Why You Finish Games You Don't Like

Sometimes a video game just isn't appealing to us, yet we keep playing until the very end. Why?

Thank you everybody for the support :)

00:00 Has this ever happened to you?
01:18 Dying Light: The Following
03:47 Zelda: Oracle of Ages
05:05 So Why?
06:08 Zeigarnik Effect
10:15 Was it worth it?

[alexg]

I don't finish so many games. I'm very guilty of dropping them when I become bored of the game play loop. Sometimes if I'm lucky and I can see that I can potentially finish it by speed running the main quest I'll go for it but if not then I let it go and my never ending library continues to grow.

[Matty]

im grateful for whatever part of my upbringing helped keep my brain from developing this particular compulsion. ive never made myself finish a game if i was getting bored or was frustrated from being unable to make progress
its like people who will force themselves to finish a plate of food even if theyre already full or dont like the food. my husband was like this before we met, and it was crazy to me that he didnt realize he had the option to stop

[GodOfOrphans]

I feel like playing a mid or even bad game from time to time including playing them to completion actually works as a nice palate cleanser and helps make the genuinely great games stand out more. When everything is great nothing is, so the lower points help keep things in perspective.

[lordsofkobol]

As a gamer in my early 50's it strikes me that we do have plenty of time to play games, if we choose to. 20hrs is NOT such a long time.
I have about six gaming generations of backlog but hey, I move on when I move on.
The idea presented in your video makes great sense and does go a long way to explain why I have such a backlog of not only games but books and shows/films.
I'm not actively seeking the optimal experience with any of it as the best experience will happen by chance in my experience and you cannot know how you feel until you dive in.

[luiseam]

Yoo what a gem of a video, this made me want to go finish up some crappy games. Hope ya channel grows fr

[amimm]

As someone that has completed every mainline Zelda game and has the oracle duology as my favorites, I

1) wish you luck.
2) only clicked in the video because oracle of ages was in the title and thought I was about to make an enemy until you actuqlly made some good arguments that I agree with about ages.

Overall good video

[sebastercats]

That Zeigarnik effect really sticks to me. It's exactly like how fear and anxiety works, it's an innate psychological effect that helps humans avoid the problem. Kinda like PTSD, the event scars the brain so that the person wouldn't have to go through that event again. But for zeigarnik, it's the responsibility anxiety.

My guess for games is to take a long break from ruminating and justifying the experience of the game. Anxiety is a curse, but it's not permanent. Either you face it or let it heal with time.

[dziadekSzmul]

Also add the concept of modding games and adding more and more mods to a game, literally spending more time preparing the game than actually playing it. Skyrim, fallout, stalker, when modding we are prolonging the time we interact with a game, delaying many times the point where we are supposed to actually finish anything.

[_IQ.points]

Great video. I love these types of videos on video game psychology and general video game analysis. You get the main points across without taking 30 minutes which is cool. Another reason why I finish games I don't enjoy is that sometimes they really do eventually get good. Happened to me in RDR2 and currently in Nier Replicant.

[Dangermad]

Was relieved you were specifically talking about the following, I love dying light but the following brings me pain. Imagine having an amazing parkour game and giving you a car in a field

[omegalynx]

Extremely relatable! This is something I've been encountering more and more often lately; I'll play a game that I've had my eyes on for a long time, and a couple of hours in, I realize that it's not as interesting as I expected. I remember that I had a much higher tolerance for flaws in games back in the days, but now that my free time gets shorter and shorter as my responsibilities pile on, I can no longer see myself finishing something that I don't fully enjoy.

Sometimes, whenever I'm at the brink of dropping a game, I'll think to myself, "what if the game gets much better later?" The reality is that the games that actually become dramatically more enjoyable as you get further, so much so that they justify the time commitment you spend to get to that point, are exceedingly rare. While persevering through an experience you don't immediate find gratifying can be extremely rewarding, it doesn't always so, especially with video games. I've made peace with this fact and decided to take the fear of missing out over sacrificing even more of my precious time, time which I can instead use to play more fulfilling games that will stay with me for a long time.

It is impossible to experience even a small portion of the games that pique your interest; missing out is just a part of enjoying things. You will probably miss incredible experiences by dropping games, you will probably even miss one of your favorite games of all time, but that's okay. You will find more great experience, and you will find another of your favorite games of all time. So, go ahead, drop that game you're not having fun with, and play something you truly care for!

[IAmMisterChops]

I have quite a huge backlog. It grows more than it shrinks, but something I do is if I get the itch to play a game I’ll start playing it. But after a few hours if I’m just not feeling it whatsoever, I’ll put it on the bottom of my backlog list. Maybe I’ll get to it again, maybe I won’t, it’s great that I want to try games that’s out of my comfort zone, but you gotta have fun with the game. Because if not, it’s a chore, not a hobby.

Plus, would you rather sit through a game that bores you to tears, or pick up the next game and possibly find your next favorite game?

And if you’re afraid of what other people will think if you don’t love the game everyone else loves, don’t worry about it. We all have unique tastes.

[BakaMitaiGuy]

First things first, you kind of outdid yourself with this one, I expected that you'd be someone with 20, maybe 30k subscribers but I was quite surprised to see that you only have 9 subs, didn't expect that you'd go this deep with such a small fanbase
Second, this was exactly how I felt about the half life series, for some reason I just didn't like them at all, I didn't hate them I just didn't enjoy playing it, but at first I was like "surely it'll be better later on" until I reached around the middle of the game, at that point I just quit the game and didn't want to play it again, I wanted to uninstall but then I thought to myself about the effort of getting the game downloaded due to my garbage internet, so I decided to play through all of it and honestly I don't regret it but I don't really think it was a good idea at the same time

By the way, I came from the short you made, didn't expect to ever come to a video by a short because most of them are honestly kind of bad but this one I was interested in because it was relatable, thanks for the content man, appreciate it

[thechugg]

I have some real trouble finishing games, when games reach so sort of "grind" or where they lose what made them fun because I have been doing the same thing for 10 hours, I usually drop them for the next game.

[SteelKreel]

Not finishing a lot of games in recent years is why I’m keen on just playing the same 3-4 games that I know I like and then every now and then pick up a new single player game that really catches my eye

[alexclaton]

now a days theres so many games that if im not having fun i just drop it. i also dont feel the need to complete the games and at the end of the day i dont HAVE to play these games. if i want to they are there but if i dont want to i can just ignore them. if i got bored with a game and dropped it i might go back and finish it when i regain interest if i do.

gaming is a hobby, not a job. instead of calling it a backlog call it a catalog cuz thats what it is for most of us. we have a catalog of games we can choose from if we want to and not a backlog that needs to get done for some job.

[Ehksoduss]

Welp, this hits really close to home. I was watching this while getting all Achievements in Shotgun King - though I don't even like Rouglelites that much, nor am I having fun. But I'm just missing 16 out of 80 now, so I feel like I have to continue so I can be done with it.l

This urge to complete stuff was something I noticed very early when I started playing games. On steam I have 40 Games in my 100% Completed folder, 11 in my completed folder and 19 (that are either not completed or multiplayer only games).

To combat having to complete everything I have (or absurd stuff like getting all 171) HoI IV Achievements), I created a "Not for me" folder, so I can just remove games I don't like from my field of view. And for me, that has actually helped quite a lot. This division between "unfinished, but I'll complete it" and "I forgot I even had this game" is something I would also recommend to anyone who suffers from the same.

[obenohnebohne]

I am sometimes guilty of pushing though. As a trophy hunter, I like to explore what a game has to offer. I started trophy hunting to revisit games. Sometimes it worked great, and I got an experience, that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Sometimes, it isn’t worth, but it helps finishing the bigger picture. Finishing games, challengeing myself has taught me new skills, with which I could finish other games. It is a journey and it feels good to cross off games.

[eliobrid]

i figure what i play of a game is what i need. if that means stopping halfway through, doing to the end, or not even playing it.

[skum]

I would like to see the follow up to this. Why you dont finish games you like. I do it all the time because i dont want the experience to end and then miss out playing them until the end.