The Games I WANT to Play
Posted on January 25, 2024 by Aywren
One idea I’d like to hold to more this year in terms of gaming and purchases – going forward, I’d like to only invest in the games I want to play. I know this sounds like a very simple and silly thing to say. But in a time when Steam sales and bundles entice players to invest in games just because they “look good,” “have good ratings,” and are a “great deal”… I’ve found myself caught up in that more and more lately.
Last year was a great example of that. I bought a number of gaming bundles just because they were games that “look interesting” and were a “great deal” at the time. But how many of those games did I actually WANT… and in retrospect, how many of those games have I actually PLAYED since I bought them?
I know the answer to that… my backlog is not pretty after last year.
In contrast, there are games that I just knew I wanted. For example, during the Steam Sale, I was introduced to American Truck Simulator. This is NOT the type of game I would normally choose to play. I saw that it was a “great deal,” however and “had good ratings,” but then I investigated videos and other media about the game.
I decided that at $5, I would try it out. I WANTED this game. I installed it immediately, played it immediately and went on to put 64 hours into it with no desire to put it down, even now. I played it alone and I played it with a friend – both were just as fun to me.
A few years back, I did this with Placid Plastic Duck Simulator, too. I saw it. Checked into it, saw that it was cheap, and went for it. I installed and played it immediately, and have put over 43 hours into it at this point, always happy to pick up new DLC and content when it comes out.
I did this with Idle Champions, as well. They lured me in with Astarion as a character, but once I started playing this idle game, it’s become one of the few games I’ve put in over 100 hours on.
Most recently, I’ve done this with Palworld (which I intend to write about soon). I watched videos about it. I read reviews (on Steam and on other sites). This one was a little more expensive, despite being on the launch sale. I even considered reupping Game Pass to try it out first, but I decided that I felt like I WANTED it.
So, I got it. Installed it immediately (despite already having way too much to play in my backlog), and put about 4 hours into it the first night. I had a lot of fun with it, and I am looking forward to play more as time allows.
This is the difference between just tossing a game in the cart because it looks interesting and it’s on sale and wanting a game, installing it instantly, and playing it the moment the install is done. This is not to say that I’m not grateful and interested in my backlog games… rather, this is to say that going forward, I want to focus on only buying games I know I WANT to play immediately, not just games that are a good deal.