Do you ever have trouble finding a new game to play?

Ignoring the dreaded 'backlog', do you ever go stretches without having something to play? I've played pretty much all of the year's big releases, but during the past two years I've been finding it harder and harder to find something I want to play, despite still having the desire to get into something.

So are there ever times when you go for a while without finding something you want to play? And if so, is there anything you do to speed up the process?

Not really. If I don't feel like playing a game I'll just do something else, and if I do feel like playing a game it's usually a very specific type.

I find myself paralyzed by indecision more often than not--generally I keep some short games (Tetris, Terra Battle, Crossy Road, etc.) on hand which I will throw on and mindlessly play while I wait to come up with the next larger game to play. That or I just wind up losing hours to Tetris, but that happens sometimes.

In terms of finding new stuff? Rock Paper Shotgun regularly covers small, free games that are if nothing else interesting little experiments to check out. I've gotten in the habit of pulling one or two of those a week to check out--sometimes they're crap, sometimes they wind up being pretty good, and most of the time they get me to go back and explore an older game in my backlog.

@ford_dent: Yh same for me. I find there;s only so much time in the day. Paralyzed is the correct term, just skimming through my PS library or my IPAD there's a lot of stuff to get through. I think the trick is to just roll with it and let things happen, if I try and focus too much on one thing I usually end up getting distracted anyway.

I had this problem for a while. I think a lot of it had to do with my having close to 100 games installed on my PC. I would just sit there and look at my Steam Library and not play anything. A few weeks ago I went through my library and asked myself if I was going to seriously play it in the next few months. If the answer was no, it was uninstalled. I whittled my library down to 20 or so games, and now it is much easier to find a game to play. I have a few bigger games installed, and mostly smaller ones that I can play for a few hours when I'm not wanting to get deep into a story.

Just always.

in those times I always fall back to Mount & Blade warband, I just can't get tired of that thing.

Yup. It's pretty stupid considering all the games I have. I think it actually has to do with having too many options for me. I have been better about it lately. I have had less time to play games so when I actually do have time I pick a game pretty quickly.

I have the same problem with both Netflix and Video Games... Analysis Paralysis.

Never. There's plenty of gold out there waiting to be played and I want to experience so much of it. I'm always playing something.

Of course I'm sure it won't be as simple as that once I become fully independent with a lot of bills to pay....

My Steam backlog keeps getting bigger no matter how many games I play. PC gaming is awesome.

I rarely buy brand new releases now, at this point I like to wait a few months for prices to drop way down. If I do buy a game on release day, it's because I found it at a significant discount like with Mordor for $26.50...which is high for me.

Steam Winter Sale on December 19th!

Sometimes the backlog can just be so paralyzing that I end up playing nothing. So kinda?

All the time. I've got a bunch of games that I haven't even touched because, "I don't feel like playing that right now" or "I'm not in the mood." So I invariably end up going back on FIFA for a bit or doing something else. Stupid, I know but, it's one of those things init.

So are there ever times when you go for a while without finding something you want to play? And if so, is there anything you do to speed up the process?

Yes. Not playing anything till I feel the desire to play a specific game helps. Let desire boil till you feel an urge to play a certain specific game. I don't mean, here, the unspecific urge to get into something, but the urge to play a specific game.

Nope. I take my time on games so the stack just keeps piling up. There is a lot to play.

A few months ago, I would have said "yes", because biting into the huge backlog I have is extremely daunting. However, a duder on GB made a suggestion a few months ago in the forums about limiting his 'now playing' to one new game and one backlog game. I have adopted that behavior and it has been very helpful. With less on the go, I stay more focused on finishing the 2 games I am currently playing; and sometimes upcoming new games I want to play will guide my backlog-game choice (such as catching up on a series I have bought but have not finished, leading up to the new game).

I've been doing the same, it makes me feel like a crazy person, I have 319 steam games and so much stuff to finish on consoles...I don't know whats wrong with me but I have been doing better with less time to actually do that.

Nope. Got too many to play. Choosing is rarely an issue for me since I've managed to avoid just buying willy-nilly and ending up with a bunch of stuff I don't want to play. I genuinely want to play every game in the large-but-thankfully-no-longer-growing stack on my desk, I just need more time. I'm also pretty much always a year or two behind the curve, and I like it that way. I can rarely participate in December GOTY discussion, but everything's cheaper by the time I get around to buying it and I'm not a game tester for an industry that's increasingly releasing broken products and letting early-adopters work out the kinks for them.

I struggle with this problem alot! Due to new stricter time constraints (work and family) and prices of new games I struggle to find a new game to play. It takes a special kind of game now for me to pay full retail price for when earlier in my life it wasn't a problem.

I spend more time looking for a game to play than playing.

Was just doing this today. Had Steam open with only my installed games listed and out of 36 games I couldn't decide on one to play. Ended up not playing anything all day. This happens quite often.

yes, about half the time i'm stuck for something to play, because i'm fussy and i tend not to enjoy games where my input is incidental, and during those times i feel restless, having something to play when that hour of the day rolls around makes a big difference to my peace of mind.

Nah, I always have a couple of things on the go. Sometimes I look at them and want something more chill in which case I'll watch a movie/tv or just read something.

But no, I'm never at a loss of things to play.

The solution to this problem is to get addicted to an MMO, then you never need to worry about not knowing what to play! Everyone should try it!

I kinda just don't buy games anymore unless I really want them. I mean, I bought some stuff in the recent Steam sale that I've barely played.

When I don't know what I want to play but I know that I want to play a game I usually play Minecraft or Doom or CSGO or Skyrim.

I never, and I mean NEVER, have nothing to play. There is always at least 10 games at any time I could go and buy.