January is the month that, the place I stay, within the south of England, everybody will get critical once more. All of the paraphernalia of Christmas – all of the merriment and cheer and vibrant lighting – is cleared away in favour of sobering targets for the yr forward. It is by no means one thing that is appealed strongly to me, making targets, however I do really feel the attract of wiping a slate clear and beginning once more. It is like a run in a roguelike recreation, I wish to suppose. Time for a brand new me.
With that spirit in thoughts, however with out being all LinkedIn about it, we’ll set some gaming targets for 2026. You would possibly keep in mind we did this originally of 2025, so there is a horrifying document there yearly to remind us of what we in all probability did not obtain – or did we? This text is an opportunity to look again, mirror, then look forwards once more. And we would such as you to hitch in and do the identical.
The query is easy: what would you want to realize, in a gaming sense, this yr? Maybe you’re feeling now could be the time to get into speedrunning, or perhaps you’ve got bought an eye fixed on streaming, or maybe you are going to make a recreation. No matter it’s – even when it is merely clearing a backlog (which is something however easy) – inform us about it. Pitch in. Pipe up. Bonus factors will probably be awarded for outrageous ambition.
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Play a recreation in each style
Final yr I pledged to beat 5 bosses in Elden Ring. I stored the duty easy to keep away from overwhelm and failure, however I failed all the identical. I began enthusiastically however one thing caught my eye and I turned away and I forgot all about Elden Ring. As soon as I’ve turned I discover it exhausting to return, particularly if I have not already gelled with a game-series’ quirky approach of doing issues, which on this case I hadn’t. I need to return, I need to strive once more, however I am not placing any strain on it.
One small gaming win from final yr: I did run a tabletop role-playing recreation which I have been speaking about doing for years. I ran Eat the Reich, a splendidly approachable and action-packed recreation by Rowan, Rook and Decard, which has a few of the most putting artwork I’ve ever seen in a TTRPG.
This yr I am making an attempt one thing totally different. I need to develop my palette a bit extra and problem myself to play video games I would not usually. I normally find yourself having fun with no matter I play however I usually persuade myself I will not earlier than I start, which means I miss fantastic stuff. So, sports activities video games, racing video games, shooters, gacha video games: this yr I’ll style all of it. Promise.
-Bertie
Correctly transfer to Linux
There is a meme in pc nerd circles that this yr is all the time “the yr of Linux on the desktop”. In any case, Linux is all the time enhancing as an working system, it is free, and it already runs a lot of the servers on the earth, so absolutely Linux goes to dethrone Home windows and turn out to be the default alternative for desktop PCs too, proper?
After I first heard the phrase, it was the early 2000s, and I used to be ordering free Ubuntu Linux CDs – as a result of I used to be nonetheless on dial-up web and I could not afford a Home windows license. I heard it much more at uni from 2007 to 2011 too, the place Linux is the de facto alternative for coding and even the sport we constructed ran on Linux (Descent meets the tunnels of The Matrix with three participant co-op, because you requested). Now, almost 20 years later (!!), it is with nice pleasure that I say to you that, for actual this time, 2026 goes to be the yr of (Will Judd utilizing) Linux on the desktop.
In any case, it is by no means been simpler – Valve’s efforts with the Linux-based Steam OS and the Proton compatibility layer have meant that a large proportion of Steam video games run on Linux with no consumer configuration required, and that is like 99 % of what I need to do with a pc. That is true throughout a number of gadgets and flavours of Linux too, from handheld PCs (just like the Ayaneo 2S I am working Bazzite on) to laptops (an outdated Tuxedo InfinityBook 16 RTX 3060 laptop computer working Tuxedo OS) and full-fat desktop PCs (a small type issue AMD-based PC made to appear like a delivery container that runs CachyOS). And with Home windows 11 persevering with to load up on telemetry and AI options I do not need, Linux is trying more and more enticing.
With three Linux machines simply accessible, my objective is to show to them first – and solely resort to gaming on Home windows if I actually cannot keep away from it. I already know video games with anti-cheat do not work (although Valve needs to vary that), however will there be some other challenges? How will the discharge of the Steam Machine change issues? Can I turn out to be a bona fide Linux zealot? I goal to search out out – and, for those who’re , I am going to take you alongside for the journey.
–Will
Play extra large video games via to completion
“What do you imply you do not end video games? Aren’t you a video games journalist?” asks GitGud2004. Good query. Effectively, sure, I do end video games, however in latest occasions these have nearly all the time been video games I’ve performed for work. It is a bit of unhappy to put it out like this, however for video games I need to play simply because I fancy enjoying them I’ve about 3-4 hours every week, cut up over 4 days. The massive drawback with that is that I discover it actually exhausting to correctly get into a brand new recreation if I’ve to place it down after 40 minutes, so I’ve developed a foul behavior. I’ve discovered myself both giving up and shifting on to one thing else or returning to an outdated recreation I do know I can simply play with none want for a dedication.
This should change in 2026. Not will I be delay by a playtime of 20+ hours. My gaming will not be dominated by quick-fire experiences I can end in every week. I am sorry, Rematch, however I believe it is time I moved on (principally). Alan Wake 2, I’ll end you, lastly! Star Wars Outlaws, that is your yr (perhaps).
-Tom
Spend extra time enjoying video games with pals (no however actually this time)
I’m at present within the actual reverse second to the boom-bust cycle of “I can end large video games that I am not reviewing” optimism to my colleague Tom, above. For thus many causes proper now, I simply cannot do it. There will probably be a time sooner or later, however that point is just not now.
Anyway, my answer to this has principally been enjoying smaller, extra snackable video games – both ones I can end in single-digit hours, just like the fantastic Despelote, or ones I can play for some time in shorter chunks, just like the also-wonderful Sektori, and nearly all the time ones I can play on one thing handheld. The difficulty is, fantastic as they are surely, quite a lot of these video games are typically single-player. There’s nothing incorrect with that by itself, however over time it may, I’ve discovered, construct as much as be a bit of isolating. Over the vacations I performed some Daybreak of Conflict: Definitive Version video games with outdated pals and it was superb.
Which is smart truly, as a result of – oops! – seems this was the precise decision I had final yr, which I’ve solely simply been reminded of now. Reveals how properly I stick to those…
Anyway, way back, enjoying the unique with those self same pals was how I went from liking video video games to turning into infatuated with them. Right now – and that is hardly distinctive to me – it is how I meet up with folks I can not see in-person as a lot as I might like. Final yr I nonetheless did not do sufficient of it. This yr, I promise, it will be how I fall in love with video games another time.
-Chris
Full all the Lego video games
Final yr my decision was to return to extra video games that carry me pleasure, like Rollercoaster Tycoon and The Sims. For as soon as, I achieved my objective with out considering too exhausting about it! Can I do the identical this yr?
As my half-finished Recreation Boy Lego set judges me from my desk, and with a brand new Lego Batman recreation popping out halfway via the yr, my decision is kind of actually staring me within the face. I’ve all the time loved Lego units and video games alike – I might say a lot about why however I am going to summarise it by saying their particular model of humour all the time tickles me.
My decision is to finish extra Lego video games, together with the brand new Lego Batman due out in Might. I’ve already accomplished a couple of video games over time, similar to Marvel Tremendous Heroes and Indiana Jones, however there are lots of extra sitting on my Swap ready to be completed. The primary one on my checklist could very properly be the Jurassic World I deserted a yr in the past…
-Marie
Get my cash’s value from subscription companies
OK, this yr, I’m going to truly try to get my cash’s value from subscription companies. Whereas this isn’t restricted to video games – I’ve a Now TV account I’ve hardly touched since The Final of Us Season Two wrapped up – my game-based subscriptions account for a bit of my outgoings and I do not suppose I’ve ever used them sufficient to actually really feel like they’re giving me a greater deal. I’ve each PS Plus Premium and Recreation Go Final. I in all probability use Recreation Go greater than PS Plus, besides, I do not suppose I’m utilizing it sufficient. That’s for each the variety of video games I play in addition to hours I play any explicit recreation general.
However that adjustments this yr! This yr, these subscriptions will probably be value each penny. If not, I ought to actually take into consideration cancelling them…
-Victoria
Have a 24-hour Majora’s Masks marathon
Yearly I full a ritual of replaying Majora’s Masks. Not solely is it my favorite Zelda recreation due to its supreme surreal and creepy vibes, but it surely’s my second favorite recreation ever. (The primary is Okami for those who’re .) This yr, nevertheless, I need to do the normal replay a bit of in a different way. Moderately than taking the cheap path and spreading it out over a few weeks, I need to see how shut I can get to 100 percenting the sport in 24 hours.
We’re speaking beginning at midnight, ending at midnight. 1440 minutes – that is 86,400 seconds – of straight, continuous, Majora’s Masks. The sport which used to present me evening terrors each time I performed it as a baby! What might go incorrect? (I will probably be taking bathroom breaks. I am not an animal.)
It is a becoming problem for a recreation based mostly round a time loop and, contemplating what number of occasions I’ve accomplished it, I actually suppose I’ve bought shot at doing it! Hopefully. The principle stumbling block I foresee is the Goron Disguise and Search Dungeon. I have not mastered it but…
-Lottie
Be a speedrunner once more
As soon as upon a time, I used to be a speedrunner. Thanks, ADHD. I like the Crash Bandicoot collection, and one thing in regards to the momentum and slickness of Crash 3: Warped, particularly, appealed a lot to my teenage mind that I mainly memorised the platinum relic routes in a matter of weeks. Quick-forward to my college days, and to my introduction to speedrunning, and I discovered my area of interest. Right here it’s, the sport I needed to grasp. Over the course of a few months, I discovered the routes and began clearing the 105 % class in underneath 5 hours. That is not that spectacular by at the moment’s leaderboard requirements, however I promise it was fairly lofty a objective again then!
Watching AGDQ this week has lit the fireplace in me once more, and now I am eager to edge again into the world of speedrunning with one thing else – perhaps one thing shorter. I believe my reflexes are too shot for a platformer like Crash, however I have been eyeing up Inside and Limbo as perhaps my subsequent problem. I might even go for one thing longer like Pentiment or Citizen Sleeper… Let’s have a look at what my schedule seems like when the start-of-year melee settles down.
-Dom
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