Being a gamer is fun, jumping into new and fantastical worlds to explore and conquer is a massive appeal for a busy, stressful life. Fitting that into a busy everyday life can be stressful and hard to do especially if you’re keen on keeping the sleep you already get. Plus without, we all know that ‘I gotta game’ itch that can start if you’ve gone to long.
This is a battle I’ve fought since the start of my adult life and I’ve gotten some pretty good learns from it! Plus, now a days, we need all of the extra help whether you’re stuck at home or in the mess of it all as an essential worker. Here’s what I can suggest:
Mobile Platforms are amazing for the commuter.
Mobile gaming has such a bad rep now a days, whether that be on smart phone or on hand held console. The Nintendo Switch was the first in a long line to really break that mold as it wasn’t just a mobile platform it was a sit at home console too.
Having a game that you can play while on the bus or during breaks can sometimes be enough to scratch that ‘Gotta Play’ itch.
Give yourself a day that has at least 1 hour to play.
We’ve all been there, we get on our favorite game and suddenly 4 hours have passed. Then there’s the sit back and evaluate our choices and there’s the self-beating up of ‘I shouldn’t have done that’, typically in a Hagrid voice.
During my week, I’ll typically plan out at least one day where I can get caught up on all the adulting stuff I need to do; writing and drawing for the blog, catching up on emails, bills and general correspondence. From there, I’ll have another day that is a lot more open. That’s the day I’ll have to catch up on games or do a stream or two.
Find a game that fits you and your playing style and makes you feel fulfilled.
Setting up all the gaming time int he world won’t matter if the game you’re playing always leaves you with a hole of ‘I still need to to do this’ or ‘It bugs me that this isn’t done’. A game is a release, a jump away from the normal, stressful world. Unless you’re job involves gaming, it shouldn’t stress you out!
Great example? My fiancée loves the aspect of flying and of open exploration. His go-to relaxing games are typically Spider-Man based or modded versions of Skyrim. A game that like would drive me nuts if all I had was an hour because it takes me longer than that to get all the loot in a dungeon! My games are more games that require time to level up and OP over everything. Get Rikku from Final Fantasy X completely through this path in the Sphere Grid? Give me an hour with my quick leveling weapon.
Be aware, balance is hard.
Keeping hobbies and duties straight in life is hard. In most games if you go and do side quests for hours your main quest isn’t deterred, but in life it doesn’t work that way. Be kind with yourself if you need a day to just tune into a game, where some people need a day at the lake, you may need it with your favorite group.
