Video Game Book Club

So I was wondering if anybody would be interested in starting/joining a video game book club thingy? Like we would choose/vote on a game then we'd all play it and discuss it like a book club, but with games. HLTB is the only gaming community I'm apart of and none of my real-life pals play video games so I would love to have a group to talk about games with.

Game of the Month general rules:
One nomination per member each month.
Only nominate a single game (not a series).
Only nominate games that have not already been selected previously for Game of the Month.
Vote on however many games you like but only games you actually plan on playing yourself.

Video Game Book Club FAQ (v2019.02 by tiamat911):

Q: What is the Video Game Book Club and how does it work?
A: It’s like a Book Club, but with games. People get together and play the same game at the same time and then meet to talk about it. Once a month, members nominate a game. Once we have enough nominations, we vote. The game with the most votes becomes the Game of the Month.

Q: I see, but what happens after that?
A: Interested members will play the game during the month and have a discussion about it in a dedicated thread on How Long to Beat’s forum. Just like with a Book Club, the goal is the talk about our experience with the game, its setting, gameplay, music, story and so on.

Q: That sounds fun! Are there more benefits?
A: Sure! Getting involved in the Video Game Book Club could make you discover games you didn’t know about. Reading discussions about the game could also spark some interest in a game genre you never thought about playing before. Sometimes, it’s also a good place to ask for tips or help without getting spoilers you might get from a full walkthrough. If you were not sure about liking a game or not, the discussions could help you make a decision.

Q: Is it possible to go back and read discussions about previous game selections?
A: Of course! There is a dedicated tab in the Gaming section of the forum. All previous Game of the Month thread have been put there for that purpose.

Q: Wait! Does that mean that these threads are now closed?
A: Nope. If you play one of the previous Game of the Month, you can add your own thoughts in the corresponding thread. I’m sure other members would love to know what you thought about your playthrough.

Q: Do I have to start the game on the 1st, and complete it before the month ends?
A: No, you don’t have to. You start when you want and play at your rhythm. The Club is for fun, not to push you to play a game really fast without enjoying it.

Q: Do I have to participate in the discussions? Is it opened to all members?
A: Although you do not have to be part of the discussion, it would be fun if you did. This is a fun community and we would love to get your input on the games you are playing. That’s also the main purpose of the Video Game Book Club.

Q: I want to get involved but I’m new to this. Are there any rules?
A: Unwritten rules were created over the years and evolved with time. This FAQ is some kind of way to put these rules in a written form.

Q: I see, so how can I nominate a game? Can I nominate just about anything?
A: You can’t nominate a game that’s been previously selected as the Game of the Month. A thread is already open for previous games and there are no reasons to start a new thread for that purpose. Also, although this is not an obligation, nominating a game that’s more common and/or cheap and/or available on multiple platforms is recommended. That way, more people can play the winning game, or even buy it if they’re interested enough. Many previous Game of the Month were games given for free on a digital store.

Q: I can nominate as many games as I want?
A: No. We want members to nominate only one game otherwise the voting because a nightmare and there are just too many games to choose from.

Q: Since I can only nominate one game, can I vote for more than one?
A: Yes, you can. As long as you vote for games that you actually want to play if it wins. There is no point into voting for a game if you have no intention of playing it. We want people to play games and have discussions about them.

Q: I don’t have much time to play, do I have to nominate a short game or can it be a longer one?
A: It depends. As a rule of thumb, it would be best that you nominate a game for which the average completion time is less than 30 hours. That’s one hour per day of gaming which should be short enough for those who don’t have much free time on their hands. It’s also short enough for hardcore gamers to complete quickly so they can resume their regular backlog for the rest of the month.

Q: What about really short games? Can we nominate multiple titles in a series if we think it’s short enough?
A: No. This was part of some discussions lately and the community voted to have only one game as the Game of the Month.

Q: I get it, no series. That means there will always be only one game per month, right?
A: The only exception is October. It’s called the Creature Triple Feature. In October, we vote for three games as part of a Halloween Special. Nominations must be for games related to Halloween in some way (horror, scary, stressful, monsters, etc.)

Q: If my nomination doesn’t win, can I skip the Game of the Month this time and play the game I nominated anyway?
A: Of course! Nobody is forcing you to play a game you don’t own or do not like. The main goal of this website is to give you a tool to manage your games and playthroughs. After all, we’re all here to play video games and have fun, right?

Q: Cool, got it! When can we nominate a game, how do we vote?
A: Usually, nominations start seven or eight days before the end of the month on the Video Game Book Club thread. When there is two or three days left to the month, a survey is created and you can vote. On the 1st of the month, the results will be revealed and a new thread will be created for the winning game.

Q: That’s it?
A: Yep, I think it’s all there! Happy gaming!

I'd be up for it. Might be a good way to get me working through my backlog!

Definitely. I suggested something similar (or maybe I thought about it and forgot to post about it I can't remember lol), a while ago but never really acted on it, so I'd definitely get on board. I think, especially with the nature of HL2B's community, you could potentially get some deep and meaningful discussion when focusing on a specific game.

Choosing a game to play would be the biggest problem

Going by the other group, RPGs tend to provide the best discussion, as they are different for each person. Whereas a platformer or something similar won't garner much to talk about. RPGs also tend to be quite long, though, so we used "shorter" ones like Vampire Bloodlines Masquerade and System Shock 2.

I like the idea! I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on games and share my own. :)

Some questions though:
- Should we make a new thread every time a new game is being discussed?
- Should there be a length limit for the games to be played?
- Who picks the games to be played?

I'd be up for it. Could be fun.

I like this idea, although I think game choices may limit the amount of people who get involved

I love this idea, but I'm not sure if I'd have the same systems as most on here. I don't have a gaming PC, so I feel like that would severely limit me for this. Maybe there could be seperate forums for different console/PC owners and maybe like a legacy forum where NES, SNES, PS1, etc. are played.

Game of the Month general rules:
One nomination per member each month.
Only nominate a single game (not a series).
Only nominate games that have not already been selected previously for Game of the Month.
Vote on however many games you like but only games you actually plan on playing yourself.

Video Game Book Club FAQ (v2019.02 by tiamat911):

Q: What is the Video Game Book Club and how does it work?
A: It’s like a Book Club, but with games. People get together and play the same game at the same time and then meet to talk about it. Once a month, members nominate a game. Once we have enough nominations, we vote. The game with the most votes becomes the Game of the Month.

Q: I see, but what happens after that?
A: Interested members will play the game during the month and have a discussion about it in a dedicated thread on How Long to Beat’s forum. Just like with a Book Club, the goal is the talk about our experience with the game, its setting, gameplay, music, story and so on.

Q: That sounds fun! Are there more benefits?
A: Sure! Getting involved in the Video Game Book Club could make you discover games you didn’t know about. Reading discussions about the game could also spark some interest in a game genre you never thought about playing before. Sometimes, it’s also a good place to ask for tips or help without getting spoilers you might get from a full walkthrough. If you were not sure about liking a game or not, the discussions could help you make a decision.

Q: Is it possible to go back and read discussions about previous game selections?
A: Of course! There is a dedicated tab in the Gaming section of the forum. All previous Game of the Month thread have been put there for that purpose.

Q: Wait! Does that mean that these threads are now closed?
A: Nope. If you play one of the previous Game of the Month, you can add your own thoughts in the corresponding thread. I’m sure other members would love to know what you thought about your playthrough.

Q: Do I have to start the game on the 1st, and complete it before the month ends?
A: No, you don’t have to. You start when you want and play at your rhythm. The Club is for fun, not to push you to play a game really fast without enjoying it.

Q: Do I have to participate in the discussions? Is it opened to all members?
A: Although you do not have to be part of the discussion, it would be fun if you did. This is a fun community and we would love to get your input on the games you are playing. That’s also the main purpose of the Video Game Book Club.

Q: I want to get involved but I’m new to this. Are there any rules?
A: Unwritten rules were created over the years and evolved with time. This FAQ is some kind of way to put these rules in a written form.

Q: I see, so how can I nominate a game? Can I nominate just about anything?
A: You can’t nominate a game that’s been previously selected as the Game of the Month. A thread is already open for previous games and there are no reasons to start a new thread for that purpose. Also, although this is not an obligation, nominating a game that’s more common and/or cheap and/or available on multiple platforms is recommended. That way, more people can play the winning game, or even buy it if they’re interested enough. Many previous Game of the Month were games given for free on a digital store.

Q: I can nominate as many games as I want?
A: No. We want members to nominate only one game otherwise the voting because a nightmare and there are just too many games to choose from.

Q: Since I can only nominate one game, can I vote for more than one?
A: Yes, you can. As long as you vote for games that you actually want to play if it wins. There is no point into voting for a game if you have no intention of playing it. We want people to play games and have discussions about them.

Q: I don’t have much time to play, do I have to nominate a short game or can it be a longer one?
A: It depends. As a rule of thumb, it would be best that you nominate a game for which the average completion time is less than 30 hours. That’s one hour per day of gaming which should be short enough for those who don’t have much free time on their hands. It’s also short enough for hardcore gamers to complete quickly so they can resume their regular backlog for the rest of the month.

Q: What about really short games? Can we nominate multiple titles in a series if we think it’s short enough?
A: No. This was part of some discussions lately and the community voted to have only one game as the Game of the Month.

Q: I get it, no series. That means there will always be only one game per month, right?
A: The only exception is October. It’s called the Creature Triple Feature. In October, we vote for three games as part of a Halloween Special. Nominations must be for games related to Halloween in some way (horror, scary, stressful, monsters, etc.)

Q: If my nomination doesn’t win, can I skip the Game of the Month this time and play the game I nominated anyway?
A: Of course! Nobody is forcing you to play a game you don’t own or do not like. The main goal of this website is to give you a tool to manage your games and playthroughs. After all, we’re all here to play video games and have fun, right?

Q: Cool, got it! When can we nominate a game, how do we vote?
A: Usually, nominations start seven or eight days before the end of the month on the Video Game Book Club thread. When there is two or three days left to the month, a survey is created and you can vote. On the 1st of the month, the results will be revealed and a new thread will be created for the winning game.

Q: That’s it?
A: Yep, I think it’s all there! Happy gaming!

I was thinking of a game of the month type format as well. I'm not sure how'd we agree on how much to play by certain intervals, like if we chose Final Fantasy 1 maybe we'd play around 5 hours a week (about 25% of the games time going by the Combined Stat) but I'm not sure if people could/want to dedicate so much time a week to the club.

I love this idea, but I'm not sure if I'd have the same systems as most on here. I don't have a gaming PC, so I feel like that would severely limit me for this. Maybe there could be seperate forums for different console/PC owners and maybe like a legacy forum where NES, SNES, PS1, etc. are played.

I'm in the same boat so the games we chose will have to be readily available, so multiplat titles, games available from digital download, or emulation

I'd definitely love to be a part of this. Might give me a kick in the pants to get through a lot of games I've been neglecting.

I am very up for this, would love to get involved if we can set it up!

How would the games be nominated? There are so many of them...

Probably each person involved can nominate one game of their choice and then we decide amongst that pool of games which we will play.

Theoretically I'd love to try this, but like others I don't know how the logistics of it all would work out. Still, I'll tentatively RSVP.

I would think that the best option of choosing the game would be everybody selecting one game. Then there would be a voting, where you need to vote on a game that is not the one that you picked (because people would probably vote for the game they picked).

Or, there could be each week three people responsible for picking one game each, and the rest would vote to choose one of those three.

I don't know, those options seems like a doable thing.

@uzomi & pongsifu
I think everybody, or whoever wants to, nominating a game then all of use voting would be the best way. So if anybody has any nominees post them and maybe why you think we should play them.

Okay, I'll kick things off with my nomination, Beneath a Steel Sky

For those who've never heard about it, the game is a point-n-click game from the golden era of the genre, set in a dystopian future. My reasons for nominating it are:

-It's free on GOG with very basic PC requirements, so there's no financial barrier to entry for anyone
-You could also get the iOS port if you want to play it on-the-go
-I've been meaning to play it for a while, so it will give me an excuse to finally play it ;)
-I really dig the dystopian vibe it gives off; it feels futuristic, yet very possible and real
-It looks like the kind of game that would provide a lot of talking points

...On a side-note, we could arrange a google hangout or skype chat to discuss the game, instead of/as well as discussing it on the forums?

Okay, I'll kick things off with my nomination, Beneath a Steel Sky

For those who've never heard about it, the game is a point-n-click game from the golden era of the genre, set in a dystopian future. My reasons for nominating it are:

-It's free on GOG with very basic PC requirements, so there's no financial barrier to entry for anyone
-You could also get the iOS port if you want to play it on-the-go
-I've been meaning to play it for a while, so it will give me an excuse to finally play it ;)
-I really dig the dystopian vibe it gives off; it feels futuristic, yet very possible and real
-It looks like the kind of game that would provide a lot of talking points

...On a side-note, we could arrange a google hangout or skype chat to discuss the game, instead of/as well as discussing it on the forums?

I totally support that game, I also have been wanting to play it for a while now. Its only 6h, free and can run in a toaster. Plus the story looks interesting and easy to discuss.
The only downside I can think of is that not everyone likes point and click games, but we'll see what people think.

But I don't think the hangout/Skype is that good of an idea because of time zones.

I also support Beneath a Steel Sky. I have meant to play that one but never got time or other games got my attention. It looks interesting enough and it's free so anyone can play it.

Seems good to me.

Beneath a Steel Sky sounds like a good game to start things with. It has been on my list of things to play for a while now!

So, shall we start?