How do you play games? (One at a time or multiple titles at once)

[fieldy]

Inspired somewhat by a post on another gaming forum, I'd like to know how you play games. Do you pick up one title and concentrate on that one alone until completion, or are you like me where you'll have multiple titles in progress at once? (some of which may never be completed)

As I said, for me I normally have multiple games on the go at one time in various stages of completion. I also have games that I've brought and not tried queued up to be played once I complete one of my 'in progress' titles. I do feel that this is a bad habit that dates back to my days in games retail where I would be buying lots and lots of different games every month

Currently on the go I've got the following:

Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)
Helldivers (Vita)
FFVII (Vita)
Shantae and the pirates curse (3DS)
The Evil Within (Xbox one)
Hyrule warriors (WiiU)
Wario Land 4 (WiiU VC)

Queued to play:

Shovel night (3DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Wind waker HD (WiiU)
Metroid Fusion (WiiU VC)
Warioware (WiiU VC)
Tales of Xillia (PS3)

[Flabyo]

It varies a lot for me.

At the moment I have Halo Master Chief Collection, Arkham Knight and Elite Dangerous on the go. That's usually about the level I'm at, three or so on the go at once.

Sometimes a game becomes all consuming and it's the only thing I play. This usually happens with something like Witcher 3 or Dragon Age. It almost certainly will happen with Fallout 4.

[Scrustle]

I'm pretty terrible at keeping focus on a single game. I don't like focusing on one thing at a time. I find it gets boring only sticking to one game, and if I force myself to I just end up not enjoying it. Problems is I get distracted easily and I like novelty. Every so often I've also got a game on my mind that I haven't played in a while and feel like I should go back to. So at any one time I'll have maybe half a dozen games "on the go", but in reality that's being a little dishonest.

Right now I'm playing DMC4SE quite a bit. I've also got a playthrough of Dante's Inferno on the go, which is an older game I never finished. Similar story with Brutal Legend. I'm also in the middle of Zeno Clash 2. Recently I finished The Ball, but before yesterday that was also one of the main games in my current palette.

Then there are the games that I am "playing", but have kind of drifted away from. I have Symphony of the Night going, as well as Valdis Story. There's also Mind: Path to Thamalus which I haven't touched in a while too. And while I have played it quite a lot up until the past week or so, I've been dropping off Splatoon lately. Although I've technically already "finished" that game. I also have Project Cars that I should probably play more of too. I've put a not insignificant amount of time in to it already, but I'm still really early on in the career. I just haven't felt like I can be bothered with it of late though. I also have my third playthrough of Lords of Shadow 2 on the go, but I don't feel so bad about dropping behind on that since I've already played it so much. There's probably even more, but I tend to forget about them as time goes by.

Sadly, these games tend to drift off in to my ever growing backlog. It's so huge I can't even imagine how many games are in it. Sometimes I come back to them and and just fiddle around a little, but it's quite rare that I actually end up finishing games that I haven't been motivated to go through when they are still "new". I don't feel too bad about it though. It means that I'll never run out of stuff to play.

[Alex79]

I generally have two or three on the go at once, but always of different genres. So I could have for example Crysis 3, Gran Turismo 6 and Dragon Age all going at once, but never 3 RPGs or FPS all at the same time or anything like that. I've found lately though I'm playing a lot more 'dip in and out' games like Olli Olli 2, Spelunky, Dont Starve etc that don't really carry with them the weight of a full story title, so you can play as many of those at once as you like. I'm only really playing three games at the moment, The Evil Within, Ys The Oath In Felghana and MGS Peace Walker. All really different from each other.

[Lego Solo]

I used to get a new game and just rinse it to death over the first week and then move on. But those were back in my self employed and single days when I had far more free time.

I now have a pile of shame! This is a first for me, and it just keeps getting bigger.
I need to focus on one thing at a time, for instance I have only played the Witcher 3 since it's release (150+ hours and counting!) only with a few games of FIFA with mates to mix it up. I will hopefully finish it in the next day or so. And once I have, I'm off to buy Batman: Arkham Knight and then to repeat the process.
If I was to have bought batman before I finished Witcher I would have ended up switching focus and The Witcher would have landed on my pile of shame.

I have to be far more disciplined these days.

Dame you growing up and responsibilities!

[Indiana747]

Im with Alex on this. About 3-4 games on the go at once is enough, as long as they are of different genres. Ive only just played through Arkham City after it sat on the shelf for two years, im about halfway through Child of Light on the Vita. Also got Dying Light & State of Decay on the go on XboxOne. I have to mentally tear myself away from my BF4 addiction to play other games, but when i do i can easily stay at that game till completion(well, if im enjoying it, that is). My trophy hunting helps get me away from BF4 also, as there is no more in BF4 for me to get.
I wouldnt really count multiplayer nights on games as being "games on the go at once" though. Jumping into Helldivers on a night that suits everyone is just a chance to talk shit, have a laugh & catch up with mates.

[seansthomas]

Similar to Alex Solo myself. Used to only ever play one game at a time. Partly as I like to finish what I start, partly because a few times I've put games down at tough latter stages then lost all the skill I've built up after a break, meaning it beat me (I'm looking at you Viewtiful Joe).

Time is limited for me now though so occasionally have a crack at something then park it until the time is right or have some dip in & out options on the side like MK8 or Splatoon.

[Bakers_12]

What and how I play is normally dictated by what shift I'm on

9-5 shifts I focus on a single game till it's complicated at the moment it's batman ,

12-8 I tend to get up early and use the extra time to mop up a few trophies that I missed on the first play thought after that if I have time I go back to my main game

Not often I do an 8-4 on these I tend to try out a playstation plus game I have not touched.

I also have a handheld game that I sometimes play at brakes at work

[Todinho]

I actually tried to play a few games at once but It never works for me I always ended up playing one and forgetting about the others so nowadays I tend to focus on one game finnish it as quickly as possible and then move on to next,from time to time if a game is really big like Pillars of Eternity or Witcher 3 I'll take a break and play other games to completion before returning but I dont like doing this because it kinda breaks my flow with the game if that makes any sense.

[dezm0nd]

I often have various methods but mostly, it'll consist of one main (far cry 4 at the mo) with some side dishes. (Isaac, Halo and Dark Souls)

I can't really have more than one main game on the go. If I have more than one, i'll get confused. I'm so simple minded that I even have the game case on the console just to remind me what I'm playing at the moment

[seansthomas]

One other thing I'm doing more now though for sure with kids, a more tricky job and cheaper indie titles around is not always complete games. Usually see the end sequence unless its really crap or 50 hours long and repetitive (like Black Flag) but I'll skip many side quests, replaying it and the DLC. I'd never, ever have done that 10 years ago.

[stvnorman]

Also one big one on the go at any time, and usually a couple of PS+ games for short bursts, also mostly for having kids reasons. My gaming tends to be late night only nowadays, and on workdays particularly I often fancy a quick go on something like Drive Club or Rocket League (currently) then a bit of TV, rather than devote my whole evening entertainment slot to something like progressing through DMC (currently). For me, playing this way only allows for one serious game at a time otherwise I'll never give any required skills a chance to build momentum, or ever finish anything!

[James]

Usually one at a time, but I've recently been trying something different in the hopes of having time for a few side games whilst still having a 'main' game on the go.

[goatsnake]

I usually play about 4 at once - aside from the fact that I've had a multiplayer FPS on the go pretty much since COD4, I think I'd get burned out on something like Dark Souls if I wasn't also dipping into something vastly different for a change of pace.

I tend to try to avoid more than one game of the same genre in rotation though, as differing control schemes for games in the same perspective can throw me off. Even then I still have the occasional brainfart; usually resulting in me trying to spot enemies when they appear in the distance in single player games, thanks to Battlefield.

[DomsBeard]

I always have the following:

One "big" game (currently Dying Light).
Ultra Street Fighter IV every day.
Latest episodic game.

[Tleprie]

Lately I have had a few games going at once: at the moment they are Rogue legacy on PS4/Vita, getting close to platinuming it, and Bastion on PS4.
Spelunky and GTA V are my go to games when I just want to relax for a bit.

In addition to these I picked up where I left off in Tomb Raider today (about 3 or 4 hours in, I think), and played it for a few hours. Will probably be several months before I make any more progress.

For the most part that is what I've been playing by myself. Whenever I have a chance to play with friends I am usually playing Payday 2, Mario Strikers, Smash Bros. Melee, Gears of War 2, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, and Rock Band.