Finished the challenge with all bonuses + alternatives complete, on the very last day! Actually, I've been finished all entries except #35 since October. I was playing the last game (Chants of Sennaar) with my partner and forgot to finish it until today. This is the first year I've ever finished :,)

My list here! https://howlongtobeat.com/user/Flourite/lists/10524/Gaming-Challenge-2023

I also like the game of the month idea, since there's a ton of options for that one.

As for new ideas... I'll throw these out there:

-A game where you play as an animal
-A game with a hunting or fishing mechanic
-A game where the title starts with the same letter as your first name (or your username)
X-1: A game with no difficulty selection options
X-2: A game with 4+ difficulty selection options

As for the bonus round... maybe a game released in each month of the year? Not necessarily this year. 12 might be a pretty heavy 'bonus' round though.

Lots of progress in April :) Unfortunately, I think the next months will be much slower progress. I tend to use these challenges to play games I was already intending on playing, and when I start running out of categories that fit, I stop prioritizing the challenge... but I really want to finish this year!

April
7-1. An IGF award winning game (any year) – Umurangi Generation
27. A game featuring time travel – Deathloop
29. A game with a diverse cast – Season: A Letter to the Future (Amazing game!)
34. A game whose title could describe your life – My Dream Setup (This one might be a stretch, but I really struggle with this category every year it comes up haha)
43. A game recommended to you by someone else (friend, family, youtuber, etc.) – Professor Layton and the Curious Village
46. A game where you play as a robot or an alien – Live a Live
47. A visual novel – Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
49-2. A game from a developer/company you haven't played a game from before - Dredge (Also an amazing game!)

Total: 25/50
Extra categories: 1/7
Bonus: 0/5

Got a ton of games into this month!

March
5. A time sink (50+ hours) – Wild Hearts - Flew under the radar, but if you're at all interested in monster hunter-like games, this is an excellent choice!
14-2. A "threequel" (Third part of a series) - Touch Detective Rising 3
21. A game with a strange title – Milk inside of a bag of milk inside of a bag of milk
25. A game that's scary – The Quarry
26. A parody game (parodying a specific game, genre, or games in general) – Save Room
30. A game developed by a single person – Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1
32. A collection of games – Arcade Paradise - Actually a very cool game, and I think it's a great option for this entry.
33. A game that includes a co-op mode – Powerwash Simulator
49-1. A game from one of your favorite developers/companies - Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream

Decided mid-February that I'd try my hand at this year's challenge! Looks like the last time I participated was 2018.... time flies :o

My progress so far:
11. A game you watched someone else play first (partially or in full) – Tetris Effect: Connected
13. A game that went through development hell – FFXV Royal Edition
16. A game without humans –FAR: Lone Sails
17. A game with 6+ endings – Star Ocean: The Divine Force
18. A cornerstone to gaming culture - Demon Souls (2020)
23. A game with no dialogue – FAR: Changing Tides
39. A game where you play as an antihero or a villain – Death Come True
42-1. A relaxing 'feel-good' game – Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
45-1. A game made in RPG Maker - Alicemare

Total: 9/50 (and 0/5 bonus)
Collection!

Love the feature, I made a collection of all the mainline Atelier games, and included English release status and links to the Deluxe editions :)
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/Flourite/lists/1342/Atelier-Main-Series

It would be nice if there was some way to 'feature' some people's collections - some of the collections in this thread are great and I'd love an easier way to refer to them!

Eastshade?

Eastshade is correct!

The Stanley Parable?

I'm not even thinking about VNs anymore; I'll be going further. What if a person with disabilities couldn't finish a game by herself and had to appeal to alternative ways of "beating" it. Would y'all still consider it invalid? Or even if a disabled person couldn't play a game at all, but would still like to experience the story and possibly rate some game elements. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if answers changed based on this scenario.

I'm not mad at people not agreeing with the subject or not. It's absolutely fine if you don't agree. I'm freaking pissed at how insensitive some users are being, and the lack of inclusivity on some of the speeches. As long as there isn't a strict guidance, let people catalog their games however they want to and however makes more sense to them. And again, it's fine if you don't agree, but measure your words on how you express your opinions because some are excluding people from the community.

Gosh, I'm disappointed. I ended up redacting this a thousand times to try to not be rude, so I hope this still make a little sense in the end. Games should be about bringing you fun and joy, and "beating" should just mean that you're done with it and that you're ready to tackle a new experience, however you can.

That's a really interesting point, I hadn't really considered what to do about disabilities. Personally, I think in that case it should still 'count', otherwise it just feels gatekeepy to me. Your example also made me think of another situation and I'm wondering what people's inputs would be.

I'm a huge wuss and horror games scare the crap out of me. When I wanted to play PT, I invited 2 of my friends over, and I only controlled the game off-and-on for maybe 1/3rd of the time cuz I was too scared. But does that mean "I" didn't beat it, even though I saw the whole story, and experienced the gameplay? It's not like there were gameplay mechanics that I didn't experience, but I didn't control it 100% of the time, so.... should it 'count'? Technically, the time I have on my profile was from 3 different people swapping controllers. However, that time is basically the same as though a single person played it (assuming that person wasn't hiding and covering their eyes every 5 minutes haha).

Similarly, I 'beat' RE7 last year, and although I controlled it 90% of the time, I got too scared in certain non-shooting sections and handed the controller off to my roommate. Did "I" still beat that game, even though there were portions I only watched?

This is a tricky one.... I'm tempted to say yes, but only for 'pure' visual novels - like ones that are literally just text and no other gameplay. I know some people here are saying 'but you didn't press the button yourself to move the text forward, so you didn't beat it' - but does that really matter for the purpose of the site? At its core, It's about knowing roughly how long it takes to consume certain media.

For example, let's say I boot up a visual novel on my laptop, put the text on auto, and just let it go. I could also load up a video of that section, press play, and let it go. It's the exact same amount of clicks and the same amount of time, and I'm consuming the exact same content on the exact same platform. I feel like it's a bit 'purist' to say one of those options is valid and the other isn't, when they're functionally the same thing.

However, I wouldn't count it for visual novels like Danganronpa or Ace attorney - those have too many player inputs / minigames for me to consider watching it an equivalent experience. I personally would not do it myself, because I find the reading speed on video playthroughs waaaay too slow.

It's Love Choice isn't it?

You got it!

It reminds me of what little I've seen of One Night Stand. Is that it?

Nope, but it definitely does look similar!

Pretty sure I just played this :D is it Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery?

Giving this thread a bump, someone can probably post a new image

Heh, I wanted to say "Welcome to the Game", but despite sharing similar graphics, it came out much earlier than that so I went to check what other games the same devs worked on, leaving us with Scrutinized as the only option!

You got it! :D

A hand with many fingers?

Also nope.
Another hint: It's a side project (kind of a spiritual sequel) to a horror / puzzle series that was played by many very popular youtubers and streamers a few years ago.

Is it Observer? The one with Rutger Hauer (RIP) as the main character.

Nope!

Visage?

Nope.
I'll put some hints: It came out in 2020 and is a detective / horror game

Looks like Beyond the Labyrinth?

Back in 1995?

9 games out of 10, I'm just doing the minimum required to beat the main story. That's not to say I don't like the games I'm playing, I just have SO MANY games I want to play in my backlog, and I want to experience them all! There are definitely times when a game grabs my attention enough that I'll do the extras, or even 100% it / replay it (I'm looking at you, dark souls)... but it's rare :)