How do you decide which game to play?

[00slash00]

So I just finished Shadow Warrior (only two years behind the rest of the world) and now I have the daunting task of choosing which game to start next. It has grown progressively more difficult, with my 265 Steam games, not to mention all the non-Steam games and PS2, PS3, and 3DS games that I still haven't gotten around to playing yet.

So how do you decide what to play next when you have so many games to choose from?

 

[Scarim Coral]

A few things like-

Order from when I purchased it but this is not always the case (lost at my recent steam game from the winter sales).
Wanting to take a break from my "main" games.
The mood I am in (do I want something relaxing, a challange, something to get me to think etc).

 

[lowtech redneck]

Basically, I just go by whatever I'm subjectively in the mood for whenever I finish the previous game (I usually wait for a little while), and then stick with just that game thru the end (exceptions made for short action or puzzle games) unless I dislike it. The only real system involved is that I don't start time-intensive games when my schedule makes doing so inconvenient at the time-I hate coming back to games after several days without playing, the immersion factor is pretty much gone.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Just whatever tickles my fancy and secondly how much time I have to spare for that particular gaming session. I tend to move around a lot and only stick with games I really enjoy whereas before I would finish a game unless I absolutely loathed it. These days I have so many games to choose from and so little time I just stick with the best and quickly move past the others.

 

[00slash00]

Basically, I just go by whatever I'm subjectively in the mood for whenever I finish the previous game (I usually wait for a little while), and then stick with just that game thru the end (exceptions made for short action or puzzle games) unless I dislike it. The only real system involved is that I don't start time-intensive games when my schedule makes doing so inconvenient at the time-I hate coming back to games after several days without playing, the immersion factor is pretty much gone.

Yeah that happened to me back in May. I was playing The Raven and wasn't able to beat it before I had to leave town for 3 months. Then I came back and just had no drive to pick it back up again. I don't like to play more than one game at once, except for little time wasting games, because I like to dedicate myself completely to one story. It's a good thing I'm not a judge or anything, because I'm apparently the worst at making decisions. I've completed a game and just spent hours staring at my Steam library, unable to decide what I want to play next

 

[baddude1337]

I honestly don't really know. Normally what I feel like. The main ones I'm playing now are Project Reality 2 (single player), Doom and the hundreds of levels and gameplay mods I have for it (Trailblazer just got released so playing through a mapset with that) and Roma Surrectum 2 (man I forgot how great those legions look). I guess it's just what mood I am in. in a month or two I will probably be playing different games as my tastes have changed.

 

[visiblenoise]

I think I usually end up picking one of the games that is least like the one I just finished with. I never have 265 unplayed games to choose from though, it's more like 5. I figured that every game I own but don't have time for is potentially wasted money (considering how much price-slashing goes on for games these days), so I try to keep that number low. Sometimes I do run into the problem of not feeling like playing any game I do own though!

 

[cleric of the order]

>backlog.
Roll dice at the worst
I suggest playing whatever you feel like, it's not that tricky

 

[mrdude2010]

I look for games with whatever type of thing I feel like playing, then I check a few reviewers I generally agree with to make sure it doesn't have any game-breaking flaws. I also have a few unplayed games in my library, I usually just pick whichever one I think will best complement my current level of inebriation.

 

[Pyrian]

I think about what I feel like playing. What my friends have recommended. What people online have recommended. What sounds appealing. What doesn't. Then I agonize over my list for a while, indecisive. Finally, at long last, I give up and just go play another round of FTL.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Step 1: Decide what kind of mood am I in. I.E. Glacking people in the head? Hacking, and slashing to heavy metal? Driving around?
Step 2: Do I have a game that meets that mood?
Step 3:???
Step 4: Profit

But seriously, step 3 is either start said game, or buy a game if I can to fit the mood, and thus fill a void in my gaming conundrum.

I'm not one to start playing a game, and hammer it until I've beaten it.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've decided to play Final Fantasy XIII because I'm a naughty little piggy and I need to be punished I will not be beaten. I've just beaten the ninth chapter out of...I don't know how many, I wanna say 13 or 14. When I first got this game, it was a massive disappointment because I pre-ordered it, I was hyped up...then I was grievously disappointed. I made it to chapter 11, gave up because of the Alexander fight then tried to forget about it for the past almost-five years. I'm playing it now because dammit, I will not be beaten. I plan on getting the FFX/FFX-2 bundle on the PS3 after to reward myself because I like X and X-2 apparently has the best combat system in the series depending on who you talk to.

In general, I like playing bad games. I may very well go back to playing Ride to Hell after this because why the Hell not? I have a neon-pink motorcycle with a neat star-pattern. I think it's also going to nicely juxtapose FFXIII, which had such high production values and one-button gameplay, whereas RtH:RR has incredibly poor production values and a handful of gameplay styles. Or I could just stick with the FFX/X-2 idea...or play one of my GOOD PS3 or Wii U games...

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

I usually go by genre. I don't like to play too similar games back to back, so the ratio usually goes like:
2 3rd person/FPS action games, 1 RPG/strategy/tactical, 1 Driving game.
Then, within these types of games, I would mix it up as much as possible, so I'm not playing too many sci-fi games or medieval games in a row. Depending on the length of the RPG (something like the Witcher, Skyrim, XCOM) I miiiight squeeze another type in.

The exception to this rule is if I get a game that I really must play above all odds and jumps to the top of the queue (like GTA5), or I get bitten by nostalgia bug and I am suddenly in the mood for a game that I liked from before.

This applies to my usual pattern of finishing games. Sometimes it's just good to fire up a quick race, or online shooting session, or even Quake/Doom or some old Arcade or console ROMs out of nowhere for the hell of it.

 

[Dizchu]

Step 1: Open my GZDoom folder
Step 2: Pick a WAD to play
Step 3: Play Doom

That's pretty much it these days.

sigh.wav

 

[Fappy]

First I begin by consulting my cats. Usually they aren't much help and only manage to shed their fur all over me. Next I spend hours launching and closing different games on my PC and opening and closing the lid of my 3DS. I am very indecisive.

Then I take a dump, but stay on the toilet too long (reading OP) and my legs fall asleep. I stagger out of the bathroom, holding myself up with my arms alone and suffer in silence as the blood returns to my legs.

Once I return to my room I forget what I was doing and dick around on the internet for a couple hours.

...

It's either that or I find one game I really want to play and two weeks of my life disappear in the blink of an eye.

 

[Dalisclock]

I usally have a couple games in mind for the next game at any given time, and when I finish the game I'm playing(or as much as I'm going to finish, if I end up not liking it), I pick the one of those had I had in mind that interests me the most.

Though it's often something different then what I just finished. If I just finished a 30 hour sandbox game, it's a safe bet I'm not gonna play another 30 hour sandbox game for a little while, and I'll probably play a short game for contrast.

For example, I just finished AC4:Black Flag(and it's DLC) and switched gears to play Valient Hearts: The Great War.

Though the next game I play will likely be Saints Row: Gat out of Hell(unless it turns out to be terrible).

And in March I'm gonna try plying AC2, AC:B, AC:R and AC3 back to back. If I survive with my sanity intact, you'll see me back here in the summer.

 

[Elfgore]

Mostly by my mood at the time. Like now I feel like killing shit as Crocodile in Pirate Warriors 3. In a few minutes, I might be flying a ship through space in X-Tension. I get bored very quickly and have to frequently change games to keep entertained.

 

[Guffe]

Well I only have a WiiU so my backlog isn't that bad
At the moment I am rotating 3 games, Assassins Creed 4: this I play mainly at the moment. Then I have Smash Bros which I play a little almost daily to keep my skills up and I try to clear some of the challenges. Last is Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, this game is old GBA game which I got from the Eshop and is perfect for when watching something else since it isn't fast paced and can be my secondary thing I do on the GamePad.
Then after this I have MarioGalaxy2 which I bought from the Eshop and the second instalment of Golden Sun.

Usually when I have a backlog I take the game that I think will be the most enjoyable at that time. And I usually don't have more than 2 games going on at the same time. One other way is time of purchase, unless there are many of the same genre, then I might slip in something different in between to change the momentum a bit.