do you find it difficult to get into games? I’ve got Epic Games and Steam Games libraries chock-full of classic top-tier games along with many other newer games like Stray or 2077, and a bunch of indie titles. I just can’t be bothered to download and install them, much less try to get into the characters and storylines. Used to be I couldn’t wait to see what happened in the story, what new items you could collect, what new worlds the developers had created. Not anymore. I return to playing the same franchise for a quick FPS match or three and then I’m done.
The older I get, I find that I tend to default to two things:
- Games that I’ve played before that help me turn my brain off. Kind of like a form of meditation.
- Games that have a mechanic or a story that is genuinely new or engaging.
Same as above, as a kid (80s) games were new and interesting, even shovelware games you would get for free on C64 mags were interesting.
Over the years games have just become more and more streamlined, and action focused, it’s basically like Hollywood now where they just churn out nice looking mediocre films to make money.
The 2nd point though js why I responded as I really agree with the point on something new being what makes games interesting now. They don’t even have to be amazing, just offer a new experience.
For example when Dayz came out, that was a nice breath of fresh air, every time I loaded up the game with friends I never knew what was going to happen. Same sort of thing with Phasmophobia, was genuinely amazing for the first week we played it, just nothing else like it. Now you can’t move for DayZ style games or Phasmo ripoffs.
I am bored of playing the same sort of stuff, like I’m bored watching super hero movies, I want new experiences (VR has some good experiences).
For me, I’d like to add “games that let you set your own pace and objective and let you achieve things your own way” (obviously something like Minecraft, but I also enjoyed Tears Of The Kingdom because of that)
Or, if multi-player: Be co-op, make me do some crazy shit and make me laugh (e.g. Human Fall Flat)
I’m playing Tears of the Kingdom now and it’s the only game that’s kept my attention since Dark Souls 3. I am not generally a fan of open world games. Even as a huge souls fan I didn’t really care for Elden Ring. But this Zelda game is incredible. There is so much more going on than I expected and it is just plain fun.
It’s probably the game which has distracted me the most from my current objective.
The number of “ooooo what’s that?” moments that derailed the next couple hours entirely was massive.
Maybe my first oblivion playthrough comes close but not much else.
My tastes have definitely changed.
I’m old and I’m busy. I don’t have time for fetch quests that are uninspired time sinks. I don’t have time to play through a game with janky mechanics just for a few bright spots. I don’t have time to farm repetitive shit just so I can do X thing.
I’ve found that most AAA games care more about the time you spend playing rather than whether the game is fun or not. Diablo IVs rapid fall from grace is a prime example of this. This will not stop; it is the end point of the business model. A fun game that people sink 40 hours into and drop is much less profitable than a mid-game that demands a perpetual 10 hours per week.
Others have already hit on it, but my best gaming experiences in recent years have been games that I didn’t buy on release and only found through online word of mouth and hype.
Years ago I made the decision to never play a game on launch, never buy a game full price, never play a game just because it was on the online buzz.
I decide what to play usually days in advance, carve out a chunk of my recreation time to explicitly play, as if it were going to a movie or a party with friends. It’s like a date with the game. I block a couple of hours to it. If the game is good, it will get a second date, if it bored me, we would break up.
I don’t buy on sales pressure either. If I decide I want to play a game, I would wait to buy it on the historical cheapest price. Only then would the game get schedule time to get played. That keeps the FOMO away.
It has made gaming super enjoyable and no longer the dopamine chase that publishers want to make to milk the most money out of me. As a result I usually enjoy my time way more, play older games more frequently, not out of nostalgia but because I never played then. I also spend less money, which lowers stress and anxiety. As a result I haven’t played a AAA game in a long while.
Time is scheduled for a game on what I’m interested in right now. But since the decision is always for a time far away in the future (up to a week in advance) I can make a more directed and intentional decision. Some weeks it’s thematic, some weeks it’s just genre based. Some weeks are retro. Some weeks are for comfort. All with small and concrete goals for each.
Yup. Just finally played through Skyrim, and starting fallout 3. They’ve been fun. Honestly didn’t game for the better part of the last 15 years, work and kids. Sunk hundreds of hours on Skyrim now done, fallout totally different and a predecessor yet familiar.
I go by the same rule, basically if people can still play and talk about something 10 years later it’s actually good.
Sorry op, your inner child is dead. Time for sudoku in a rocking chair.
You might be right. Except I don’t like sudoku.
Sorry OP, your inner grandparent is dead. Time for seppuku.
I’m not that old, ffs. lol.
Had to Google that one… Funny shit. Thanks, I needed it.
I kinda miss the nintendo/super nintendo times, where a friend would come over and you’d hand him a controller and then you would start playing. Gaming these days is more like: bro the game is cheap. Oh yes i forgot, you need these two dlc’s to play the good stuff, don’t worry, once you hit level 15 i’ll be good i swear, all we have to do is to grind a few levels by playing the same.thing over and over, but i swear, i will ve really good soon.
True, gamer is become a consumer that’s need to grind for make the companies profit. Friends are just more consumers, invite a friend for receive a bonus, spread the addiction, make companies more riches.
It’s depression, and other stuff.
Personally, I find that when I feel that way, it’s because I’m actually just kinda tired of games in general. The huge variety available will often trick me into a headspace of “I’m not bored of games just certain games, I need to find the ones I’m in the mood for” but really what I need is a break. Do some crafts/art, get extra exercise, socialize with people that don’t normally game, read a book, visit family. Just shake up the shedule for a bit and do other stuff with your free time, and in my experience, you’ll want to play something, instead of just looking for something good enough to fill boredom.
People are always so quick to jump on the “it’s depression” train, but it can also be totally normal for one’s tastes and interests to change over time.
I used to absolutely love games as a kid and teen. But as an adult, I just have a hard time getting into them anymore. I often seem to have fun watching people play games instead of experiencing them myself, and that’s ok too.
It’s like…after a day at work, I just want to unwind. Gaming requires a degree of effort and can even be stress inducing. So I’m just not super into it anymore. I try to get into games now and then but usually I can’t be bothered.
I mean, you’re right that for some people, it can signal depression. For others, it just signals growing older. Such is life.
I’m nearly 40, been playing since the old Commodore 64 days.
I’ve always loved games, but with a wife and kids I don’t have anywhere near as much time as I used to with them, which means I think quite a lot about what I want to play in the 6 hours or so a week that I can actually do it.
I feel like I’m in a minority in that I still love much of the AAA stuff - Cyberpunk and Baldur’s Gate 3 is my jam right now, I might get Spider-Man 2 when it drops in price a bit and I have more time.
I love indie games too but I don’t always have as much time as I want to invest in them, I did get through Bombrush Cyberfunk recently and it scratched a Jet Set Radio itch that I had long forgotten about.
So yea, I still love them but it’s partly because it’s just always been my hobby.
Been looking at Cyberpunk. It’s good?
It is!
I picked it up at launch and it’s improved quite a lot over the last few years, better combat and skill trees, fewer bugs, better cops, the world is beautiful and the quest design and performance animation makes Starfield feel pretty antiquated.
It’s still not perfect but I’m on my second play through and I’m still having a good time, I’m very excited to see the new stuff in Phantom Liberty too.
Thanks! Glad to see you like it!
Yeah, it’s called clinical depression, it’s entirely normal, happens to everyone. 🤷♂️
One can not have depression and still not be into games anymore.
Must be a tumour, then. 😞
It’s not a tumor! Not a tumor, at all.
Not at all. Stop trying to play AAA bait and just look for fun instead. I’m having a blast with Dead Cells, I think the demo for Balatro (poker roguelike) is still available, if you prefer 3d survival, Valheim is a great pick, etc.
For me the reason is … Decision fatigue!
I often stared blankly at my staggeringly huge game library and lost all interest to play. And instead ended up playing something not too heavy on the brain that I have known for decades and perhaps even watch Netflix on the side. (Like Diablo.)
While researching online I stumbled upon the phenomenon of decision fatigue and it changed my gaming habits and even other parts of my life. I probably understand the concept incorrectly but for me, I apparently tend to avoid decisions all together when there are too many options which leads to heavy procrastination. Doesn’t matter if it’s too many tasks on my list, too many letters on my desk or too many games to choose from.
I Marie Kondoed my gaming library and now it’s a fun activity again!
- btw I am a gamer for over 30 years and my library, including all gaming platforms and consoles, has about 2000 (two thousand) titles
Old man with only, compared to you, 394 titles in the steam library.
I had a similar experience.
My solution was to categorize my steam library with custom categories.
The most important category is the “Trash” category to remove the “clutter”. “Dead” games like Artifact and trash from bundles from steam sales.
Now I have my library sorted and want for example to play a soulslike I just look into my library in the category “soulslike” and can choose from the games I’ve sorted into the category.
I wish this would also be possible for streaming platforms as their standard categories are usually redundant to give you the feeling that their library is bigger than it actually is.
Yeah but people change hobbies change and priorities change. Don’t ever try to force yourself to play games because you feel like your supposed to. I don’t eat candy anymore because I stopped enjoying it. I’m not gonna just eat it because I used to love it.
If thats how you play games now just do you, have fun with those games now, don’t need to over think it
I probably game just as much as I used to, but it’s only one game at a time now that I’ll play for years. Used to chase all the releases and hype. Now I just want to space out and have fun.
it’s kind of funny to me but as growing up I was all about Nintendo, as I got into my later teens and early adulthood I was all PC and steam, I’m 35 now with the family tons of responsibility obligations but I’ve noticed as I get older I’ve been gravitating closer back to Nintendo and their dependability for good quality gaming and time well spent, I guess because my time is such a high premium, I stick to the games I know that are going to deliver.
Have you been on the Nintendo eStore lately? It’s full of low quality games, like the play store.
I said Nintendo games, not estore games. First party games made by/licensed by Nintendo
Yeah but those are not Nintendo made/licensed games, there have always been shovelware for Nintendo consoles
I’m happy enough to spend time and energy and get into new games. The difference is my standards are WAY higher than when I was younger. I’ve played so many games that it’s hard to impress.
For the past few years I’ve been trying to go through my Steam gaming collection chronologically, in order of release date starting from oldest games. I’m trying to at least go through and have no unplayed games. After dozens of Humble Bundles and ~20 years building up my collection, I’ve got hundreds of games I haven’t even touched yet. Sometimes I’ll be interested in a game and play for awhile, sometimes I’ll play for 5 minutes, get bored and uninstall. Doesn’t matter, as long as I can check it off as “played”. Sometimes I get sidetracked by a newer game that comes out, or by physical board games, or by just life in general, but I still have that goal in mind to try new things, I at least have that if I don’t feel like playing anything else.
