this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026
57 points (96.7% liked)

Patient Gamers

19512 readers
1 users here now

A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.

Relavent communities: !games@lemmy.world !games@sh.itjust.works !retrogaming@lemmy.world !videogamesuggestions@lemmy.zip !linux_gaming@lemmy.world

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Every time I use Steam's discovery queue or any "what to play next" site, I get bombarded with stuff from the last 6 months. I get it - that's what generates clicks and sales - but it's genuinely unhelpful for how most of us here actually want to play.

I've been quietly working on a tool to change that. The core idea - your taste doesn't have an expiration date, so recommendations shouldn't either. Something from 2011 that fits exactly what you're looking for should surface just as easily as a 2024 release.

It's early and rough around the edges, but I'm at the point where I want to validate whether this is even a problem worth solving for other people or just a me.

If a recommendation algorithm for games like this existed - smarter discovery that actually respects older games - would you use it?

What features would make it genuinely useful vs just another thing you try once and forget about? I want it to be the tool someone actually recommends to a friend, not just upvotes and forgets.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If a recommendation algorithm for games like this existed - smarter discovery that actually respects older games - would you use it?

So long as it properly accounts for how needlessly inaccessible those older games tend to be. Which means, the algorithm has to also be good enough to recommend good pirate sources (and procedures), good tutorials for making stuff work, etc. There's no sense for me in getting recommended cool videogames from the 80s or 90s I can't play, the same way there's no sense for me in getting recommended cool TV shows from the 80s or 90s that are not even airing in the designated eternal-syndications channels in TV cable.

[โ€“] YUART@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 week ago

Hi, that's true. I thought to focus on games from GOG's library, because their support for a bunch of old games allows to play those games even on modern computers.

But yeah, there is a lot of good old games that will require shenanigans to play them nowadays