Not knowing what to play when you know what you want to play
What do I want to play?
As you grow older in life, you find yourselves with less and less time to play video games. Whether it’s work, errands, child-care or other engagements, your time is eaten up a lot more. You end up with less free time in general, and that makes the free time that you do have, somewhat sacred.
Due to free time being so sparce, when you do find yourselves with it, you are faced with a difficult decision. I’m not sure if this applies to everyone, but I feel a pressure to not waste that time. If I’ve decided that I want to use that time to play a game, then the decision cycle begins.
Okay, so I only have a few hours to spend to play a game. What do I decide to play? Do I start a new game I’ve not played before, not knowing if I will enjoy it or not, and perhaps waste that time? Do I start a game with a long story, knowing I will barely scratch the surface? Do I pick something out of the backlog to replay, or return to one of my staples, a comforting classic?
This cycle, often ends up taking more time than I would like to admit, and I’m sure that’s the case for many people. You spend half an hour browsing the store on your chosen platform, seeing if anything new pops up. You look back through your library, to see if anything pips your fancy. You take a look at some gaming websites, see if anything new is being recommended with great reviews. The cycle continues.
Ultimately though, deep down, I think I always know what I actually want to play. Usually, it’s based on how I’m feeling. If I’m feeling a little drained or stressed, I just want something that will take my focus, but I could play in my sleep, like Hearts of Iron 4, Victoria 3 or Total Warhammer 3. If I’m feeling a bit annoyed, I want to play something where I can smash stuff up, like Mortal Kombat or Doom. If I’m in a good mood, I want that to continue, with a happy game like Katamari or anything made by Nintendo.
I think this is the same way a lot of people choose their games, but I think is indicative of a lot of ways we make decisions. Often I know what the choice will be, but I have to dance around it for a while to justify it in my head. It’s the same with dinner choices - I know going into it that I’ll probably want a take-away, and my belly is telling me that’s what it wants, but I have to pretend I might want something else to make it seem like a take-away is okay to have.
The opposite side of this though, is that I play new games much less than I would like to admit. Often, I’ll only play a brand new game when I know I have time to spare. If I have a day off from work, or the start of a long weekend, I’ll give something new a go, safe in the knowledge that if it doesn’t click, I have time to go back to one of my staples.
What I have to work on though, is not feeling guilty by making these choices. Those long forgotten games at the bottom of my library, or at the back of my shelf, don’t really have feelings. They don’t mind not being played. If video games came to life à la Toy Story, I think I would have an existential crisis. Not just because they were alive, but the guilt I would feel. Though, I do wonder how toys in that series do seem to understand their existence and not particularly question it. These are essentially immortal beings, they could rule the world and create a society of toy based creatures that could do anything. If Skynet existed in the Toy Story universe, you could bet there would be a Terminator Woody.
Anyway, I’m interested in knowing whether this cycle is true of everyone or not. How do you decide what to play? How do you use your free time? Let me know.
I feel so seen right now. That's pretty much my situation, nearly word-for-word. The need to not waste precious time. Taking 30 mins to figure out what to play. New game vs. older game already in progress. That's me, baby.
It's a double whammy anytime it involves a retro game or remaster (triple whammy if it's an RPG) because part of me wants to find a way to write an article or review based on the game I'm playing so as to maximize the time spent playing it. But then I'd have to play it consistently enough to form opinions about said game. Then I have to turn those thoughts into words. Then I have to make those words interesting and hopefully worth reading.
Then I have to do battle with my archnemesis, Self-Doubt. “This sounds boring. Your writing is ameturish. So-and-So writes more elegantly and has been around longer, so who the hell do you think you are?”, etc.
If I manage to shut down that noise, then maybe I can make something of the time I spent playing that game at 1:00 am.
Absolutely true of me too. Spare time is rare, especially when I like to devote at least an hour to playing, meaning I'm forced to do it late at night when everyone is asleep. And then energy levels affect the decision making progress, procrastination is so easy.
You're right though, deep down we know what we need; we've just got to mentally justify it because of all the other stimulus around us like social media and advertising.