Gameplay Tracking: From GADD to Game Switcher

I started 2026 by playing video games for nearly 6 hours. I typically don’t have sessions of video gaming like that anymore, but it sure was nice to have everything line up for it to happen. I definitely had more of these sessions when I was in my 20s (during the 1990s), with fewer but a still decent amount in my 30s. So… I felt like a younger man for just one day. It was great.

I also started tracking the games I play and some time spent with each. After a failed attempt at using GamePal regularly in the Summer of 2025, I wiped the inconsistent data and started over. The results for my gameplay session? 9 different games played.

This reinforces some things about my gameplay habits that have been common since, well, childhood.

First, it’s worth mentioning that arcades were foundational in my growth as a video game player during the 1980s. Arcade games are not really intended to be played in long stretches for any one game, unless the player is “in the zone” and putting up a ridiculous score. That was me playing Track & Field in the mid-1980s; I was good enough at that game that I could extend one credit for long periods while achieving a top score (and milking my last token or two). Even when arcade games were less about score and more about seeing endings, it rarely took more than 30 minutes to do. So… coming from places where there was an assortment of games to play and that players moved on after anywhere between 1-15 minutes, I grew to enjoy games the same way.

When I started playing console games in the 1990s, I didn’t have a massive library to choose from. Games were expensive and disposable income was kind of limited (because adulting). Buying consoles at launch (i.e. the original PlayStation in 1995 and the Nintendo 64 in 1996) meant slim libraries to start, even if money wasn’t as tight. So I did play Ridge Racer and NBA JAM T.E. for hours and beat those games. I played Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64, while not being completely taken by them, because that’s what there was. Game switching wasn’t really a thing for me yet, like it had been in arcades.

Fast-forward to the 2000s, and things have changed. I began video game collecting, and gradually amassed a library of titles that’s literally thousands deep. It’s not just older video games, either. I have hundreds of games across the Switch/Switch 2 and XBox Series X. I have my own arcade, in a way. As such, game switching became a thing again. 99.5% of the games I owned saw gameplay sessions of less than an hour before bouncing to something else. There were times that I’d go back to a bounced game, but it wasn’t consistent.

I used to call this GADD, or Gaming Attention Deficit Disorder. In my early days of writing, I posted something about it as I was discovering that I couldn’t really focus on just one game for too long. I tried to approach it with some humor, but I was genuinely worried that my real-life ADD was bleeding into my time with video games… and I wasn’t happy about it. For a time, I tried to guardrail myself against flitting from game to game, telling myself that I had to finish one before moving on to the next. That didn’t work, as it only amounted to putting unnecessary pressure on myself for what’s supposed to be a fun pastime.

Now, I’ve accepted that game switching is just what I do. I sample dozens, if not more than a hundred, different games every year. I “beat” maybe a handful of those… and that’s okay. If I look at the games I played on New Year’s Day, many of them are arcade games or arcade-like. The Toaplan collections are compilations of literal coin-ops. (And I’m bad at them.) Golden Tee Golf Classics is the same kind of thing. Battle Axe is inspired by Gauntlet, an arcade game. Word Search by Powgi is something that’s easy to bounce off of after finishing a few of the puzzles. Donkey Kong Bananza feeds off of my OCD, and I tired of breaking blocks and smashing dirt after an hour. The longest time I spent with a game was 90 minutes with Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots, and that might have been longer… but I had to tend to laundry and have something to eat, so I found a good place to stop. I didn’t beat any games, but I didn’t ever feel the need to do so. I just had fun, and time flew by.

There will always be games that will break this trend for me. The BioShock trilogy, Super Castlevania IV, Contra NES, and most recently Terminator 2D: NO FATE are games that I go back to for extended sessions and play to “beat” them. For the BioShock games, it’s the story, pacing, and setting. For the others, each can be “beaten” in one sitting– often less than 90 minutes. Maybe I’ll add more as time goes on. But for the vast majority of games that I have played– and will play in 2026– I’m more than content to keep bouncing around, as long as the primary goal of having fun is achieved.