I had a moment to think about why I like certain games, and I have figured out some criteria for myself,

  1. Vibrant colours
  2. Simple/Cartoon-ish looks
  3. Mid/High level of complexity in mechanics

That’s why my current favourite game is Splatoon 3, followed by Minecraft, and the list consists mostly of Nintendo games.

What’s your criteria?

  • @atlasraven31@lemm.ee
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    2 years ago

    The Factory. Must. Grow.

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

  • @TheOgreChef@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    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.

  • @s20@lemmy.ml
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    212 years ago

    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.

    • @NorthWestWind@lemmy.worldOP
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      42 years ago

      I just realized sound design is probably also an important thing for me. A lot of the games I like also have great soundtracks.

  • @ExtraMedicated@lemmy.world
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    22 years ago

    This usually doesn’t factor in to my desisions that often, but I like games with that old-school, grainy, low-poly look, especially for horror games.

    Lost in Vivo is one example that comes to mind.

  • DiMa
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    12 years ago

    At moment : price and steamdeck compatibility.

    Mainly rogue-lites, fps and plateformers as of late.

    Figuring out northstar to get some titanfall2 going :)

    Having a blast on tmnt and midnight fight express.

  • @Isoprenoid@programming.dev
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    22 years ago

    It has to be $10 or less in my local currency (~USD$6).

    That makes the list much shorter, so from there I’m usually happy with my purchase. If I end up spending 5 hours on the game then I’ve won out better than going to see a movie.

    • @NorthWestWind@lemmy.worldOP
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      12 years ago

      I used to be a freebie gamer. At some point I realized the quality of free games are dwindling, and so I tried to finally purchase games.

      Because I’m very aware that my financial status isn’t that great, I usually spend way more time with these paid games.

  • raubarno
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    22 years ago

    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.

  • @Makeshift@sh.itjust.works
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    12 years ago

    Hmm.

    • Usually open world. I like occasional other types, but a world with an explorable world map is more likely to keep my attention.
    • Has to at least start more green than city. Cityscapes/Sci-fi settings bore me visually. This applies to real life too.
    • Bright. If I need to play at night with lights off to see where the heck I’m going, I don’t like it.
    • Usually some creature in the world to catch my interest. Like (inklings/octolings/salmonids in Splatoon).
    • A good story is nice but not at all needed. I like environmental storytelling and aimless wandering.
    • No “game complete”. I want to keep my save file forever.

    Not hard rules of course, I have exceptions.

    Like Metroid sounds perfect for me in some ways, but because it’s so dim and sci-fi, I can’t stay interested. Splatoon has amazingly dark lore that’s only visible past it’s bright happy exterior that I LOVE. Stardew Valley/Minecraft/Animal Crossing are in my alley.

  • Thelsim
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    22 years ago

    I think in general I tend to ask myself these questions:

    • can I role play as someone else?
    • is there a branching storyline that can be replayed in different ways?
    • is there an open world with tons of nooks and crannies to explore?
    • can I dress up? :)
    • is there a fun and novel gameplay mechanic?

    Usually I’m invested if it ticks several boxes. I love long, story heavy rpg’s like BG3. But also visual novels like Roadwarden, open world like Shadow of Doubt, or more experimental like Book of Travels.

      • Thelsim
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        22 years ago

        Oh yes, definitely!
        Though I haven’t thought of trying the custom campaigns. Thank you for reminding me! :)

  • @Makeshift@sh.itjust.works
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    22 years ago

    Hmm.

    • Usually open world. I like occasional other types, but a world with an explorable world map is more likely to keep my attention.
    • Has to at least start more green than city. Cityscapes/Sci-fi settings bore me visually. This applies to real life too.
    • Bright. If I need to play at night with lights off to see where the heck I’m going, I don’t like it.
    • Usually some creature in the world to catch my interest. Like (inklings/octolings/salmonids in Splatoon).
    • A good story is nice but not at all needed. I like environmental storytelling and aimless wandering.
    • No “game complete”. I want to keep my save file forever.

    Not hard rules of course, I have exceptions.

    Like Metroid sounds perfect for me in some ways, but because it’s so dim and sci-fi, I can’t stay interested. Unlike Zelda, which usually starts with brightly lit forests that keep me in.

    Splatoon has amazingly dark lore that’s only visible past it’s bright happy exterior that I LOVE. Stardew Valley/Minecraft/Animal Crossing are in my alley.

  • businessfish
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    12 years ago

    i’d say i choose the almost all games i play based off of one or more of these questions:

    • is there automation in the game? (i.e factorio)
    • is the game largely mechanics-driven?
    • how much room is there for skill expression?
    • does the speedrun look fun?

    other than those, i pretty much only play co-op party games with friends and ~1 rpg every couple years. right now i’m playing fortune’s run, an imm sim i’ve been looking forward to since the last steam next fest - very fun so far.

  • @mitchell@lemmy.ca
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    12 years ago

    I don’t game much but the games I gravitate toward are ones where I’m the only character (& maybe with an antagonist narrator) and I have to escape a certain place. This includes Portal, Portal 2, The Stanley Parable, and Superliminal.

    Even though the most recent game I’ve bought, Detroit: Become Human, has many characters and interactions between them, I liked the storytelling, cinematic aspect. Plus both Detroit and The Stanley Parable have multiple possible endings depending on the decisions made during the game.

  • I am someone who likes to solve problems, so strategy / management games tend to be my preferred. For instance I recently did a run of Factorio with no belts.

    I also like trying new things even if failure is an option, in fact failure should be expected if you’re trying hard enough. So KSP is another one of my favorites.

  • @Donebrach@lemmy.world
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    12 years ago

    makes sense, Nintendo makes consistently fantastic games. even their less than good ones are often times better than most other companies. I cannot describe my process for picking games other than watching gameplay videos and seeing if it looks fun to me.