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2023 Gaming Goals for the Year

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Aywren

Happy New Year to you!

As is ritual, it’s time for me to sit down and think about goals I’d like to reach this year in gaming. These aren’t so much resolutions, but more a guide for me to look back on when it comes to thinking about what to play and how to approach my gaming time. Nothing set in stone, just things I’d like to be mindful of.

So, let’s get started!

Play Switch Games

This is a big one for me. Last year, I managed to get my Switch backlog under control, more or less. As it stands at the beginning of this year, I’ve played about 61% of the games I own on Switch.

This isn’t terrible, but it could be better, especially with all the great games coming out this year.

Beyond just dabbling in the backlog, however, I’d like to actually make an effort to FINISH some Switch games. Games I’d like to complete are:

• MiiTopia
• Pokemon Sword
• Pokemon Arceus
• Link’s Awakening
• Breath of the Wild
• Harvestella

The actual number of games I’ve completed on Switch has been pretty low, and a number of them have been left hanging – some closer to the end of the game than others.

Especially with Breath of the Wild having a sequel this year, I’d like to finish the first. I just can’t decide on whether I should restart it or not given how long it’s been since I’ve played it originally. Probably not, though. That’s a lot of work.

Steam Backlog – Get to 75% Played

I did really well at playing games in my Steam backlog last year. I moved from 62% played to 73% played! I know that bumping that to 75% played is not a big stretch goal – in reality, I’d really like to see this hit 80% played. I’m just making this goal a bit more obtainable this year.

This is partly because I’ve already ruled out the CLEAR list from last year. There might still be a few games I pick up, try out, and think after an hour or two it’s just not for me. But for the most part, I hope that the games I try this year will stick with me. So I will be spending longer playing the games I try.

I’m going to focus on playing the shorter games in my library this year. I might not completely beat them, but I have a better chance at finishing things that aren’t huge open world romps that go on forever (I have plenty of those to play, too).

Utilize PC Game Pass More

In the middle of all this backlog drama, there is still PC Game Pass. I have so many games that I want to try on there, but just don’t have the time to do so. I might delegate a certain day of the week to focusing on Game Pass this year so that I don’t forget the awesome library I have there.

I’ll figure something out. I just hate it when I see games are leaving that were on my to-play list and I never got around to giving them the attention they deserved.

Overall, I feel less stressed about Game Pass games since they aren’t a true backlog. But I still want to get my money out of the service, even if that means pacing myself to pick up something new every month.

Spend Less on Gaming

Yep, I say this every year.

I’ve been a lot better at buying only the games I know I’m going to play immediately the last couple of years. At least, on Steam.

I’d still like to buy less games, though. Or only buy games that really, really interest me.

I’ve been better about not even taking free games that are not in my circle of interest. I let so many of the free Epic games pass me by this holiday giveaway, for example. I’m not even thinking about that Epic backlog I have – all of those were free games, so I don’t feel so stressed about messing with them.

I also want to spend less money in the cash shop – primarily on FFXIV. I think I did well last year, but would like to be more mindful of it this year even more.

This is especially true because I’m considering hitting up Fan Fest this year. So, I need to save for that, if that’s going to be a thing!

More Gaming Blogging & Blog Cleanup

Not exactly a gaming goal, but the obligatory “Blog More” goal. This year, I also want to make more progress on the big move I started making last year.

I have many years of blog posts that have not been updated to the new HTML layout and require attention and coding. This is going to take time – even doing it a bit here and there- so I’ll have to pace myself on it as to avoid burn out.

Last year, this was harder to focus on this because I was in the middle of moving almost ALL of my major sites to HTML – including years of fiction, webcomics and fan works. This year, I can simply focus on coding this blog, which will be nice.

I don’t want the writing of new posts to get lost in the coding, however. I hope to find inspiration and maybe a bit of catharsis in my writing this year. I haven’t talked at all about my personal challenges and loss from 2022 here – I wasn’t quite ready to blog about it yet. But maybe I will sometime this year.

As to not end on a more somber note – I wish you the best in 2023. And if you are making goals, too, good luck in focusing on what’s important to you this year!

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