of War
2. Darkness Rises
3. Overwatch
4. Marvel's Spider-Man
5. Laser League
6. Red Dead Redemption 2
7. Celeste
8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
9. Keyforge

And that's it. I'm sure I played 100+ games again this year, just like previous years, but these are the ones that really meant something to me.

But what do these games mean to me, exactly? Let's discuss. Over the next 10 days, I'll publish a new post every day about the next game on the list, ending with an "Honorary Mentions" and conclusions post. I'll come back and update this post with links each day. As you can see, you can start right now with God of War. Enjoy, and let me know which games mattered to you in 2018!