My current favorite video games

I don't know why, but video game recommendations have always been terrible for me. I've owned every major console system and had accounts on Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft app stores for nearly 20 years, and yet, every time I go to a downloadable game store on a device, I'm met with all the most popular games, most of which I don't play.

It's baffling because each service knows what games I've bought before. Even way back in the pre-AI-everything days of the early 2000s, Amazon was pretty good about predicting what I might like based on my purchases. Why can't video game stores do the same?

I tend to enjoy the following types of games:

• Driving games, especially when you get to crash for fun
• Skateboard/bmx/motorcycle/bike games
• Open world games
• Indie games that are $20 and smaller in scope and time than the massive AAA platform games that usually go for $80
• Anything with interesting artwork or style

I find new cool games mostly on social media or from talking with friends. So in that vein, here are some of my current favorites since no video game company can suggest fun games to me, I might as well share with everyone else in case they're looking for the same.

Playstation 5

I've really enjoyed the PS5 since it came out. Even though the console itself is a weird large ugly piece of plastic, the controllers are perfect and feel faster and more accurate than any other platforms. I've literally done better at a game on a PS5 than the same game on a Switch, because the PS5 controllers are just better in every way.

Wheel World

Wheel World is the reason I made this post. I had no idea it existed until Thursday of last week, even though I've bought several games released by Annapurna Interactive (they're like the A24 of video game studios). Sony knows I love bike-related games since Sam Pilgrim's Shred 2 and Pumped BMX+ have been my longtime favorites on the platform and yet, I had to search the playstation store to find this after hearing about it on The Verge.

It's an open world bike racing game that starts easy and gets pretty difficult by the end but I really loved the loose hand-drawn looks of the game and I had a blast exploring the first map as I discovered areas of interest and won my first races and kept finding free bike parts to upgrade my ride. A great fun game that you can complete in a few days that was worth its $20 price.

Astro Bot

I briefly played the original Astro game that came with my PS5 and it was a good demo of the hardware and how it could be used in unique ways in puzzle games. I gave up after an hour or so and moved on to other games.

The full Astro Bot platform game that came out this year is fantastic. It's like an entire Super Mario universe where you start small, build up your skills slowly as you discover all the ways the game environment works, and eventually a few weeks later you'll find yourself up playing at 2am trying to get every hidden bonus item on every single stage. I really love the light fun nature of this and the way you discover new skills slowly over time. Nothing feels impossible and you can always go back to early levels and apply your newfound skills to them to be rewarded.

I had such a great time playing this game for a few weeks that I went back and did everything I could in the old Astro demo game that shipped with the PS5 and enjoyed taking that game to 100% completion within a few days.

Tetris Effect Connected

I love Tetris games and it's tough to find anyone doing anything new or interesting with the genre but I did enjoy Tetris Effect Connected. You slowly walk through dozens of Tetris puzzles that run for 5-10 minutes each, with groups of puzzles being part of a level. This gives you a pretty fun and interesting way to spend an hour or two leveling up and coming back to your progress later. It also combines interesting music and visuals to keep things fresh as each level is a little bit harder just due to a new-to-you interface on each level.

Switch 2

The new Switch is a great hardware upgrade. The screen is gorgeous if you ever play it as a handheld, and when running it connected to a TV, everything feels way faster and snappier than the original Switch hardware. The new pro controller is really comfortable to use as well.

There aren't a ton of games for the Switch 2 yet, but I will say while I am enjoying Mario Kart World, but the best parts are the races, not the open world exploring part that was added to the game. Cruising around the Mario Kart world is fun for a couple hours but I soon stopped doing it and instead go straight to racing. Similar games like Forza Horizon 5 reward players for exploring/discovering things so much so that I can do it for hours on end but the new Mario Kart falls short in that regard.

DK Bananza is super fun and feels a lot like Astro Bot above. You slowly discover and build skills on low levels and each big boss level requires you to try something new and get good at it. After a week or so I'm only about 50% of the way into the game map and I'm enjoying it, though the big bosses are getting tougher and tougher.

Lastly, I'm still enjoying old games on the new hardware. Animal Crossing is fun again since levels seem to load faster and my island looks good again after not touching things since 2021. The Puyo Puyo Tetris game is also a fun way to play a classic-style Tetris for hours. I haven't revisited any of the Zelda games from the first switch on the new hardware, but mostly because I kind of went overboard and finished them years ago and have forgotten how to use most of the controls. I really loved a full replay from the start of A Short Hike. I forgot how perfect that little indie game is, I wish there were more titles just like it.

Conclusion

I continue to try out every new skateboard game that comes out on every platform, even though none of them are as good as Skate 3 was on a Xbox in 2010. It's fun to play the retro Tony Hawk games on new hardware, but the game play and controls aren't nearly as good as the Skate universe was 15 years ago.

I continue to check in on Skate 4 development every few months and can't wait until that's available as I can already tell it'll be something I love. I don't have high hopes that any video game stores will even offer it up to me though, since for some reason they're only good at pushing me Fortnite, a game I've tried once and never touched again.