The video game store, be it online or brick and mortar, is one place where you certainly won’t be underwhelmed. In fact, the amount of choice when you’re just stepping into the world of gaming or shopping for a new game can be completely overwhelming, even if it is in a good way. As it stands, in 2022, there are more than 831,523 games in existence in the world: 93,880 of them are playable on traditional platforms, with an additional 288,153 on the Apple App Store and another 449,490 on Google Play. To say you’re spoiled for choice would be the understatement of the year! You can find pretty much anything you look for in the wide and wonderful world of games: choose between a popular casino game and an MMO or a fantasy role-playing game and a survival title. Or better yet, don’t choose and play them all!
If you are the sort who likes to narrow things down and you’re finding it difficult, we’ve got just the tips for you! Read on for our advice on how to choose the right video games for you.
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Grasp The Differences Between Genres
You can’t effectively decide between things if you don’t entirely understand them, can you? For you to be equipped to make an informed decision about the games you want to play, you need to understand the different genres and what sets them apart from each other. These genres are
- RTS or Real Time Strategy: players usually control different factions and play against each other in “real-time”.
- Sandbox: an open-ended game played in a non-linear fashion.
- Shooters (First person and third person): this genre is fairly self-explanatory.
- Simulations and sports.
- MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena): usually feature a top-down perspective and offer team or multiplayer options. Competition takes place against other players, not AI.
- Puzzlers and party games.
- Role-playing games (RPG): there are many subgenres here, but most follow the format of one player controlling one character, moving through a world, leveling up, and trying to reach their objective.
- Horror.
- Survival: often players are dropped into an unfamiliar landscape. Players may, in some cases, form groups, to gather resources and survive.
- Action/adventure.
Many different gamers may have slightly different ways of defining game genres, but these are the broad strokes. Do a little research on each of these genres and you’ll probably spot a few games that you’ve already heard of.
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Ask If You Don’t Know
If you’re going into a physical store to buy a game, chat with the sales staff. They’ll be informed on the ins and outs of the games they have in store and will be able to tell you what’s up your alley and what is not. If you’re purchasing online, which is more likely, there will be support staff available to chat to if the need arises. Ask anyone you know who plays games: your friends and most gamers, even if they’re strangers, will be happy to share info about a new game if they have it.
Watch Game Streamers
An easy way to get a really good idea of what a game holds with absolutely no financial commitment, is to watch a streamer do a play-through. Streamers often share their new game purchases or gifts with their communities by recording their gameplay and sharing it after the fact or streaming live while they take on a new title. Most streamers are fairly honest about their reviews and watching a play-through will give them up if they’re not. If you’re new to the gaming community, this can also be an excellent way to hear about events, new consoles or parts and also just find your gaming community.
Do Your Research
By the time a game is released there are usually at least a few Youtube videos out from the developers or studio, chatting about the game and its features. Read through the plit, check out all the characters and check on the difficulty level to see if you feel that it’s something you might enjoy playing. You might also be able to find a game that’s available for early release. This means a game is released before it’s entirely completed so that the gaming community can play a version of it and provide feedback while the game is still in development. If you like the early release version, you’re guaranteed to love the full version when it comes out!
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Wrap Up
There are so many different kinds of games out there to play. You could deduce at once that a few genres are out for you, you could try everything once or you could work through the list from start to finish. However you choose which games you’ll play, you’re going to have an epic time doing it.
