Only once have I ever made a concentrated effort at a New Year’s Resolution. In 2015, I decided to do a Project 365 challenge and take a photo a day for a year. I did it, and I’m always going to be proud of it. For 2019, I decided to set another challenge for myself, one a little more basic.

At this point it’s a cliche for everyone to complain about how large their gaming backlog is because of Steam sales and Humble Bundles and god knows what else, so this year I’ve decided to do something about mine. So here it is: Before I will let myself buy any new games this year, no matter how cheap they might be, I must clear out at least seven things from my backlog. Seven won’t make much a dent in the seven thousand things I’ve got sitting there, but it’s more than zero, so it’s a start.

Now, I’m not going to grind these games out if it turns out I hate them or anything. I’m only committing to giving them a honest try. If I do hate one so much I have to put it down, though, I feel like I should at least have to review it for Jux to explain why, as a way of honoring this challenge.

The Games

1. The Last of Us Remastered. This was the only game I really wanted to try on the PS3. We’ve had a PS4 for a few months now, and I’ve literally never powered it up after I hooked it up the the TV, because it’s Holly’s system. I still bought this game on sale for $5. It’s time to get around to it.
2. Tomb Raider. I bought this back in 2013 when Steam sales still had daily deals. I played it for two hours and got distracted by something shinier.
3. This War of Mine. This one I grabbed last year, and I have no strong reason for it to be here, other than it looked interesting.
4. Resident Evil Remake (PC). One of my favorites in one of my favorite old series. I bought this because it was cheap and left it sitting there until I felt like getting into Resident Evil again, and between playing 7 (the first good one in over a decade) and the remake of 2 coming out, it feels like it’s finally time.
5. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Holly got this one and it looked fun. It’s on here because it’s the only Switch game we own that I haven’t played even a minute of. Speaking of Switch games…
6. Octo Expansion. I loved this, while I was playing it. I also love Splatoon 2. A bunch of other stuff came out and I ended up never beating the Octo Expansion. Time to go back and finish it. And, finally:
7. Something on my RetroPie. I have this whole system sitting there full of my retro games, and I haven’t touched it in forever. Even if I just sit down and beat Punch-Out!!! again for old time’s sake, I need to do something. I was in the middle of a Final Fantasy 3/6 playthrough when Eadweard was born, so I may pick that back up.