What games do you 'have' to keep installed at all times on which systems?

I've had a PS5 since about 2 months after launch and I have owned a PS4 since launch, so during that time I have acquired a lot of PS4/5 games over the near decade I've had the two systems. Because of this and because I have not yet upgraded my PS5 internal storage (it's probably my next gaming related hardware purchase) I find myself cycling through a bunch of games as I install and uninstall to get room to play stuff. At this point that's true for basically all my systems (I upgraded my Switch Micro SD card to a TB and am currently able to keep everything on there, but likely not by the end of next year).

Sometimes uninstalling a game is no big deal, such as when it's a story based game that I've finished or something that didn't click with me. However there are some games that I just need to keep regardless of whether I'm currently playing them. These generally fall into 2 categories.

1) Absolute perennial favorites that are the best the system has. I've not played BOTW in years but it has never left my Switch, even when I had real storage issues. The same is true of the Forza Horizon series on Xbox, though I'm more likely to dip back into those from time to time just to mess around so there's more of a reason for them.

2) Arcade-style experiences, with a variety of genres. I grew up in the days of the arcades and arcade style console games and I insist on having access to at least some arcade games whenever I boot up a system. Great for when I have a few minutes to play, or just between longer games, or when it's late and I want to zone out with something. Every system I own has to have multiple games from all the major genres available at all times. I need fighting games, beat 'em ups, Shmups, puzzle games, and more available at the touch of a button. Sports, racing, and platformers are less of a priority because I tend to dip into those less, but I will play some Neo Geo Street Hoops without complaint in the right mood. These don't necessarily have to be the specific games I played when I was young (I never played Street Hoops, being more of an NBA Jam guy, but it's a decent replacement) and they can even be newer games in the older styles (Scott Pilgrim or Shredder's Revenge will get me my beat 'em up fix fine) but I refuse to delete them to make space. You never know when you might want to play Forgotten Worlds or Legendary Wings. And I hate Legendary Wings!

There's a third category that's somewhat related, and that's games I liked but never finished. I hate deleting those and can leave them on for years waiting for the right mood to strike me so I can dive back in and play them. I got close to the end of Deathloop but never actually finished the last loop and it's been sitting on my hard drive for the last year taking up like 10% of my space on the off chance I get the motivation to finally put everything together (which will probably require re-learning the game too.)

What games/types of games are permanently on your storage devices no matter how much else you rotate in and out?

BOTW will likely never leave my Switch as well. Other than that I would say I'll probably never delete Sekiro off Steam because I love just booting that up for a boss fight or two once in awhile. I also only need one more achievement to get 100% but those skill points get pricey. I would also say Bloodborne but it has to live on my PS4 for now because I don't have enough room on the PS5 for anything but stuff I haven't played or finished. I've got 90gigs of FF7R taking up space just so I can play the Yuffie DLC via PS Plus Extra.

I, like you, also have a bunch of "I like this game but never finished it" games on a few devices. Deathloop is also sitting on my PS5 just waiting for me to even start it. I've had Doom Eternal installed through GP on PC for a year and still haven't finished it. Same for Yakuza Kiwami 2. And now we just got Judgement back on Extra so I gotta finish something to make room for that on my PS5. Plus I just DL'd High on Life on GP as well and started it cause I seem to be in a "lets start everything and finish nothing" phase right now lol.

For me, any game that's not a live service game I'm currently playing can go at anytime. The only games have installed on my PS5 that I will never uninstall, are Destiny 2, Genshin Impact, and Warframe. But I also have games that I've installed, but haven't touched yet, mainly because I'm too busy with one of the live service games. I also have a lot of games that I've accumulated over the years, not to mention having access to hundreds more because of PS Plus and Game Pass. I also have a habit of keeping games installed a lot longer than I should, because I don't want to finish them too soon. For example, I got the new God of War: Ragnarok, when it first came out, but stopped playing after some hours in, because I didn't want to breeze through it. It's silly, but when I purchase a game, I want to extend my time with it as much as possible.

I've put Lumines on just about any system that will run it, whether it's a ROM via PPSSPP, Lumines Remastered, the vita version, or the abandoned iOS app.

@heavyweather: Very much agree on Lumines. It's on my Switch (remastered) and Xbox (XBLA version, the first I played and my favorite.) I feel the same about Tetris and Puyo Puyo.

Also Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, though that one is only on my Xbox (it's available on everything through Capcom Arcade Stadium though.)

I tend to play games like a swarm of locusts, moving on after sucking all the marrow out, so thee are few that I stick with forever. I keep Red Dead 2 and Cyberpunk on my PC most of the time, but mostly because I use those two as a benchmark whenever I buy an upgrade, which is more frequent than my bank account is happy with. Stardew Valley rarely leaves as it is a go-to happy place for me. Disco Elysium has been sitting on the C drive since the full voiceover was added because it's maybe my favorite game of all time, story-wise, but the replay hasn't happened yet. Also, Kind Words, that nice message 'game', which I still log into at times to just enjoy the vibe, just today I did a tarot reading for a request on there.

On My PS5, I keep Returnal on there because it's my go-to game to play while exercising. I completed it months and months ago, but it's still just the right level of distraction to get some cardio done. On my switch, I don't think I ever deleted Breath or the Wild or Mario Odyssey since they released.

Rimworld

Enter the Gungeon

FTL

Crusader Kings 3

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 13

Taikou Risshiden V English Translation

Emulators

I install games that I intend to play, and then never play them. Then I leave them there for years thinking to myself, "one day soon.". The games I actually play get uninstalled when I'm done. I keep some multiplayer games like Deep Rock Galactic, Rocket League, and Sea of Thieves installed for the rare occasions I can play with friends.

PT is the only game I haven't deleted from my PS4. I'm not too precious on games I keep on my systems if I can download them later.

XCOM 2. It stays on every device I own. Even on my Switch, which I almost never touch anymore and has been largely made obsolete by my Steam Deck. That game is comfort food for me and I randomly get the urge to play it so I always like to keep it handy.

I typically don't play games after I finish one, or play online games, so there isn't really much that's found a permeant home on my drives. I only just bought it last week, but Fuser might be one that does. Being able to just hop into that and mix some stuff up for background noise is a good time.

If we're talking about old games I haven't finished, I've got a whole list of those. I mean, I still have my PS3 hooked up, and I keep telling myself that I'm going to play FF XIII-2 someday. There's data on there that's a decade old. That's wild.

I'd like to say I have some but I don't, really. Breath of the Wild, the first Mario + Rabbids and Hades are the only games that I've bought for my Switch in 2-ish years of owning the system, and being as I haven't even turned the thing on in nearly a year I don't see any of them getting uninstalled any time soon. I suppose Hades does feel pretty essential to that console since I made it to and defeated Hades while on vacation in New Orleans during a major rainstorm, so if one those three had to stay it'd be one of those.

I guess Civilization IV and V never get uninstalled from my iMac, but it's also a 2008 model that miraculously runs either of those games at all, and I haven't touched either since Civ VI released on PS4 since I can actually finish games on that one, haha. If not for this thread I'd have forgotten they were on here.

P.T. will never leave my PS4 just for the novelty, but I haven't booted that system since getting a PS5 last summer and if I could think of a better place to store the thing than my entertainment center it'd get moved there. But I can't, so it doesn't, and I can look at it and think about never playing P.T. again.

My PS5 has a few games that I was always struggle to part ways with to make room for newer games. Red Dead 2 constantly cycles in and out, as does Disco Elysium. I currently struggle to justify deleting Elden Ring or Diablo III even though I think I've had my fill of both (sadly, in Diablo III's case, as I'd only bought it just this summer and haven't gotten further than Hard...there are just too many more compelling games to play than its proto-Vampire Survivors arc even if it is quite fun and mindless when I do sink into the hole) and could happily never play them again.Being as massive as it is Gran Turismo 7 has been a prime space-clearing candidate for much of this year but I'm always scrambling to re-download it once whatever I crammed into its space has been finished.

I've kept Astro's Playroom on my PS5, because it just feels like it should always be there. Hitman 3 I've also kept on my PS5, because it was such a pain in the ass to install all the content included in the trilogy and I didn't just want to wipe all that off, even when I'm not playing it actively anymore.

Wreckfest is one I spend a few hours on every now and then, so it's nice to have it on hand. I'm slowly working through Hitmans on various systems and will likely never finish.

• Europa Universalis IV
• Dwarf Fortress
• Luftrausers
• Sekiro
• Spelunky 2 (formerly Spelunky)
• Factorio

I mostly game on PC these days. Vampire Survivors is probably the one that gets added to this list this year.

For me, something like:

PC:

• iRacing
• rFactor 2
• Automobilista 2
• Assetto Corsa Competizione
• Assetto Corsa
• WRC Generations
• American Truck Simulator
• Euro Truck Simulator 2
• Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
• Trackmania 2 Canyon
• Trackmania 2 Stadium
• Trackmania 2 Valley
• Trackmania 2 Lagoon
• Distance
• PC Building Simulator 2
• Fishing Simulator

Consoles:

• Gran Turismo series
• Forza Motorsport series

So I can play them again whenever I want to plus I don't have to reinstall them all the time.

I'd say, the correct answer for everyone should be the PT demo...cause if you downloaded it in time...you can't delete it or you can never get it again normally. Lol. Makes the value of your PS4 go up just being one of the few who has it. Other than that the usual pick up and play or game you say your gonna finish and it's too good on paper but huge and demanding so you wait for a big break and continue to not play it. lol

Football manager.

Especially because i've gathered a shit-ton of real-player pictures over the course of years and i don't want to start over :)

Warframe is my only permanent. Wreckfest is probably on the second longest run with cook serve delicious 2 and 3 closing it out. Everything else will get the axe upon completion, though Hitman games stay around for a bit.

Most of the games I keep installed are roguelikes I am slowly making progress in over the course of years. Stuff like The Binding of Isaac Rebirth, Nuclear Throne, Spelunky and Hades. Sometimes I just get the urge to do a run or two, so they'll always stay installed.

Hollow Knight will always remain installed because I intend to go back and fully complete the dlc at some point, but likely never will.

The only other game I need installed is Terraria. I've been playing that game for over a decade and still haven't gotten close to beating all the bosses. I get the urge every now and then to play it for a couple days, then won't touch it for months. But someday I'll hopefully beat it lol.

Mortal Kombat (X on PS4, 11 on PS4 now PS5). Every couple months I get the itch and will just jump in for like a week, try new characters out, do a couple towers. 11 clicked with me like MK 2011 did, there is a snappiness to the controls. Nice to have it right there whenever I decide to pick it up.

Stellaris and Rimworld are always on my Macbook even if I don't have the time to play them much any more. I have so many wonderful memories of playthroughs that deleting them seems like killing a part of my past haha.

On the Switch, Breath of the Wild is the only game I have installed in the system memory and it will probably always stay there. I go back to it from time to time and it's always a good time.

On the SD card are a collection of my favorite roguelikes: Shiren the Wanderer, Star Renegades, Into the Breach, Invisible Inc, Nowhere Prophet, and Risk of Rain. I do a few runs of each game at least once a month.

I also have all my retro collections installed on it: SNK 40th anniversary, the Castlevania Collections, Capcom Beat 'em up Bundle, and the Capcom Arcade Collection. They're always good to soothe my nostalgia.

I don't think I'll ever delete Salt and Sanctuary. I start a fresh playthrough every few months and one of these days I'll finish it.