Man, games are really boring

I'm having what you might call a crisis of faith. I've always loved games, and it's been my favorite pastime for as long as I can remember. From Super Mario 3 on the NES, to Snake Eater on the PS2, to Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox 360, and everything in between.

I literally play any game in any genre. However, as of late, games are boring the shit out of me. In the past couple of hours I've:

• Killed a couple of colossi in Shadow of the Colossuss
• Stabbed dudes in the neck in AC3
• Followed by stabbing dudes in the neck in Revelations (which I have yet to complete)
• Explored the continent of Skyrim (for a total play time of about 500 hours)
• Held hands in Fable III
• Shot dudes in Black Ops 2
• Journeyed in... Journey

What the hell should I do? I find myself wanting to watch Parks and Rec on Netflix instead of playing awesome games. Am I jaded, or am I just anxious for the new generation? I just want to play something good, but nothing is fun right now.

This sucks...

I get that way sometimes, I usually just lay off the games for a week or two, and I'm ready to go back into some other games. Take some time to watch some films or read some books instead of gaming for a while. it could help rejuvenate you. :)

do what I did and get into strategy games. i got into a similar slump and started exploring other genres. dig around on steam for something cheap and obscure, or better yet try out desura. you could also do a lot worse than trying out UFO: alien invasion (wiki). it's a free clone of the old XCOM games, tons of depth there

I get in a rut every once in awhile. I usually get back in the gaming mood after a couple of days.

@legion_:

Go to Steam and have your mind blown.

I buy a lot of older games I've never played before, so that keeps things interesting. You sound like you've played a lot though.

Yeah I don't know, I think everyone goes through this at some point in their life. Some people take up other hobbies on top of games. Others, I guess, just drop it entirely and do something else. You know, like go outside and stuff.

Take a break. You're burning out. It's dead season for games, so now is a good time to back away for a bit.

If you simply have to keep playing (I know that feeling), hit the indie stuff. Look for an old game you haven't touched in a decade or two and ride the nostalgia. Basically just stay away from current AAA titles until you've broken your slump.

I'm a sucker for books, and I did just buy Animal Farm by George Orwell. Might as well get to reading that. I tend to do some writing myself, and this would usually be a great time to do so, but I'm not inspired at all.

To you and others who feel the same I recommend Dark Souls, if you they haven't tried it yet. Give it the "read item descriptions" playthrough, learn the world, dive in and enjoy learning what actual fear is - not something delivered by oh so scary games that take place in dark rooms.

I'm halfway through my New Game + on that game. Beat the game in a short stretch of time, and dove right into New Game +. Got pretty tired of it after that. And that game is not as hard as people say it is. I used to hate it when people said that, but it really isn't that hard.

@legion_: Stop playing games if you're not enjoying yourself, theres no point playing something that isn't satisfying. I found AC3 to be a very dull repetitive experience and I was better off not playing it.

no fucking wonder if thats how many you have played in just a couple of hours i would be bored of life if i did that

Read a book, go outside, ring a friend, have a wank.......and come back to games when there is something you really want to play.

Don't use them to pass the time, play games because you really want to experience what they have to offer and vary them with other forms of art.

I'm doing it because I'm trying to find something to play. But thanks for your input, it helps me so much.

I really like AC3, but there just isn't much to do after you complete the game. I wish they'd add more RPG elements, like side quests and random encounters. The hunting missions don't cut it. They've made such an amazing world, but there's just not much to do in it.

Ah, yeah :(

I have to work to make it hard by building crazy things like this but I lose interest no matter what crazy gimmick.

I'm playing Project Diva F (music game) which is difficult and exciting in its own ways, if it wasn't for that I'd be struggling with some old classics, been wanting to try out PS1 dungeoncrawlers, torture myself with Virtua Hydlide..

You shouldn't force yourself to play games. It's one of the best ways to start hating video games.

Sounds to me like you're playing too many fucking video games. Do something else. Go outside.

I dunno think about what type of game in particular would hit the spot and figure something out or ya know just don't play for a bit.

But I want to play, that's the problem. It's just nothing that's actually fun to play.

Play something new. No wonder you're bored if you're just going back to old experiences. I started playing SC 2 again, which is what I do when I start feeling the same way you do, but then I started playing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It sucked me right in. And just recently I played through The World Ends With You and had a great time with it. If I were playing things I'd already played, I'd be bored too.

Also, Parks and Recreation is a totally valid choice. That show is great.

I really don't play that much. That list of games stem from my search to find something fun to play. I've been tired of games for abou the last month, and I've barely played in that period.

You played too much Assassin's Creed and that's why you're bored of games. Revelations was unfinishable and ACIII is even worse. Go play Hotline Miami with headphones. I think that's the kick in the nuts you need right now :)

There is only one clear answer.

I'm kind of the same way. I was busy with school since it was my final semester, but I kept buying games. Now I have a lot to finish and time off while I look for work ... but I'm not motivated to play any of them ...

Maybe you should check out some indie games, perhaps you'll find something you might like.

Consider:

• The Binding of Isaac
• Audiosurf
• Resonance
• Super Crate Box
• Amnesia
• Lone Survivor
• RUSH
• Jamestown
• The Walking Dead

I think I'd find myself bored by any of those games, too. Skyrim's the most fun game in there to keep playing, but at that hour count you've clearly wrung everything you need out of it. You either need to explore some new genres and find a more fulfilling kind of game, or just... go do something else for awhile.

I'd suggest some games, but then you'd just hear me say a bunch of weird japanese shit

@legion_: Well that was part of the problem for me, the world felt lifeless that and I didn't enjoy the story or the combat.

Yeah, it's pretty fucking great.

Your capacity to explore the continent of Skyrim in "a couple of hours" for "a total playtime of 500 hours" is impressive

Yeah, it happens. I'm kind of in the same place right now. Do something different for a few days and come back.

These kinds of things pop up on gaming forums on a semi-regular basis. If you're bored of games and want to spend your time elsewhere, take a break from games for a while. When you come back you might well find you're eager to play more. Trying to to force yourself to be more interested in games is just going to make it worse.

Super Mario World is pretty fucking rad.

I'm watching through the entirety of The Sopranos TV series now.

Man, gaming is like the desert right now. I'm praying for water, but all I get is more sand!

I'll occasionally get into funks where i cant enjoy any games for awhile, i'll just not play anything for a week or two, come back, and holy shit they're so much fun again.

It doesnt help theres nothing out right now.

I'm also sorta in the same boat honestly, i beat dragons dogma last week and since then i can't really get into anything. Been watching alot of Fringe on netflix.

@posh said:

I got to where I can't stand any new action games lately. I was enjoying Metro and Tomb Raider some, but got frustrated with both and quit. I play a lot of stuff from GoG.com when I don't want to play newer games. It's usually something like replaying Thief 2 or Arx Fatalis, but I have been playing sim/tactics/strategy games almost exclusively this month. I've played a ton of Zeus, Anno 1404, Heroes of Might & Magic V and Master of Magic--also Dwarf Fortress & Startopia. I'm also thinking of getting Settlers 2 & Silent Storm when I'm done with those.

It's a real shame that there aren't more games like these being made now. It can really help to have some more variety than the pretty narrow stuff being put out my the AAAs right now. At least we have indies and kickstarter still providing some variety.

You know what I did for the last couple of days? Working my fucking ass off for 9-10 hours a day. I really appreciate a nice game after a long work day, even fucking Hitman Absolution seems pretty awesome then.

Sometimes you just have to lay off the games to make em hit like they used to. The drug reference is entirely on purpose.

Rome 2 will save me!

I've only felt that way once, it was around October of 2012. I did what a lot of people have suggested. I took time off. I didn't play a single game for all of November, this was a huge shift from my 2-4 games a month I usually do. The first two weeks felt relieving, the last two was like going through a withdrawal. By December I wanted to a play a game more than anything, luckily Far Cry 3 was there. That month long break got my fire back though. Just take some time off.

Yeah, lay off 'em for a while. If you must, play something entirely different that is way out of your league. Weird Japanese stuff (Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne comes highly recommended. No, it doesn't fall into perceived common JRPG tropes of teenagers saving the world from a great evil with the power of friendship) or indie titles or something really old off of GoG.

I assume it was pretty clear that I added a couple of hours to my total play time.

I might also suggest re-playing an old game in a way you never would have tried before or set up some sort of challenge for yourself. For example I like trying to do No Item/Upgrade runs on the Ninja Gaiden games.

Okay, this my current objective:

Watch Lord of the Rings, get inspired by that fantastic world, play War in the North.

Wish me luck!

You have a pretty sweet life.

I totally feel that way sometimes. I sit and look at my backlog trying to figure out which game I should force myself to play next, only to find out that I'm interested in playing nothing. At that point I just go to sleep, and everything's better the next day.

Come to think of it, maybe I'm bored of games because I don't get enough sleep.

Try other things. Simple as that, let games rest for a while.

Chill out, Saint's Row 4 is coming.

I recently hit this wall, and found out that there were 3 factors:

1. The games I play (mostly indie stuff) was kinda like eating too many Skittles at once. Yeah, its good, but the flavor gets to you. So I hopped on Civ and other games that I don't feel comfortable with, and found myself getting back into games.

2. I just spend too much time playing games. To compensate, I bought most of the Song of Ice and FIre books and have been making my way through those, and found some new TV shows to watch (I'm currently deep in Twin Peaks).

3. I spend time consuming games, because I want to make games, but I do jack shit about making them. I've been telling myself that playing so many types of games will give me insight to how game mechanics fit together for when I go to college for Game Design later this year, but you don't really appreciate having text pop up on the screen that tells you EXACTLY what you have done, until you spend a few hours working away at it. I've been mainly using Twine, which is that text adventure thing that a lot of people have been using recently, and its a fun way to spend a weekend: get a drink, think of an idea, and create.

Step 1: go for a run outside

Step 2: Remember how much running and the outside suck

Step 3: vidja gamez