I was pretty shocked when I reviewed my Steam stats for the year and found that it had logged 16% of my entire yearly Steam playtime on XCOM2

As I used the ability to stream it from my Steam Deck to my MacBook so that I could more easily play with a keyboard and mouse as a desk, I think I must have left it running in the background by accident...

Anyway, I certainly did play this games - regardless of whether or not it occupied most of my yearly gaming attention! 

I played the original XCOM along with XCOM 2 previously, however in 2025 what I really played was the War of the Chosen expansion due to it being on sale. I'd heard that it really changes up the gameplay, which is certainly true

The twists on the base game amp up the tension and the variety, but also ended up leaving me a little burnt out by the constant pressure. This can often be a theme with games for me. I can find work and life in general can provide enough pressure, so I often prefer my games to be more of an escape. 

Ah OK, this feels more realistic in terms of total playtime than XCOM.

In Schedule 1 you slowly build up a drugs empire. A little like that classic Drugs War game, but with a lot more depth and a delightful visual aesthetic. 

Considering the subject matter, it's a generally fairly low stakes game that allows you to take your time to play at your own pace. It was a nice steady progression that introduces new tasks and tools which keeps thing fresh, whilst also slowly allowing for more automation that promotes you more into supply chain management as your business grows.

I certainly found the whole gameplay loop quite addictive (ironically), although I ultimately got to a point where it was becoming more of a grind

The creator is constantly adding updates, so this is one I'll revisit in the future

Ah yes, the British Fallout. The potential in the premise was immediately alluring to many people and it generally delivered on providing a unique and interesting world.

My understanding is that people were expecting a AAA game, that wasn't produced under a AAA budget. This left more rough edges than people were expecting.

I found the atmosphere very compelling and it drove me on to explore the world and understand the storylines and mysteries it dangled in front of me.  

The roughness of some of the gameplay systems was a constant source of friction whilst playing. For instance, the stealth systems didn't work as I would expect with my character constantly getting spotted whilst skulking about in long grass. 

The respawning enemies for a location felt a little unfair, especially given the poor amount of ammo available in the game.  

Overall I certainly enjoyed the game, hence being my 3rd most played game of 2025. However I also stopped playing once I'd made it too the nuclear power station as the suddenly spike in difficulty overrode the last of my enthusiasm to wade onwards.