Game dev folks! How do you keep abreast of the various games out there in the ecosystem? How much time do you devote to playing games in your off time - for pleasure and for research?
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I try to be very specific with the games I play, and I try and play about an hour or two a day (usually before I go to sleep), this to say my work schedule is pretty loose and I don’t have kids which makes it a lot easier
I tend to try to play “important” games, mostly because I teach so I need to know current design trends (or upcoming ones). I do tend to avoid live services and focus more on single player because of my own personal preference and time
Since having kids, I haven’t had a ton of time for it. Used to play games all the time. Now I play when they’re in bed and I’m not exhausted. So my backlog has been growing for years while the number of started but not completed games grows alongside of it. As for where I find out about games…
I’d say I’m at 90% word of mouth, 10% gaming press. Never see commercials on TV anymore since I cancelled cable years ago. Use an adblocker on my browser. So I see things when I seek them out.
Similar to Jesse, I rarely play games now. It’s much more fun to make them. Mostly now it’s either research, or because a friend told me the game is too good to miss.
A game has to be sooo good for me to fall into it without constantly evaluating it and thinking of what I’d do differently. I wonder if VFX people at ILM can ever watch a movie without having their professional hat on.
This all makes me feel a little better about the effort it takes to carve out time for games outside of work. Nobody is playing *everything*, and everyone has their own strategy for dealing with that reality, it seems. :)
In the olden days, before YouTube, when I was at Lucasfilm Games, one of us would play a game of interest, make a bunch of saves at various interesting places, then do a group show-and-tell with the rest of us. Now I might watch a video stream and skip around until I get the feel of the game.
I still enjoy playing games in my free time but it’s narrow. I check in with a number of friends so I get their thoughts on what they’re playing. my widest variety comes from judging IGF in December. if something feels important for my team to play I’ll schedule a few hours in to get the jist of it.
Only a few hours, still gotta game for fun
Though if I am trying something I will dedicate a few hours to get the experience. Another thing that is useful is just listening to streamers play games that I don’t have time for. Helps see/hear different experiences of games (at least with vocal players)
For me I tend to listen/to see a_seagull plays, he might not finish the game but will at least do a day for many. Also he’s good at talking while playing and is able to verbalize thoughts on game feel.
Reddit, other socials, blogs, trailers. Switch was great for a while because I could play in bed, but now I’m all about steamdeck. Play 20 min-1 hour when I can. Building a 3rd person character controller lately and been checking out Hogwarts Legacy, Jedi Fallen Order, Stray, etc for inspiration.
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Also I almost always play story mode or easy
Though if I am trying something I will dedicate a few hours to get the experience. Another thing that is useful is just listening to streamers play games that I don’t have time for. Helps see/hear different experiences of games (at least with vocal players)
I usually find new indie games on Twitter to try and rarely play AAA.