When I was young and didn't have much money, it was a lot of replaying my favorite games over and over. I then mythologized those games, as we do.
When I got into early adulthood, I tried to play as many new games as I could and avoided replying my favorites. I felt a sense of duty to be an explorer. To me, that was part of the street cred of being a "gamer" since I was never into competitive multi-player games.
Now that I'm in my 40s, I have way more money than time, so my priority is maximizing stress relief. That means I don't feel any sense of duty - I just go for whatever feels good in the moment. If that means buying a game on a whim that I'm curious about, I do that. If it means reinstalling a favorite and playing it for the 7th time, I do that. I let my mood guide me completely.