For me, it has to be “souls like”. I don’t get much time to game so when I do, I want linear stories that are challenging but not to the extent that I can’t move forward without dying 100 times.
Also, sims that encourage a lot of DLC purchases - I’m an old school gamer and games used to come with all of the content - for one price. Now it’s just a given we have to hand over more money for half the game content.
I avoid games that requires internet to play that are not popular and do not provide a way to run your own server. I don’t want to buy games that won’t work anymore in a few years.