How do you choose which games to play?

Graal

Graal

New member
I used to play most new releases when I had the time, simply because I love gaming and I like to experience most things that come out. Lately I don't have the time as my studies have intensified a lot and I've been doing a lot of dev work on a private website on the side. Every month I see games on the Steam store that I long to play, but I know I'll never get to.

This got me thinking; in today's busy world how do the rest of you MyGaming peeps decide which games to play and which not? Ideally I'd love to play everything because hell yes, but that's simply no longer possible. The biggest problem is MMOs. I love MMOs but they're complete time sinks and whenever I'm busy with an MMO I don't have time for any single player games, making me feel like I'm falling behind in terms of new releases.

So how do you decide which games to play and which to ignore?
 
I think it's human nature to want to play every new game that gets released. Whether we want to admit it or not, a part of us jumps onto the hype train the moment it arrives at our station.

So, at the moment, I'm completely invested in Kerbal Space Program, and it is all that has consumed my thoughts. At the moment, it's the only game I want to play, but that doesn't mean I don't want to get all the new games as well.

So how I choose which games to buy comes down to a few point:

Firstly, I only get games that I truly have a big emotional investment in at launch. This is why games like the new Wolfenstein and Project Cars will be day one buys for me, as I love racing games soooooo much, and Wolfenstein was my GOTY last year, and I MUST have it's follow-up. I can wait for later to get the Witcher and other games.

Secondly, if there is no game that I really must have, I look at specials for games that I may have missed, but wanted to play.

Thirdly, I'll get a game from friend recommendations.
 
i also struggle to decide what to play next. right now, trying to make a concerted effort to finish the game i'm currently playing completely, before starting anything new.

but there just seems to be less and less time available for the ever increasing backlog of games :(

you can also try this site :
http://www.steamcompletionist.net/
 
DieGrootHammer said:
I think it's human nature to want to play every new game that gets released. Whether we want to admit it or not, a part of us jumps onto the hype train the moment it arrives at our station.

So, at the moment, I'm completely invested in Kerbal Space Program, and it is all that has consumed my thoughts. At the moment, it's the only game I want to play, but that doesn't mean I don't want to get all the new games as well.

So how I choose which games to buy comes down to a few point:

Firstly, I only get games that I truly have a big emotional investment in at launch. This is why games like the new Wolfenstein and Project Cars will be day one buys for me, as I love racing games soooooo much, and Wolfenstein was my GOTY last year, and I MUST have it's follow-up. I can wait for later to get the Witcher and other games.

Secondly, if there is no game that I really must have, I look at specials for games that I may have missed, but wanted to play.

Thirdly, I'll get a game from friend recommendations.
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I think you can pretty much close the thread after this. Well said.
 
When choosing a new SP game to play I try to make the next game one from a different genre to vary things up. I also weigh up the investment required in the game in order to truly enjoy it - if I know I'm going to have a few hectic weeks of work/life I try pick something I can jump in and out of fairly easily. Every now and then I jump into an immersive epic that demands I play long hours.

Mostly these days I pick out games from my backlog but specials also influence what I'm playing. If I grab a game I've been wanting while it's on special I try to play it as soon as possible - this is mainly because I've felt the all-to-often pangs of regret when a game I bought at 50% off a year ago still sits unplayed and is now going for 75-80% off!

I'm not so into MMO's but not matter what I'm playing I still find myself spending a good few hours on the MP competitive games (CSGO, Awesomenauts, HOTS, Smite)
 
Graal said:
This got me thinking; in today's busy world how do the rest of you MyGaming peeps decide which games to play and which not? Ideally I'd love to play everything because hell yes, but that's simply no longer possible. The biggest problem is MMOs. I love MMOs but they're complete time sinks and whenever I'm busy with an MMO I don't have time for any single player games, making me feel like I'm falling behind in terms of new releases.

So how do you decide which games to play and which to ignore?
Click to expand...

Less sleep more gaming is how I do it. Else then that I generally just stick to the genre's I like. I play swtor(my serious mmo), eso(casually) + all major crpg releases.
 
A lot is based on what I see and/or how I perceive the game from first glance. If something looks interesting (like the sorta game I would fancy playing) then I consider getting it. Now that I think about it, my impressions are my deciding factor. I then watch/read reviews and decide from that if I want to play the game(s).
 
Another point I'd like to make about my choices in games, is the point of Pre-Ordering, and how reviews influence my decisions to play games.

On pre-ordering:
Yes, I do still pre-order games, but I now am very wary of the games I do pre-order for. It must be games from established franchises that I've enjoyed in the past, causing me to label the follow-up games as Must Have. There are only a few franchises like that remaining for me, as others I am happy to wait and see before making any sort of commitment to buying the game

On the influence of Reviews:
I have 2 sources of reviews that I would go to to read up more about games I am interested in. These reviews I use for information gathering only, as I try and picture myself playing the game I am reading up on, and whether I would enjoy it or not. It is very seldom that a Metacritic score will influence me in any way to buy the game.
 
Depending on what mood I am also the time of day, I can't seem to get into RPG untill later in the night when everything is quite.
 
Crzwaco said:
Depending on what mood I am also the time of day, I can't seem to get into RPG untill later in the night when everything is quiet.
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FTFY!



I'm the same, generally on a weeknight my brain is too fucked to take thinking games into account. Therefor I generally stick with mindless shooting games or driving. But it mostly all depends on my mood. Also on a week night, I only have about 2 to 4 hours (if I push it) if I'm lucky. I don't consider that to be a decent amount of time to get into a game, then have to stop.
 
I'm a meticulous game planner.

I've got a list of games that I want and an order of how much I want them. I then wait for really good specials. This resulted in a backlog that looks a bit crazy but now I play what I want to. If I want to play a certain genre then I pick a game from my list and play it. Sometimes I just feel like playing a certain game.

These days I don't buy games that easily. I don't mind waiting a couple of years even before playing a new game. This saves me money and by the time I play it all the bugs are ironed out and all the DLC have been released. The exception is multiplayer games like Diablo III or games that I can't wait for of which the last was Mass Effect 3.

Current backlog: https://trello.com/b/WHCsPfF2/games
 
I also try to play everything that piques my interest, and that's usually anything that gets released (except strategy and MMO games). I often download "test versions" of games I am unsure about and play for a bit to decide if I want to buy it. If I really like the game but can't buy it at the moment, I will delete the "test version" and wait until I can buy the game before seriously playing it. E.g. I still have to play Divinity: Original Sin and Wasteland 2 but I'm waiting until I can buy them before doing so, want to get them both on the next steam sale if possible.

When it comes to buying games on release I only buy games I really, really want or if it's something in a series that I am a fan of. The next day one buy for me is (obviously) The Witcher 3 and then after that it is Just Cause 3 and maybe Mad Max as well. There are other new games like Project Cars or Mortal Kombat X that I really want, but they are not absolute MUST HAVE's for me. I can wait until they are a bit cheaper. Sometimes I can't resist though and buy something I have already played when it comes to a new platform for the first time. E.g I bought GTA V 3 times now: PS3 then PS4 and then finally PC.

I also try do split my gaming time up between the games I am currently busy with. I usually play stuff like GTA, Borderlands, Driveclub etc. during week nights and then more time consuming games like Bloodborne, Pillars of Eternity etc. on my off days or Sunday afternoon. Sunday is my dedicated RPG day and I try to spend most of the day playing any one particular RPG. When I get a new game I am really excited about all that changes though and I just play it every chance I get for the first week or two. I'm on leave at the moment so I just play whatever I feel like whenever. Still want to do a last quick Witcher 2 playthrough (did a W1 playthrough recently also) before I get The Witcher 3, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen since I want to finish with GTA, Bloodborne and Pillars of Eternity before getting it.
 
I have enough disposable income to buy pretty much any game that comes out, and I do tend to try them for a few minutes at the very least, but it's rare for me to stick with a game unless it's exceptional in some way. Beyond that, I pretty much stick with my favorite competitive games like DotA 2 and TF2. When I feel like branching out and playing something else, it's usually older games that I know I'll enjoy. I get bored of single-player games pretty quickly.
 
i've also tried to tackle quicker/shorter games ahead of larger games, in order to get some sense of forward progression into my terrifying backlog
 
I tend to like games that fit into one of 2 extreme categories; they must either have an incredible story or game world (Just something that gets me really involved), and I'll play them for hours on end, or I just want a fun time waster, like bejeweled or peggle.
 
I have no formula, I just get some magical brain synapse that urges me to play something. I have gone from playing crysis 3 to Sonic 2 in the space of a day then the very next day Im itching to play some NFL or Rugby game. I am extremely all over the place, I have said for years that I am a gaming schizo.
 
DieGrootHammer said:
I think it's human nature to want to play every new game that gets released. Whether we want to admit it or not, a part of us jumps onto the hype train the moment it arrives at our station.

So, at the moment, I'm completely invested in Kerbal Space Program, and it is all that has consumed my thoughts. At the moment, it's the only game I want to play, but that doesn't mean I don't want to get all the new games as well.
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I played demo, and I don't get it. Couldn't make head or tail of what was gonna going in. I admit, didn't spent much time on it, but it didn't grab me. Seemed too much like work. Does t ever become "fun" ??
 
I generally use the Mygaming community as a good indicator. You lot in general seem to know a lot more about games than I could ever hope to ;)
 
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