Abstract
Problem: Why would an experienced game designer spend hundreds of hours playing games they don't enjoy, and what does high playtime actually indicate?
Approach: Tim Cain walks through his personal reasons for investing significant time in games he doesn't like, drawing on decades of professional experience.
Findings: Playtime is a poor proxy for enjoyment. Professional research, curiosity about specific features, series analysis, morbid fascination, comfort, and "good enough" scratching of an itch all drive extended play independent of quality.
Key insight: Hours played does not equal hours enjoyed — designers (and players) have many legitimate reasons to sink time into games they don't like, and that's perfectly okay.
Context
Tim Cain had to privatize his Steam account because colleagues, fans, and industry people were drawing incorrect conclusions from his playtime numbers — most commonly assuming high hours meant he loved a game.
Source: Tim Cain's YouTube — "Why I Play Games I Don't Like"
Professional Obligation
As both a former studio designer and current contractor, Tim is expected to have well-informed opinions on competitors' games. These come up constantly in design meetings and email threads. He describes a recent example where a client team debated whether to include Feature A or Feature B — Tim could speak to both because he'd shipped games with each, including their side effects and system interactions.
He also recounts a meeting where someone claimed a competitor's game lacked a certain ability, only for Tim to point out it existed but was locked behind a skill or perk — which itself sparked a valuable discussion about discoverability and gating features behind character progression.
Curiosity About Specific Features
Sometimes Tim plays a game purely because he's heard it does something interesting — a particular UI approach, a graphical element, or a novel system. He wants to see how it feels in practice, whether it connects to other systems or feels "tacked on." He describes loving when features form an "incredible web" or "tapestry" of interconnected threads, and notes there's always something to learn even from games he doesn't enjoy.
Tracking Series Evolution
Tim plays entire series to see how designs evolve across entries, even when individual games aren't good. He's noticed a personal bias: he tends to prefer whichever entry he played first, regardless of objective quality. Beyond that, he finds it insightful to track how designers changed systems over time — skill-based becoming class-based, turn-based going real-time, crafting systems gaining or losing importance.
The Car Crash Effect
Some games are so bafflingly bad that Tim can't stop playing them. He compares it to not being able to look away from a car crash. He runs an internal monologue — "Why does the designer want me to do this? It isn't fun" or "Does she want me to hate her characters? Okay, I hate them" — essentially his own private MST3K. He acknowledges this is exactly why he can't stream: the running commentary would be entertaining to him but painful for the developers.
Good Enough Games
Sometimes Tim just wants a specific experience — a plain vanilla fantasy RPG with elves and dragons — and finds a game that's not great but scratches the itch. It does its job. It's the gaming equivalent of wanting a D&D session when no one's available to play.
Comfort Games
A few games earn heavy playtime simply because they're comfortable. Tim compares them to a worn pullover or ratty sweatpants — not the prettiest, not groundbreaking, but familiar and cozy. He knows exactly what the dungeons and quests will be like, and that predictability is the appeal.
The Moral
Tim closes with a clear message: it's okay to not like games, okay to play games you don't like, and okay to put hundreds of hours into games you don't like. He points to Steam reviews where people write "played 200 hours, don't recommend" and says he understands that impulse. What he doesn't feel the need to do is publicly name the games he dislikes — he's sure he dislikes games others love, and vice versa. The core point: playtime reflects reasons to play, not necessarily quality.
References
- Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq87YGJYXAU