Video games release at a fairly steady clip throughout most of the year, but there are exceptions. Sometimes there are just down periods where it seems like the gaming industry is at a standstill.
I find the best way of getting through these dark periods is to either work on clearing out the old backlog or by returning to certain “evergreen” games. These are the kind of games that can draw you in at a moment’s notice, are rich in content and have proven their worth many times over.
XCOM
A perfect example is the XCOM series of games. I personally think that the best of the bunch is XCOM 2, with the War of the Chosen DLC activated. It expands upon the already solid foundation of the base game in some really exciting new ways.
The XCOM series is all about deep, tactical turn-based combat in which you fight for mankind’s future against an insidious alien threat. This takes place on randomly generated battlefields, and you spend the rest of your time conducting the larger war effort on the strategic world map.
A typical run on the standard difficulty can take you 30+ hours to complete, and with the staggering amount of variables and the twists and turns a campaign can take, this is one of those excellent games that you can essentially play forever.