How often do you play games?

[FleshToDust]

I've barely played any games since I started digging into game development. How is it for all of you?

Do you have a set amount of time for game development and another for playing games?

I'm curious how everybody balances themselves. We all love games but sometimes it's hard to find time for them especially while developing a game.

 

[cabfe]

For my first game, I dedicated all my free time to it.
Now, I'm working on my second one with allocated time to gaming too, because I know how the engine works (no need for long sessions to make something work) and I have no deadline with any publisher anyway.
But my priority is still game making. Playing comes after, like a reward after I've made good progress

And you need any form of relaxation beside work, be it playing games or anything else. All work is not good for you!

 

[bgillisp]

I try to always take one day a week and just play games instead of make them, no matter where I'm at in my project. Though, sometimes that does turn into watch movies instead, but either way, it's usually one day off a week from game dev.

 

[FleshToDust]

saturday or sunday game day doesn't sound like a bad idea.

 

[bgillisp]

@FleshToDust : Exactly! It's usually Sunday for me, as right now with my work schedule Saturday is the only day I can game make uninterrupted.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I'm the type of person who waits for a game I'm really excited about and more or less binge-play it when it comes out. Well, at least as much as my schedule will allow. I have so many hobbies and personal obligations that I really only have time for the games I 1000% know I want to play.

 

[esterk]

My free time is pretty limited already, between working 2 jobs. But I try to find time to play games not just because I enjoy them, but also to study design choices I can keep in mind when developing my own game. For example, right now I'm playing Final Fantasy VI not only because it's supposed to be really good, but also because I want to learn about their pacing, story beats, mechanics, etc. So it's almost an extension of creating my own game in that regard. So I try and get around 2-3 hours a week playing.

 

[Llareian]

During this IGMC (in which I am participating), once my husband left on his work trip I've been using the evening to mostly plug away at my game, and in the beginning I was dedicating an hour to play a game just so that I could relax. Now I'm spending ALL my evening on development. But IGMC is different.

I think it's very important to keep in touch with any big developments in the gaming community if you want to take development seriously, so I would think that playing games would be an important part of being a developer. If you're just doing it because it's fun for you, then you should devote however much time to development and gaming as you like! But be aware that devoting ALL your free time to any one pursuit can lead to burnout, so having a dedicated day to do something else, like @bgillisp , is a smart precaution.

 

[CleanWater]

I used to play everyday. Now I'm limited to play only on weekends.

 

[Matseb2611]

I can be all over the place on this. It depends on whether I started playing a game that I really enjoy or not. For example this past summer I barely played a handful of games and on most days I haven't launched anything at all. Yet these past two months I've been playing almost every day for an hour or two. I don't normally sit for half a day playing games. It feels like a waste of time, but an odd hour or two feels like a refreshing break from game making or daily duties, especially if it's at the end of the day.

 

[FleshToDust]

Well Sunday game day is out. I've got a cold and a headache and didn't get much sleep. What a perfect time to get sick!

 

[Canini]

I play Team Fortress and Overwatch during the weekend. When it comes to regular games I do not have time for them anymore even if it is a game I have looked forward to (I brought Cuphead but haven´t played more than maybe forty minutes and I am still in the process of finishing Yooka-Layle) except for replaying a few old games for inspiration.

I also make art in Garry´s mod, but that is about it.

 

[Johnny_Retro]

About 10 to 15 hours a week, i guess.
Depends on how much work i got to do.

 

[Philosophus Vagus]

Take it in spells because until recently with the holidays I've been out of town for weeks at a time for work. Typically get to devote an hour or two to playing and an hour or two to making per week, spending more time frequenting forums like this because while out of town when not working I'll normally have my phone and my kindle on me so when I'm not reading I'm wandering the web and pretending to be productive sometimes.

When I get the chance I tend to play more than I create, when I'm not deliberately hiking off onto private wildernesses and pretending I'm not trespassing. Tl;dr, there just aren't enough hours in the day to do half of the things I want to do, probably a fact many of you can relate to.

 

[Linhtendo]

I always play Overwatch in the evening with my friends. Overwatch is currently the only game I'm playing sadly!

 

[Sauteed_Onion]

It is very rare that I play any games. I play actual card games a lot lately though. Solitaire and Rummy. Them there some fun games.

 

[FleshToDust]

@Sauteed_Onion i wish there was a card game where you could trick your opponent. Something similar to the show Akagi. In that show 2 people play a game and make bets. They have to think strategically to win. They lay down tiles and their opponent thinks they'll do A or B because of the tiles they put down but then they do C instead and the opponent is amazed and loses to some epic strategy nobody thought possible. That is pretty cool.

The closest thing I've found similar to that is Canasta which I played as a kid. You lay down certain cards to make groups for points and your opponent thinks you wont have any more of that card in your hand and might be more likely to discard that card to the discard pile. If you have 2 more of them in your hand though you can take the discard pile filled with lots of cards and you'll get a bunch of points.

The kind of game where there are hidden moves and you can try to get your opponent to play a certain card or trick them into thinking you have a certain card. I guess it would be called mind games. I wish there were some good card games with mind games. Netrunner is one but that's not a normal card game and you can only play mind games if you're a certain player.

 

[Dust]

I'd still consider myself an avid gamer, although I guess I'm more picky to what I actually want to spend my time on.

Generally I feel like its always good to play games to see new ideas and what other people/studios are doing & get inspired. I also enjoy watching movies/series from a story-perspective.

 

[Parallax Panda]

Unfortunally, almost never. I like games and I even collect (retro) games, but I never find the time to sit down and actually play. Or, if I do, I usually never finish. I bought a Nintendo switch and Zelda and played it a bit on my vacation but now I haven’t touched the thing in several months. I never finished Zelda - even though I think it’s a fantastic game. A master piece you’ll only see once or twice in a decennium.

Same thing with my 3DS, I bought Etrian Odyssey 5 and played about 15hours but it’s been stuffed in a drawer for the last month and I’ll probably not going to touch it any time soon.

For me, the biggest reason is that while I might have the time to play a little I’ve been caught between a rock and a hard place economically the past ~6 years or so. I’ve a hard time relaxing with something like a game when I know my priorites should be to work on my art career, and/or finish a commercial game of my own. Most of the time, when I try to sit down and play a game, I end up feelings guilty and that ruins the whole experience.

I bet that if I my career took off and I felt more economically secure I’d be less stressed and allow myself to enjoy games more... like I used to back in the days.

There is an exception to the rule and that is ”interesting” RPG maker games. I don’t play them a lot, but now and then when I find something that either inspire me or which I believe I can learn from. I basically tell myself that it’s part of me being an RM dev, learning from others games as well as networking and leaving feedback.

 

[KDC705]

I play both old and new games, given that I have the PC specs, or game console, to do so. With the ability to develop my own games, I kind of attempt to balance the two. Though playing games is the more often than developing them for my perspective.