I’m also using the same system as you. Currently I’m playing Skyrim as a story/ambiance game and Doom 2 (community maps/mapsets, which are releasing every day) as forever playable game. I have time to play more, but I somehow settled on this as I find it very comfortable and enjoyable. Before current Skyrim playthrough I played Steins;Gate and before that original Silent Hill 1 and so on. As infinite games I also sometimes play Quake (community maps/mapsets) and modded Minecraft.
There are always a few fighting games I’m playing; typically Skullgirls, Guilty Gear Strive, and Street Fighter 6. When a new one comes out, I tend to spend a few dozen hours learning it before moving on.
Then there’s a story/campaign game. Right now, it’s Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Then there’s a “shut your brain off”/“second screen”/“podcast” game. Currently that’s Borderlands. It doesn’t mean that I’m always listening to something while playing it, but it does mean I don’t have to think too hard to enjoy it, and I can consume it like junk food. I may not have the highest opinion of these games, but it’s good to have some of them as palate cleansers.
Then there’s whatever game I’m in the middle of playing co-op with friends. Currently that’s V Rising.
The above is what my plan is, but it rarely goes that way. Often times I’m in the middle of a campaign/story game, and then the new, shiny thing came out before I finish it, and I can’t help myself but to start up the new one too, so I’ve accumulated a running total of other games I’m in the middle of and haven’t finished. As for time management, mine is a DINK household, so there’s plenty to go around, even after social gatherings and such, but our schedules tend to be fluids that will expand to fit their containers. I’ve begun to arrive at something similar to an Agile board, if you’re familiar with software development. I’ve got a number of games that I intend to finish before the month is out, and based on HowLongToBeat data, I’m estimating how much time I’ll probably have to play them and how long it will likely take me to finish them. This is a new development for me from the past few months, but it’s starting to pay dividends…then again, that may also have to do with new releases slowing down at the end of the year.
Just one. Playing two at once would be tricky, I’d need like a second computer or something. And switching back and fourth between keyboards really quickly would probably lead to lots of deaths.
30s, New homeowner, wife, house needs repair, cars need repair, wallet needs repair, someone has to cook, full work week, 90 minutes spent on commuting. No kids or pets, but I feel we might have similar availability. And I’m always wondering the same because I’ll never have the time to play like I did as a teen. But, here’s what I have. PC and Xbox.
I generally play one story game at a time. I’ll play for a couple weeks or couple months. I just try to make progress and enjoy it for what it is, not set any goals. How would I know how much time I need anyway? Could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours per session. Something like Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider(don’t worry, I have bigger triggers next). I’m hoping this month I “finally get around” to Fallout 3, NV, or 4.
I have other options, though, depending on immediate time availability. Some borderline storyless games (maybe with cosmetic reward progression) for the shortest of times or highest of mental fatigue (forza horizon, fortnite, rocket league, ace combat, borderlands). My two slow burn games are Valheim and Elite Dangerous. They both take probably an hour to get up to speed if I’ve been out of it for a few weeks, but I’ll be good for a week between sessions after that. I’ll sink 2+ hours per session into those. Regarding remembering controls, ED amuses me because I use an Xbox controller to play. Every button is mapped and there’s a combo for every (ABXY) + (D-pad or bumpers). 14 buttons and 24 combos. Putting the controller in my hand unlocks subconscious memory of most of them. Even in other games where crouch and jump are shuffled around, it only takes a couple mistakes for me to remember.
It’s not an impressive list, but I try to not beat myself up over it. I’m busy, I’m tired. I stopped being elitist about the Epic and Ubisoft bullshit because I don’t have time to waste giving a fuck. There’s 100 better similar games but this is what I’m doing. I’m sitting down for a good time, not a long time.
Another aspect I had to reexamine was my notion of productivity, progression, and entertainment. Did gaming fulfill a fantasy version of real “campaign” progression? Does the building and repair I do in real life actually contribute to the same feeling of accomplishment as beating a game? Does socializing in real life fulfill that need for story progression? So far… Yes. Mostly. The fantasy game version definitely looks cooler.
Only other comment is about not choosing a title. I wouldn’t play a game I started because I needed to play a newer game before I was left behind. I think it’s been 2 years since I last bought a game. I can’t keep up. I can’t finish what I have. So I more or less decided to work through my library for now. It’s hard to get over the fomo of skipping titles or being multiple titles behind in a series. But so what? I have hyped games from 2015. I have hyped games from 2020. And from 2010. And from 2005. I’m missing newer games hyped in 2023. But in 2026, there will still be hyped games. And 2030. And 2035. I don’t have the time for every title. So I’ll see what’s out when I have room again. For now, it’s just about 4 story game so cycle through. Doesn’t really help you decide, but maybe makes it easier to avoid not deciding.
If you get paralyzed picking which story game to play next, maybe getting really picky about which ones make the list and then literally roll the dice or use an RNG generator to pick one. If they are all good, and your gameplay spread across a long time with work and kids, then any "mood" you are in, in the moment, will be averaged out over time. If you get into a game and find it really just isn't for you, give yourself permission to move on.
In short, make the decision less consequential to avoid paralysis. That was my method anyway, being in similar situation with life time constraints.
I play at most 2-3 games at the same time. 1 story game that requires concentration (currently "Pentiment"), one game I play online with friends (currently "Return to Moria") and one simple game when I don't want to think too much (currently nothing, I just finished "Vampire Survivors")
I'm also a dad with a full time job. As for how I pick my games, if I do the same thing too long I get bored and don't finish the game. And I like finishing games. So I don't do two horror games back-to-back, or two survival games, or two FPS, etc. I like to switch up. Before "Pentiment" my focus games were "SOMA", "Astroneer", "Conarium", "Green Hell", "The Talos Principle" and "Prey". So, quite varied I think.
I started the game in its first year, played for probably five years, got to solid mid Rs9 level, even somewhat enjoyed doing shipments, then one day I suddenly realised that the game was taking up so much time, and unlike before, I wasn’t even looking forward to RS10. So I quit. Kept the game for a while to chat to corp mates and eventually didn’t migrate to DN when it dropped.
My partner got into the game not long after me, he kept playing for a couple more years on and off, got to RS10, managed a few successful runs, then decided RS9 was more fun lol. But after dark nebula he really dropped off. he learned to do the new Red Stars, did a few white stars, and… don’t think he touched it in the last few months.
I did make a few good friend in the game who are still in touch, but I haven’t really thought about HS in so long. This bring up some nostalgia for sure.
As for what we moved to. I play roguelikes/-lites these days when I’m in transit, and I’ve always been a souls fan, so I’ve no lack of games to play at home. My partner went through a few trashy mobile games as I recall, then we started to play board games together. It’s pretty costly but very fun, and more relaxing. I suppose the tactile aspect and the higher amount of interaction appealed to us.
This is probably not helpful if you’re looking for ideas of what game to play next, sorry about that. I do really miss the White Stars and have not known anything that’s quite like it. Espeically when my corp was around RS8. That was for some reason especially fun.
Any names of rogue/-lites? I need them on Android as its the only platform I can reliably play today…
As for board games, we are into those too, or at least we where. But the love for ultra complicated board games by my wife took us to a blind spot where we are always too tired to start a game LOL…
I till love and we still play Ticket To Ride occasionally tough.
Dead Cells is technically on Android, and a great game, but you’d need a controller to really enjoy it.
I absolutely recommend Slay the Spire. It’s a deck-building game ported from pc/console, a very good game, and the port is decent. I have over 300 hours in it, still play it often. It’s a hard game, especially at higher difficulty levels it really requires you to make good decisions everywhere. Choosing your path, building the deck and playing the cards all feel engaging. The vast variety of synergies and anti-synergies also ensures that each play feel different and interesting. There’s also a board game, also very good, although that probably also falls into your blind spot a little, more people playing often add to the complexity.
I’ve recently got Dicey Dungeons, also on android, light game, not a lot of replay value, but the campaign is pretty fun and interesting so far, so I think the price to play time ratio is still pretty decent.
Yes, probably because it’s a port. I mostly find games through pc/console…
Come to think of it, ever played reigns? It’s a roguelike series, the games have similar game mechanics but different settings. They can be played easily with one hand because you make decisions by swiping cards left or right, and at least the one game that i played had pretty interesting story.
It’s been so long that I’d forgotten the name of the game, turns out I got it confused with a game with extremely similar mechanics, only realised today when I found the sequel to the game I played. The game that I’ve played and loved is called Lapse. It’s free on Google Play store.
I know what you mean about being too tired to start a game, we had that problem at the beginning of the hobby too! We’ve since learned that even though most filler games can sound a bit boring on paper, they can be quite fun and the good ones end up getting played pretty often.
Our favourites:
Kites: A real-time game about flipping little sand timers while playing cards. It somehow manages to be tense and relaxing at the same time, and it’s always kind of funny when someone accidentally knocks a bunch of them over.
The Mind: The game is so simple the rules can be fully explained in a minute. You try to play numbered cards in ascending order without knowing what’s in other people’s hands. The faces people make to cheat the no communication rule can be hilarious. Especially good to bring on trips, can even be played on trains or planes. Also good to play with someone new due to the simple rules.
MicroMacro Crime City: Hard to explain this one without an example, so look it up if it sounds interesting to you. It’s about solving crimes by looking at a 2D+time dimension map… It gives the intense satisfaction of detective stories while not putting much of a mental load on you. Does require very good lighting, otherwise can be straining on the eyes.
Tranquility / The Ascent: Two games in the same series, mechanics are different but they have similar vibes of, well, tranquility. These games are beautiful, gameplay feels a bit like solitaire but with a bit less thinking/memorization, and they both have well-designed two player modes.
Sky Team: Dice-placing game about landing a plane. The theme was not appealing to me, so it took recommendations from many sources for us to finally try it out. It’s in that sweet spot where the game feels engaging and tense, after a win you feel accomplished. I’m not sure how they managed that with putting dice on a small cardboard panel. Another plus is that it has an expansion where you get to call penguins to ask them to get out of your way.
I should mention these are all co-op games, because I hate losing, and I don’t like others losing. We do own a few competitive games, but they are pretty much all luck-based / super pretty / funny, so that we don’t care who wins.
I also made at least one good friend on that game. We keep in touch years later.
Was amusing the idea to try recreate the original game as open source, with due differences like a true rich tech tree and less grind (no need to monetize an open source game after all), and most of all, self hostable server.
But RL is a bitch and free time is hard to come by these days, so.
Yeah the game was pretty addictive and I took the DN fiasco as a good reason to finally quit. I got to RS10. But seeing how rs10 was so much less fun in red stars was also a turn down as well.
I had friends playing rs10 regularly tough, so those where doable and kinda fun too it seems.
Rs9 where real fun tough… Specially done in private corps with three more able and willing partners.
White stars too, I really enjoyed them, maybe I was in a lucky corporation.
I imagine it would be difficult to capture what makes the the original so special and also make improvements. But yes an open source alternative would be wonderful.
Any idea if someone already started a promising project? I did a quick search on Github and found quite a few HS simulators, most of them archived. Didn’t find anything that’s HS inspired. I doubt I’ll find time for it between my other hobbies, but I do have a couple weeks of holiday leftover from last year, so who knows.
Nobody AFAIK. I would like to start something tough. Doesn’t need to share name or resources, just the feeling, the space theme, the PvP and specially coop pve approach…
Typically I play Marvel Rivals with my friend group, as it is one of the few multiplayer games these days that supports at least 5 people on a team (we already tried League, Paladins, etc and got tired of that real quick).
On my own, I sometimes feel like playing a retro game, so I have been playing Legend of Dragoon, but recently my save file got corrupted somehow so I haven’t restarted. Instead I switched to playing a less retro game, Need for Speed Carbon. Its been maybe 10 years since I played it last, so it has been interesting dealing with the horrendous rubberbanding and random crashing on PC. I also like to play Goddess of Victory NIKKE as a mobile game whenever I have down time but am away from home.
But I don’t think it is atypical to really focus on playing one game at a time. I’d say that would actually be quite unusual and likely only done by people who have a job playing multiple games per day (a not so good reviewer, streamer, etc).
I work a full time job, but I don't have responsibilities like children, so I have way more free time to play games.
I'm currently playing, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Bug Fables, alongside some friends so we can talk about it together.
With my partner, I'm playing, I was a Teenage Exocolonist, discussing our choices and how our game diverged.
I'm also playing solo: Octopath Traveler 2 and Lies of P.
I'm basically hopping around the various games constantly. I'll play one chapter of Bug Fables, then hop over to Lies of P and clear an area and defeat the boss, then jump over to Octopath Traveler 2 to clear a chapter or two from some characters.
A few. I’m playing through the bonus campaigns of Etherfields, while looking longingly at ISS Vanguard which I haven’t picked up in a week, while playing one-shot games of stuff like Twinfold and Harmonies and Balatro and Slay the Spire (both table and phone). Finished Silent Hill 2R recently and that was awesome. Sometimes when I’m up to it I’ll break out some sort of random Final Girl game.
I know this isn’t true for everyone, but narrative solo board gaming is really, really good for me, and lets me do a lot of gaming that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, what with my brain being all busted with stroke damage.
Typically only 1 story game (first playthrough) like Blasphemous or Outer Wilds. And then only roguelites or sandboxes on top of that like Factorio or Slay the Spire.
Slay the spire, FTL, and Into the Breach probably have the most hours from me because the controls are entirely cursor driven and can be paused indefinitely.
Balatro is quickly taking the space that the built-in Windows solitaire game used to.
Those are the ones that I open when my brain can’t brain.
At least one idle game. I just finished antimatter dimensions after a year or so. Starting on NGU idle next.
And one “100% attention” game like outer wilds or hollow knight.
bin.pol.social
Najstarsze