How do you decide what to play?

[Xeogred]

Focus and patience. I like finishing games, so I only play up to ~2 or so games at a time. Even 3 is pushing it for me lately. And when playing a few at a time I try to change it up by the genre, or tone (ie Silent Hill played next with Mario to keep me sane) so that it keeps things interesting. Maintain a very small but manageable backlog, go with your gut/intuition/mood. Beat game. Never play MMO's because they stink. Profit and move to the next one.

Also it helps that if you beat a big fat RPG that takes 50 or 60 hours to finish, to take a break and beat some short action games for a while. I find running through some 8-bit games to be a great palette cleanser. (That's part of why I'm on this GB shmup kick lately.)

I frequent this idea too. Looking forward to playing some Shantae or Super Mario Bros Advance 4 on the Wii U once I finish up KOTOR1.

Balance in the force.

[laurenhiya21]

Man I always have trouble deciding what to play. There are WAY too many games that I want to play at one time that sometimes I freeze up and just don't play anything. Even if I narrow it down to a genre I want to play, it can still be pretty difficult. I'm trying to work on that (cause I do like playing games once I actually decide to play them!) but it's definitely a bad habit of mine to overthink things like this ._.

So, sorry that's not exactly helpful

[MrPopo]

Since Seisen no Keifu is on your list of "probably one of these" then I vote you play that.

[TSTR]

Man I always have trouble deciding what to play. There are WAY too many games that I want to play at one time that sometimes I freeze up and just don't play anything. Even if I narrow it down to a genre I want to play, it can still be pretty difficult. I'm trying to work on that (cause I do like playing games once I actually decide to play them!) but it's definitely a bad habit of mine to overthink things like this ._.

So, sorry that's not exactly helpful

Same. I call it "game paralysis."

[ElkinFencer10]

Man I always have trouble deciding what to play. There are WAY too many games that I want to play at one time that sometimes I freeze up and just don't play anything. Even if I narrow it down to a genre I want to play, it can still be pretty difficult. I'm trying to work on that (cause I do like playing games once I actually decide to play them!) but it's definitely a bad habit of mine to overthink things like this ._.

So, sorry that's not exactly helpful

Same. I call it "game paralysis."

Yep, I do it too. All the damn time.

Since Seisen no Keifu is on your list of "probably one of these" then I vote you play that.

Popo-sensei has spoken. It shall be so.

[Gunstar Green]

Surprised how many people have this problem. I just sort of go, "I feel like playing this today," and I play it.

However I also don't tend to stress over any sort of backlog or force myself to beat games either, nor do I usually play heavy time commitment games like RPGs so that probably has a lot to do with it.

[8bit]

I go on system kicks myself... If say the SNES comes down and gets setup for one particular game I am in the mood for, it will usually stay setup and get a steady rotation of different games through it over the next few weeks. Then it goes back up on the shelf and another system comes down and the same thing happens. On the rare occasion I get sucked into an RPG then that game gets some serious dedication for about a week or two, gets its story completed, and then I am definitely ready to put that console up for a while and bring something else down.

[alienjesus]

I have multiple methods.

First and foremost, most of the time I just kinda go 'let's play this one next'.

I normally play a long game over a longer stretch of time and play smaller games in between. Lately I've been using the weekend to play some shorter palette cleansers whilst I work through RPGs otherwise.

I try and keep a game on the go on handhelds at all times. If I stick console only I will probably play less overall.

Lastly, I normally have some sort of marathon or goal that helps me pick when all else fails. I've been working on my Alphabet marathon since last February - sure, I've only played through to game M on it, but any time I'm not sure what to play next I can go and play game N, y'know? There's no rush to get it done!

[Ack]

Also, Ack, I am a teacher, so that's a very viable option for me.

Excellent, young padawan. You have taken your first steps to the Dark Side.

[samsonlonghair]

I have multiple methods.

First and foremost, most of the time I just kinda go 'let's play this one next'.

I normally play a long game over a longer stretch of time and play smaller games in between. Lately I've been using the weekend to play some shorter palette cleansers whilst I work through RPGs otherwise.

I try and keep a game on the go on handhelds at all times. If I stick console only I will probably play less overall.

Lastly, I normally have some sort of marathon or goal that helps me pick when all else fails. I've been working on my Alphabet marathon since last February - sure, I've only played through to game M on it, but any time I'm not sure what to play next I can go and play game N, y'know? There's no rush to get it done!

Play N+