Now before we get started, please note this is about those of us who collect games, or who want to, and not about gamers who don't or those who even denigrate collectors.

So please refrain from replying if you are one of those last mentioned. We are not interested in your world view, about what you perceive as our addiction, etc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many of us collect games, both here at GOG and maybe elsewhere.

If like me, you have been doing so for years, perhaps even way back to the days of discs and even floppies, you must eventually reach a point where you ponder on the sense of continuing to do so.

Sure, I have huge list of games at Steam for instance, of which 99.9% are freebies. It is a similar case for me with Epic. I kind of don't count them much, because while I have collected them, they aren't really in my possession, though a few I have grabbed the DRM-Free Lite version of.

It is a different story with GOG, and bunch of DRM-Free games I have collected from elsewhere, like ZOOM Platform and Itch.io and IndieGala and the Humble Store etc. I've downloaded all those and store them on drives.

At GOG in particular, I reached a bit of a milestone a little while back when I got past 2,000 entries in my GOG library. Not all of those are full games, quite a few are some variant of a Demo.

Now I believe in being a realist. So all along I have known that at some point I have to stop buying or acquiring more.

I've been governed by opportunity and price and availability. I've also not just bought them for myself, but also for my kids and their kids. I also believe that variety is the spice of life, so I have spread my collection across many genres.

I well realize, that in my remaining lifetime, I won't be able to play what I already have. So having continued to collect anyway, it isn't really about being able to do that. In fact, as I have often espoused to others, it is about the richness of choice, that has always motivated me, and I can say the same for my music CDs and movies and books.

Even so, there has to be a time when you reach some kind of sensible limit, and I now feel pretty close to mine,and I am trying very hard now to reduce what I get in all my areas of media. In short, I want to only get what really stands out or is part of something (a series) I already have.

The truth is though, a lot of things really interest me, so being cutthroat is a tough task at times.

In recent years I have seriously cutback on buying or acquiring music, done the same with movies and TV series, and the same with ebooks for most of the last year or so. The time for games is fast approaching, and in some way I have started already.

While I still, grab weekly free games from Epic, I rarely bother with Steam, which only happens in passing now when mentioned by others.

With GOG I have started skipping what I would likely previously have grabbed. I am trying to limit it to classics I always wanted to at least try, and a few series I have followed for years. Due to price changes in recent years, I have been helped, because many of the games I still want are just too expensive.

I've been a great supporter of GOG thus far, and I will continue to use them, but in a reduced fashion now. Probably for the best too, because I don't really like where they seem to be heading.

Anyway, it has been a pretty good run for me thus far.

Please feel free to add your own perspective.

Long Live GOG.

Eeeeeh, 1000 or so. More than enough games to last a lifetime.
I think that's about how many I own here and there, and could account for freeware games that I'd actually play.

I don't collect games per se, though, like everyone here, I do have a collection. As games got both more expensive
and more accessible throughout the years, due to BRL losing value, and freebies and large discounts being more frequently available, respectively, my collection got really large and it keeps getting larger... again, like everyone else in here.

So I don't think a count of games is something that matters to me, in the end. I always try to have some of my favorites nearby/accessible for when I want to replay them, but with time, it gets really hard to consistently do so. I mean, life gets in the way, and we inevitably always have something else on the list to play.

And it's very common that we find modern games here and there that safely fit this or that same gameplay experience design that our older favorites. I mean, for example, any of the last four Mortal Kombat games is a better experience than classic MK 1 to 3, and they also capture the spirit of the series so freakin' well, that it's very unlikely that I'll use whatever freetime I got to play those classic MK games extensively.

My eldest daughter is the only other gamer in my family so far, but her tastes are so different than mine that I doubt my collection will ever mean anything at all for her. As my late father's miniature motorcycle, cars, and trucks collection that is stored/displayed in my room at my mother's apartment doesn't really matter to me (though it's very cool and all).

When you have phisical collections, it matters because of space, and we do want to have our favorite things, games or whatever else, nearby and readily accessible, like youtuber Johnny Millenium usually says in his videos "These are memories". Sometimes people also go for complete this or that collection, but other than that, I think Johnny's assesment is the right one. I have a bunch of phisical books, many of which pending a read, but not too long ago, I gave away a bunch I had already read and knew I wasn't going to read again, nor cared enough about them, to make space for more books that I had bought. And I do have a lot more books that, once read, I'll probably get rid off as well, though I do have those that I treasure, even if I never get around to reading them again.

Back to games, it doesn't help that most modern games are 30 to 100 hour experiences, which severily limit our abilities to efficiently go through them with our limited times. There are so many games in my backlog that I'd normally already have played through that I never touched (and it hurts even more because sometimes I payed for them and they have since been given away for free)

It's less about the number, more about what the games offer (and on what terms).

I'll keep buying as long as there are compelling offers.

Unfortunately I feel like that has dried. I've only bought one game this year and seriously debating whether to ask for a refund...

Yeah, it is certainly not about any number, but the count is a kind of reference point, and my counts tell me I have a lot. If anything for me, it is about having a good mix of great and potentially great games, that expand my horizons and don't limit me to one type etc. So while I certainly have quantity, quality is also important to me.

And in the end, we only have so many hours in a day and a day in a life that we can devote to playing games, and also be in a fit state to play them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I certainly see many of my games and collections of such, as a treasure trove or lucky dip basket. I've taken care over choosing them, but I don't doubt many will surprise me one way or another.

I play games for the entertainment and the thrill, and especially something new, that might take me somewhere wonderful that I've never been to before. Some will no doubt educate me in various ways.

And when you interact with a game, you also interact with its creator(s).

For me it isn't about I must play them all, but rather that I would if I could ... time and opportunity being key factors. I was like that for a while, and Quake for instance is certainly my most played game. I had a break from gaming for almost a decade, and when I got back into it I wanted more out of playing games, and games have come a long way from when I first got into them ... so much more variety and realism and just inspirational and educational and entertaining in surprising ways.

Various things in life help us grow, expand our horizons, and it is usually through interactions with others, and a game can be like a window or a doorway into something similar. What gets contributed to a game can often spill out way beyond just the game.

Well, my game collecting is sorta controlled - but I do know the phenomenon well since I collect blu-rays. Which is kinda worse because whilst a digital collection is a number and saved data on a HDD, a physical collection has physical space which needs storage...

As for your title question: there is no "count" which is enough. It's about amassing those entertainment titles which are of interest. A number is an afterthought - although it is easier to get that wake-up call with a games collection when the platform gives you that little number. With a physical collection you have to bother to stand and actually count them all up.

I'm sure as I get older I'll realise my folly in "collecting" (games and other) but at the moment it's manageable and welcome. It's a side-hobby I can enjoy on my downtime, not my day-to-day life. In fact, having a large collection (of things) to pick from sometimes gets me that "there's too many to pick from" and gets me to do something constructive outside instead until my brain rights itself and I can finally pick something.

Like I said, it's just a number which isn't the goal. The goal is an ongoing enjoyment, not a peak to reach.

There's no set number for me. I will only stop buying when I can't find any further games I wish to try that my poor ancient computer (or whatever I replace it with eventually) is capable of running in a playable manner. I keep finding new things to try.

Now, with that said, my library is paltry compared to many of you. I'm getting close to a mere 40 here on GOG, none from any other online store (if they have no offline installers, they ain't gettin' my cash), and not counting consoles probably between 50 and 75 that I have physical media of. Though a handful of those have now been duplicated/obsoleted by the GOG version, like Pharoah and Wing Commander: Prophecy. I also bought Railroad Tycoon II because the disc I had refused to install on a 64bit OS.

So between GOG and disc versions, I probably have somewhere over 100, but not much more than that. I've never had a lot of disposable income (which is why I play offline on a computer that was new about 15 years ago), so I pick and choose my games very carefully to make sure I don't waste money on something I end up not liking.

When GOG began TRYING, but failing, to extort VAT from a member who lives on a Pacific island on the other side of the world, and therefore most certainly not an EU resident. We know you're short on the "readies", but that's no excuse to abruptly change a policy you observed for years, thereby losing our respect. Say Sayonara to our business, GOG!

I remember a moment, either my late teens or early twenties, where I realized almost all my games were Fighting games on the PS1, or FPSs on the PC. So I started diversifying a bit whenever possible.

It took quite a while for me to have a good variety, but, back then, it was worth it. :)

I've honestly stopped collecting. I was young (with an income) when the Steam-driven digital revolution started and discounted game bundles, as well as the Indie surge really began in earnest. I went bananas, making up for a mispent youth where I didn't always own the games I played. I now own the digital license to around 1800-2000 games (even counting out doubles, re-releases, ports etc.), more than I will ever have the time to play (although thankfully I'm able to share some of these unplayed games with friends and family who will).

I have become extremely conservative now of the games I buy. Instead I maintain a series of wishlists on services I'd be happy to play those games, which effectively acts as a supplemental library for all the difference it makes to the 'real' list of games I own. So many of those have been made freebies over recent years, before I'd ever get the chance to play them. I have literally only a handful of games left I'd like, purely to fill out a collection or series. I just wait patiently for the price to be right at the right time, if I don't receive them for free before then.

Otherwise, for new and popular games I wait to see how the reviews pan out, for the dlc cycle to finish and buy the goty version only if I know I have the time and inclination to actually play them straight away. Otherwise they can just live as one of the many titles sitting on my wishlist. Life's short, buy and play only what you really want to.

I've mostly come to realize that having a huge physical collection is more a burden than anything. Every time that faithful remaster comes along, I get that much sadder that I've ever invested in a physical copy on an inferior console. Very hot take, I know. I don't like physical media and feel like a hoarder every time I look at my PS2 and 360 games. It's all just collecting dust. I'm not a video game collector but definitely prefer to snag stuff while it's on sale... you know, just in case. These days, I'm digital only through and through.

That being said, I've got admiration and respect for folks who dedicate themselves to hunting down, collecting, and showcasing their collections of physical games. It's a different king of beauty that I can admire. Also, it's become more and more rare these days since that sort of media is on its way out.

To answer a question, since I'm all about just having a digital collection, I don't have any sort of limit on the quantity. I likely won't even be able to pass it on when I'm gone either. Still, having that massive choice anytime I open my library is a good feeling.