Gaming outside your genre comfort zone.

[Exhuminator]

I make a habit of every time I play another game it's a different genre than the last and on a different system. It's easy to burn yourself out if you don't. I mean I could easily get hooked on PSP JRPGs for months but then I'd probably despise JRPGs for a year after that. So right now I'm playing The Last Story but my next primary game will be ArmA: Combat Operations. It's by conscious design that I mix up genres on a regular basis; it helps keep this hobby fresh.

I might have missed your point though. Well if I had to make myself play a genre way outside my comfort zone it would certainly be an NFL game. But I don't hate myself that much.

[noiseredux]

I might have missed your point though. Well if I had to make myself play a genre way outside my comfort zone it would certainly be an NFL game. But I don't hate myself that much.

alright then you should play NFL Blitz. It's outside your comfort zone, but it's also very arcadey - like NBA Jam.

[MrEco]

I make a habit of every time I play another game it's a different genre than the last and on a different system. It's easy to burn yourself out if you don't. I mean I could easily get hooked on PSP JRPGs for months but then I'd probably despise JRPGs for a year after that. So right now I'm playing The Last Story but my next primary game will be ArmA: Combat Operations. It's by conscious design that I mix up genres on a regular basis; it helps keep this hobby fresh.

I might have missed your point though. Well if I had to make myself play a genre way outside my comfort zone it would certainly be an NFL game. But I don't hate myself that much.

Yeah, I try to do the same thing. Generally speaking I go RPG > game with RPG elements (Such as a Metroidvania title or a Borderlands type of game) > non-RPG. This whole experiment with trying new genre's should help keeping things fresh be even easier.


Though I don't think I'll ever bother trying a sports game. I've both watched and tried the real life counterparts to most sports, and never found any enjoyment in them.

[noiseredux]

speaking of which, the whole 'out of comfort zone' thing is what has made Together Retro so appealing to me all these years.

[BogusMeatFactory]

There are genres that don't work well with me like Real Time Strategy, which I try from time to time. I think the only RTS that I can actually get into is Sid Meier's SimGolf! This isn't for a lack of trying. I have tried recently Age of Empires III and every year I keep trying to do Warcraft 2, much to my chagrin. I just plain fail.

The other genre that I constantly try is the survival horror genre. I get too into the genre and it affects my nerve. Movies, books, haunted houses, none of those things get to me or strike me as scary, but a horror game turns me into a blithering buffoon. I still try them though. Recently, I attempted Amnesia: The Dark Descent and also Silent Hill: Homecoming (a game I got for free magically through steam about a year ago).

What is great is that these types of games, my wife is tremendously good at so it is one of the only times where I can not backseat game and try to tell her what to do.

Other than that I am pretty open to try anything, which is also why I love the Together Retro stuff. I wish I could do more of it, but lately school has taken a much larger priority with my time.

[Violent By Design]

I get very easily scared by video games. Even games that are not supposed to be scary scare the shit out of me. I think it's because I've grown so used to cliches that the anticipation of when something bad is going to happen excites me too much.

I don't think there are games necessarily out of my comfort zone, but there are genres that I haven't had the chance to really dive in. I've lightly dived in to Shoot Em Ups, but I've tried working my way in a few times with a few other games, but haven't really sat down and tried to learn one.

If I had the resources, I think I'd play most genres. I don't play games from the same genre back to back, since it could mean that I'd get bored.


The past year I've played Pokemon Pinball, Snatcher, Punchout/Infinity Blade, Doodlejump and Tetris Attack - which are games that belonged to foreign genres to me. Well, maybe not Doodle Jump since that is basically an old school arcadeish type of game.

[BogusMeatFactory]

The past year I've played Pokemon Pinball, Snatcher, Punchout/Infinity Blade, Doodlejump and Tetris Attack - which are games that belonged to foreign genres to me. Well, maybe not Doodle Jump since that is basically an old school arcadeish type of game.

I don't mean to totally derail the thread, but what did you think of those games?

[Violent By Design]

The past year I've played Pokemon Pinball, Snatcher, Punchout/Infinity Blade, Doodlejump and Tetris Attack - which are games that belonged to foreign genres to me. Well, maybe not Doodle Jump since that is basically an old school arcadeish type of game.

I don't mean to totally derail the thread, but what did you think of those games?

I ended up loving and appreciating all of those games.

Infinity Blade and Punch Out I didn't sit down and try to beat though, just played them enough to progress a few zones but they're on my to do list. So I wouldn't say I love them, but they're pretty cool games that I'm going to go back too.


Pokemon Pinball really made me appreciate the depth of pinball. I started reading some pinball tips, and it was exciting when I could actually control what I was doing on the table. It's also nice since Pokemon pinball has an approachable gimmick for a gamer, in which collecting pokemon was familiar territory for me (though I played the Ruby/Saphire one and I had no idea who most of those Pokemon were).

Doodle Jump is the game I play when I have like 20 seconds of free time, like when I'm waiting for something to load up or I'm at a friends house and don't want to bust out some crazy iPhone game like Xcom or GTA. It's actually pretty well designed, it'll never get respect because it's a score based iPhone game, but it's just as good as the classic 80s games like Joust, Donkey Kong Jr, Dig Dug and what not. It's made me look at casual games differently, and I've come to realized how jaded I was merely dismissing them as not real games, when I myself have no problems considering ips like Ms.Pacman to be all time great games.

Tetris Attack was the steepest game I had to learn. I think I picked it up during the Together Retro of it last fall. It was frustrating at first because I never played a column type of puzzel game, but it was very satisfying getting past the learning curve. I got some tips from this guy on youtube which really helped. I was able to beat the game on easy and medium and almost did it on hard.

Snatcher - I played this for the summer challenge. Was lukewarm in my first sitting, but after that I was seduced by its charm. Very pretty game to look at and it is directed very well considering its time of release. Great lead character in Gillian. A great blend of humor, horror, mystery and there were some moments where I felt sorrow (impressive given that the characters have relatively little screen time since it is a short game). The gameplay choices were not done well since your decisions didn't really make a difference, but it was still hell of an experience.


Next genre I'm going to try out is likely going to be railshooter (ones like Panzer Dragoon and Sin and Punishment) or text based adventure. I suppose the latter would really be out of my comfort zone, but I've played 80s RPGs which is probably even harder to get used too, since the plots in those are pretty daft.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I ended up loving and appreciating all of those games.

Infinity Blade and Punch Out I didn't sit down and try to beat though, just played them enough to progress a few zones but they're on my to do list. So I wouldn't say I love them, but they're pretty cool games that I'm going to go back too.


Pokemon Pinball really made me appreciate the depth of pinball. I started reading some pinball tips, and it was exciting when I could actually control what I was doing on the table. It's also nice since Pokemon pinball has an approachable gimmick for a gamer, in which collecting pokemon was familiar territory for me (though I played the Ruby/Saphire one and I had no idea who most of those Pokemon were).

Doodle Jump is the game I play when I have like 20 seconds of free time, like when I'm waiting for something to load up or I'm at a friends house and don't want to bust out some crazy iPhone game like Xcom or GTA. It's actually pretty well designed, it'll never get respect because it's a score based iPhone game, but it's just as good as the classic 80s games like Joust, Donkey Kong Jr, Dig Dug and what not. It's made me look at casual games differently, and I've come to realized how jaded I was merely dismissing them as not real games, when I myself have no problems considering ips like Ms.Pacman to be all time great games.

Tetris Attack was the steepest game I had to learn. I think I picked it up during the Together Retro of it last fall. It was frustrating at first because I never played a column type of puzzel game, but it was very satisfying getting past the learning curve. I got some tips from this guy on youtube which really helped. I was able to beat the game on easy and medium and almost did it on hard.

Snatcher - I played this for the summer challenge. Was lukewarm in my first sitting, but after that I was seduced by its charm. Very pretty game to look at and it is directed very well considering its time of release. Great lead character in Gillian. A great blend of humor, horror, mystery and there were some moments where I felt sorrow (impressive given that the characters have relatively little screen time since it is a short game). The gameplay choices were not done well since your decisions didn't really make a difference, but it was still hell of an experience.


Next genre I'm going to try out is likely going to be railshooter or text based adventure. I suppose the latter would really be out of my comfort zone, but I've played 80s RPGs which is probably even harder to get used too, since the plots in those are pretty daft.

I am glad you were digging them. Snatcher is definitely a different game that would be out of most people's comfort zones, but it is a genre that I love. Interactive fiction is always an odd duck for the world, but I eat it up like crazy! Anyone who complains about Metal Gear Solid having long cutscenes hasn't sat through the ending of Snatcher!

If you liked it, I highly suggest you finding the fan translation of Policenauts and playing that, it is similar to snatcher, but the actions sequences are better played out and there are more interesting interactions with the environment, not to mention a more interesting story.

Glad you liked them though and hooray for stepping out of your comfort zone and finding fun!

[Violent By Design]

Yeah, Policenauts is going to be the next game I get into when I decide to dive back into the genre.