2026 Challenge | Gaming With Dan

1. Stick It To The Man

We're back! After putting much work into this website in 2025 but not necessarily putting a lot of work into the core challenge, this is the year that we really make a run at beating the challenge for the first time ever. I realized to accomplish this, it may be prudent that when picking a backlog game, for example, to really focus on the one's that complete quickly. Enter Stick It To The Man, the first 2026 entry and a fantastic one at that. There is no doubt that Stick It To The Man serves as a narrative experience moreso than a pure video game, and usually I stay away from those types of games. This game, however, proved that I shouldn't as it was a relaxing, entertaining, funny and delightful experience. This is a 2.5D puzzle platformer that has you using an arm that has been appended to your head to help the folks of the town you're in and solve the mystery our character has been entangled in. Every chapter presents a new environment, from insane asylums to the downtown streets, which allows our character to interact with the various objects and NPCs that surround him to solve the puzzles. When I say solve the puzzles, this isn't exactly Day of the Tentacle levels of point and click. There are only a few options per puzzle so bruteforcing any of them is relatively easy. But this in no way takes away from the core appeal of the game which is it's charm. The voice acting, graphics and story are all fantastic which is what you want out of game like this and why it's getting such a high rating. There are some moderately difficult pure platforming sections which has our character navigating through one hit kill agents but none of these sections posed much of an issue. This game serves as a fantastic one or two session experience and a more than solid way to kick off the 2026 challenge.

Platform: PC Difficulty: N/A Rating: 8/10

2. FoxyLand

2026 is off to an incredibly hot start and we're looking to keep the train going with this very short, easy, and relatively charming 2D platformer. A new strategy of mine to actually complete the challenge is to not shy away from games that have a YouTube full playthrough time of 40 minutes and this is a major reason FoxyLand was selected when it came up as a backlog selection. There's nothing special going on here - this is a 2D, minimalistic, very quick and easy platformer that is fantastic for the challenge but at the same time I have to be honest with the rating. You control a fox who navigates through 36ish levels with the goal of collecting all the diamonds in a given level which then opens up the exit. The levels themselves are very short - I'm talking 30 seconds or less to finish. The mechanics are incredibly simple as this pure platformer is as bare ones as it gets with running and jumping pretty much being it. There is another collectable, apples, which serve only as unlocking cosmetics. This immediately gave it a point up on Grapple Dog which had the incredibly annoying mechanic of a running tally of items collected that would unlock bosses and subsequent levels. Overall, FoxyLand seems like a higher end game development project from an ambitious student hence a 5 rating, but it suited the challenge perfeclty and I'd eagerly pick FoxyLand 2 on a future backlog roll.

Platform: PSN Difficulty: N/A Rating: 5/10

3. Hotshot Racing

Ok, so within the first 20 minutes of Hotshot Racing I was ready to give this game a 3. I picked way too difficult of a difficutly setting, I didn't understand the drift or boost mechanics, and I was getting crushed in a racing game which seemed a farcry from my beloved Mario Kart World. However, once I lowered the difficulty setting to a respectable normal, looked up and understood how to drift and driting mechanics in general, this game instantly skyrocketed in ratings as it became an incredibly pleaseant and quick and easy experience. This is a game which made me think of the challenge in a more general, philosophical sense. I pride myself on not looking up solutions in games, but this solidifed the fact that, similarily to roguelikes, it is totally permissible to look up how the mechanics of a particular game work in order to really appreciate the short experience I have with it. Once I understood the basic drift and boost mechanics I started enjoying myself immensely - I also learned these are the basic mechanics employed in most of these retro racer type games. I'm not a racing game purist and I would have liked to see some shortcuts and powerups etc. but I'm sure many would disagree and this would violate the spirit of a pure retro racer. To beat the game, the self imposed condition was achieving a gold medla in all the Grand Prix cups on Normal which was easily achieved once the core mehcanics were understood. Could I have pushed for a Hard or Expert playthrough? Probably, but I'm trying to start the year off strong and will inevitably run into a roadblock soon so I need to make up games and time now. This game reminded me, however, how racing games do occupy a special place in my heart and I shouldn't shy away from them if they present a viable winning condition.

Platform: PC Difficulty: NORMAL Rating: 7/10

4. Ynglet

And just like that, we have a 9 which means an early contender for played game of the year and honestly it couldn't have come from a less likely source. Ynglet is a minimalistic, short, easy and cheap 'puzzle platformer' but it is undoubtedly special. I'm not evey really sure how to describe the setting of the game. The story seems to be some sort of metaphor for the big bang or panacea where a disastrous event separates our main character from her children or lovedo nes of some sort. The main character you play is some sort of parasitic amoeba which flows in and out of various objects and blobs in a variety of levels with the goal of reaching a portal like symbol at the end. The way this game flows and introduces mechanics is sublime and goes to show how much of an impact a minimalistic design can really achieve. It doesn't seem fair to give a game which probably cost a couple hundred or thousand dollars to make a 9 and then Edge of Fate which probably costs hundreds of thousands whatever low rating I gave it - but it kinda is what it is. The music, artwork, world and level design are all perfect for what it's trying to accomplish and for a quick and efficient experience this is pretty much the pinnacle.

Platform: PC Difficulty: Tricky Rating: 9/10

5. ScourgeBringer

2026 is off to a record breaking, roaring start and in comes our first of what I can only imagine be many roguelikes of the year - ScourgeBringer. This game clearly draws inspiration from the greats as it has all the classic tropes and characteristics of a great roguelike. I'm talking permanent upgrades bought with currency earned from defeating bosses, secret rooms found by breaking walls, mini bosses etc. etc. Again, like the greats of the genre, the game plays out like a 2D precision platformer which requres the player to move through multiple rooms before reaching the final boss of five different worlds/biomes with escalating difficulty. Speaking of difficulty - this game is difficult. With health drops being very stingy, you are required to play almost perfectly through the first few biomes to even have a chance at a successful run. The combat is lighting quick and fluid rewarding pure aggression, reflexes and instant decision making. There are pretty much zero iframes after being hit and the parry mechanic is slow and requiers a lot of precision. This is one of the rare roguelikes where it's actually not so beneficial to explore and clear every room searching for upgrades and health containers etc. and quickly beating the two mini bosses and the final bosses, especially on the later floors, is a better strategy and it's the one that ultimately led to my winning run. Online reviews have the difficulty as a major point of contention for the game, but I personally loved it. A true sense of accomplishment game from beating the final boss which I hadn't felt in some time. From what I can tell there are no, 'game breaking runs' that we see in a game like BoI and victory truly had to be earned. Ironically, the first time I saw world 5 was the run where I beat the game as I had saved up just enough health to survive the floor and then run through my, at this point, memorized sequence of attacks to quickly spam and defeat the final bosses two phases. I think some more ability diversity, more NPCs to interact with, more mini games and secrets within the biomes etc could have bumped this game up even higher, but an 8.5 seems like a reasonable and deserved rating.