One of the coolest things about working at Polygon is recommending new, exciting games to play, whether they’re indie, casual, board, or just the best of the year. We play a wide variety of games all the time — it’s part of the job! — so we can keep you up to date on what’s out there. Lists are an easy way to recommend a bunch of games at once, but it’s also fun to make personal recommendations.
That’s why we started this open thread: to help you find your next favorite game. Want something to play while you wait in line? We’ve got you covered. Looking for something to play with a friend without a console? We’ve got ideas. Want a fantasy masterpiece that will last you hundreds of hours? Yeah, we’ve got a suggestion too. So ask away!
From 3:30pm to 5:30pm EDT, I’ll be answering your questions and requests for what you should play in the comments below. You can and should chime in with your own recommendations, or just chat about what you’re playing.
What kind of expertise can you expect from me? Quite a lot, because at this point in my life—and career—I try to play a little bit of everything and leave no genre unexplored. Growing up, I sunk my teeth into fighting games and competitive shooters, enjoying the idea of competition above all else. But once I got to college, I realized how much more video game experience I could have, and how varied and diverse the video game scene was becoming, especially as the indie game scene took off in the 2000s. I’ve been working as a games journalist (and more recently an editor) since I graduated, and in all my time at various publications, I’ve inhaled as many different types of games as the constraints of time and space allowed.
Nowadays that means I have to increase my playing time Old Ring after Shadow of the Erdtree (I’m well over 300 hours in). I started playing FromSoftware games after realizing how similar they are to my favorite series of all time — Metroid — in terms of their reliance on exploration and backtracking through dangerous but beautiful environments. I still love fighting games and shooters, but I also have a deep love for strategy games, the real-time competitive challenge of Starcraft2 to the solo turn-based personal challenges in Marvel’s Midnight Suns. And last but not least, I always make time in my game repertoire for fun games, from Stardew Valley Unpleasant House Flipper 2.
Now it’s time to turn it over to you. What would you like to play this weekend? Leave a request in the comments and I’ll respond to it between 3:30 and 5:30 PM EDT. Details help — let me know what you’re looking for, what your tastes are, and any other relevant information you’d like to share, like what consoles you have access to or what it was about the game you’d like to emulate, if you have anything. I’ll respond to the comments with recommendations — and if I don’t have a great suggestion, I’ll ask the rest of the team.