A Retrospective on Game-a-Day 2021

Is this image too dramatic?

I Finished my Game-a-Day Challenge. Here are my Thoughts.

It’s October 1st, and I don’t need to think about what game I’m going to play today. It’s both extremely exciting and a little sad. When I thought about doing the Game-A-Day Challenge in August, I assumed I’d miss a couple of days, just like I did in the Sealey Challenge (read a book of poetry every day in August). And yet, here I am, having played 30 different games in September.

Before September started, I created a list of 30 games I planned to play throughout the month. I only played 4 games from that list. I realized that I had more fun finding the games organically (searching through tags on Itch.io, Googling ‘Short Games on the Switch’, finding games via Twitter, etc.) than picking a game from my list. Some days this lead to a stressful search for a game, but most days it was quite pleasant to come across a game randomly.

I also thought I play way more games that I’ve already played before. I only played 4 games that I’d played before (Tetris 99, Donkey Kong Country 2, Solitaire, and Seedship). After a couple of days, I realized how this challenge would benefit me best if I really stuck to playing new games. Replaying old games is what led me to my anxiety; If I wanted to fix it, I had to explore games I’d never played before.

My big goal for this challenge was to stop feeling so anxious about playing games. I blame my time as a freelance journalist. For years, I had to play a game to write about it. I had to have thoughts on it. I had to think critically constantly. And for how little pay and recognition you get as a freelancer, this practice became exhausting. I knew I burned out of being a journalist, but what I didn’t realize was how it also burned my relationship with games. I love games, I just couldn’t play them.

Without a doubt, this challenge re-ignited my love for games. By the final week, I was ready to step back into longer titles. I couldn’t wait to enter a world that needed more than 30 minutes to complete. This is not at all a knock on small games. Like poetry, small games show you what can be done with minimal space and time. I’m always most impressed with what people can create when a game has one major mechanic, or one location, or no dialogue. These games take skill to create; I respect anyone that puts time into a game that only takes a couple minutes to beat. But do anything long enough and you’ll crave variety.

I also wanted to support the independent artists who are making experimental games that will not get as much press as AAA games or larger indie titles. We need the tiny game, the experimental game, the unfinished game, the game that will lead to something different.

I will be doing the Game-A-Day challenge again next September. This challenge was so valuable to me as an artist. Nothing inspires me more than seeing what other artists can do with their tools. Being a freelance journalist turned me jaded. Always needing to be in the know only prevented me from seeing the things I love about games. This isn’t to say criticism is bad, but that being overly critical made me less inquisitive, less curious. I needed thoughts and I needed them now. I had no time to be slow, to think. This challenge put me back in the mental headspace that I’d much rather prefer, one I’ll be working to protect for the rest of my life.