The Factory never stops growing. Never.

First and foremost, gaming isn't my job and I haven't signed any contracts promising to do or not do anything. I play entirely for fun.

With that in mind, I don't actively stop playing games. I just play whatever I'm in the mood to play at the moment, and if that's something other than what I was playing before, that's just the way it is. The fact that I had been playing some particular game before that doesn't really enter into it.

So the games that I keep playing I keep playing because they keep holding my interest. And if they don't, then I just end up playing something else instead.

I stop playing when it stops being fun. Are you having fun, or are you slogging through for the achievements? Sometimes achievements breathe new life into a game, making it challenging to try some new play style. I remember spending a lot of time on the Burnout crash challenges trying to squeeze more value out of each crash to unlock cool trucks. Eventually I realized I wasn't enjoying the crashes, I was counting frames to try to time precise collisions based on cheater's guides, and I'm like "What the fuck am I doing this for?" It was fun, and then it wasn't. That's the time to stop.

it depends on the game. there are some games that I will never really stop playing, even if I take long breaks. for others, if I lose interest partway through the story, I either move on or set it aside for another go in the future... assuming I still think it's worth playing.

I just go with what I want to play (or sometimes what I want to want to play, if it's not what I typically go for). I deal with enough rules and pressures in my life to add yet another thing to the list.

we have such a limited amount of precious time on earth. why would you waste it on something that has practically no benefit except for a number on a screen?