When do YOU decide to give up on a 'boring/dull' game?

[Reo REbOrn]

Hey!

At the moment I am about to give up on The Outer Worlds. The gameplay is.. okay but the story is boring and for an RPG that isn't great. I'm on about the 3rd-4th main quest and It's REALLY just not gripping me. TBH i have zero idea who is who or what is going on due to not being into the story at all. I am in two minds whether to give up as this will be the third game in a row (Last two were Death Stranding and Suicide squad). I used to be a die hard "I HAVE STARTED SO I MUST FINISH" type. However, I am currently a carer for a family member and hardly have any time for gaming so my time is valuable. This has made me more willing to quit games when I don't see much point.

I've always been interested in this and would love to hear every ones point of view on this subject. As gamers we ALL come across these games where we think "I'm not into this." but when/what makes you decide "Enough is enough?"
Is there a certain criteria that you have to meet before you give up?
Do you have a time limit? (After two hours if i don't enjoy this im giving up)
A set amount of quests? Etc.

[Tito Shivan]

I bought The Outer Wilds (Yeah, not the same game) due to the very good spoiler-free reviews from people I value...
Went in blind, and once I learned what the gameplay loop was I dropped it, because it's the polar opposite of what I find engaging in a game. took a bit more than 2 hours.

One of the lessons I learnt log ago is "You don't need to finish every game you own"... Once I stop being engaged in a game, I simply leave it and play something else. I have too much backlog as to spend time in something I don't find fun anymore. I can always pick it up later (I took like two years between starting and finishing Bioshock Infinite) if I gain interest again in it.

There's too many things to play and too little time as to lose it with something I don't find fun anymore.

[matt]

It's actually a bit rare that I buy a game and dislike it to the point that I consider uninstalling the game. I trust my instincts and -- along with a bit of research -- they rarely let me down.

However, there have been times that I bought games because of buzz, which I generally don't do. Stuff like "if you liked X, you'll love Y!", except that Y turns out to be "X for idiots". I might play for about 15 minutes and quit.

If it's not an "X for idiots" type situation, I'll probably keep pushing through. If it doesn't grab me, I might abandon the current playthrough and put it on the backburner to be played again later. There are a lot of games sitting in limbo like that because the start wasn't exactly thrilling. I'll get around to trying them again some day, I guess.

[Ogami]

Honestly, if i am not feeling the game after 4-5 hours ( with longer games like RPG) then i think its ok to stop.
Its ok if games are just "not for you", everyone is different.
Like the games you mentioned, "Outer Worlds" i played through twice, once when it released and once later with the DLC, liked it well enough ,just a bit too short.
"Death Stranding" is one of my top 10 games of all time so we definitely differ in taste there but i also love how weird Kojima can be and i actually love the gameplay cycle in that game.
"Suicide Squad" on the other hand i tried for a while and could just not get into it so i stopped it after a few hours.

Thats just how gaming ist. You ran into three games in a row you did not vibe with, its rare but can happen.
Games should be FUN, they are a free time activity we are supposed to enjoy.
If you dont enjoy the time you are spending with the game just move on.
Nothing wrong with that.

[Start_Running]

1 hour

[datCookie]

Was playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Got myself through the prologue, played for about an hour after it and was just so bored by the endless dialogue and lack of anything going on that I put it down and have never picked it back up again.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Reo REbOrn:

Is there a certain criteria that you have to meet before you give up?

Nope. When I feel I don't want to finish this, I abort the playthrough.

[Volfogg]

Dunno... I'm adamant "I paid for that, so I must finish it." type. It can range from 20 to 500 hours depending on game length for me to even start considering switching titles.

[ReBoot]

If a game doesn't grip me, like, at all, after several hours, I drop it. What's the point of carrying on if I'm not having a good time?`

Some games, I put unto the backburner to come back to once I'm in a state of mind that actually suits the game. Other games, I hide in my library knowing there's no state of mind I can reach that'd make me enjoy it.

[Burnt Toast]

probably within the first hour or so. first impressions are a big thing for me

(also if i decide its boring and i dont like it within 2 hours i get to refund it)

[Princess Luna]

if Gameplay is boring - time to leave

[Princess Luna]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Death Stranding

Hideo Kojima is greatest pranker.
Released game with simple dull gameplay - a courier tasked with delivering supplies to isolated colonies but thousands of people convince themselves that Kojima cant do bad game and Stranding becomes better

Well - before was Keiji Inafune with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_No._9

[LaeLena]

I play until a game stops being fun and then I might return to it later if the only problem was that it was boring. I mean there are so many reasons why a game might feel boring and it isn't always really the game's fault. Like maybe I've played the genre too much recently or just wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy it etc. And with story focused game it often is that there are too many irl distractions to really focus on the game so it starts to feel like boring lecture instead of something intriguing.

However for new purchases I always set a timer for 1h 45mins so I can refund if I haven't gotten into it by then. Usually I know way before the timer goes off tho.

[J4MESOX4D]

I usually give a game a couple of hours and if I am confident I have seen all there is to see and that there is no dramatic improvement or change of pace, then I will duck out. There are a few games that may get off to slow starts and others that aren't reflective of the entire experience but some, namely open world games, may just fail to grab me early on and the prospect of spending 35-50 more hours does not appeal so it's time to leave.

I actually think Starfield was the most remarkably dull tedious experiences I have ever had and I was so relieved and happy when I got a refund and didn't have to force myself to endure another minute.

[ogle]

Uninstall and cry a little bit

[ErickaUnlimited]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

1 hour

About this for me as well. If it doesn't catch me in the beginning, then I move on. I have so many games in my backlog that if someone doesn't feel interesting right away, I'll move on to something else.