i learned how to pick which game to play next easily yay :D

(written 9.21.23)

hello gamers :) sorry i havent updated in the site in a while ive just felt like doing other stuff. i got hyperfixated on hoarding youtube videos hehe. anyway i would like to share a Cool thing with you guys!!

so you know i love video games and i play video games all the time. but for pretty much all of this year ive had like...a block against picking what game to play next. and a lot of the games i picked to play for the first time this year were either just kinda good, or really stinky :( and when a game i choose to play ends up being Stinky it makes me sad and i usually go several days/a week before picking another game.

and for a long time i was thinking "why dont i play games?? i love games why cant i just pick a game". But Then!!! i got recommended this youtube video by this guy ghost limit, and he talks about why it can be hard to pick a game to play next. there is a point where having a ton of choices can make it really difficult to pick something and you might just not pick anything at all. its called overchoice.

i also noticed i stopped buying games at pretty much the same time it became difficult to pick what to play next. this is because ive accumulated so many cool games i havent played yet that i both felt bad about buying any more and it became near impossible to just pick one to play. switch games alone, ive ended up with ~40 unplayed ones x.x so i look at them all and im like Oh God I Can Only Play One Of Them Its Too Hard and What If It Suck's.

BUT!! this video inspired me to try something that solved my problem!!! :D

i started by putting all of my unplayed games* into a spreadsheet. i also sorted them by platform (so far just switch, pc, and wii). then, i used a random number to choose five of them, and i wrote them down to the side of the rest of the spreadsheet. i then picked a game out of these five to play!!

i play each game until i beat it, feel like ive seen what it has to offer (endless/storyless games) or i get bored of it. i then remove the game from the list of five and add another game to the list.

*excluding some super long ones im not in the mood for and stuff im never going to play like junk from steam sales. i did, however, include demos and some games i played on pc years ago but not yet on switch.

ive been doing this for about a week and a half and ive found it super helpful!! im on my 6th game so far, and before i started this fun project i had only played 30 games for the first time this year (and disliked/got bored with at least a third 😔). here i will give just some brief thoughts on the games i have played so far :)

(i know i have a reviews page :V maybe ill tweak these and move them there later...i havent written any in a long time)

1. pikuniku

a really cute indie game with a cute minimalist artstyle and a fun story! my favorite part of it is the movement. i love jumping and rolling around as the silly little guy. i just think it could have been a bit longer. 9/10

2. cars 3: driven to win

i got this game from a family member who didnt like it. i didnt like it either. im not a huge cars fan. and this game doesnt have a story or missions really. you just do stunts on a list like do x flips and y boosts, and this is how you beat the game. i got bored after like an hour. the rubberbanding is terrible and getting ahead isnt fun bc every other racer basically teleports in front of you. 5/10

3. road 96

i enjoyed it enough the first two times, but you have to play the game 6 times to get to the end. each time you play as a different teenager and get them across the border so they can escape the country this game takes place in. but they never really show why this country is so bad? they just say how bad it is. the animations are weird, character motivations dont make sense/characters change their minds every couple seconds, and the voice acting is reminiscient of a low-budget cartoon. its glitchy too. it all just gets more and more grating as time goes on. i quit right in the middle of what i was doing, which is rare for me. 4/10

4. mimpi dreams

a very cute puzzle platformer where you play as a dog having dreams about being a hero in different worlds! i was really charmed by it. there are 7 levels that last about 10 minutes each and then a big long level that lasts an hour-ish. i enjoyed them all :) 8/10

5. my fantastic ranch

i got the physical copy of this one on sale for $10 :O its a simple management game that can be an introduction to the genre for kids. you build a ranch full of unicorns and dragons and give kids lessons on how to ride them and do tricks with them. i beat it in a little over 2 hours. for some reason the game caps you on how many creatures you can have (24) and doesnt let you build any more creature buildings, so even though you unlock lots more space to build at the end, i didnt see the point since i cant fill it with more animals >:( still a fun relaxing time though and i love how the animals look like models made of paper! maybe dont pay the msrp of $40 though lol 7/10

6. the legend of zelda: link's awakening

i got this for christmas years ago and i feel bad that it took me this long to get to it ;~; but im having a lot of fun with it so far!! im like 4 and a half hours in. i love the artstyle and unlocking all the different abilities. but sometimes im dense and the puzzles are too hard. i also love just cutting all the grass in the village and playing the claw machine game :) link run around really fast wheeee look at him go

so. yeah!! i would say im really enjoying this new method of picking which games to play and its made it a lot easier for me. picking from 5 games is less daunting than picking from dozens. plus this makes games feel productive and i find that i really like the feeling of accomplishing things. i love playing games and im a lot happier now that im regularly playing games again. if you have the same mental block as me than maybe give something like this a try :)

(the other four games in my queue are: nintendo switch sports, pokemon scarlet (honestly dreading a little), to the rescue! (also dreading...no game breaking bugs please please please), and strikeforce kitty)

BONUS: i turned my links awakening thoughts into blackout poetry about being a kid