Oh, thank God.Super Mario Bros. Wonderis coming out. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is out.Mortal Kombat 1is out. There’s aWarioWarefull of mega micro games around the corner. EvenSpider-Man 2onPS5is a shorter, tighter experience. We’re finally getting a wave of triple-A video games that won’t take two months to finish. And it couldn’t come sooner because I’m so tired.
That’s not to say I hate the big releases of this year.Tears of the Kingdomis now one of my favorite games of all time.Baldur’s Gate 3is now one of my favorite games of all time.Starfieldis now one of the games I’ve played of all time. Starfield is great and everything, but I don’t know if a sci-fi themed fast travel simulator is going to crack my top ten this year. It’s a little hard to feel connected to a universe in which humanity has broken the laws of nature to travel faster than light, but has not broken the laws of nature to carry more than eight pounds at a time. But I did have a wonderful time. Don’t send me hate mail.
The thing is, all those games require a deep commitment. Even games likeCyberpunk 2077that have been out for yearsgot enough new content to keep you playing for dozens of hours. Which, to be clear, is not a bad thing. Long games can be immersive and tell deep stories that are sometimes impossible with shorter experiences. There’s also something satisfying about the value of spending $60 for hundreds of hours of entertainment.
But I am so ****ing ready for some games that don’t ask much of me. I bought Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 this week because I was kind of depressed and wanted to play something that didn’t matter. And it was glorious. I raced little toy cars on ridiculous toy tracks and went vroom vroom beep beep. I could actually make progress in a video game without having to set aside an entire weekend and keep notes so I know what the **** I was doing. Side note: whatever you think of Final Fantasy 16, we need more games that actually describe in detail what’s happened so far.
Having Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 at the same time feels like a throwback to childhood. Mainly because, well, that’s exactly what it is. But more than nostalgia (I love Mario but I can’t think of a single Hot Wheels car I owned as a kid), my ability to enjoy these games without feeling like I ****ed up a story with a bad choice thirty hours ago. Just like you, I’m pleased as punch with romancing Lae’zel andonlyLae’zel, but I’m pumped to have some games where I really don’t need to think about shit.
As much as I resist the idea of entertainment where you can just turn your brain off’, man, I really want to turn my brain the hell off right now. I don’t want to think about solving every person’s problems in an open-world city. And I 100 percent definitely don’t feel up to playing any ****ing game about war at the moment.
All I want is five minutes that I can do a race, finish a level, whatever - and not feel bad about spending five minutes doing it. I’m excited that I can play a few minutes before work without having to pause half-mission. I’m thrilled we’re getting games that you can take a break from without being eternally lost. These may not be the games that I’ll spend the most time with based on Steam metrics, but they’ll be the ones that carry my sad ass through the next few months. Sometimes I want to be an adventurer exploring space by clicking through semi-static menus. And sometimes I want to be an elephant with a Mario hat.
There is nothing wrong with a long game. There is nothing wrong with a serious game. As I said, we’ve had some of the best games ever made this year. I don’t want those to go away. I just want to put my hands in the air and celebrate that we’re all excited for short, goofy games.
