Playing what you want to play

What's mattering this week?

1.

As a sort of goal for myself in 2026, I want to explore what this space called Games That Matter is supposed to be. In that vein, I am setting up a two-week routine.

Tuesdays:
- A log/diary for myself (that’s what you’re reading presently)
- An article of sorts

Fridays:
- When A Game _____
- Something else creative

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to honor two posts a week. And that’s okay. But it’s at least a place to point towards.

What I think will really make or break this routine will be how much I feel I need to say and how much I think that I have to say. The latter is the more challenging.

Fortunately, I’m not tying this space to my well-being. I have subscriptions enabled, but I’m seeing them as a sort of tip jar if you like my work—not a compulsion.

2.

One way I hope to use this space, as mentioned previously, is selfishly.

So these diary posts can serve my own interests as a check-in on my current gaming habits and practices.

In so many words, I have positioned myself as a professional player of video games. As in, I literally must play them in order to sufficiently do my job. This has its perks and its challenges, as anyone who has positioned themselves in such a way will confess.

Over the Christmas and end-of-year holiday season, I often find myself with a bit of a breather from the latest-and-greatest in video games. I am always playing some kind of game (and I do love that), but it can get tiresome to move on from things or feel that I can’t return to an old friend.

So, in the lull of the season, I did exactly that.

I played Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. And it was, appropriately, wonderful.

I only logged the first year, just long enough to get hitched to my long-time waifu Cecilia (or Celia as the OGs know her).

I made quite a bit of financial headway. I know my way around that game forward and back. And shook off just enough dust to appreciate the game before feeling content to call it a day and begin again with the pursuit of the next great game.

3.

One thing I’ve been reflecting on in this vein since December is the revelation that most Steam players played an average of 4 games in 2025. I’m no elitist when it comes to playing, reading, watching more things, so I have no harsh words about this number… it just surprised me.

But it shouldn’t.

I pastor a community of thousands of gamers, most of whom play only a game or two a year.

Even the most active in our community don’t participate in our monthly game club, which would at least bring their total to 12 per year.

It’s further evidence of the vast divide in perception between those who consider themselves ‘professional gamers’ and hobbyists, and ordinary people living ordinary lives who want to queue up whatever their buddies are playing at the time.

Should I play fewer games? Maybe. Do I even want to?

The thief of joy, as they say, is comparison. And that should go towards feeling guilty over doing more than the norm, too. As long as it isn’t doing harm to others, the comparison isn’t relevant. Didn’t I forge my life into this exact thing? Indeed — and I love it.

Even still, a nice reprieve is welcome. What better place to have had that moment than Forget-Me-Not Valley?