#UFO 50 modified the best way I take into consideration my backlog – Destructoid

UFO 50 is a wild little package deal bursting to the seams with bite-size discoveries. It has the potential to encourage several types of nostalgia relying on the participant, and it additionally helped me completely rethink how I method my ever-growing backlog of video games.

Should you haven’t performed UFO 50 but, the elevator pitch is easy. It’s a group of fifty video games from a fictional ’80s developer, and you’ll deal with it any method you see match. You possibly can play all the pieces chronologically, basically residing within the meta-narrative to see how every sport constructed upon the proposed tech of the time. You possibly can additionally deal with UFO 50 because the seize bag it’s, dipping out and in of video games like an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

That is going to hit otherwise relying on the timeline of your nascent years of gaming. For some, UFO 50 will drum up recollections of early 8-bit consoles and arcade cupboards, discovering gems hidden among the many crowd and highlighting favorites you’ll revisit time and time once more. Others could recall some dusty outdated Hong Kong bootleg carts, which by some means squeezed a ton of titles of doubtful origins into one modest circuitboard. 

For many who got here up later, UFO 50 may be extra akin to outdated flash sport websites like Newgrounds, or perhaps a extra fashionable digital storefront stuffed to the gills with indie delights. It doesn’t matter what angle you method from, the work of UFO Mushy — from the very actual of us at Mossmouth, together with Spelunky creator Derek Yu and extra — may need you taking a look at the remainder of your assortment in a brand new gentle. 

I can’t converse for everybody, however I’ve all the time had a contentious relationship with my backlog of unfinished or unplayed video games. Shopping for new video games is simply one thing that comes with the territory of loving these things a lot, particularly when it’s additionally your job. However there’s all the time that nagging sensation that you simply’re doing all your current video games soiled within the course of. Ought to I actually be enjoying Sonic x Shadow Generations once I by no means even acquired a 3rd of the best way via Star Wars Jedi: Survivor? Why am I even enjoying UFO 50 within the first place once I want to complete Silent Hill 2? 

Regardless of these nagging ideas, I continued to prioritize UFO 50 above most all the pieces else, and I’m glad I did. Whereas coping with resolution paralysis in an remoted 50-game assortment is way from the identical as staring straight at 50 separate video games in your Steam library, it’s actually only a microcosm of sport libraries writ giant.

However within the halls of fictional UFO Mushy historical past, I by no means had the identical hesitations. I by no means as soon as thought, “ought to I actually transfer on to Bug Hunter once I haven’t even solved the exploratory conundrum that’s Barbuta?” In fact I ought to! There’s much more enjoyable available on this assortment, and the very nature of it encourages dipping out and in to see what actually grabs you essentially the most. You’re not going to love all the pieces. It won’t sound prefer it, however life can be hell if you happen to did.

Because it turned out, there was so much that grabbed me. I won’t have had the identical expertise if I hadn’t been enjoying alongside on a game-by-game foundation whereas listening to the Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Video games podcast. They’ve been going via UFO 50 in a book-club-style format, tackling every sport within the fictionally chronological order they have been “launched” from the early to late ’80s. Meaning enjoying a special sport every week, beginning with Barbuta and operating via Bug Hunter, Ninpek, and on and on.

In that course of, which is ongoing, I’ve found just a few notable gems, together with a pair I in all probability would have bounced off of sooner if it weren’t for the e-book membership format. Specializing in a sport at a time has allowed me to deal with them on their very own phrases, exploring some genres I’d in any other case not be that into within the course of. 

This method has had a profound influence on how I take into consideration my backlog, too. By “taking my medication” and extensively enjoying video games I wouldn’t usually spend quite a lot of minutes on, I spotted I don’t want to do this within the larger context of video video games as an entire. If one thing appears like a chore, it’s not enjoyable, and delaying pleasure shouldn’t come into the equation if you’re making an attempt to flee. 

So, do I would like to complete a few of my older video games earlier than I begin the brand new ones? Provided that doing so is essentially the most enjoyable factor I may be doing at any given second. I don’t need to really feel the necessity to slog via one thing simply to tick it off an inventory so I can transfer on to one thing else. There’ll all the time be time for that later, if we’re fortunate. And if there isn’t, then at the very least I acquired the enjoyable out of the best way first.