Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet
full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one
I'm dealing with the decision.
Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has
been published recently, within the last two or three years.
Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered
"classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be
PanzerGruppe Guderian.
Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing
games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam
games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more
than most people.
Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of
game design.
Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game
from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic
tried and true.
Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all
the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated
which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through
a very large or long game.
There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy
enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with
a sense of progress.