The first thing I check for is if a game is Terraria. If it isn’t, I play Terraria instead.

All kidding aside, I tend to enjoy games that involve exploration, character development, and pleasent visuals. Good sound design is also a must, and I prefer games to be at least somewhat action oriented.

None of these things are hard and fast rules for me, of course. I like a lot of different games.

As I’ve gotten older and had more sporadic time windows to play games (kids, work, life), I’ve gravitated more and more to rogue-like/lites and soulsborne style games. Having games that have a core gameplay loop that is 20 minutes to an hour is perfect for me, and I can kind of pick up and put down whenever I want without losing my place in a grand overwhelming open world that is miles wide, but inches deep (Starfield, I’m looking at you…).

With the rogue-like/lites, I can do a run and just go to bed and say “I’ll get further next time”, while with soulsborne games I can clear out an area and do a boss, then come back to do the next area/boss another time. If the lore seems interesting, vatividya will probably have a video on it some point to catch me up on whatever I missed.

The Factory. Must. Grow.

I’m really into Factory games atm. Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program, Astro Colony…

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I like shooters and other combat sims that have matchmaking and allow me to enter a flow state.

I’ve got a twitch channel with exactly one fan. No idea who it is. They seem to like Mechwarrior 5 (ie they show up quick whenever I play) so I’ve been playing a lot of that.

It’s so fun because it’s actually kind of a slow-paced game. But it does have a flow. Something so satisfying about locking onto enemy after enemy and dispatching them according to the rhythm of my recharging weapons.

Also it’s a pleasant surprise that Mechwarrior (this is the first MW game Ive played) is the board game Battletech, which I used to play in the 90s. I never realized these were the same game with all the same rules.

I can stand in forest to make shots miss me, I can use my lasers to cut down trees, I have LRMs and autocannons, I can stand it water to dissipate heat faster.

It’s my fortune to have an eidetic memory, so I remember Battletech as clear as day despite not playing it since the 90s. It’s kind of fun to load up my personality from when I was 9 and show him the video games of the future, where I’m playing that same board game but in real time.

I love Trackmania because you drive tracks of 20-60 seconds, one constantly improves in details, it’s quick to learn but still has a high skill ceiling. I encountered it in a YouTube video, discovered some streams and downloaded the game. Not really based on criteria because I’m not a fan of F1 for example.

I only really play VR games anymore, so that narrows things down considerably. Is it a shooter? If so, does it play just like every other shooter? Does it have bullshit that breaks immersion? Does it have co-op? Does it offer standard VR mechanics/preferences?

Those are the key things I look at. Sadly, very few companies understand how to make a good VR game.

Generally it’s down to genre and mechanics. I obviously have my preferences so I’ll always keep a lookout on those that interest me. As well as avoid those I don’t.

I generally don’t have a preference for art style (I appreciate a wide variety of them), though I confess, I am getting a little tired of pixel-art games.

Usually gameplay mechanics that I like. For example I suck at puzzles and feel like they awkwardly break up a game a lot of the time so I avoid Resident Evil style games that feature them. Same thing for any game that uses a card based gameplay system. I get them a lot in Humble Bundles.

I stray away from fantasy games because I feel like learning the background can sometimes be a challenge.

For me it’s mostly first person single player games with decent soundtracks. If it’s got a bit of grittiness and companions you grow close to I like that.

Speaking of which if any of these games sound like they were recently (past 6ish months) in Humble Bundles comment the game below and I’ll probably be willing to give you the code.

It’s hard to pin down because I like different types of games.

I like:

Puzzle games that are 100% logical, difficulty increases, there is no timer running and ideally there is a way to improve my solution (Zachtronics games hit this perfectly but also games like Human Resource Machine, Hexcells)

Automation Games like Factorio

Simple and fair arcade on iOS, with high scores I can compare with my brother or, if I’m really good at it, the global leaderboard. Examples are Ollies Arcade, Jetpack Joyride, Tiny Wings, …

Sneaking games like Alien Isolation, Metal Gear Solid, Sniper Elite,…

„Realistic“ jobs that I can tune out to like Shipbreaker, Mudrunner, transport missions in Elite Dangerous.

Rhythm games on PSVR2 (though I hate that I have to buy the music)

Good old point and click adventures

City builders

But I will try and may like many other games that don’t fall into those categories and, for some reason or another, get me excited.

How a game looks rarely matters to me but I won’t consider games that look unfinished or cheaply made (exceptions exist like Prison Architect)

In general I don’t like games that are too hard, too long or too artsy. I don’t enjoy online multiplayer anymore and I will certainly not play anything that wants me paying more and more money to progress.

I like racing games and shooters.

For shooters, if it is like Titanfall 2, I like it. But not Battle Royal. I hate Apex.

For racing, I still need to find a game that compares to the old Gran Turismo’s.

And apart from that, I like well made games (that are not in alpha when released). Eg currently heavily invested in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Can be a combination of certain traits:

1. The game is a complex AND continuous/incremental puzzle;
2. Doesn’t have a boring/idle part;
3. Emulates real world. (optional);
4. Player can produce creative output. (optional).

Games that I like: SimCity4 (2003), Europa Universalis 4 (2010s), Touhou series (1997-now), Taisei (2012-now), Minetest and many Tycoon games that used to be popular in 2000s.

Programming and math satisfies all 4 traits :) When I started programming 10 years ago, I became less interested in games.

My mood.

Do I need to shoot some stuff or do I want to chill and grow crops or something? Technical specs aren’t really that important as long as it doesn’t make me sick. That being said, I do enjoy seeing realistic and beautiful detail in games.

I dislike difficulty that borders on punishment and games that think they’re scary (yawn).

I like games about descending further and further into the earth. That’s why my favorite Elder Scrolls is Morrowind and my favorite Fallout is 3. That’s why World Adventures is the best expansion for any Sims base game, that is why I love roguelikes, that is why I’ve been playing Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft for a decade and a half and will probably never stop.

My end goal is to build something that functions and runs without me. I like sandbox type games with lots of automation and puzzles to solve.