Although many folks have reached a general consensus that 2019 was probably the worst year for video games since 2014 it was certainly not a bad year for those of us who ferret out the odd second and third tier experiences alongside the mainstream. That said, I’m not going to push a bunch of bad Itch.Io games, arthouse walking simulators, or Death Stranding on anyone because none of that is worth talking about in hindsight. As I age and well, do more adult things like buy houses and settle into the suburbs of Seattle my time spent with games becomes less and less redeeming and I’ve stopped blaming life and started blaming their increasingly ‘unfinished’ and post-release patch reliant modus. Playing video games in 2019 is both a convenient joy and a horrifying low-value mess.

The joy comes from how much free shit you can get by trading in your…