How do you decide which game are you going to play next?

[OmriStyle27]

I swear everytime i decide to play a game it takes around 3 to 10 days until i get to that decision.

i'm at my 30's now and i don't have a lot of free time to play games as before so choosing a game to play is kinda of big deal now because i don't want to waste my time on something that i will not like or enjoy.

 

i'm also the kind of person that completes everything so if i pop that first trophy i know there is no turning back , i will go for that 100% no matter what (you can see it in my trophy list).

 

so how do you decide which game are you going to play next and is that decision come easy to you?

 

[HuntingFever]

I just jump between whatever is installed on the Hard Drive until something clicks.

[ClearVHS]

Nowadays it depends on my mood.

 

If im tired after work i tend to play something with very little to concentrate on like a job simulator or racing game.

 

If im bored of gaming i watch a movie and get back to a game that its grindy as that tend to reset it for me.

 

Then if im in a good mood i like to treat myself to a game i want to play for a long time like recently playing GoW Ragnarok.

 

 

[Xylobe]

I just go with whatever I'm feeling in the moment; sometimes that's predictable, other times it's something completely out of left field. If I'm between games and nothing in my backlog is calling out to me, I put down the controller and come back tomorrow.

[Jerry_Appleby]

As a completionist I also run into that problem, so recently about a year and a half ago I was in a trophy competition to put as many games at 1% as possible on your trophy list at once.

 

I put 86 different games on my list during that time, and now I use my trophy advisor when I finish a game and I go for whatever plat is the next most common, or what I will find the most interesting!

 

I wouldn't go overkill like me, but maybe find a set of like 5-10 games that intrigue you, earn a trophy in each. Then you'll have the motivation to finish them all so that your unearned trophies will go back down and completion % will go back up!

[D-E-U-S-X]

I look at what the top trophy hunters play and play the exact opposite.

[KenjiCBZ]

Depends on the mood. Recently I'm trying mostly to finish series and to prefer easier games over the hardest.

[HaserPL]

It feels to me like you're not playing to have fun AND get trophies, you pick games because you want to go for the trophies in the first place. Try changing your mindset for a while, stop thinking about completion and trophies, and think about what you want to play for fun, simple as that. 

[Beyondthegrave07]

7 minutes ago, HaserPL said:

It feels to me like you're not playing to have fun AND get trophies, you pick games because you want to go for the trophies in the first place. Try changing your mindset for a while, stop thinking about completion and trophies, and think about what you want to play for fun, simple as that. 

You absolutely nailed it, imo.

 

There's a really simple way to choose what game you want to play; play what sounds fun to you at the moment. Don't analyze trophy guides, don't plan the optimal paths, and don't choose based on difficulty or length. You'll never have fun if you are just thinking about trophies instead of the games themselves. 

 

If someone has to analyze their backlog for 3-10 days then they're thinking too hard about it imho.

[DrBloodmoney]

When my gut tells me I’d enjoy a game, I listen.

[HaserPL]

2 minutes ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

. Don't analyze trophy guides, don't plan the optimal paths, and don't choose based on difficulty or length

There was a period when I was doing this for every game I played. I was miserable back then, it felt like a job without getting paid, with little to nothing in return. After that I left trophy hunting for nearly 2 years, I only came back once I was able to fix my approach to trophies and stopped caring about them so much. This is a recipe for quitting the hobby altogether. 

[Copanele]

So this is how I do it:

1. I get a list
2. I ask friends, waiting for their confirmation
3. I ask even more friends who can swear that the game I picked is good
4. I download the game
5. I delete the game and play something incredibly stupid because I ain't gonna commit to that lol

Works every single time! Basically my choice in games resumes to...RNG , really

Edited February 24 by Copanele

[the1andonly654]

Before I finish a game I'm playing at the time, I pick another one from the backlog to play next. 

Then I change my mind once or twice, until I finally settle on a particular game. 

 

I then abandon the idea half the time, because a game that I want to replay popped into my mind and I play that instead. 

 

Occasional bonus step: I take a break in replaying said game to... Replay another game that I had a sudden craving for. It's like pregnancy, but with video games.

 

Just today I finished Bloodstained again, during a break in replaying Cyberpunk. Gonna be 3 weeks without a trophy popping because of that. 

 

 

 

[Monochrome]

It depends. Sometimes I'll already have an idea of what I wanna play next, but most of the time I end up scrolling through my game list and seeing if something jumps out. Or I'll go to my how long to beat page and randomize my entire catalogue and see what pops up.

 

Right now I'm doing a couple harder / grindier games that I'm cleaning up trophies on, so I decided to do the Jewel Match Solitaire trilogy on the side as something easier to relax to. And it's just something different from what I've been playing. I try to have a variety to bounce between. (2-3) That way making a decision on one thing isn't going to feel as final and it makes it easier for me to choose something next when I know it's not going to be the only thing I'm going to be playing for days, weeks, months.

 

I've also downloaded a couple games to my PS5 that I randomly got the urge to play, and save them for after I'm finished with my current games. That way there's already a small pool for me to choose from first, too.

[Beyondthegrave07]

6 minutes ago, HaserPL said:

There was a period when I was doing this for every game I played. I was miserable back then, it felt like a job without getting paid, with little to nothing in return. After that I left trophy hunting for nearly 2 years, I only came back once I was able to fix my approach to trophies and stopped caring about them so much. This is a recipe for quitting the hobby altogether. 

I used to analyze trophy guides super hard back in the day and try to fit everything into a single playthrough and realized that if I enjoy the game enough, I will want play it again so I really stopped caring about that sort of stuff.

 

I still do it on occasion, but it's more out of "I enjoy this so much I don't want to miss anything and want to see all the cool stuff" and not necessarily for the trophies attached to it.

[GT__Jedi]

It used to be perfectly planned.  Pre-order games, play something that has a memorable trophy.

 

Now with PS Plus is it playing something because it is leaving the catalogue.  Totally out of control.

[BloodyRutz]

I'm also over 30, have a pretty demanding job, and run my own business on the side. When two games are released within the same period, and I'm equally interested in both, I simply choose the shorter one to start with.

[Mellenthin]

If you're in your 30's then you should have a firm grasp of your preferences. Always do a little recon if you find something of interest, e.g. look up gameplay, the estimated length and difficulty but most importantly, since you're a completionist, if everything is unlockable.

 

Other than that, in terms of efficiency, it could be wise to not postpone certain games with online requirements and perhaps focus more on such games in favor of single player titles.

 

Good luck!

 

 

[ZenaxPure]

Ignoring new releases (since those almost always take priority) when I am looking for something to play from my backlog I usually pick a game radically different from what I've been playing lately. Like currently I've been playing a lot of Honkai Star Rail and Granblue Relink, just doing endgame stuff in both games. But I'm starting to want a break from that sort of challenge-based gameplay loop; some mindless open world game or like a linear story driven kind of game I can just chill with sounds really enticing right now. Though I need to find something on the shorter side since FF7R is out in a few days.

[Helyx]

[sk_lp_him]

I always plan ahead 2-3 games in my head so I never have the problem of what to play next.

[Sofa King]

I close my eyes, scroll through my games randomly left and right for five seconds or so, and play whatever fate has decided. That's only when I really don't have a specific game in mind to play next.

 

 

[OmriStyle27]

13 hours ago, HaserPL said:

It feels to me like you're not playing to have fun AND get trophies, you pick games because you want to go for the trophies in the first place. Try changing your mindset for a while, stop thinking about completion and trophies, and think about what you want to play for fun, simple as that. 

 

13 hours ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

You absolutely nailed it, imo.

 

There's a really simple way to choose what game you want to play; play what sounds fun to you at the moment. Don't analyze trophy guides, don't plan the optimal paths, and don't choose based on difficulty or length. You'll never have fun if you are just thinking about trophies instead of the games themselves. 

 

If someone has to analyze their backlog for 3-10 days then they're thinking too hard about it imho.

 

i think you guys are right , i always do some research before i start to play any game but again , it's because of a time problem that i have mentioned before.

but you're right i really don't need to let it affect my decision , just play what i want even if i don't have a lot of free time to play a long or difficult game , i can always come back to it anytime when i have more free time to invest in it.

 

Thanks for the help

 

[OmriStyle27]

13 hours ago, the1andonly654 said:

Before I finish a game I'm playing at the time, I pick another one from the backlog to play next. 

Then I change my mind once or twice, until I finally settle on a particular game. 

 

I then abandon the idea half the time, because a game that I want to replay popped into my mind and I play that instead. 

 

Occasional bonus step: I take a break in replaying said game to... Replay another game that I had a sudden craving for. It's like pregnancy, but with video games.

 

Just today I finished Bloodstained again, during a break in replaying Cyberpunk. Gonna be 3 weeks without a trophy popping because of that. 

 

 

 

 

Haha i do the same thing sometimes , a few days before i finish the current game i'm playing i start to think of the next game i want to play but at the end i usually completely abandon that idea.

 

but wow 3 weeks without a trophy pop is too hard for me lol.

 

12 hours ago, ZenaxPure said:

Ignoring new releases (since those almost always take priority) when I am looking for something to play from my backlog I usually pick a game radically different from what I've been playing lately. Like currently I've been playing a lot of Honkai Star Rail and Granblue Relink, just doing endgame stuff in both games. But I'm starting to want a break from that sort of challenge-based gameplay loop; some mindless open world game or like a linear story driven kind of game I can just chill with sounds really enticing right now. Though I need to find something on the shorter side since FF7R is out in a few days.

 

i also ingor new releases , sometimes it gets to a point that i totally forget about them for years.

for example - i just played and finished God of War 2018 for the first time in 2024!

crazy how time flies.

[CymroMatt]

I tend to almost always plan ahead. I know what my next 5-6 games are as I prepare to hit platinum number 50 on this account. I'm probably a bit insane, I know, but it hasn't affected my enjoyment so far. Probably because this is a new account so I'm replaying all my favourites from my games library.

 

I've had a blast up until now

Edited February 25 by CymroMatt