A Taste of 10 Games or All-In on One?

[T-Pac | 7,560]

Admittedly, I'm not very good at video games. I can't make it very far in most, no matter how hard I try. But because of this, I've come to appreciate the idea of sampling the first few levels in multiple games. It may not be as rewarding as seeing one game through to the end, but it's still fun and scratches that gaming itch. It's also a decent way to combat choice-paralysis and a looming backlog: just play a little bit of everything without much commitment.

Does anyone else enjoy sampling the beginning of multiple games in lieu of immersing yourself in one?

-CasualCart

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

No.  Beat it, or forever be haunted by the lack of closure. 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

I'd rather play one game all the way through than parts of multiple games only to be left wondering what I missed out on.

[Gloves | 11,790]

It's all about mood for me. Some days/weeks I can stand to sit through an entire RPG, others I just wanna get some action and shoot people in a games for a half hour.

[croagunk | 798]

It depends on my mood at the time, but usually I like to stick to one game and complete it.

[Sumez | 2,966]

One of the best video game related decisions I've made in "recent" years was the exact opposite, to actually finish more games, rather than just start a lot of them to get an impression of what they are like.

Playing a game to the end, and playing it over until you learn how to do it well, will give you a completely different appreciation for a good video game, and demonstrate what separates the good from the bad, and the best from the good.

That said, there's always a point in certain games where you also have to be able to convince yourself they aren't worth going on with.

[phart010 | 1,707]

When you do start playing games through to completion, you will begin to develop some level of mastery over them. The skills that you gained from mastering any one game should carry over into other games and help you to start beating them too.

[ifightdragons | 234]

14 minutes ago, phart010 said:

When you do start playing games through to completion, you will begin to develop some level of mastery over them. The skills that you gained from mastering any one game should carry over into other games and help you to start beating them too.

Very true. Mastering a handful of platformers will make most platformers a lot easier to breeze through. Same with a lot of genre-specific games.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

I'm a sampler. Nothing better than pulling carts off the shelf and warming them up for 30-45 mins only shove another one in there to do it again. 

[rdrunner | 422]

Depends.  My life is too busy for me to drop the 20, 50, 100 (or more) hours needed to beat most modern games, so I usually find myself sampling those.  However, give me anything 16-bit or older and I'll finish it (RPGs excluded of course).

Edited September 4, 2021 by rdrunner

[DarkTone | 985]

I can see that. I prefer to finish what I started, but getting a taste of different games can be fun too. 

[fox | 1,667]

Just keep edging 

[twiztor | 851]

15 hours ago, Sumez said:

One of the best video game related decisions I've made in "recent" years was the exact opposite, to actually finish more games, rather than just start a lot of them to get an impression of what they are like.

this is my experience too. last year's covid lockdowns gave me the chance i'd been waiting my entire adult life for: no responsibilities but tons of game time. i wouldn't trade it for the world

[cj_robot | 542]

I do both.

If I try a game and really like it, I always put some effort into finishing the game. Doesn't always happen, but I give it my best shot.

Once I've finished a game, I don't really feel obligated to do it again, so many times I'll just pop the game in and play casually for a bit, and sample a bunch of others like that when I just need to feed my gaming fix but don't want to devote a ton of time or energy at the moment.

[Tanooki | 4,935]

I was one, but now a sampler badly fits.  Time + demotivation = grazing  Why bother with the meal when you can just pick at it and try another right?

 

It's a good reason why I've been offloading quite a good bit of stuff.  Less options, less ways to not get something done.

[G-type | 2,482]

I got a short attention span. I would stick with games if I could, but I can't.

[peg | 372]

On 9/3/2021 at 4:22 PM, Sumez said:

One of the best video game related decisions I've made in "recent" years was the exact opposite, to actually finish more games, rather than just start a lot of them to get an impression of what they are like.

Playing a game to the end, and playing it over until you learn how to do it well, will give you a completely different appreciation for a good video game, and demonstrate what separates the good from the bad, and the best from the good.

That said, there's always a point in certain games where you also have to be able to convince yourself they aren't worth going on with.

This is definitely more fulfilling.  That said, I wish I could just fucking quit something sometimes.

Legacy of war is hot garbage, but I've already put in enough time on it that quitting would throw away all my work actually figuring out how to beat the game properly. Seeing as how no such video even exists, I feel compelled to continue for the greater good or some shit.

[Alder | 243]

At this point, I just play whatever I find fun. If I get 40 hours into an RPG and then I get bored, I'll play something else. Even if it means I don't come back to that RPG for a year or two, or ever. Ideally I'd play everything to completion - I really enjoy seeing things through to the end. But that same completionist mindset got me to sink like 15k hours into Runescape over the years. 

But yeah, having fun is the most important thing. Sometimes I'll "sample" a game multiple times before I truly pick it up. I've found that as I've gotten older, I appreciate puzzle games more since I can play for a few minutes without having to really remember anything. There's usually no real ending so no reason to feel bad for lack of progress. Rhythm games scratch this itch as well.

"Fun" can come in different forms, though. Playing Tetris or Guitar Hero or Mario tickles my brain in a way that is an actual, visceral entertainment experience. But, at least for me, I'd say I also have "fun" playing some garbage Wii shovelware game, just because I like playing things I haven't seen before and learning more about all the little weird games out there. Madden? Sure, pop it in - I'm not a sports fan and I don't like sports games, but if it's new to me, I want to see it. The difference is that I'm not going to play it for 10+ hours once I know that the core gameplay doesn't do it for me.

I'd say the "sampling" mentality is all about finding games that fall into the first category instead of the second. But it can be an admittedly blurry line.