If you grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, you may remember the almost-forgotten phenomenon of the daily desk calendar. These were popular gifts for people who were difficult to shop for, and they offered a cartoon panel like Ziggy or the Far Side, or an inspirational thought, or a joke for each day. You’d tear off a page every day to find a new one. Meditations is a collection of 365 tiny games that you can use as a 2020 desk calendar of sorts.
Each of the games in Meditations is different, and most were created in around six hours. You can play each game only on the day of the year with which it’s associated, meaning if you miss a day, you’ll have to wait a year for another chance to play it.
The idea for Meditations came from Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail, but the games themselves come from more than 350 developers, all of whom are in different points in their careers and each with a unique idea or musing that they shaped into a little game or digital toy.
Today’s is called Out of Step, by developer Brad Smith, who says the game is a “space that reflects a previous version of myself.” In the Meditations launcher, you’ll be able to see who created each day’s game, and read a little introductory or explanatory text that helps provide a little backstory or other context.
Many of the developers who contributed work to the project aren’t yet well known, and a few have had some breakout hits or worked on big-name triple-A games: There’s Kitty Calis, who helped create Minit and worked on Horizon Zero Dawn; and Lucas Pope, the creator of Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn.
You can download the Meditations loader at meditations.games, which is where you can also find a list of contributors as well as an FAQ that provides more information about the project and how it works.
As of December 31, 2019, Meditations was “complete” with a game for every day of the year. The whole 365-game series will loop for 2020.
You may also want to have a look through our list of the best indie games on PC.