Introduction
Unlike last week, I skipped the contenders article this week. Because, honestly, I only played two PC games with any regularity this year and I wrote about them on Monday. So, anyone paying attention this year knows what game we chose as our 2023 PC Game of the Year.
So, with no suspense to the pick, I need to come up with another format for this article. I recently started using ChatGPT for help with my web page and other tasks. I just asked it for dinner ideas for today and tomorrow. It came up with stir fry and teriyaki salmon. My family isn’t fond of salmon, so it suggested chicken instead. Then, too much teriyaki. So, it came up with lemon herb. Pretty sweet.
The Criteria in Picking the Winner
Unlike mobile, I only played the aforementioned two PC Titles; Train Sim World 3 and Euro Truck Simulator 2. Therefore, the only criteria in this competition is “I played the game”. In that spirit, I played Euro Truck simulator way more than Train Sim World. There was a time that I drove at least 2 or 3 jobs every Saturday and Sunday.
Also, as mentioned in my mobile game of the year article, I said that the only other criteria for a game is the difficult to define, and therefore impossible to argue, fun factor. Both games are fun. But, the freedom of driving the truck makes that game more fun. Touring Europe and discovering new sights makes me feel like I’m back over there.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Yes, in the least suspenseful announcement, perhaps ever, on this page is that Euro Truck Simulator 2 by SCS Software is our 2023 PC Game of the Year. Even though it wins by default, I can envision a world in which it wins over competition, too. Let’s explore why.
- Radio Stations: The game features a variety of radio stations that you can play while driving your truck. I always choose Austrian Rock Radio. It plays hard rock and heavy metal. The ambiance makes me feel like I’m actually out there on the road.
- Customization: The game lets you customize nearly everything. The obvious is that once you buy your truck, you can change up the look and feel of it. You can also choose how you progress in your career by picking various specialties that determine bonuses that you receive on deliveries.
- Overall Variety: Along those same lines, they offer different employers and jobs that you can take. While not necessary to the overall enjoyment of the game, I like that they added that little bit of realism. Oh, what am I delivering today? Olives? Construction Equipment? Boxes for recycling? I just recently discovered another way that they allow you to create your own game experience. When you hire drivers, they come with different skills. I have two employees and I agonized over the decision both times. I think, ultimately, I made the right decision.
- Realistic Scenery: While they obviously have to scale down the countries in size (who wants to actually spend an entire day driving a pretend truck?), they do a good job of capturing the countryside of the countries. I only have experience in Germany, Austria, and Czechia. However, those countries look exactly as I remember them.
- Become an entrepreneur: I bought my second truck and hired my first worker by taking every job near or over 20,000. I saved for several weeks until I had enough for both. This plan included a night of reckless driving that saw me total my truck and rack up 50,000 in debt that the bank threatened me with foreclosure over. When I hired my second worker and bought my third truck, I took out a loan just to see what that process involved. Like everything else, how you run your company is up to you.
Game Play Videos
Since I got so busy over the last few months, I have no game play videos to share. I have only a screenshot of Allianz that I used in my previous article to illustrate the realistic scenery.
I mean, I know there are other game play videos out there. But, in the interest of featuring our own content, I will take some time over the next few days to record a couple of my own that I will upload and link on the page. Look for those in the coming week.
The Verdict
While not a busy PC gaming year and the 2023 PC game of the year being a foregone conclusion, I think I made the argument that due to the quality of the game and also some recent nostalgia, that Euro Truck Simulator 2 deserves the title. Hopefully next year, and a renewed commitment to video content will make next year more contested.