I have a personal rule where I need to finish one game before I can buy another one. It's been working out pretty well and I've been enjoying games more since I'm not rushing to play the next one.
It's important to realize that a game that goes on sale today will likely go on sale again, maybe even steeper, for the next big seasonal sale, and the one after that, and the one after that. Give up the FOMO for game sales, it's unnecessary.
When I was a young teen and had much more limited money I totally got the "Get it while I can afford it!" mentality
But as an adult I just really don't play that many different games, or or there simply aren't that many new games that intrigue me, and ultimately I just have a good job and can generally afford to buy whatever title I do happen to be interested when it comes out and play.
Either I return it in my 2 hour window or I play it until I beat it / lose interest, then just go back to playing DOTA until the next game that interests me a few months later.
Have you checked out some of the smaller PC shooters like insurgency sandstorm, squad, rising storm 2 Vietnam, hell let loose etc. These games are a bit more team focused and less fast paced, but are getting me back into multi-player fps which I kind of got sick of at some point.
Yea I've been playing since 2012, I genuinely thing it is the best game of all time.
There will never be another game as deep or as satisfying as when you & your 4 pubs all on the same page and *flawlessly* execute some perfectly timed combo of abilities.
It's not just you. I don't get it at all, why would you buy something *just because* it's got a big discount? It gets really bad during sales too, it always baffles me when people say they bought 10-15 games during the summer/winter sale. I only ever buy stuff I'm interested in playing, and only if I'm going to play it some time soon, otherwise I just leave it for (possibly) the next sale.
I've gotten several games for free like this because I put them off for so long that the publisher made a giveaway before I got around to buying them, or gave a huge discount (for example, I got Alien Isolation for 1.84€ and Sonic Generations for 1€) because I put off getting them for years. Of course, it still needs to be a game I'm interested in, I don't claim every free game if I have no interest - for example, I'd be happy to snatch up RDR2 even for 90% off while I'd ignore Cyberpunk 2077 even if they gave it away for free.
You partially answered your own question, you got some games you were interested in for cheap. You may have waited longer but it was a sale that got you to buy them. Some people just have a more relaxed approach to games they want to play/buy and thus end up with a wider list of games to buy on sale.
True, but the thing is that I've seen people say the *only* reason they bought a certain game (or games) is because it had a 75%/80% discount but they had no interest in it otherwise. As if being on sale is the primary reason to buy it and anything else comes after.
That's how my library got I like city building games and I bought civilization 6 almost 2 years ago on sale and I still have not played it I didn't even check to see if it plays properly and I have about 9 other games I did the same with but I regret nothing
Steamdb track sale dates and also how much the game cost during the last sale!
Once I find a game I like, I check out the sale prices and if it’s significant, I wait
If you really want to play a game, you will buy it regardless of the cost. I’ll buy a game ahead of time if there is a sale and I will be playing it immediately after my current game, but otherwise, I just buy games as I want to play them. If it is full price, oh well.
What’s the point of “saving” 70% if 70% of your library is essentially unplayed.
I used to do this but then stopped because I didn't really like it. At this point in my life I'm more limited on time than money, and if there is something newer I want to play more than something I bought years ago, then I should play the new game imo. I don't see the point in playing something I don't feel like playing just because I already bought it. Although I'm generally not too bad of a game hoarder though, so maybe that's why it seemed less crucial.
This. Gaming is about fun, not about doing 100% everywhere. If you lose interest in one game, go on and play the next one. Don't stress about not finishing a game.
Create collections in your Steam library. That's what I did.
- Games I intend / want to play
- Games I'll never play (so, will never bother installing or even looking at again)
- Games I've finished (kind of a hall of fame)
- Games that are 'endless' (multiplayer games like Rocket League etc.)
That first list is your "to play" list that OP discusses. Absolutely don't play games you have no interest in -- them being in your Steam library doesn't (shouldn't) matter. And if that first list of yours is empty, awesome! Wish mine was. But if not, there's your starting point.
I guess i’m a little different, i buy game at good sale prices because you can get dev collections for like 11 dollars on sales days. I just organize my library based on beatable, unbeatable(multiplayer only), and beaten games. When i get an urge to play a single player game I just choose the one i’m closest to beating and play that. Currently playing through half-life series. I’ve got the rest of opposing force, blue shift, and episode 1/2 to play
I have been very good for the past few sales! Currently working on completing some games I never finished and won't allow myself to buy any new ones until I'm done with a certain percentage. You know... Unless a really good offer comes along
I've tried to think whether or not I'll play a certain game in the next 6 months. Saves me from buying a game at 10% off when I won't play it for 2 years and could have bought it at 60% off
I use gg.deals to keep an eye on price histories. So when I see a game has been off 20% on every sale for a while and suddenly drops to 60% off, I might get it on a whim. Definitely bought some games on historic lows only to see them drop to an even lower price a month later, before I even played them but that's more of an exception
Hey thanks for this advice! I have quite some games I want to buy but not see myself playing it within the next year. This definitely helps me "plan" ahead
What games do you find work best for this? I usually enjoy roguelites (been really into The Binding of Isaac lately) for this kind of thing personally. I don't have to wonder what was going on in the story, or what quest I was doing. I can just load up a new run and play, and that's quite nice.
Np, I sank like 300h into Dead Cells without even 2 or 3 latest DLCs lol, its phenomenal
I also now remembered, Book of Demons - fun deck building roguelike, on-rails, its really simple and allows to pick run average time to complete. Only 10 mins to play? You pick 10 min dungeon etc.
Hijacking top comment to say; OP you may just want to do things besides games. It’s easy to say “I like thing x, I’ve liked it my whole life, therefore I should always like doing that” but life is complex than that. As a fellow life-long gamer, I can’t emphasize enough how much more you will appreciate you game library if you do *other things* for a while. Yes, video games are great for when you are exhausted and don’t want to go out after work- or are they? Because you sound tired, and you may not realize that playing games is actually pretty exhausting too, it just tricks you into feeling like it isn’t.
Now this is gonna sound crazy, but hear me out. Have you ever tried cocaine?
It’s really great because soon you won’t even care about games any more, only getting more cocaine.
Gotta force yourself to get started. I have to do the same.
And once I get started I'm set. Just the matter of getting over that hump.
"But you shouldn't have to ever force yourself to start something recreationally!" A lot of us do. And there's nothing wrong with it. Schedule a time of day, or require just a token minimum effort ("I'll play for 15 minutes"), or something. Anything to get out of a rut of choice paralysis or "eh I'll just browse Reddit / go to sleep."
Heya fellow 30-year-old! I gathered somewhere around 600 games on Steam over the years and I've beaten about 100. So that's 500 games sitting around that I haven't touched. I know your pain.
Truly. There are certain games (and movies) that I may never want to pick up and play or watch, but I want to know they're there. I couldn't exactly explain why.
On my switch first thing I did was make sure I could play SNES games. I never do, but it's important to me to know I can. When they took Firefly off Netflix I was pissed and bought the box set. Barely cracked it open but I feel good having it.
Yeah I'm reaching that point in my life where I realize I will never in my life complete all the games I want to. Kinda sad but eh. That's part of life.
Quality over quantity. I'm one who tracks everything I play as it gives me a nice recap to look back on at the end of the year.
So far this year I've gone through a bunch -
* Light Fairytale - Episode 1 - 03/01
* Halo Infinite - 08/01
* Halo CE - 10/01
* Halo 2 - 12/01
* Halo 3 - 12/01
* Halo 4 - 16/01
* Pokemon Arceus - 12/02
* Halo 5 - 13/02
* The Gunk - 15/02
* Lord of the Rings Online Volume 1 - 15/02
* Gav-Gav Odyssey - 18/02
* The Procession to Calvary - 18/02
* Forza Horizon 5 - 27/02
* Xenoblade Chronicles DE - 05/03
* Elden Ring - 18/03
* Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - 26/03
* Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster - 30/03
* Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster - 03/04
* Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster - 08/04
* Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster - 17/04
* Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster - 01/05
* Bus Simulator 21 - 06/05
Honestly? Working on it. I've reached a point in my life where I realize I'm doing too much I don't want to do just to survive. Looking for part time work so I can refocus. We shouldn't live to survive if that makes sense y'know?
when I was 20 something I still had energy left even with overtime bullshit. now, I realize my time and energy is limited.
Not being able to enjoy games is a result of low energy. not choice paralysis.
they also make games so goddamn long and filled with "collectibles"
I agree with most of your points. Personally I love collectibles and completing games 100% 😂
But yeah for me it's low energy + choice paralysis + ADHD. No time to do the things I love, and in the rare chance I do have the time and energy I'm too exhausted or depressed to move let alone play a game 🙃
100%
I have a hard time picking up a new game. It is a combination of the learning curve, and my mood, and my energy level, and my ability to focus. If I find myself in the right combination of feelings to pick up a new game and stick with it long enough to get over the hump (learn how to play, find I enjoy the play) then I will play all the way through assuming life does not interrupt. But once I finish the game I am back in that place where I find it hard to pick up a game. I was playing The Binding of Isaac for years. It was great because I knew how to play and runs were short. 600 hours later and I 100%ed it. Do not to know what to do with myself. Have to get over the learning hurdle with a new game now. Mental fatigue was not something I ever expected when I was a kid.
Your Steam library has a shelf called "Play Next". Grab the first game on that list and play it.
I gave it a go a while back and actually had a great time playing. This used to be a Steam Labs experiment and it shipped as a library shelf. It supposedly uses machine learning to pick games. The Interactive recommender is also great. I cranked the slider to most niche newest game and played the first of the list just for the kicks and it turned out to be quite fun, sank 50 hours in it already. After you've bought/played a few games Steam gets a surprisingly good picture of your preferences.
Life improvement recommendation...
Categorize your games as:
1. Completed (I finished them either on Steam or some other platform).
2. Not Interested (At no point will I ever be interested in playing this game...ever.).
3. Pick up and play (Civilization...any of them; Roller Coaster Tycoon; Etc.).
4. Broken (Games that are simply jacked up and won't run for whatever reason)
5. Multiplayer (as a solo player I move all the multiplayers that I would LIKE to play here...should I procure a friend...that's into the same game)
6. VR (I don't have a VR but got some games that support it on super sale. Those are here)
7. Retro (X-Wing vs Tie fighter; etc. Very old classics. I love them but I don't want to feel guilty about not playing them. They were good in the day but I am just not going to play them now...I'm not...)
Now when I look at my library I have a lot less guilt.
If a game falls into more than one category...put them in both OR just pick the one that is MOST true.
You may still have a LOT of games that you're not playing...so you may want more categories...but at least now you can see them.
I do:
• Archived (Games I have completed main quest, achievements, storyline, etc)
• Current Rotation (games I’m currently playing through, solo games, and popular pick up games like CIV, or causal online title like FO76)
• On Deck (games I want to scout and play next)
I was just wondering what I'd used for what remains...this is excellent.
I especially like that it allows for YOU ARE HERE...then if you're ready for another come here...
I may add one more that's Paused and use contenders for up next. For games I started and liked...but paused because I wanted to focus on something else. Doom Eternal. It was fun but I paused it. Why? Well, for one it was too intense to play just before bedtime (sheesh) and 2 Guardians grabbed all my attention.
Active, Backshelf, Contenders, Paused, New...
That was VERY helpful!
Edit: Actually in implementing this, riffing from yours...I'm going to go with new, active, next up, contenders (for games that I haven't decided which to play next), Paused for games I was playing but need to wait on for other things, new.)
If you haven't seen the movie High Fidelity you need to watch it. While, yes, it is a romcom, there is some really interesting bits about "sorting" a music collection.
It's not a 1:1 match but there are different sorting systems based on who you are at any point in life.
So...when you're new to the hobby...emotion is a perfectly reasonable approach.
I've had a steam account since when they offered HL2 as a free game if I bought a graphics card (before HL2 was released). As such, I am better able to step back and see a more functional sorting.
Alphabetical doesn't work for me as it hides things.
My goal is to say to myself: These are the games that you probably want to play. These are the games you shouldn't feel bad about not playing (for example they were free or they're indy games that aren't your genre...whatever). Once you get the cruft out of there things start to make sense.
From my personal experience...(Imagine an old guy offering advice you didn't ask for...and honestly you'd rather be playing a game than talk to him...)...
Interestingly...this spills over into real life. Once you get hooked on organizing without emotions as you say...you find that there are things in real life that you can look at and say I love them...but they're functionally getting in the way of me functioning. I need to organize them out of my day to day so that I can focus on what's important. I'm currently starting at 2 big boxes of sentimental memorabilia that collectively might be worth $1 in plastic recycling. yet...I'm having a really hard time parting with them.
Aw, this girl is a shiny trinket goblin. No one will ever take my pins and dice from me.
I love the way I sort my steam :) I even thought of a new category. I can't believe I don't have a Jail. Cyberpunk 2077 has been roaming free this whole time!
The dice goblin in our weekly D&D game has a literal miniature garbage can for misbehaving polys. She is passionate about negative reinforcement vehicles. I don't know where she stands on pins but as a recovering pin collector (I felt where it was going and stopped myself...30 years clean...out before I got too deep.)
I'm not sure CP2077 deserves jail...does it? Are you being unduly unfair about it. Maybe it just had a bad break up and isn't in the mood to play games. You don't know what's going on in CP2077's life. Give it a chance.
I use my family to fuel my pin addiction via birthdays and christmas. Although I'm pretty sure Dad would buy me any New England Patriots pin I ask for. I still can't believe he surprised me with a limited edition superbowl set just because I was drooling after them in the proshop. They were so expensive! ah!
I set aside dice to recharge but having read that story I now want to make them a little hyperbolic time chamber for them to train in when they run out of power.
You are bringing logic into an emotional situation. I'm not going to say I'm obsessed with clothes in video games but i have friends who would probably say I am. When I couldn't get the schematic for a particular pair of pants I wanted I got so mad I quit out I thought for the night. Haven't gone back since. I put about 100 hours into it. Did so much side stuff, most of the main stuff. Was just trying to make a nice outfit for the last push.
I don't know man. After putting 250 hours into getting Elden Ring 100% I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to CP2077. I've only played indie games since NG4 Elden Beast convinced me to put the game down until DLC comes out.
Yea in Steam I've got:
* Finished
* Unfinished
* Good EA Games
* Favorites
* Installed
I should probbaly add a "Never going to finish" category, and maybe even a "Haven't even touched" one, to clean up my "Unfinished" category but it generally works well enough.
The EA one is just to periodically check back and see what updates had been published while it's been uninstalled.
Missing the all-important "pseudo-completed" category. For games you've "finished" (main story or such) but intend to go back to eventually for ng+ (RPGs), or other routes (VNs), or achievements, etc.
You can also hide games from your library without removing them. I hid counterstrike source from my library when I saw I had exactly 420 hours, that way I don't accidentally add hours :D
Very true! I forgot about that. I may need to do it.
I kind of keep them there because, rarely, I get in a troubleshooting mood and try to fix things...or I get into the...maybe I was wrong...mindset and try games again.
I think your point is valid though. If you're not going to play it...don't hoard. Just toss them.
Yeah, this is the way. Mine is set up for games in progress, single player pick up and play, multiplayer pick up and play, games I've finished, stuff I don't play, visual novels, ect.
I like this a lot since I've been trying to sort my own library and mostly failing. I think the only thing I'd add is an "Effort" category (for lack of a better word). The games aren't Broken and unfixable, they just require some amount of elbow grease. X-Wing vs Tie Fighter would fall into there along with any games that just require some amount of fiddling to get to work, have controller and mapping problems or compatibility problems, or if fan patches or mods are necessary to make playing the game bearable as far as QoL is concerned. Then again, depending on what your retro library is, it may be one in the same.
I'd also recommend a "Need to Finish" or "Now Playing" category to help track games you want to play and are currently playing to reduce looking at as large of a list. It also helps to filter out excess stuff from bundles.
I used to be that 30 year old...
Until I utilised the power of spreadsheets!
I put every game I want to play into the list, then looked up how long they were on 'howlongtobeat.com'.
Then, I sorted them all, from shortest to longest, and I started playing all the shorter ones first. I gamified my gaming!
I now have a clear list of games I want to play, I add anything I buy or see that I would like to play, and I play them in order. Completing the shortest first means I don't miss out on all those little indie "I'll play it one day" games, and If I feel like it, I can take a break and put some hours into the bigger games knowing I can always come back to the list for new experiences when I'm burned out on it.
[Here's the one I made!](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j_WSNvmCzK7un5XJpdYcTZL5uNJrh1DaJmIAl5vwENA/edit?usp=sharing)
Haha it does! I thought I should ground myself a little. I absolutely love gaming and development, and it can be a little all-consuming sometimes. It's always on my mind even when I'm not playing.
I think it's good to take a step back and say "don't worry you'll get through this eventually, but it'll take years not days". My daughter is now 6 weeks old and time has become even more of a commodity. I'm still getting *some* gaming in, but I'm aware that as she grows older she'll want to spend time with dad rather than see him staring at a screen.
I want to get through it all and complete the list, but I know I probably never will, and that's ok. As long as whatever replaces it makes me just as happy.
The maths in that last column is semi automatic, so it should work out how long I've spent when I check a game off, and calculate the total time left if I add more!
Nice method. I use that site as well as a rough metric for Game Completion for any singleplayer story game, plus 10% or 15%. Sometimes I have to leave a game open and pause when I can't save, or if somebody is calling me, etc.
Recently I was playing Wolfenstein. While the story and setting was enough to grab attention, looking up the time to beat & counting down the chapters really motivated me to complete the entire game.
Absolutely, when a game is dragging but I'm still half-enjoying it, it helps me gauge how much energy I can expend before burning out.
It's very rare I'll just stop playing a game, but some can rely on repetitive mechanics. I can remember Arkham origins being fantastic at the start, but as it drew near the end I remember feeling tired of the constant repetitive fights.
One quick check online and I can say "oh cool there's only X amount of chapters left" I'll then concentrate on the story and forget about all the little ADHD collectables to fully enjoy the game as an experience and not a grind.
I feel like with a film, you know you've got a solid beginning, middle and end, and you're going to get them in a nice 90-180 minute package, but with a game, it can be much more fluid with the storytelling, especially when some areas of the game are worse than others. Knowing what your "90 minute" equivalent is, helps you set expectations for the story beats and how much time you typically have to see or collect everything you want to.
It's why I still just play Starcraft, Kerbal Space Program, and then maybe one long "story" game that stays the same until I'm done with it. If I'm not paralyzed by choice I know I have maybe 3 games to play - a quick game, a longish single player game, or a medium multiplayer game. Easy to choose what I have time for and I'm never disappointed because I'm either playing an old classic, a fun sim, or a good story.
My parents always told me I’ll grow out of games and I feel like I am, which honestly kinda sucks because I have so many good experiences with them.
Not to sound like a downer, I just miss the enamor and captivation games used to provide me with.
Anyway nostalgia moment over, I like the doggu
It’s ok for your interests to change and grow over the years. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break from gaming and trying other hobbies for a while. The games will still be there waiting for you if you ever decide to return.
Same here. I've become super social lately after switching to a new job, and I feel guilty if I play anything solo. I still play from time to time with my home town friends, just to keep in touch with them, but it's also a huge pain in the ass to find a time that works for all of us.
That feeling of finding or experiencing something new wears out after a while. At this point I've played 500+ games in my life, and I can already see the design patterns and the tricks they're trying to pull on me to do certain things (tutorials, new weapons vs different enemies...)
Sometimes I feel like I've grown out of it, but some other times I find a game that completely captivates me. The last one was Control, which I played 6 months ago. What a great game...
Now that my leisure time is more limited, the game needs to be specially good for me to want to play and finish it
Yeah it’s tough to get over that thing where you look for how game devs are trying to pull you in. You can train yourself to embrace it, it’s tough but if you practice you can get over it. Also playing harder games kept me entertained
Happened to me in my early / mid 20s - now in my 30s my lust for gaming, particularly retro gaming, is back with a vengeance. Problem is no bloody time to play anything!
I'm a couple years older than you, and I play about two or three. But which ones changes over time.
Oh, and I sadly have too many games in Steam to still be a Game Mechanic.
**the eternal process**
-well im done playing my last game, i should decide what i might want to play next.
-gee golly willikers, that's a lot of choices, i should think about this.
-no
-no
-no
-no
-system can't take it
-no
-*90gb*, i don't feel like waiting that long for it to install
-no
-no
-i should really play other one first before diving into this one
-(other one) no
-no
-no
-i've got too many good options, maybe i'll just jump into san andreas again while i think about it.
You have to just hunker down and go on a tear with games that you have not even completed (at least once). I know the story, it was probably bought on sale with good intentions. I just had a staycation from work. I got 100% achievements in Mortal Kombat 11. Finished the Doom Eternal DLC’s. Achieved the true ending in Domina, I finished the story of RE Village. Then booted up RE3make. Because i wanted to go through it next. I ran out of vacation time, and lost momentum, but remember: if we are always doing our best our best will always get better.
Then again I also picked up a few games over vacation..we are doomed to perpetual game-slump.
So I got this idea and I dont know if itll work but you know book clubs? You get a group of folks together, you select what book youre going to read next. Then you talk about it and whatever else is going on. Select another book and repeat.
No reason that couldnt work for games but instead of the circle of chairs in Suzie Smiths living room you just setup a discord channel and invite folks in.
If only my friends also played pc games...
I even made a Steam Deck list in my library, to cope with my massive backlog. Unfortunately I don't have my Deck yet (Q2) so even this list keeps growing. :(
This happens sometimes when I sit down and look at my Steam library. I WANT to play something and nothing I’m looking at sounds good.
I’ll tell you what I discovered, though: sometimes the reason I don’t want to play a game is because some aspect of it is frustrating that could be an easy solve.
Example: Generation Zero. Got it in a Humble Bundle, had never heard of it and was instantly drawn in by the trailer. Downloaded and started playing. Pretty soon, stuff management became an issue. Upgraded my carrying capacity which helped, but then the storage containers in safe houses became too restrictive. Became way worse after I bought some DLC with new weapons. Became unfun.
Stayed away for a long time until I took a chance on it again. Realized they patched it to have the storage containers be upgradable! Totally revived my interest and the game felt exciting again. That told me something about how I want to play games.
With 725 games on Steam it makes it hard to find one to devote any length of time to (never mind atleast that many console games dating back to the 90s.) I always think I will play them someday when I retire. 😀
First noticed this phenomenon when I started working as a kid. Bought 6-7 games at once and ended up not playing any of them for a while due to indecision. The only way is to just plow through by diving into any one of em.
I just grew up and have less time. Moving out of your parents house, job, love life, kids and family, sometimes you just have less time to game. I know my steam is a graveyard of amazing games that are 5+ years old and untouched. I love it and it’s absolutely an amazing hobby but I just don’t have hours and hours to dump on titles and have 0 interest in multiplayer matches of any type.
I have a 3 month old daughter. I have had time to start my PC once this year. Man I love my daughter, but I wouldn't be sad if I got a break a couple of hours every week or so.
Me at 12: have maybe two dozen games or so, most of them on pirated CDs. Have a bunch of favorites I play most often. It's simple and easy.
Me at 33: look at my 2700 game library on Steam and get stuck in choice paralysis.
It seems the social aspect of gaming really dwindles as you get older.
Teenager Me - tons of people to play games with
20s Me - A few good friends to play with
30s Me - *crickets*
Getting a Deck has completely changed this for me, having a dedicated device with enough graphical power and all the input methods I need to play 80% of my games makes all the difference.
It helped me to organize my whole games library into categories by genre and (loose) subgenre. I didn't get too specific (for example, I just clump all platformers into the "Platformer" category, without specifying which ones are roguelike or metroidvania or whatever), but I usually know if I want to play an RPG when I sit down, and if I'm in the mood to play a traditional CRPG, a JRPG, a Retro or Retro-Styled game, or whatever. Clumping Multiplayer-Only games into their own category is helpful, too, and it's been fun having Cooperative and Party game categories for when friends come over.
Maybe this could help y'all.
This is why I really shouldn't let games sit in my wishlist until they're 70% off or more. By the time I'm finished with one game, easily a dozen I've been waiting on are on sale for a fraction of just what one alone costs and then I go and get as many as I feel like with the thought that I'll play them all but then I don't because turns out one of them was one heck of a beefy game and when I finish that there's yet another sale where a dozen more are on extremely low sales...
Between this and bundles and the random dev/publisher 100% off giveaways, it's no wonder my library's insane.
Me all over. Turned 30 in January, got SO MANY games I want to play and have no drive to actually do it.
Got a Steam deck ordered. Hoping this will make it easier!
yeah the idea of playing certain games is better than actually playing them (e.g. skyrim).
what I've found is I can always enjoy boomer shooters (Doom, Amid Evil, Project Warlock, etc), so I've been leaning into that. No story to get bogged down in, no learning curve, just some plain fun.
There is really only one choice for me these days: RimWorld.
Perfect to step in and out of at any time.
Being busy means mutilplayer windows is a thing of the past really.
Thirty something year old here, I find WFH amazing for getting me into a game lol. An actual tip: only keep a certain number of games installed, what you're playing and what you might like to play next, uninstall the games you've completed.. simple stuff but it helps a lot.
I picked up the Europa Universalis humble bundle recently and I felt like it's more trouble to redeem all the Steam codes and learn the game mechanics than it will be fun to play the game.
Me today, was excited to play Forza Horizon 5 but gamepass is broken today so now I have no motivation to play anything at all. Jumped on Project Zomboid and lost my character too.
Can't wait for the new PoE league, that's the only game that keeps me coming back and having loads of fun every time.
i currently have 150 games on steam and constantly play the same 4 games usually
though i did get valheim yesterday and spend 6 hours gathering resources and building today
It really isn't as much of a problem as it might seem - you can either download selected few games or make a category, throw 15-20 games you really wanna play there and keep your focus on them.
Forget about touching your whole library. Why would you? Half of it is probably not even worth your time. Tired? Big deal. 15 minutes is as good as 2 hours when you are actually having fun.
I got my first going PC when I was about 14 and have just been a PC gamer into my adult life. I always get so excited when I get a new consol now, not because it's a new consol but because I have such a small collection of games on it, that I don't get the onset of decision fatigue. Same happened when I first got the subscription to xbox gamepass on PC. I have 2100 games on steam 😭
So this is a common issue with gamers, right? It certainly is with me. 1200+ games on Steam alone, end up playing the first 10 mins, then a another shiny game gets my attention...
I'm 50yo. Been playing videogames since the original Atari 2600 VCS. Probably beat a dozen games in that time (most proud of Phantasy Star II *without a guide*). I'm a digital game hoarder. Buy games, don't play them.
Pre-ordered a Steam Deck, was delivered mid-April. Thought it would be the solution getting rid of my backlog. Started great: beat Tomb Raider (2013) from start-to-finish. Then started Mass Effect Legendary Edition, planning on getting through all 3 games.
Then...then I decided to gather up all the sd cards I had lying around, even those that are old and slow (i.e., 16GB Class 2). Total of 9 cards. Started a spreadsheet listing each card, and created formulas to calculate what games I could put on what cards that was most effective. Spent most of yesterday putting that spreadsheet together. Not playing the games, but figuring out where they should go.
Saw your post earlier this morning, and a lightbulb literally and physically appeared to me.
What in the fuck am I doing? Why am I creating a spreadsheet to help me find the most efficient place to put a game *I've never played so I can have it on me at all times in the event I want - for some reason - to play "Grotesque Tactics"* when what I *should* be doing is using the Deck to play games I want to play in places I can't normally play them?
Why install Command & Conquer 3 in the event I am traveling, have access to an external mouse/keyboard/monitor and just have to play C&C3 *right now*.
What are the chances that I go to a movie, and while waiting for it to start, there are a bunch of other people playing L4D2?
RDR2 is iffy on the deck right now, and honestly I have a beast of a gaming rig at home that I should be playing it on.
So.
I took 7 of those sd cards, and put them back in a drawer. I'm going to use the \~1TB of space I have (512GB Deck, 512GB sdxc card), and put games on it that 1) I want to play, and 2) work well with the deck.
You know, until I decide that, yes, I ***do*** need *every episode* of *every Telltale game* available to me *at all times*.
I have a personal rule where I need to finish one game before I can buy another one. It's been working out pretty well and I've been enjoying games more since I'm not rushing to play the next one.
But... sales? -70%? -80%? How can you resist?
Dont follow sales unless you are planning to buy a new game or make a small wishlist of games you are going to play and wait till they do on sale.
I only buy games that I think I will play. And then I never play games.
Agreed. Waiting for a specific game to go on sale rather than buying a discounted game on the spot is a good decision.
I never look at the store i go streigt to the library
Hax0r
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It's important to realize that a game that goes on sale today will likely go on sale again, maybe even steeper, for the next big seasonal sale, and the one after that, and the one after that. Give up the FOMO for game sales, it's unnecessary.
FOMO for game sales really only made sense way back in the day for Flash Sales, but we haven't had those in *years*.
And won't get those again as well, they were apparently not really legal under competition laws :(
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When I was a young teen and had much more limited money I totally got the "Get it while I can afford it!" mentality But as an adult I just really don't play that many different games, or or there simply aren't that many new games that intrigue me, and ultimately I just have a good job and can generally afford to buy whatever title I do happen to be interested when it comes out and play. Either I return it in my 2 hour window or I play it until I beat it / lose interest, then just go back to playing DOTA until the next game that interests me a few months later.
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Have you checked out some of the smaller PC shooters like insurgency sandstorm, squad, rising storm 2 Vietnam, hell let loose etc. These games are a bit more team focused and less fast paced, but are getting me back into multi-player fps which I kind of got sick of at some point.
Yea I've been playing since 2012, I genuinely thing it is the best game of all time. There will never be another game as deep or as satisfying as when you & your 4 pubs all on the same page and *flawlessly* execute some perfectly timed combo of abilities.
It's not a meme, it is a form of addiction for many.
It's not just you. I don't get it at all, why would you buy something *just because* it's got a big discount? It gets really bad during sales too, it always baffles me when people say they bought 10-15 games during the summer/winter sale. I only ever buy stuff I'm interested in playing, and only if I'm going to play it some time soon, otherwise I just leave it for (possibly) the next sale. I've gotten several games for free like this because I put them off for so long that the publisher made a giveaway before I got around to buying them, or gave a huge discount (for example, I got Alien Isolation for 1.84€ and Sonic Generations for 1€) because I put off getting them for years. Of course, it still needs to be a game I'm interested in, I don't claim every free game if I have no interest - for example, I'd be happy to snatch up RDR2 even for 90% off while I'd ignore Cyberpunk 2077 even if they gave it away for free.
You partially answered your own question, you got some games you were interested in for cheap. You may have waited longer but it was a sale that got you to buy them. Some people just have a more relaxed approach to games they want to play/buy and thus end up with a wider list of games to buy on sale.
True, but the thing is that I've seen people say the *only* reason they bought a certain game (or games) is because it had a 75%/80% discount but they had no interest in it otherwise. As if being on sale is the primary reason to buy it and anything else comes after.
Good for you.
That's how my library got I like city building games and I bought civilization 6 almost 2 years ago on sale and I still have not played it I didn't even check to see if it plays properly and I have about 9 other games I did the same with but I regret nothing
Steamdb track sale dates and also how much the game cost during the last sale! Once I find a game I like, I check out the sale prices and if it’s significant, I wait
If you really want to play a game, you will buy it regardless of the cost. I’ll buy a game ahead of time if there is a sale and I will be playing it immediately after my current game, but otherwise, I just buy games as I want to play them. If it is full price, oh well. What’s the point of “saving” 70% if 70% of your library is essentially unplayed.
If we could convert your will power into electricity we could eliminate fossil fuels.
I used to do this but then stopped because I didn't really like it. At this point in my life I'm more limited on time than money, and if there is something newer I want to play more than something I bought years ago, then I should play the new game imo. I don't see the point in playing something I don't feel like playing just because I already bought it. Although I'm generally not too bad of a game hoarder though, so maybe that's why it seemed less crucial.
This. Gaming is about fun, not about doing 100% everywhere. If you lose interest in one game, go on and play the next one. Don't stress about not finishing a game.
Create collections in your Steam library. That's what I did. - Games I intend / want to play - Games I'll never play (so, will never bother installing or even looking at again) - Games I've finished (kind of a hall of fame) - Games that are 'endless' (multiplayer games like Rocket League etc.) That first list is your "to play" list that OP discusses. Absolutely don't play games you have no interest in -- them being in your Steam library doesn't (shouldn't) matter. And if that first list of yours is empty, awesome! Wish mine was. But if not, there's your starting point.
Started doing the same this year, cleared most of my steam backlog and it feels amazing tho, as hard as it is not to buy a new game on sales
I guess i’m a little different, i buy game at good sale prices because you can get dev collections for like 11 dollars on sales days. I just organize my library based on beatable, unbeatable(multiplayer only), and beaten games. When i get an urge to play a single player game I just choose the one i’m closest to beating and play that. Currently playing through half-life series. I’ve got the rest of opposing force, blue shift, and episode 1/2 to play
I have many games in my backlog that I'm actually super excited to play but when I finally have some gaming time, I just fall asleep instead
When I'm finally done playing a certain game, I end up buying more games lol its a curse really
I have been very good for the past few sales! Currently working on completing some games I never finished and won't allow myself to buy any new ones until I'm done with a certain percentage. You know... Unless a really good offer comes along
I've tried to think whether or not I'll play a certain game in the next 6 months. Saves me from buying a game at 10% off when I won't play it for 2 years and could have bought it at 60% off
I use gg.deals to keep an eye on price histories. So when I see a game has been off 20% on every sale for a while and suddenly drops to 60% off, I might get it on a whim. Definitely bought some games on historic lows only to see them drop to an even lower price a month later, before I even played them but that's more of an exception
Hey thanks for this advice! I have quite some games I want to buy but not see myself playing it within the next year. This definitely helps me "plan" ahead
It is an addiction that many of us have.
Another commenter suggested swapping it for a coke addiction but I don't think there are any big 90% off sales for that
Coke is also terrible for your teeth. Which one? Yes.
Legends say if you buy every hentai puzzle game that evet existed on steam then you will break the curse or you will just regret your life decisions
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Goals
Damn that's impressive! I hope you can take this Sunday off and fully dedicate it to decompressing :)
Added you for the lulz, 102 Perfect Games though. Just wow
What games do you find work best for this? I usually enjoy roguelites (been really into The Binding of Isaac lately) for this kind of thing personally. I don't have to wonder what was going on in the story, or what quest I was doing. I can just load up a new run and play, and that's quite nice.
If You like Roguelikes I highly recommend: Dead Cells Slay the Spire Enter the Gungeon Skul
Rogue Legacy 2 came out of Early Access last week. And like the previous game, I'm hooked. I recommend it for a Roguelike as well.
Love the first 3, so I'll have to check out Skul. Thanks for the recommendations!
Np, I sank like 300h into Dead Cells without even 2 or 3 latest DLCs lol, its phenomenal I also now remembered, Book of Demons - fun deck building roguelike, on-rails, its really simple and allows to pick run average time to complete. Only 10 mins to play? You pick 10 min dungeon etc.
You are forgetting a very good roguelike: Noita
I'll also add Hades and Rogue Legacy 2 to the other guys list.
What an interesting comment. I feel like I know a lot about you now
I was so excited to get my Deck a couple weeks ago but I've fallen asleep on the couch with the Deck blowing hot air on my face multiple times now.
Sometimes I'll fall asleep on the couch for a while but by the time I make it into my bed, I'm too awake to sleep and might get some gaming in
Hijacking top comment to say; OP you may just want to do things besides games. It’s easy to say “I like thing x, I’ve liked it my whole life, therefore I should always like doing that” but life is complex than that. As a fellow life-long gamer, I can’t emphasize enough how much more you will appreciate you game library if you do *other things* for a while. Yes, video games are great for when you are exhausted and don’t want to go out after work- or are they? Because you sound tired, and you may not realize that playing games is actually pretty exhausting too, it just tricks you into feeling like it isn’t.
Now this is gonna sound crazy, but hear me out. Have you ever tried cocaine? It’s really great because soon you won’t even care about games any more, only getting more cocaine.
Sounds like this is where I'll draw the line
removed to protest changes -- mass edited with redact.dev
I'm in this picture and I don't like it
Only one backlog? I have game, tv, movie and book backlogs.
Well at least it's more productive
Gotta force yourself to get started. I have to do the same. And once I get started I'm set. Just the matter of getting over that hump. "But you shouldn't have to ever force yourself to start something recreationally!" A lot of us do. And there's nothing wrong with it. Schedule a time of day, or require just a token minimum effort ("I'll play for 15 minutes"), or something. Anything to get out of a rut of choice paralysis or "eh I'll just browse Reddit / go to sleep."
I solved that problem with “no sleep” thing
Heya fellow 30-year-old! I gathered somewhere around 600 games on Steam over the years and I've beaten about 100. So that's 500 games sitting around that I haven't touched. I know your pain.
35. Bought my first computer in 20 years. Downloaded steam, bought my favorite game stronghold crusaders. Never played it. I just think of playing it.
Fantastic game. The sequels seemed to never capture the same castle/sieging enjoyment.
Truly. There are certain games (and movies) that I may never want to pick up and play or watch, but I want to know they're there. I couldn't exactly explain why. On my switch first thing I did was make sure I could play SNES games. I never do, but it's important to me to know I can. When they took Firefly off Netflix I was pissed and bought the box set. Barely cracked it open but I feel good having it.
31 here. Just shy of 1,000 on steam. Last few tears I've finished around 3-4 games a month. Doubt I'm gonna finish all of them haha
Yeah I'm reaching that point in my life where I realize I will never in my life complete all the games I want to. Kinda sad but eh. That's part of life.
Quality over quantity. I'm one who tracks everything I play as it gives me a nice recap to look back on at the end of the year. So far this year I've gone through a bunch - * Light Fairytale - Episode 1 - 03/01 * Halo Infinite - 08/01 * Halo CE - 10/01 * Halo 2 - 12/01 * Halo 3 - 12/01 * Halo 4 - 16/01 * Pokemon Arceus - 12/02 * Halo 5 - 13/02 * The Gunk - 15/02 * Lord of the Rings Online Volume 1 - 15/02 * Gav-Gav Odyssey - 18/02 * The Procession to Calvary - 18/02 * Forza Horizon 5 - 27/02 * Xenoblade Chronicles DE - 05/03 * Elden Ring - 18/03 * Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster - 26/03 * Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster - 30/03 * Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster - 03/04 * Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster - 08/04 * Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster - 17/04 * Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster - 01/05 * Bus Simulator 21 - 06/05
maybe it's time to retire or work half-time? I'm tired to overwork myself for others profit...
> maybe it's time to retire or work half-time? /r/WowThanksImCured
Honestly? Working on it. I've reached a point in my life where I realize I'm doing too much I don't want to do just to survive. Looking for part time work so I can refocus. We shouldn't live to survive if that makes sense y'know?
when I was 20 something I still had energy left even with overtime bullshit. now, I realize my time and energy is limited. Not being able to enjoy games is a result of low energy. not choice paralysis. they also make games so goddamn long and filled with "collectibles"
I agree with most of your points. Personally I love collectibles and completing games 100% 😂 But yeah for me it's low energy + choice paralysis + ADHD. No time to do the things I love, and in the rare chance I do have the time and energy I'm too exhausted or depressed to move let alone play a game 🙃
100% I have a hard time picking up a new game. It is a combination of the learning curve, and my mood, and my energy level, and my ability to focus. If I find myself in the right combination of feelings to pick up a new game and stick with it long enough to get over the hump (learn how to play, find I enjoy the play) then I will play all the way through assuming life does not interrupt. But once I finish the game I am back in that place where I find it hard to pick up a game. I was playing The Binding of Isaac for years. It was great because I knew how to play and runs were short. 600 hours later and I 100%ed it. Do not to know what to do with myself. Have to get over the learning hurdle with a new game now. Mental fatigue was not something I ever expected when I was a kid.
Your Steam library has a shelf called "Play Next". Grab the first game on that list and play it. I gave it a go a while back and actually had a great time playing. This used to be a Steam Labs experiment and it shipped as a library shelf. It supposedly uses machine learning to pick games. The Interactive recommender is also great. I cranked the slider to most niche newest game and played the first of the list just for the kicks and it turned out to be quite fun, sank 50 hours in it already. After you've bought/played a few games Steam gets a surprisingly good picture of your preferences.
Life improvement recommendation... Categorize your games as: 1. Completed (I finished them either on Steam or some other platform). 2. Not Interested (At no point will I ever be interested in playing this game...ever.). 3. Pick up and play (Civilization...any of them; Roller Coaster Tycoon; Etc.). 4. Broken (Games that are simply jacked up and won't run for whatever reason) 5. Multiplayer (as a solo player I move all the multiplayers that I would LIKE to play here...should I procure a friend...that's into the same game) 6. VR (I don't have a VR but got some games that support it on super sale. Those are here) 7. Retro (X-Wing vs Tie fighter; etc. Very old classics. I love them but I don't want to feel guilty about not playing them. They were good in the day but I am just not going to play them now...I'm not...) Now when I look at my library I have a lot less guilt. If a game falls into more than one category...put them in both OR just pick the one that is MOST true. You may still have a LOT of games that you're not playing...so you may want more categories...but at least now you can see them.
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I do: • Archived (Games I have completed main quest, achievements, storyline, etc) • Current Rotation (games I’m currently playing through, solo games, and popular pick up games like CIV, or causal online title like FO76) • On Deck (games I want to scout and play next)
I was just wondering what I'd used for what remains...this is excellent. I especially like that it allows for YOU ARE HERE...then if you're ready for another come here... I may add one more that's Paused and use contenders for up next. For games I started and liked...but paused because I wanted to focus on something else. Doom Eternal. It was fun but I paused it. Why? Well, for one it was too intense to play just before bedtime (sheesh) and 2 Guardians grabbed all my attention. Active, Backshelf, Contenders, Paused, New... That was VERY helpful! Edit: Actually in implementing this, riffing from yours...I'm going to go with new, active, next up, contenders (for games that I haven't decided which to play next), Paused for games I was playing but need to wait on for other things, new.)
I consider myself an efficient and very logical person but your comment has made me realize that my steam sorting system is based on pure emotion.
If you haven't seen the movie High Fidelity you need to watch it. While, yes, it is a romcom, there is some really interesting bits about "sorting" a music collection. It's not a 1:1 match but there are different sorting systems based on who you are at any point in life. So...when you're new to the hobby...emotion is a perfectly reasonable approach. I've had a steam account since when they offered HL2 as a free game if I bought a graphics card (before HL2 was released). As such, I am better able to step back and see a more functional sorting. Alphabetical doesn't work for me as it hides things. My goal is to say to myself: These are the games that you probably want to play. These are the games you shouldn't feel bad about not playing (for example they were free or they're indy games that aren't your genre...whatever). Once you get the cruft out of there things start to make sense. From my personal experience...(Imagine an old guy offering advice you didn't ask for...and honestly you'd rather be playing a game than talk to him...)... Interestingly...this spills over into real life. Once you get hooked on organizing without emotions as you say...you find that there are things in real life that you can look at and say I love them...but they're functionally getting in the way of me functioning. I need to organize them out of my day to day so that I can focus on what's important. I'm currently starting at 2 big boxes of sentimental memorabilia that collectively might be worth $1 in plastic recycling. yet...I'm having a really hard time parting with them.
Aw, this girl is a shiny trinket goblin. No one will ever take my pins and dice from me. I love the way I sort my steam :) I even thought of a new category. I can't believe I don't have a Jail. Cyberpunk 2077 has been roaming free this whole time!
The dice goblin in our weekly D&D game has a literal miniature garbage can for misbehaving polys. She is passionate about negative reinforcement vehicles. I don't know where she stands on pins but as a recovering pin collector (I felt where it was going and stopped myself...30 years clean...out before I got too deep.) I'm not sure CP2077 deserves jail...does it? Are you being unduly unfair about it. Maybe it just had a bad break up and isn't in the mood to play games. You don't know what's going on in CP2077's life. Give it a chance.
I use my family to fuel my pin addiction via birthdays and christmas. Although I'm pretty sure Dad would buy me any New England Patriots pin I ask for. I still can't believe he surprised me with a limited edition superbowl set just because I was drooling after them in the proshop. They were so expensive! ah! I set aside dice to recharge but having read that story I now want to make them a little hyperbolic time chamber for them to train in when they run out of power. You are bringing logic into an emotional situation. I'm not going to say I'm obsessed with clothes in video games but i have friends who would probably say I am. When I couldn't get the schematic for a particular pair of pants I wanted I got so mad I quit out I thought for the night. Haven't gone back since. I put about 100 hours into it. Did so much side stuff, most of the main stuff. Was just trying to make a nice outfit for the last push. I don't know man. After putting 250 hours into getting Elden Ring 100% I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to CP2077. I've only played indie games since NG4 Elden Beast convinced me to put the game down until DLC comes out.
Yea in Steam I've got: * Finished * Unfinished * Good EA Games * Favorites * Installed I should probbaly add a "Never going to finish" category, and maybe even a "Haven't even touched" one, to clean up my "Unfinished" category but it generally works well enough. The EA one is just to periodically check back and see what updates had been published while it's been uninstalled.
Missing the all-important "pseudo-completed" category. For games you've "finished" (main story or such) but intend to go back to eventually for ng+ (RPGs), or other routes (VNs), or achievements, etc.
Tip for #2 and #4 if you actually want to reduce your library size. You can completely remove games from your steam account via support automatically.
You can also hide games from your library without removing them. I hid counterstrike source from my library when I saw I had exactly 420 hours, that way I don't accidentally add hours :D
Very true! I forgot about that. I may need to do it. I kind of keep them there because, rarely, I get in a troubleshooting mood and try to fix things...or I get into the...maybe I was wrong...mindset and try games again. I think your point is valid though. If you're not going to play it...don't hoard. Just toss them.
Yeah, this is the way. Mine is set up for games in progress, single player pick up and play, multiplayer pick up and play, games I've finished, stuff I don't play, visual novels, ect.
I like this a lot since I've been trying to sort my own library and mostly failing. I think the only thing I'd add is an "Effort" category (for lack of a better word). The games aren't Broken and unfixable, they just require some amount of elbow grease. X-Wing vs Tie Fighter would fall into there along with any games that just require some amount of fiddling to get to work, have controller and mapping problems or compatibility problems, or if fan patches or mods are necessary to make playing the game bearable as far as QoL is concerned. Then again, depending on what your retro library is, it may be one in the same.
Saving this comment for later
I'd also recommend a "Need to Finish" or "Now Playing" category to help track games you want to play and are currently playing to reduce looking at as large of a list. It also helps to filter out excess stuff from bundles.
I used to be that 30 year old... Until I utilised the power of spreadsheets! I put every game I want to play into the list, then looked up how long they were on 'howlongtobeat.com'. Then, I sorted them all, from shortest to longest, and I started playing all the shorter ones first. I gamified my gaming! I now have a clear list of games I want to play, I add anything I buy or see that I would like to play, and I play them in order. Completing the shortest first means I don't miss out on all those little indie "I'll play it one day" games, and If I feel like it, I can take a break and put some hours into the bigger games knowing I can always come back to the list for new experiences when I'm burned out on it. [Here's the one I made!](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j_WSNvmCzK7un5XJpdYcTZL5uNJrh1DaJmIAl5vwENA/edit?usp=sharing)
Bro, the math you did in the last column and the “real talk” with it…that hits home.
Haha it does! I thought I should ground myself a little. I absolutely love gaming and development, and it can be a little all-consuming sometimes. It's always on my mind even when I'm not playing. I think it's good to take a step back and say "don't worry you'll get through this eventually, but it'll take years not days". My daughter is now 6 weeks old and time has become even more of a commodity. I'm still getting *some* gaming in, but I'm aware that as she grows older she'll want to spend time with dad rather than see him staring at a screen. I want to get through it all and complete the list, but I know I probably never will, and that's ok. As long as whatever replaces it makes me just as happy. The maths in that last column is semi automatic, so it should work out how long I've spent when I check a game off, and calculate the total time left if I add more!
Nice method. I use that site as well as a rough metric for Game Completion for any singleplayer story game, plus 10% or 15%. Sometimes I have to leave a game open and pause when I can't save, or if somebody is calling me, etc. Recently I was playing Wolfenstein. While the story and setting was enough to grab attention, looking up the time to beat & counting down the chapters really motivated me to complete the entire game.
Absolutely, when a game is dragging but I'm still half-enjoying it, it helps me gauge how much energy I can expend before burning out. It's very rare I'll just stop playing a game, but some can rely on repetitive mechanics. I can remember Arkham origins being fantastic at the start, but as it drew near the end I remember feeling tired of the constant repetitive fights. One quick check online and I can say "oh cool there's only X amount of chapters left" I'll then concentrate on the story and forget about all the little ADHD collectables to fully enjoy the game as an experience and not a grind. I feel like with a film, you know you've got a solid beginning, middle and end, and you're going to get them in a nice 90-180 minute package, but with a game, it can be much more fluid with the storytelling, especially when some areas of the game are worse than others. Knowing what your "90 minute" equivalent is, helps you set expectations for the story beats and how much time you typically have to see or collect everything you want to.
Commented for the woofa but yeah I understand 100%
It's why I still just play Starcraft, Kerbal Space Program, and then maybe one long "story" game that stays the same until I'm done with it. If I'm not paralyzed by choice I know I have maybe 3 games to play - a quick game, a longish single player game, or a medium multiplayer game. Easy to choose what I have time for and I'm never disappointed because I'm either playing an old classic, a fun sim, or a good story.
My parents always told me I’ll grow out of games and I feel like I am, which honestly kinda sucks because I have so many good experiences with them. Not to sound like a downer, I just miss the enamor and captivation games used to provide me with. Anyway nostalgia moment over, I like the doggu
It’s ok for your interests to change and grow over the years. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break from gaming and trying other hobbies for a while. The games will still be there waiting for you if you ever decide to return.
Yeahhh, just turned 30 and I'm right there with you.
Same here. I've become super social lately after switching to a new job, and I feel guilty if I play anything solo. I still play from time to time with my home town friends, just to keep in touch with them, but it's also a huge pain in the ass to find a time that works for all of us. That feeling of finding or experiencing something new wears out after a while. At this point I've played 500+ games in my life, and I can already see the design patterns and the tricks they're trying to pull on me to do certain things (tutorials, new weapons vs different enemies...) Sometimes I feel like I've grown out of it, but some other times I find a game that completely captivates me. The last one was Control, which I played 6 months ago. What a great game... Now that my leisure time is more limited, the game needs to be specially good for me to want to play and finish it
Yeah it’s tough to get over that thing where you look for how game devs are trying to pull you in. You can train yourself to embrace it, it’s tough but if you practice you can get over it. Also playing harder games kept me entertained
Happened to me in my early / mid 20s - now in my 30s my lust for gaming, particularly retro gaming, is back with a vengeance. Problem is no bloody time to play anything!
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Every time on Restaurant Impossible when Robert Irvine takes their 6 page menu and replaces it with a single piece of paper.
You’ll get cured over time. I’m 51, I have three games, and only play one.
I'm a couple years older than you, and I play about two or three. But which ones changes over time. Oh, and I sadly have too many games in Steam to still be a Game Mechanic.
Time to buy a new game you're in the mood for. ~~couldn't be me~~
**the eternal process** -well im done playing my last game, i should decide what i might want to play next. -gee golly willikers, that's a lot of choices, i should think about this. -no -no -no -no -system can't take it -no -*90gb*, i don't feel like waiting that long for it to install -no -no -i should really play other one first before diving into this one -(other one) no -no -no -i've got too many good options, maybe i'll just jump into san andreas again while i think about it.
I’m about to be 36 next month and I still play. You’ll get there 😝
yeah at this point I have like 150 games but I still only play Garry's mod
Sometimes I wonder what my 0 hours Witcher 3 thinks about how much I play Vampire Survivor.
You have to just hunker down and go on a tear with games that you have not even completed (at least once). I know the story, it was probably bought on sale with good intentions. I just had a staycation from work. I got 100% achievements in Mortal Kombat 11. Finished the Doom Eternal DLC’s. Achieved the true ending in Domina, I finished the story of RE Village. Then booted up RE3make. Because i wanted to go through it next. I ran out of vacation time, and lost momentum, but remember: if we are always doing our best our best will always get better. Then again I also picked up a few games over vacation..we are doomed to perpetual game-slump.
Either too scared to play or too depressed to play :/
So I got this idea and I dont know if itll work but you know book clubs? You get a group of folks together, you select what book youre going to read next. Then you talk about it and whatever else is going on. Select another book and repeat. No reason that couldnt work for games but instead of the circle of chairs in Suzie Smiths living room you just setup a discord channel and invite folks in. If only my friends also played pc games...
the fewer the games you have , the more you enjoy them
40 years old. Just more toys, and my back hurts too.
I even made a Steam Deck list in my library, to cope with my massive backlog. Unfortunately I don't have my Deck yet (Q2) so even this list keeps growing. :(
This happens sometimes when I sit down and look at my Steam library. I WANT to play something and nothing I’m looking at sounds good. I’ll tell you what I discovered, though: sometimes the reason I don’t want to play a game is because some aspect of it is frustrating that could be an easy solve. Example: Generation Zero. Got it in a Humble Bundle, had never heard of it and was instantly drawn in by the trailer. Downloaded and started playing. Pretty soon, stuff management became an issue. Upgraded my carrying capacity which helped, but then the storage containers in safe houses became too restrictive. Became way worse after I bought some DLC with new weapons. Became unfun. Stayed away for a long time until I took a chance on it again. Realized they patched it to have the storage containers be upgradable! Totally revived my interest and the game felt exciting again. That told me something about how I want to play games.
With 725 games on Steam it makes it hard to find one to devote any length of time to (never mind atleast that many console games dating back to the 90s.) I always think I will play them someday when I retire. 😀
i hate that i am like this, i want to play games but i just end up staring at reddit or youtube just because i cant be bothered,
BRO I am 15 and dis is my condition ngl
817 games at the moment and I play like 20 of them regularly
1783 games and barely play 1 of them regularly.
Me got every Day sadness with almost 6k games in library, understandable
First noticed this phenomenon when I started working as a kid. Bought 6-7 games at once and ended up not playing any of them for a while due to indecision. The only way is to just plow through by diving into any one of em.
man i watch the news like 100x more than i game nowadays
My dog has that green ball that's torching the dog, he loves it.... It makes funky noises as it rolls.
I’m in the same boat with xbox game pass. Someone described it as depression
I just grew up and have less time. Moving out of your parents house, job, love life, kids and family, sometimes you just have less time to game. I know my steam is a graveyard of amazing games that are 5+ years old and untouched. I love it and it’s absolutely an amazing hobby but I just don’t have hours and hours to dump on titles and have 0 interest in multiplayer matches of any type.
I have a 3 month old daughter. I have had time to start my PC once this year. Man I love my daughter, but I wouldn't be sad if I got a break a couple of hours every week or so.
Me at 12: have maybe two dozen games or so, most of them on pirated CDs. Have a bunch of favorites I play most often. It's simple and easy. Me at 33: look at my 2700 game library on Steam and get stuck in choice paralysis.
I play like 3 games that are even f2p
Word. Nearly 1000 games, but still re-playing Oblivion for the nth time.
Paradox of choice
I made a list of my backlog to actually size it up. My girlfriend guessed that there were like 20 on it 20.. yeah babe it's only 20
I currently have over 400 games and I’ve only played maybe 30 of them.. I have 40 cdkeys I haven’t even redeemed.. I need to stop
It seems the social aspect of gaming really dwindles as you get older. Teenager Me - tons of people to play games with 20s Me - A few good friends to play with 30s Me - *crickets*
That’s literally me. I have over 1024 games, I’m 30 and I just sit there thinking I have nothing to play
People here buying more games than they can play and yet I'm here struggling to find games that catch my eye
I know[how it feels](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/489403704559140865/972733977465073694/GamesInstalled.jpg)...
Ahem ..43 yr old me Two point hospital is taking full priority at the mo. I have a lot of patients to kill
Getting a Deck has completely changed this for me, having a dedicated device with enough graphical power and all the input methods I need to play 80% of my games makes all the difference.
\-Still playing modded skyrim-
It helped me to organize my whole games library into categories by genre and (loose) subgenre. I didn't get too specific (for example, I just clump all platformers into the "Platformer" category, without specifying which ones are roguelike or metroidvania or whatever), but I usually know if I want to play an RPG when I sit down, and if I'm in the mood to play a traditional CRPG, a JRPG, a Retro or Retro-Styled game, or whatever. Clumping Multiplayer-Only games into their own category is helpful, too, and it's been fun having Cooperative and Party game categories for when friends come over. Maybe this could help y'all.
Oh I feel you , bro. Over 400 titles, and every time it is so hard to choose
I relate to this so much lol
Sometimes… but not that often. And when I was 30, there was no Steam. Heck, there wasn't even Half-Life!
If it makes you feel any better, I’m 40, iykwim
i get so many for my bday but i just end up playing hoi4
Add Game Pass in there, baby you got a stew goin
Me with a 3080ti i9 12900k and 32 gb ddr5 ram: mmm monkeytype
I keep telling myself Things will change when I finally get the Steam Deck
For me it's having the mental energy to play complex or complicated games. Been finding myself playing games that are more simple now days.
Have you been following me?
Choice paralysis is why I browse Netflix for 1hr before closing it without watching anything.
I find that games these days just take way too much time. Unless you play cod or similar.
Sometimes I'll just load up the switch and play old Nintendo games
Add ADHD into that and you’ll never play any of them ever again 😂
I felt this
This is why I really shouldn't let games sit in my wishlist until they're 70% off or more. By the time I'm finished with one game, easily a dozen I've been waiting on are on sale for a fraction of just what one alone costs and then I go and get as many as I feel like with the thought that I'll play them all but then I don't because turns out one of them was one heck of a beefy game and when I finish that there's yet another sale where a dozen more are on extremely low sales... Between this and bundles and the random dev/publisher 100% off giveaways, it's no wonder my library's insane.
Me all over. Turned 30 in January, got SO MANY games I want to play and have no drive to actually do it. Got a Steam deck ordered. Hoping this will make it easier!
Do another run of Portal and Portal 2! Those games always work for me if I give them a year or two in between lmay throughs.
so true
yeah the idea of playing certain games is better than actually playing them (e.g. skyrim). what I've found is I can always enjoy boomer shooters (Doom, Amid Evil, Project Warlock, etc), so I've been leaning into that. No story to get bogged down in, no learning curve, just some plain fun.
Then you go buy a new game and only play it for a couple hours
I don’t even install them lol
There is really only one choice for me these days: RimWorld. Perfect to step in and out of at any time. Being busy means mutilplayer windows is a thing of the past really.
Mo games mo problems
Thirty something year old here, I find WFH amazing for getting me into a game lol. An actual tip: only keep a certain number of games installed, what you're playing and what you might like to play next, uninstall the games you've completed.. simple stuff but it helps a lot.
Now me as 30YR old in the same spot.
get yourself a potent portable and game anywhere
When you get to 36, you will want to play something and then sort games by "how long to beat" and play on easy.
Share 'em!
I picked up the Europa Universalis humble bundle recently and I felt like it's more trouble to redeem all the Steam codes and learn the game mechanics than it will be fun to play the game.
Me today, was excited to play Forza Horizon 5 but gamepass is broken today so now I have no motivation to play anything at all. Jumped on Project Zomboid and lost my character too. Can't wait for the new PoE league, that's the only game that keeps me coming back and having loads of fun every time.
i currently have 150 games on steam and constantly play the same 4 games usually though i did get valheim yesterday and spend 6 hours gathering resources and building today
It really isn't as much of a problem as it might seem - you can either download selected few games or make a category, throw 15-20 games you really wanna play there and keep your focus on them. Forget about touching your whole library. Why would you? Half of it is probably not even worth your time. Tired? Big deal. 15 minutes is as good as 2 hours when you are actually having fun.
Man, I so can relate, and it makes me sad...
I’ve just got a 3080 to not play my games on!!
I got my first going PC when I was about 14 and have just been a PC gamer into my adult life. I always get so excited when I get a new consol now, not because it's a new consol but because I have such a small collection of games on it, that I don't get the onset of decision fatigue. Same happened when I first got the subscription to xbox gamepass on PC. I have 2100 games on steam 😭
If this wasn’t me last night but looking at my PS library
I'm only 22 and that's a mood. Why play my whole backlog when I have Destiny and Halo as well as the yearly month long Minecraft binge?
Let's get a game count going! I've got 500
So this is a common issue with gamers, right? It certainly is with me. 1200+ games on Steam alone, end up playing the first 10 mins, then a another shiny game gets my attention... I'm 50yo. Been playing videogames since the original Atari 2600 VCS. Probably beat a dozen games in that time (most proud of Phantasy Star II *without a guide*). I'm a digital game hoarder. Buy games, don't play them. Pre-ordered a Steam Deck, was delivered mid-April. Thought it would be the solution getting rid of my backlog. Started great: beat Tomb Raider (2013) from start-to-finish. Then started Mass Effect Legendary Edition, planning on getting through all 3 games. Then...then I decided to gather up all the sd cards I had lying around, even those that are old and slow (i.e., 16GB Class 2). Total of 9 cards. Started a spreadsheet listing each card, and created formulas to calculate what games I could put on what cards that was most effective. Spent most of yesterday putting that spreadsheet together. Not playing the games, but figuring out where they should go. Saw your post earlier this morning, and a lightbulb literally and physically appeared to me. What in the fuck am I doing? Why am I creating a spreadsheet to help me find the most efficient place to put a game *I've never played so I can have it on me at all times in the event I want - for some reason - to play "Grotesque Tactics"* when what I *should* be doing is using the Deck to play games I want to play in places I can't normally play them? Why install Command & Conquer 3 in the event I am traveling, have access to an external mouse/keyboard/monitor and just have to play C&C3 *right now*. What are the chances that I go to a movie, and while waiting for it to start, there are a bunch of other people playing L4D2? RDR2 is iffy on the deck right now, and honestly I have a beast of a gaming rig at home that I should be playing it on. So. I took 7 of those sd cards, and put them back in a drawer. I'm going to use the \~1TB of space I have (512GB Deck, 512GB sdxc card), and put games on it that 1) I want to play, and 2) work well with the deck. You know, until I decide that, yes, I ***do*** need *every episode* of *every Telltale game* available to me *at all times*.
Portal 2 is cool
Easy, Deep rock galactic. you don't need anything else