Topic: Should I only play one game at a time?

Pure level-based games is IMO more enjoyable if I play them slowly a couple of levels at a time, over a longer period of time, specially if the games have considerable lengths like Tropical Freeze/3D World/Yoshi's Woolly World. Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta 2 are games to play more from start to end. Hyrule Warriors is an entire type of game.

I look at it this way. At full retail I'm not going to take a gamble on a game that I'm not 100% sold on. I wasn't going to take a spin at a game like Darksiders 2, The Wonderful 101 or Metroid Other M because of the mixed reception. But for under $10? Why not?! Sometimes that gamble pays off. Other times? I get about an hour in and it hasn't grabbed me.

But at full retail I'm going to finish the game more often than not. Or at the very least get 10+ hours of enjoyment out of it. And not because I feel like I'm being cheated if I don't. More because a game has to be pretty good for me to pay that much for it when my backlog is as big as it is.

That sounds a bit like me too.

Looking back on this, I have too many games to keep up with. I barely even play Mario Kart 8 or Smash Bros now when I started playing Splatoon. I still want to play Pikmin 3 and Yoshi's Woolly World and Mario Tennis. I feel like if I don't buy every major release on the Wii U, I'm missing out on something.

YES. I enjoy much more a game if I keep playing it until it ends before starting a new unrelated adventure.

For a while I tried only playing one game at once, but it ended up becoming strangely stressful. I was almost forcing myself to complete games just so I could play new ones. I'd say it's best to have a few games on the go at once, and just play whichever one you feel like you'd enjoy most at any one time.

No. Play several instead, read various books too, and when you get old, your brain would thank you for that.

Maybe addiction is too strong a word- but I almost made a habit of buying games, would play them for a little bit, get frustrated and then look for the next one that would keep me occupied. So, I think it is a good idea to play a game or two at a time. The way I measure whether I got value out of a game is to divide the number of hours by the price. $6 per hour of play- cost of movie. I'm okay with it. Preferably get that number down to $3 per hour (cost of starbucks). If I get it down to $1 per hour or less- excellent value.

I had a huge backlog up until early 2013. I told myself I wasn't going to buy any new games until I cleared it all out. Had games going back the Gamecube days. Took me most of the year but I did it and it felt great. Now I try and stick to playing one console and one 3ds game at a time if I can. I am a serial completionist so it bugs me when I can't just focus on one or two games at a time.

That's how I was feeling when trying the "one game at a time" thing and I was playing Captain Toad since I'm closer to finishing it than other games. I need to play a few at a time and just go back and forth to them whenever.

I always play at least 2 games at the same time. I currently play 2 games on PC and 2 on Wii U. Variation is good.

I play whatever
It's a good feeling when you beat 3 of your games in the same day
Recently I beaten Kirby's adventure, kirby 64 and kirby squeak squad in the same day, what a day..
also some time ago I beat Earthbound, Banjo Kazooie and pokemon omega ruby in the same day that was pretty great too

@Kinan: It's not strange sounding at all, it's practically the truth.

@Rexcalibr I must advise though, that if you start a game and put it down to play a new one, it may be a loooong time until you pick that other game up again. And I didn't read all of your replies, but it sounds like you just don't want to miss out on something...but if you never get around to the game anyway you're still missing out on it.

As a personal recommendation, I would be committed to getting as far into any game I actually buy, and then go buy the next one when my interest actually wanes, instead of buying the game just to not play it. And because of the eshop you don't have to worry about the game going out of stock. From my experience, if I were to buy 6 games all at once the amount I won't end up playing is probably 5, maybe 4 if I'm lucky.

But like Kinan said, it's really up to you.

@Rexcalibr, I'm trying to do the same thing. Personally, I don't think it's too good to spread focus across a lot of the same type of media at once — I have a real bad habit of reading five books at once and playing five games at once. I feel like I'd be better off, or have a richer experience, focusing on one at a time (with the exception of community-focused, short-burst games, as you mentioned).

I'm working toward it.

Also, the OCD is strong with this one, so your mileage may vary.

Currently I'm playing both Yoshi's Wooly World and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker.

I'm on the last storybook of Captain Toad and the last half of the stages are grueling. I'm trying to do a full complete (get all the gems and do all the "find Pixel Toad" challenges.

I've had to force myself to do this due to my nasty habit of starting too many games at once and eventually losing track of where I was in them.

My preference is to play something until I am finished, but whenever I get stuck or in a rut I will put it down for a little while and go to something else to give my mind a break.

you should get an 8ball if you want something to tell you what to do

I've been playing games for 30 years. In my early days, I would swap between games as I like but nowadays, I'll stick to one game until I either pass it or can't process any further (in which case, I would put in back in the pile to try again later - with the help of a hint guide etc.). Found by sticking to one game at a time, I was able to process further since I don't have to learn the controls, story, quests I have to do again. I also have a CRAZY but logic order in which I play my games

At the moment I'm in the habit of having one 'big' game (normally a large RPG) and then having a few smaller games to play around it if I get bored. My main game at the moment is Bloodborne, and then I'm playing games like Mario Maker or Yoshi's Wooly World inbetween.

I'm a bit less organised on handhelds though. At the moment I'm just playing a few games and seeing which ones stick. At the moment I'm playing Persona 2, Tales of the Abyss, a Firered nuzlocke, Chibi Robo Zip Lash (Though I'm already bored after the first world), Chrono Trigger and dipping back into Triforce Heroes every now and then, though I've finished the story and gotten most of the costumes so there's not much left there.