What are we all playing this holiday?
Well?
So this is Christmas, and what have you done? As Katharine said, we're officially off until the new year but have lined up some guest authors and god-awful Christmas cracker jokes to tide you over until then. The death of the year does bring some sorrow, with Imogen leaving us, so do say goodbye if you haven't already. Then, return to tell me: what are you playing this holiday?
Alice Bee
has already been on holiday for a week, bless her.
Alice0
Weather permitting, I'd like to spend most of my holiday outdoors, swimming and cycling. But between that, I'll be sneaking games of Super Auto Pets. I'm torn between embracing the wonderful foolishness of Hedgehog meta and building against it. Either way, someone's getting prickled, and it's more fun than than the Turkey/Fly meta. And I'm going back to see all the other endings in Cyberpunk 2077, after which I'll just ride trains around Night City with the metro mod.
Ed
Backlog clearing commences. Final Fantasy XV must be finished, somehow. I am finally going to complete Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn and move on. Eastward, probably not. Also looking forward to having cranberry sauce with some turkey and cracking open another Lynx Africa gift set.
Hayden
Project Zomboid just got a big new update that I can't wait to explore over the Christmas break, but I also want to put some more hours into Ready Or Not with my brother. We've tried out half of the maps and really enjoyed it, so I want to start learning the rest and practice some different mission types. However, my main priority is a full Horizon Zero Dawn playthrough on the big, fancy TV downstairs. Forbidden West is just around the corner and looks stunning, so now seems like the perfect time to dust off the PS5 and get invested in Aloy's story.
Imogen
When I'm not queuing for a booster jab or driving for hours to get a festive glimpse of my family members, I expect to be snuggled up somewhere with the Pokémon Shining Pearl remake. Pearl was my first ever Pokémon game, and despite not really digging the new art style I just can't help myself, I really want to play it. More Minecraft is on the cards too, as is Grounded. I always manage to find my way back to survival craft 'em ups over the holidays. Beyond that, I'll be playing Apex and Valorant every weekend until I burst. Farewell RPS!
James
I shall be PC-less for what remains of the Christmas season, and the Steam Deck got delayed, soooooo...crosswords?
Katharine
I'm spending most of the Christmas week at my parents this year, and I've spent the better part of this week deciding exactly what to install on my gaming laptop to take with me. There are so many things I want to catch up on. Webbed, Tails Of Iron, Fuga: Melodies Of Steel, Bonfire Peaks, and Into The Pit are all on there, and I still need to finish Opus: Echo Of Starsong as well, which is an intriguing sci-fi visual novel I started just a couple of days ago that has a hint of Inkle's 80 Days and Heaven's Vault about it. It's very good! Then again, I also love a good chunky blockbuster to play over Christmas, but whether that will be Deathloop, Halo Infinite, or Tales Of Arise, I just don't know. I guess I'll see where the mood takes me! In any case, I hope you all have fantastic holidays, and we'll be back with more gaming goodies in the New Year. Merry Christmas!
Ollie
has also settled well into his holiday.
Rebecca
I'm home for Christmas for the first time in two years, so over the next couple of weeks I plan to tear myself away from my games, at least occasionally, to make time for wholesome seasonal family activities such as taking long wintry walks around the rural village where I grew up, and consuming prodigious quantities of tea. Most of the games I do have lined up have been carefully curated for enjoyment during quality family time, too. I resisted the urge to make a start on Hercule Poirot: The First Cases until I could play it with my Dad, an appreciator of golden age mysteries who loves a good point-and-click adventure; while my zombie-obsessed Mum is years overdue an introduction to Telltale's The Walking Dead, a series I've been wanting to replay for a while. I've also brought along Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which should be a hoot for the whole family considering it's set in our neck of the woods. Maybe I'll climb Bardon Hill in real life and as Eivor on the same day, if I dare venture that far from home with all that tea in my system.
But you, reader dear, what are you playing this weekend?