Video games are fun for me; that’s what they’re meant for.
They give me purpose and something to look forward to every day. They keep me pushing through difficult times and help me focus my anxiety, depression, and ADHD into a task.
For a lot of people, however, games may feel like a chore or job, and players are beginning to feel like they’re losing motivation to play. Many are giving up this hobby as they don’t feel the joy any longer.
Before we begin here today, this blog post idea was given to me by a mutual on Twitter by the name of @akaPhasma.
After you’re finished learning how to play video games for fun, go give her a follow.
Now, let’s begin.
How did I learn to keep gaming fun?
The first thing I did was completely cut out multiplayer to focus on single-player, story driven narratives.
It sounds kinda silly in this day and age with the EatSports, YouTubes, and the Twitch TeeVees, but hear me out.
Quit playing multiplayer games.
Once you focus on video game franchises such as Resident Evil, Mass Effect, Horizon Zero Dawn, or whatever — you’ll realize there’s so much more to video gaming than getting into Elite Smash or reaching Diamond in League of Legends.
You deserve a much better experience than dealing with toxic players every day, trying to reach an obscure rank in a never-ending pit of despair.
You’ll find yourself chasing a sempiternal goal that’s just out of reach.
I’d suggest leaving the multiplayer nonsense behind and signing up for GGApp.io (a free application for tracking your games) — and begin building up a backlog of video games to beat.
Start with setting a small goal.
Say you want to beat X amount of video games in a year, then set aside a backlog to do so.
I use www.HowLongToBeat.com to track how long it’ll take me to beat each game. This allows me to organize my game collection from smallest to largest to knock them out.
Use local game shops, or online stores, to score great deals on games so you can start building a small log of games to finish within your year of adventuring.
Quitting multiplayer games will give you a bigger outlook on video games as a whole and will allow you to focus your attention on excitement and anticipation for what’s coming out next.
Prior to reading this, do you know the releases for all the new games coming in June, 2021? If you don’t, then now is the time to change; there’s a lot of them.
My next tip for keeping video games fun is to stop your content creation.
There are millions of teenage wanna-be pro Esports stars out there making Twitch highlight reels of them hitting a long sniper headshot in Fortnite. It’s an oversaturated market and attempting to be different causes too many issues. As a gamer, I’d rather watch someone casually play through something I like, especially if they’ve never played it before. It allows me to pop into a small stream and have real genuine conversations with someone streaming a game.
Clout-chasing for stardom got old in 2012, and it’s time to stop doing it. It’s such an old concept now that YouTube stars just make shitty thumbnail clickbait for you to click on. The shiny, glory days of FaZe Clan hitting ladder stalls off Highrise is over, and before you start making prank videos thinking you’re going to hit it big, stop. Stop immediately. Think about this.
It’s time to stop trying to entertain an audience for fame and glory when there’s three million gamers just like you trying to “make it”.
You should stream or make YouTube content because you love what you do. The idea of stardom and money shouldn’t even cross your mind before having fun playing a video game in front of a camera. If you’re not genuinely enjoying yourself, then you won’t go very far.
More often than not, I don’t even watch people play something when I could be playing myself instead.
Don’t chase clout. Be yourself.
My third tip for keeping video games fun is relatively simple; use the gaming peripherals you are comfortable with.
When I first built my PC last year, I immediately realized that my mouse & keyboard and I weren’t getting along. It made anything outside of maybe The Outer Worlds, an FPS, difficult for me to control.
I made a comment on my Facebook about how I just didn’t like M&KB, and immediately got dismissed with, “Just give it time. It’ll grow on you”.
No. I don’t want it to grow on me. I’m going to use a controller because that’s how I like to play games. Keyboards are for working in a cubicle. Controllers are for video games.
Now, the argument of framerate and resolution is old.
If you’re a gamer, you’re going to play Final Fantasty IX on PS1 at 15fps, and you’re likely going to love it as much as Horizon Forbidden West at 4K 60fps.
It makes little difference if the game is actually fun.
So enjoy those SNES-like Octopath graphics as well as Resident Evil Village’s 4K resolution, the graphics don’t matter at all when they’re utilized right.
This next tip is crucial.
Stop listening to reviews. I stopped giving a fuck about reviews, and you should too.
Completely.
I don’t listen to another gamer’s opinion.
So-and-so told you that Mirror’s Edge was GOTY, and yet I had that trash uninstalled so fast, I could play in the “Flush Olympics”.
I formulate my own opinion on games.
Sure, a review can help you know what a game is LIKE but only you will know what clicks for you.
Fuck Metacritic and scored reviews.
The only opinion on a video game that truly matters is yours, and only you can tell you what you enjoy.
Use your best judgment, and see for yourself.
If you’re unsure of a game’s initial price tag, just wait for a sale to come around and don’t buy into the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) feeling you may receive.
It doesn’t matter at all if your homies all think Final Fantasy X is a groundbreaking game in the franchise; if you hate it, don’t play it — don’t even pretend you like it. Own up to that shit and be true to yourself.
Flush a game. Beat a game.
Just be genuine.
This goes directly into my next topic for keeping games fun; play video games exactly how you want to.
If you’re reading this article, shaking your head, and saying “fuck this guy”, then THANK GOD. That means you already know how to play games for fun. You already know how to play games the way you enjoy, and this isn’t for you.
It’s a relatively simple concept and an even simpler topic.
Nobody can truly tell you how to play a game or have fun while doing it. There’s so many ways to play games.
You should use whatever you’re comfy with, on whatever platform, with whatever graphics, framerate, or controller scheme you choose.
I personally play on every platform and I never stress myself out.
I play on Easy or Normal settings, and stay away from games like Dark Souls. The masochistic nature of a purely difficult challenge after an 8–12 hour long day of work is not for me. I’d rather crack a beer, open a box of pizza, and game away til 4:30AM — opening treasure chests and completing side quests along the way — not stressing myself out to an invisible audience trying to be perfect at something impossibly hard or tasking.
It’s okay to be a casual, and I strive to be the biggest one. I am an unprofessional gamer.
Don’t listen to anyone else. Ever.
Play on Easy, turn on accessibility options, use a guide.
Make sure you’re enjoying yourself no matter what and don’t let anyone take that away from you.
This next tip is tough in practice, but I find it essential and easy once you come to it.
Cherish everything.
Be thankful you get to play video games at all.
Many of us often overlook the finer details and often get hung up on stupid shit like a character’s gender, looks, or sexuality, when I’m simply over here looking at the texture on a tree and going, “Damn the wood on this tree looks fantastic. This mahogany?”
Stop complaining about stupid fucking shit.
Come together as a community, and be proud to be a video gamer amongst many of the others who share the same undying, flaming passion that you do.
Get excited for events such as the Nintendo Direct, PlayStation State of Play, and especially E3 2021!
If you have Twitter or Reddit, start posting about your love for a game, and entice others to try it so they can share your love, too. Don’t get hung up on something you hate, just focus on what you enjoy.
Join in on discussions about games and spread the positivity of excitement and love for it. There’s a ton of hype always going around in my Twitter circles, especially over Horizon and Scarlet Nexus as of today. It makes me so proud to be able to simply join in and become one with something so special.
I treat every single day like it’s a Friday Night, even if I have to work. Every single video game release that I’m hyped for is like Christmas.
I’m thankful to be a gamer and I play every single day.
My final tip for keeping video games fun is to avoid negativity and toxic behavior.
Unfortunately, every community has bad apples, but you don’t have to force yourself to eat shit.
If a game’s trash, don’t eat it, but if a person’s trash, delete it.
It’s relatively simple. Every platform from Twitter to PlayStation has this beautiful button that reads BLOCK.
It’s a magical button that, when pressed, immediately removes nonsense from your vicinity. They will no longer be a factor in your life.
The block and mute buttons are a gift, and should be exercised frequently with excessive use of deadly force.
You’re in constant control of what you see and hear on social media and in communities. If someone ever gives you the slightest edge or hint of malice, or are just plain draining to be around, that’s when it’s time to cut the line.
Alternatively, you should not be a fucking dickwad player either.
You should be the reason why your friends feel comfortable in gaming communities or social circles and never have to private their accounts.
You should be the change that people want, and people shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells for you.
Do not dictate how others have fun or play games. Don’t gatekeep or be obnoxious. Don’t spread negativity or bitterness because things don’t go your way.
Embrace change, and uplift others in the gaming community who might have different lives than you, such as female gamers or members of the LGBTQA+. Many games were geared towards straight males for decades, but the demographic is far larger than just them.
Do the right thing always, and it won’t matter if it’s video games or any other outlet in life, good things will come to you.
To conclude, I cannot simply make video games fun for you. In fact, depending on some specific circumstances, they may not even be for you at all, or you may even be in the wrong place and will be much better somewhere else.
Whatever it may be, I hope that I could give you an understanding on why I don’t play video games for work. I don’t make them a chore, and I don’t play them for other people. I play them for myself, and my own enjoyment.
Always remember to stay true to yourself and do one very important thing —
Play some fucking games.
- Vohris
