Games to get out of a gaming rut.
- Thread starter Donzacuceron
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I fixed my rut just recently. I had been Playing too many RPGs and other story driven games, and I dont know what sparked it but I have been finding cheap copies of old Fighting games and have been having a blast, today was trying out Dead or Alive for the first time. Before my week long trip to Massachusetts last week I was running through Tekken. Its nice to have a game that runs quick and that i can play while listening to YouTube and not have to worry about pausing to hear the story other than in brief moments in the Arcade mode.
I love games too much to have gaming as a whole be a rut for me, but i can burn out on genres for a while.
I love games too much to have gaming as a whole be a rut for me, but i can burn out on genres for a while.
All the time, basically... How I end up getting out of them is through moderation...
For example, I cut down on how I would normally play something by a "few hours" or so... Set up some end goals to complete instead of playing until the midnight hour dawns upon me... And/or just dick around in a game of my choosing...
Also, I treat my gaming ruts like I do with masturbation... by never forcing myself to play for too long or to even play at all, since moderation keeps the ruts from popping up too often over time...
For example, I cut down on how I would normally play something by a "few hours" or so... Set up some end goals to complete instead of playing until the midnight hour dawns upon me... And/or just dick around in a game of my choosing...
Also, I treat my gaming ruts like I do with masturbation... by never forcing myself to play for too long or to even play at all, since moderation keeps the ruts from popping up too often over time...
I am in a bit of a rut myself been mostly playing TF2 and "casual" stuff.. I think its in part to the fact my gaming cycles from obsession to low point to obsession usually I find a game and play it practically non-stop then ether burn out or complete it (with mini cycles of stuff Im perma-obsessed with like pokemon, tf2 or skyrim mixed in) and I just came off a large bioshock binge (I played all 3)
Play something different to or more difficult than what you're used to. Do you normally play games with objective markers and intrusive HUD? Try playing a game without them or turn off the option for them. Do you normally play fast-paced games? Try something slower. Play lots of sims? Try a less serious game.
This is basically how I try to find a game to keep my attention. Variety is the spice of life.
This is basically how I try to find a game to keep my attention. Variety is the spice of life.
Like others have said, I've found that cycling through genres, themes and tone helps a lot. Been playing dark games recently? Play something silly and/or bright. Follow up a 40-70 hour RPG with a 5-10 hour FPS. Play an old game you know you love if you're burnt out on new releases.
For a quick example, I played through Valkryia Chronicles for the first time, then played the Blackwell series(adventure games), replayed Saints Row 2(damn that game is awesome) and now I'm trying out Transistor finally.
For a quick example, I played through Valkryia Chronicles for the first time, then played the Blackwell series(adventure games), replayed Saints Row 2(damn that game is awesome) and now I'm trying out Transistor finally.
My first advice would be - don't beat yourself up about it.
I'm coming from the perspective of someone who is hella neurotic and anxious, of course, but even the smallest and silliest BS like "oh no I have so many games on Steam i bought but haven't played yet" is occasionally something my brain picks up and runs with and turns into something to constantly fret over. Yes, it's dumb, but that's how faulty neurochemistry does sometimes. Even if you're only having the occasional pangs of guilt, just take a moment every so often to relax and realize that you'll get to everything eventually. Games aren't like pizza, the leftovers aren't going to go bad within the week unless you desperately gobble them up at midnight while standing in the pool of light from the fridge.
Second is to just realize that for some people, things come in waves. Sometimes that wave might be "I want to play a platformer now instead of an FPS". Sometimes that wave might be "I don't want to play a game at all". I've come to realize that I'm more to the second type and tend to cycle through periods of writing *or* drawing *or* playing games intensely, which suits me just fine most of the time (but perhaps does disappoint the people I suckered into actually reading my awful fanfiction who expect weekly updates and then are greeted by a drought of a few months, but what did they really expect after Commander Shepard bought Luke Skywalker a couple of strippers and an ice cream cake inscribed 'sorry your dad's dead'; the proverbial shark was jumped quite a long time ago).
Basically, it happens. Don't be afraid to set aside games entirely for one of your other interests. Every so often, for example, games don't interest me because I just want to do something that directly affects the physical world. Sew something, sculpt something, build a pillow fort, you know, whatever. If you've got an itch that games just aren't scratching, how about trying something entirely new? Sculpt that hedge into a unicorn, learn to crochet while listening to episodes of Welcome to Night Vale, change that filter in your car that you keep meaning to do, etc. etc. Sometimes it's just satisfying to take a break from video games to get your hands dirty.
Third, if you're going to keep on playing video games, my advice - echoing most of the other people who have posted - is to try something ludicrously different from your usual fare. For example, while I like games and like discussing them immensely, I am not what you would call actually GOOD at video games; because of this, I had kinda written off the entire roguelike genre. But I took a chance and picked up FTL and I've been hooked - mostly because it's so different from my usual gaming experience that it's redefined success for me. Suddenly it's not smashing the big boss to smithereens, but instead surviving to the point where the big boss can smash *me* into smithereens. Hooray!
There are tons of different genres that are out there you may not have touched on yet. Always the good ol' point and clicks of yore, of course; if you are truly hard up for ideas, Extra Credits's 'games you might not have tried' videos are probably going to be a good place to start.
But if you don't want to entirely give up the familiar, ponder taking one of your favourite games and modding it to all hell and then playing it. I admit this may only really apply to PC games, but it's a way to give a slightly different and tweaked experience to something that's a comfortable old favourite, so you can remind yourself of why one of your favourite games is awesome while not being completely bored by having seen it all before.
Fourth is a sort of bland PSA, but again, as somebody whose brain occasionally decides that serotonin is for scrubs and losers, I figure I might toss this out here. If you've been experiencing a lack of interest in all of your interests, along with other symptoms like listlessness, trouble sleeping (or sleeping too much), and generally feeling like you've lost the ability to be happy, go see your doctor and get yourself screened for depression. It's extremely common and there's a lot of medication out there that can really help. Sometimes brain chemistry just pulls a dick move for pretty much no reason at all. There are other places online where you can take questionnaires to help further screen yourself for depression, but if you've been feeling really burdened by unhappiness not just with games, but with life in general, it's a good thing to keep in mind. Just in case.
I'm coming from the perspective of someone who is hella neurotic and anxious, of course, but even the smallest and silliest BS like "oh no I have so many games on Steam i bought but haven't played yet" is occasionally something my brain picks up and runs with and turns into something to constantly fret over. Yes, it's dumb, but that's how faulty neurochemistry does sometimes. Even if you're only having the occasional pangs of guilt, just take a moment every so often to relax and realize that you'll get to everything eventually. Games aren't like pizza, the leftovers aren't going to go bad within the week unless you desperately gobble them up at midnight while standing in the pool of light from the fridge.
Second is to just realize that for some people, things come in waves. Sometimes that wave might be "I want to play a platformer now instead of an FPS". Sometimes that wave might be "I don't want to play a game at all". I've come to realize that I'm more to the second type and tend to cycle through periods of writing *or* drawing *or* playing games intensely, which suits me just fine most of the time (but perhaps does disappoint the people I suckered into actually reading my awful fanfiction who expect weekly updates and then are greeted by a drought of a few months, but what did they really expect after Commander Shepard bought Luke Skywalker a couple of strippers and an ice cream cake inscribed 'sorry your dad's dead'; the proverbial shark was jumped quite a long time ago).
Basically, it happens. Don't be afraid to set aside games entirely for one of your other interests. Every so often, for example, games don't interest me because I just want to do something that directly affects the physical world. Sew something, sculpt something, build a pillow fort, you know, whatever. If you've got an itch that games just aren't scratching, how about trying something entirely new? Sculpt that hedge into a unicorn, learn to crochet while listening to episodes of Welcome to Night Vale, change that filter in your car that you keep meaning to do, etc. etc. Sometimes it's just satisfying to take a break from video games to get your hands dirty.
Third, if you're going to keep on playing video games, my advice - echoing most of the other people who have posted - is to try something ludicrously different from your usual fare. For example, while I like games and like discussing them immensely, I am not what you would call actually GOOD at video games; because of this, I had kinda written off the entire roguelike genre. But I took a chance and picked up FTL and I've been hooked - mostly because it's so different from my usual gaming experience that it's redefined success for me. Suddenly it's not smashing the big boss to smithereens, but instead surviving to the point where the big boss can smash *me* into smithereens. Hooray!
There are tons of different genres that are out there you may not have touched on yet. Always the good ol' point and clicks of yore, of course; if you are truly hard up for ideas, Extra Credits's 'games you might not have tried' videos are probably going to be a good place to start.
But if you don't want to entirely give up the familiar, ponder taking one of your favourite games and modding it to all hell and then playing it. I admit this may only really apply to PC games, but it's a way to give a slightly different and tweaked experience to something that's a comfortable old favourite, so you can remind yourself of why one of your favourite games is awesome while not being completely bored by having seen it all before.
Fourth is a sort of bland PSA, but again, as somebody whose brain occasionally decides that serotonin is for scrubs and losers, I figure I might toss this out here. If you've been experiencing a lack of interest in all of your interests, along with other symptoms like listlessness, trouble sleeping (or sleeping too much), and generally feeling like you've lost the ability to be happy, go see your doctor and get yourself screened for depression. It's extremely common and there's a lot of medication out there that can really help. Sometimes brain chemistry just pulls a dick move for pretty much no reason at all. There are other places online where you can take questionnaires to help further screen yourself for depression, but if you've been feeling really burdened by unhappiness not just with games, but with life in general, it's a good thing to keep in mind. Just in case.
I just managed to avoid one. Clearing out my Steam backlog and playing 1 new game (Watch Dogs) I accidentally just finished 4 ubisoft games in a row. And when I picked up my mouse and controller the next day when I sat down to game... I flipped through my Steam backlog for about 30 minutes before shutting it off and reading for a couple of hours.
But 2 things have helped since. 1st, my roomate moved out and now my Wii is back on the main TV... and turning it on for the first time in a couple of months I've been having a blast with virtual console games. And when going back to Steam, I hadn't played FTL since the new content came out.
And the doors opened right up.
But 2 things have helped since. 1st, my roomate moved out and now my Wii is back on the main TV... and turning it on for the first time in a couple of months I've been having a blast with virtual console games. And when going back to Steam, I hadn't played FTL since the new content came out.
And the doors opened right up.
In those situations I turn not to my back-catalogue of unplayed games but rather the games that I have completed that really drew me in. Hostile Waters or Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, something I loved.
That helps build up the gumption to tackle something from the back-catalogue.
That helps build up the gumption to tackle something from the back-catalogue.
I'm gonna reiterate what others have said: Try something that's not game-related for awhile. Marathon a show you've been meaning to watch. Pick up a book. Go to an event. My preferred form of entertainment is games, but I find myself cycling through various forms of entertainment when I get in a rut. I may be in gaming mode for awhile, then I'll spend a month or two reading through some books I've meant to read or that a friend wanted me to check out, then I'll plow through some long overdue shows, then some webcomics/manga, and suddenly it'll click again and I find myself back in the mood for some serious gaming.
The worst thing you can do when you're not enjoying something you do enjoy is to force yourself to do it. There is a difference between not feeling like playing everything because you don't like the games available to you and not feeling like playing everything because you can't bring yourself so much as to look at the controller/keyboard.
The worst thing you can do when you're not enjoying something you do enjoy is to force yourself to do it. There is a difference between not feeling like playing everything because you don't like the games available to you and not feeling like playing everything because you can't bring yourself so much as to look at the controller/keyboard.
well i'm stuck till the master race of pc(jk) is blessed upon by the "new" gta.
saints row 4 got me a bit out of it.
i hoped steam summer sale would kick in for me to be "hell yeah games" and i played some through but basically i'm (happily) "stuck" with rocksmith.
the forever go to game is gta san andreas. if i'm in a bad mood i could do anything and love it to death.now.forever.
hope 5 will be the same for me i bet i'd be hooked on games again then.
other than that i alway stuck with team fortress2 and cs:go because online PVP alway get's me a bit more pumped if i can imagine making someone rage with that one perfect flare gun shot exploding mid air that killed them.
and as ohter said: do sth diffrent then gaming till you feel like "shit i totally forgot that one quest/mission/achievment in *your game here*"
or get rocksmith, learn to play guitar or bass while still playing a videogame but it wont really feel like it but then agian it totally does. (play blitzkrieg bob 10 times on score attack to just get that one rank higher and do it...so amazing)
saints row 4 got me a bit out of it.
i hoped steam summer sale would kick in for me to be "hell yeah games" and i played some through but basically i'm (happily) "stuck" with rocksmith.
the forever go to game is gta san andreas. if i'm in a bad mood i could do anything and love it to death.now.forever.
hope 5 will be the same for me i bet i'd be hooked on games again then.
other than that i alway stuck with team fortress2 and cs:go because online PVP alway get's me a bit more pumped if i can imagine making someone rage with that one perfect flare gun shot exploding mid air that killed them.
and as ohter said: do sth diffrent then gaming till you feel like "shit i totally forgot that one quest/mission/achievment in *your game here*"
or get rocksmith, learn to play guitar or bass while still playing a videogame but it wont really feel like it but then agian it totally does. (play blitzkrieg bob 10 times on score attack to just get that one rank higher and do it...so amazing
)
I tend to default to Tomb Raider games, but I'm told that's weird. Try a classic from a genre you don't play much of. Ever played "Day of the Tentacle"?