Hey folks, just wanted to ask, do you know that feeling when you want to play a game, but at the same time you don't, idk why but it happens to me here and then, some call this phenomenon "gaming fatigue".

Maybe part of the symptoms are that we have too many choices nowadays, idk.

But it really pisses me off, how am i supposed to finish my games this way, it's really frustrating sometimes.

How are you folks dealing with that feeling?

I tend to just fall back to old safe games, like Actraiser or Soul Blazer. Charming enough to carry themselves, but not deep enough to actually require any depth.

If it also applies to other things, can call it depression too.
And in my case, often also a symptom of perfectionism, I can't do something "just right", or am just worried that I won't, like being unsure of character development or the consequences of a choice, and can't get myself to push through.

And often don't deal with it, just don't play, why I finish so few games and take so long with them.
If I do, it's often a matter of just pushing through. Like with everything else. Like a chore.

One strategy might be to have some short low-investment games in your rotation. For example, perhaps some older action games from the days before saving was a standard feature (in practice this means NES-era and shortly afterwords).

Sometimes it can just be a special mode of the game, like Ys Origin's arena (must beat game first to unlock), Bloodstained's Classic Mode (which is an entirely separate game that's more like Castlevania 1), Boss Rush modes in some games, and the likes. Or it could be a mod that lets you do this, like Celeste's randomizer mod.

Or it could be a game like Downwell or Super Hexagon. (Notice that both these games have a base cost of $2.99? That's because they're short games, and short games may be what you need here.)

Basically, you're looking for the sort of game where you don't make progress toward finishing, but rather can play a short, entirely complete, run of the game.

I... do something else? Until I feel like playing again. Or play something else, in case I get tired of a particular game. At least that's usually the plan.

I've had an on and off relationship with Total Annihilation, but I've managed to finish its main campaign after 2 years, now I'm slowly trudging through the expansion, playing whenever I feel like it.

Long story short, if it starts feeling like a chore, it probably is. With gaming, unless you're a professional gamer, you're really on your own timetable and should fit things as you feel comfortable with them.

This is one of the two reasons I've been struggling increasingly to finish a lot of the games I play (the other being "shiny other game in my backlog I've just been dyyyyying to play" that eventually gets less appealing and the cycle repeats).

It's especially challenging with a lot of RPGs not just because they're long enough to increase the chance that this will happen over 40+ hours of gameplay, but because it's daunting (usually story- or map-wise but sometimes gameplay-wise) to come back again when you're ready to return but can't figure out what the hell you were doing or how to get going again.

I usually play shorter or casual games when not really in a mood for grinding tougher or harder ones.

Definitely. Whenever I know that a game will take 50+ hours to finish (so mostly RPGs), I have to be in the right mood to start and finish it. I still have some in my backlog (like the entire Witcher series) which have been there for years now. I finished Greedfall just yesterday and can tell that it will be weeks, maybe months, before I start another big RPG.

Basically, the longer the expected playtime is, the longer it takes to make myself eventually commit to playing it. But once I do, I play to the end in 99% of the cases. I very rarely quit a game. The only one I can remember is the first Witcher, because I just couldn't decide between Polish or English VO. I put off the decision and never returned to it :P

man the fuck up and game

I don't know if it's gaming fatigue but sometimes I feel like I have to take a break from some games and usually happens when the game fails to engage me anymore or becomes monotone or boring because of repetivive gameplay or predictable story or forced mechanics.
There's no much incentive to keep playing then and sometimes I feel like I had enough of it but I suspect that's not entirely me but the game that's is dragging itself for some reason or another.

Yeah, happens a lot, but I don't really notice it to be honest. It does sometimes keep me from finishing games, but it's that's not super important to me. I just rotate my library to whatever drives my fancy. I use gaming as a pastime, not as a goal to achieve anything. If it happens it's completely unintentional and an added bonus.

Ditto. Good thing (?) my backlog is so humongous, I've got plenty of other stuff to pick. ;)

I do this weird thing where I don't play games when I'm not really feeling like playing games.

Few ways -

Writing - Best way to turn playing fatigue into something good is to write something about the stuff you've played. Tends to help inspire something to play instead.

Painting - Painting table top stuff (mostly Warhammer) is my go-to option. Mainly for the disconnect from the screen and noise of life, just to paint some angry green fellas. Plus, it's always cool to learn new skills as you do it.