How do you find a new game?

[Swordsmith]

I'm a gamer from way back, I used to love D&D and Traveller, then GURPS and COC and so forth. I got into computer based games running on mainframes, before getting my own C64 and playing stuff like the Gold Box AD&D Games (Pool of Radiance!), reluctantly moving to Windows. Eventually I tried Everquest when it first came out, hated it, went back a couple weeks later to try it again since I still had a little time on my free month, and loved it. Played it for most of a decade, quit, went back again, quit, went back again. I tried other MMOs, in particular I also really enjoyed Anarchy Online and LOTRO, was not as fond of WOW. And I really enjoyed Neverwinter Nights (but not so much NWN2) I'm back now in a situation where I can dedicate some serious time to gaming, and I'm looking for something... but I can't figure out what.

I'm not looking here for tips as to which game to try next (wouldn't mind that either, but that's not the point), but rather -how- to find a game. More to the point, how -you- find a game. Is it all word of mouth?

Back in the day before EQ, I would buy games based on the look of the box it came in, I'd read the cover and the blurbs on the back, try to get a feel for the thing, but eventually I would plop down the money and try it for myself. MOST games, I didn't really like, or I'd play through them in a day or two and be done. EQ, at $40 or so for the box and $13 or so per month, with another $40 expansion a couple times a year, was much much much cheaper than $40 for a new game every few days, most of which sucked.

NWN was a great find, what I'd always wanted in the gold box series, which is to say it used real tabletop game rules (well more or less) but had vast vast quantities of modules available, all of which were in one well organized place with lots of information and reviews, and of course they were free, so if I didn't like one, no big loss. Sadly the NWN vault is gone now and it's replacement isn't really up to that level of cool. But I've also played NWN so very much that I'm not that enchanted by it any more.

I tried Skyrim, hoping for the same thing, but when it first came out there wasn't much in the way of player made content out there. Now, I guess it's there, but it's really over my head as to how to find and install it, and again lacks the organization NWN had.

I've tried reading reviews and hunting down games to try, but I'm finding each game takes hours to download, and then I don't tend to care for them. I can't find info in advance on how characters work, how the mechanics work, what gameplay looks like. Should I be searching Youtube for that? I was very disappointed in Neverwinter Online, which seemed like D&D, but which plays more like Diablo set in the Forgotten Realms, with classes, abilities, and mechanics I simply don't recognize at all, lacking the feel of D&D completely. Is there some way I could have figured that out before investing the hours of download time?

[TESffaa1]

Play demos if available, watch gameplay video from those who already owns a game...

[Hunter Noventa]

YouTube is probably a good bet. You can do a search for reviews of a specific game, and eventually you might find specific youtube channels you can follow that mesh up at least somewhat with your tastes.

Otherwise these days word of mouth is likely the best, get an idea of the kind of game you're looking for, and ask someplace like here what people suggest. have a discussion, it's the best way I find. Major gaming sites can be useful, but take everything a place like IGN says about a game with a grain of salt.

Some companies do still put out demos or trial versions of games, so there's that as well. There's also Steam Refunds now, so if you get a game nad it turns out hate it, you can get your money back, though it has that nasty 2 hours of playtime limit.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Most games I find out about through YouTube or here.

I really got into PC games through YouTube. I was looking up Guild Wars 2 stuff at around release when I found TotalBiscuit's videos for it, which led me to his channel, especially his Terraria videos, which would later lead me to Jesse Cox and their podcast, and that's ended up being connected in some way to most YouTubers I follow. There are a couple who I found through their videos linked on these boards.

[Erloas]

With the responses so far I would be interested to see how it breaks down based on age. I really have no interest in YouTube, I can probably count on one hand the number of videos I watch there in a year. I really have no interest at all in watching other people play games. But I noticed at my brothers game shop a lot of the younger crowd practically lived on youtube.

It depends on the type of game. I'm here all the time and look into various games that are talked about here, though depending on the investment of the game I will often look more places before starting. For board games and similar I often look at boardgamegeek.com, at least to get some idea about the game, I've also looked there for game recommendations too. Word of mouth is always good, online or people I personally know.

When it came to finding Dystopian Wars I went looking for models that fit what I wanted and checked out the game system after that.

I've picked up a lot of games simply because they looked pretty interesting and had a good sale on Steam.

I've also kickstarted quite a few games (digital and physical) because they sounded good and interesting. There they generally have to have an interesting look and theme.

With Warhammer online, well I loved the developers (Mythic, I got into DAOC from friends that played), and I really loved the setting.

And yeah, I'm old enough that I've also had to buy games pretty much based on what the box said.

For the most part though it is hearing good things from it from someplace like here and then looking into it farther in other places.

So I guess pretty much every single way except youtube.

[Grif]

Generally word of mouth do it for me, these days. Preferably from those who actually played the game, but if not, sometimes ones who watched videos would do as well. Reviews fall under this categories as well.

Nowadays I'm in no hurry to buy the latest released games, so there's plenty of time for reviews and such to accumulate and for me to sift through.

[Cespenar]

Wander around sites like Metacritic and mark the high scored ones. Then as phase two, look up their gameplay videos in Youtube. If there's a downloadable demo, even better, but usually 10-15 minutes of a Youtube video gives enough of an idea.

[Wraith]

Now that I think about it, and much to my own dishonour, I seem to find most of my games via #hashtags. :smallredface:

I tend to reliably like certain genres; turn based strategy, fantasy, sci-fi, RPG and things of that nature. When I'm in the mood for a new game, I just search those keywords on Steam and see while ones have an aesthetic which appeals to me, or is especially highly recommended by the reviews.

That, and by IP's. I'll play pretty much anything released under the Mass Effect or Games Workshop licenses, so I search for those and then see what there is that might tickle my fancy. :smallsmile:

[factotum]

With the responses so far I would be interested to see how it breaks down based on age. I really have no interest in YouTube, I can probably count on one hand the number of videos I watch there in a year.

I'm 45 and watch Youtube all the time. It's better than TV because I can watch the videos any time I like without having to spend extra money on a TiVo or whatever.

Most certainly I've bought and played a number of games due to reading or watching a Let's Play of it--there was a Let's Play of Star Wolves 3 which someone did on these very boards a few years ago, and it interested me enough to go out and get the game. Played and finished it, too, so clearly I liked it enough to do that! I'll also buy sequels to other games I've enjoyed, but only after reading reviews to be sure the game is still OK--I've been burned enough times to know that. Then, of course, there's the random impulse purchase in a Steam sale, because it's so darned cheap that you might as well give it a go. I think I've probably got enough unplayed games on Steam alone to last me a couple of years, and that's without the list of games I want to purchase when they get cheap enough (GTA5, X-Com 2 etc).

[Psyren]

Steam Curators whose tastes come close to mine (e.g. Extra Credits, Jimquisition, Yahtzee etc.) are my main source, along with Steam reviews. A lot of the folks I follow as curators also tend to have their own YT channels where I can watch reviews, let's plays, and other recommendations.