I'd like to make a statement: of all the forms of visual/audio entertainment out there, video games continue to be one of the best and most-developed forms available to the public. Sure, you can read a book or listen to a song and be moved by it, but you can't stop halfway through the song to go off on a side tangent with the bassline or change one of the chapters to see how the book would end differently. Video games allow for anyone, even those who don't consider themselves creative, to tell stories and make their own little universes.
But in today's modern landscape of gaming, I'm often asked how to know what games are worth someone's time, especially considering the meteoric rise of AI and its potential for review-botting, generative storefront slop and so on. As someone who's been spending perhaps a little too much time (read: way too much time) browsing Steam, Epic Games and other storefronts looking for interesting nuggets, here's three tips I have for finding your next favorite game:
- Newsletters, newsletters, newsletters. Look, I get it. It can be extremely rewarding to find a game all by yourself that you deeply enjoy, but considering the honestly astounding number of games published to Steam every single day, those moments are likely far and few between. So why not let other people do the work for you? Newsletters are great for those who don't like to interact with sites like YouTube or Bluesky as much - you can sign up and forget about it until it pops up in your inbox with a nice collection of games to look through. One of my personal favorites is Indieformer (absolutely not sponsored but Josh if you’re interested hmu)
- If social media are more your speed, there are tons of great YouTube channels dedicated to pointing out interesting games across many different platforms - one of my personal favorites is ClemmyGames, who not only points out good games on PC, but also has videos dedicated to console releases if you're more of an Xbox or PlayStation fan.
- This one is a little painful for me to say: sometimes, the best place to look is at what's currently trending on YouTube. Look, I get it, most people probably don't want to play what a “cringe” YouTuber is currently milking for views, but let's be honest, if someone is playing a game and it's getting positive reception, chances are it's pretty good. I mean, just look at games like Undertale, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, or even something more recent like R.E.P.O.
Those are just a few ideas to get you started. Honestly, the best way to start is to pick something and dive in. With the number of demos on Steam as of late, there's no better time to try something out for yourself and see if it really is your cup of tea.
And who knows? Maybe you'll come to agree with me that video games really are one of the greatest things ever.