How many games do you play at one time?

Like, how many do you have on the go? I know this topic has been posted on here before, but I'm not sure what to do. The first thing I played when I got my PS4 was Spider-Man. When I'd finished that, I played the good first quarter of The Last of Us. I gradually slowed down on that, and for Batman's 80th anniversary I started Arkham: Asylum. And since my friends started playing GTA Online, I've stopped A: A for now and have been playing GTA V story. I'm nearly at the end and I'm having a ball with it, but I need a break. I have plenty awesome, fun, unplayed video games on the ready and I really want something refreshing. I could always play my PS2 or 360 but I'm looking for what to do this gen.

I hope you can give your takes.

(I've also been stabbing at CoD: Ghosts multiplayer but it's only FPS multiplayer so it doesn't exactly count.)

By the way, I'm 'whatsername' about this because in my Xbox One days, I had (have) a quite a large collection of games. Nearly all of them were started and hardly any of them were finished. I don't fret about having unfinished games that I can always go back to (The Last of Us, Batman: Arkham Asylum) like I used to, but I don't want to fall down this rabbit hole on the PS4.

I need some pick up and play as well.

Depends what kind of game it is. I generally like to play games with a strong narrative once at a time and stick with it so I don't forget what's going on. While doing that I'll play some more game-y stuff that can be picked up and put down on a whim like FPS, puzzle, racing, strategy and Ubisoft games.

@cure_optimism: Makes sense.

I only play one campaign focused game at a time, but i'm usually actively playing 5 or more, a variety of multiplayer stuff and various podcast friendly games.

I usually play one game at a time. MAYBE a campaign as well as a fighting game, puzzle game, board game, online game, etc.

Frankly, I only play 1-3 hours a week these days, so mixing it up makes me less likely to play anything at all, as I’m not letting anything get its hooks in me.

Current hopping between Ys, Mario Maker, Octopath and the new Messenger DLC at the moment. I gotta backtrack in Messenger which is slowing me on that game again (good god going all the way back down Fire mountain for a measly mask piece) but my daily MM check-ins and a few hours a week of grinding in Octopath keep me varied in experiences while I slog away at Ys VIII again. Eventually I’ll finish Octopath but god, do I burn out on that combat system after a while.

Two or three games so that if I find myself hopelessly stuck or frustrated with one game I can take a break and jump to another for a while.

Usually one "big" game, and a couple of smaller easy to put down games(most likely multiplayer or a rougelike). Right now I'm currently moping up endgame/DLC stuff in FFXV and won't start my next long game until i'm ready to uninstall the game(still haven't decided, but I think if I want to go for something that will last me months I might start Yakuza 0 or Assassin's Creed: Odyssey next, or if I want a 1 or 2 weekend kinda game I might play Zone of the Enders 2 or one of the many indie games I have on my backlog). Otherwise I've got Dead By Daylight, Dungeon of the Endless, and Binding of Isaac: Rebirth always installed for shorter play sessions when I just want to boot something up for an hour or 2. I also treat Hitman 2 like this too, I guess because of the release structure of the previous one, played through each map once on release and now every so often i'll come back to it between games and just focus on a single map for a weekend.

I've usually got one big game and one or two smaller games going. That's just what I'm focused on at the time, though. I've got multiple long games that I've put some time into, but are just on the back burner for whatever reason.

2 is my max. Anymore than that and I get overwhelmed with remembering mechanics and my place in the story.

2-3

For most of my gaming life it use to be exclusively one game at a time. I buy a game and play it until the end then start a new one. Last few years though I've loosened somewhat and will have 2-3 on the go.

I try to keep it to one 'focus' game. Right now that's Elder Scrolls Online. I'll also dabble in some roguelites and deckbuilder games that don't require too much mental energy.

In a two-week time frame...maybe 5 or so?

Usually it's something like:

1) My "main" game I'm trying to do everything in.

2) A couple games I'm playing with friends.

3) A simple game I can turn off my mind when playing while having a few drinks.

4) My OTHER game I'm trying to finish, that's been on the back burner for a long time (years) and I'm trying to power through it.

Max is 2, but usually is one game, beacuse I don't wanna lose the focus

I try to just play one game at a time, and most of the time, that's it. I may have two or three games on my mind, but usually, it's one game all the way through first unless that one game I'm playing I am not liking that much. The most recent example of that is Wolfenstein: Youngblood. I didn't like it that much so I went back to playing The Division 2 DLC, Gravity Rush 2 and the Doom 3 BFG Edition on Xbox One X, then finally rushed through Wolfenstein.

After that was done, I stuck with The Division 2 DLC and now I'm back onto Gravity Rush 2. After Gravity Rush 2, I'll probably get through Doom 3 or maybe Battlefield Hardline since my brother bought that and I hadn't gone through it. This all depends on if a new game isn't out yet though. If I keep changing games soon after I start one, that just means I'm really not enjoying the games I'm playing at the moment, and that's not a good thing.

I'll quit games I'm playing for a new one though if the game I was playing is an older title and the new one is a game I was excited about.

Usually only one, but sometimes two. Never more than two.

@nutter: Not judging, but I would find this very weird (it would be for me anyway). The act of not playing games much at all anymore, and then subscribing to a gaming website or just visiting gaming websites period. If I played that little, I probably wouldn't visit gaming sites anymore. The reason I come/go on gaming sites is to discuss games I'm playing and am interested in or reading news about them, so if I am not actually playing them much, there's not a whole lot of reason to go on sites like this. I'm not saying it's weird that you're doing it (do what you want to do obviously), just that I couldn't do that.

I guess I'm curious about that: if there are those that have very little to almost no time to actually play games, why spend the time (and sometimes money) on a site about them? And again, to reiterate because I don't want it to come off as offensive or something, but I don't take issue with it or anything like that. I suppose there's more for you than just what I seek on these sites? Also, my post isn't necessarily just directed toward you alone; I've seen many people on here say they hardly play games anymore or just can't.

It's just something I've been thinking about recently because I haven't been playing as many games recently as I normally do which meant that I haven't been coming on here as often (although, still kind of often to be honest by comparison to some people I suppose).

I can usually keep about 2 to 3 going, usually it's one on PC/console and another on handheld. Most recently FFXIV (halfway through ARR I think!) and RE4 on Switch.

@ntm: No problem...I get how it might seem weird.

This is basically all I do on the Internet, BS a little on these forums. I also keep up with the podcasts while driving or doing yard work and watch a Giant Bomb video here and there...mostly Ranking of Fighters these days, since it’s easy to watch an episode over a few sittings before bed.

I stopped with social media and I don’t use Discord or visit any other forums. I guess this site is a long-loved Internet junk food.

It’s not a lot of money to subscribe, and I’ve been with Giant Bomb since Arrow Pointing Down.

I still play games when I can, I’m just busy.

I’ll play Control and Gears 5 this fall. I’ll find time before New Year’s. I’m just more into spending time my wife, kids, and dogs. My #1 priority when I’m not with my family or working is working out and eating clean. I’m currently supporting my kid’s football pastime, which is about 15 hours a week of prep, practice, and teardown each week, then Sundays will add a day (home games involve volunteering, away games involve travel).

Video games come as time allows, it’s a lifelong hobby, not my life. I keep up with them as I can (Giant Bomb, basically). Lately, I’ve been squeezing in 1-3 hours a week on Yakuza Kiwami.

I have all the consoles (well, my kid has a Switch), and play enough games on them to justify them over their lifespan.

Anyhow, if I played more than 1-3 hours a week, I’d be neglecting my wife, my kids, my dogs, or myself. And as fun as games are, they take a back seat. So I play as I can/want to, which works pretty well for me.

@ntm and @nutter wanted to just confirm what nutter is saying. It is weird how you get older things change. I now have a wife and three kids and most of my gaming comes in the form of playing with my kids and typically we limit that to weekends. BUT Giantbomb and the fellas are like old friends (I too have been around since the beginning). So subscribing to support them and "hanging" out with them while they game is a great outlet for me, and it is because of the fact that I can't actually play as much as I used to.

To answer the initial question. Typically 2 or 3. These days it is Super Smash with my Son. We are also working through the mega man collection together, so we jump into a game every now and then. That is one of my favorite series so seeing him love them as much as I do is neat. And then I am playing through Prey as I have time, which these days is a few hours on a Friday night or something after the kids get in bed.

@dpedal1: Yeah, my boy’s 10, so it’s been a couple of years since we’ve played much. We played together A TON before he was 8. Then he got more social and got deeper into sports, too.

It’s sad, but super fulfilling to watch him grow and become more independent. My friends also aren’t playing as their kids, wives and work are their focus.

@dpedal1: @nutter: Yeah, I understand that and agree when it comes to prioritizing family over games.

Usually only one single player story-based game going at a time. I always have a rotation of online multiplayer games that I... rotate through. It takes me a long time to finish single player games so I try to limit myself to just one of those. If I'm gonna sit down and play something without any other humans for a couple hours, I want it to be one single game so I can get through it in a reasonable amount of time, rather than chipping away at multiple titles.

I'm pretty terrible at finishing anything before I start on something else. I probably have, like, 30 games in my backlog that I've started and fully intend to finish at some point. I always just end up in a cycle of rotating between them all, making very little progress, and switching to something else. Most of these games are years old at this point. Some of the games included in this purgatory I've created for myself include Okami, Eternal Sonata, Dragon Age: Inqusition, Disgaea 5, and Xenoblade Chronicles.

It's not hard and fast but since I like to try and finish everything I'm playing I'll have two games I'm "trying to beat". One on console and one on PC. One MP game I'm serious about (BFV atm) but I dabble in less serious ones (Rising Storm Vietnam as part of a Humble deal). I also have one endless/streaming game to play while I watch giant bomb or other tv. Stellaris is the standby but I'm into Surviving Mars at the moment.

So I guess the answer is 2 seriously and a few more dabbling. When i'm crazy about one I'll basically drop all the rest though.