Bored of gaming, or time-anxious? Help please

[CharlesSickens]

Hi all,

I'm in my early 30s and play games fairly infrequently nowadays due to work/home commitments but when I do have time I nearly always spend it unable to choose what to play. When I do decide on a game, after an hour max I feel like switching off, even if it's a really good game. I feel frustrated and like I've wasted time.

Am I just bored of gaming as a genre? I don't know because a couple of times a year I'll play a game I really like and get absorbed by it but it's a pretty rare occurrence.

I have wondered if my lack of free time is making me anxious about using that time gaming and so I can't really 'sink into' a game and get into a flow with it.

I've reached the point where lately I've been thinking I should just sell my PS4 and give up gaming altogther but then I always feel a pull back towards it the next day, even when I know I don't have the free time to play.

Wondering if anyone else has this issue and how they deal with it? I smile when I think back to the days when I would be genuinely excited to play a game, then play it and become immersed and truly enjoy it. I really want to get back to that.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

[X Knight]

Hey, man. I know how you feel. I'm kind of in the same position.

Been a gamer all of my life since the NES days, and gaming has always been my main hobby and form of entertainment. But now I'm in my 30s with other priorities in my life and having dealt with some personal issues during the past few years. Like you, I've noticed that I just don't have the same desire or motivation or time to play games anymore.

When I do play, it's mainly for quick, pick-up-and-play sessions for an hour or so before I go to bed. But some days, I don't even feel like turning on the console and will just watch tv or go online on Youtube or something.

I don't know what solutions there are. Other than perhaps just focus on playing those games that you do find immersive or engrossing. Like, what genres do you like?

Or, maybe, focus more on games that are built around shorter play sessions. Like sports, racing, fighting, or wrestling games.

What I like especially about fighting games or games like WWE 2K, is that I can just fire up the games, play some matches, and then call it a day. Don't really have to worry about progressing through a story or exploring.

When it comes to story, it's usually an RPG (like Final Fantasy or Persona) that will engross and captivate me. Or an open-world game with a created character, where I can explore the world, immersed as that character.

So, I think it's a matter of narrowing it down to the type of games you really like and enjoy playing. And just focus on buying and playing those games.

If that means buying less games and spending less time playing, I think that's perfectly fine and normal as we go through different stages in life. But, I wouldn't just quit gaming altogether.

 

[CharlesSickens]

Hey, man. I know how you feel. I'm kind of in the same position.

Been a gamer all of my life since the NES days, and gaming has always been my main hobby and form of entertainment. But now I'm in my 30s with other priorities in my life and having dealt with some personal issues during the past few years. Like you, I've noticed that I just don't have the same desire or motivation or time to play games anymore.

When I do play, it's mainly for quick, pick-up-and-play sessions for an hour or so before I go to bed. But some days, I don't even feel like turning on the console and will just watch tv or go online on Youtube or something.

I don't know what solutions there are. Other than perhaps just focus on playing those games that you do find immersive or engrossing. Like, what genres do you like?

Or, maybe, focus more on games that are built around shorter play sessions. Like sports, racing, fighting, or wrestling games.

What I like especially about fighting games or games like WWE 2K, is that I can just fire up the games, play some matches, and then call it a day. Don't really have to worry about progressing through a story or exploring.

When it comes to story, it's usually an RPG (like Final Fantasy or Persona) that will engross and captivate me. Or an open-world game with a created character, where I can explore the world, immersed as that character.

So, I think it's a matter of narrowing it down to the type of games you really like and enjoy playing. And just focus on buying and playing those games.

If that means buying less games and spending less time playing, I think that's perfectly fine and normal as we go through different stages in life. But, I wouldn't just quit gaming altogether.

Really appreciate the reply, it's good to know I'm not the only one!

I guess it is partly that I define myself by my hobbies and gaming has always been one - so I feel like if I don't game as much then I'm losing something of myself. But like you said people change as their lives progress but there's no reason I can't just play for shorter periods casually and feel no obligation to play for hours and hours. I probably just need to relax and not take it so seriously and maybe not treating it as if it's a chore will allow me to enjoy it more again, I don't know.

Thanks for the ideas man.

 

[X Knight]

Really appreciate the reply, it's good to know I'm not the only one!

I guess it is partly that I define myself by my hobbies and gaming has always been one - so I feel like if I don't game as much then I'm losing something of myself. But like you said people change as their lives progress but there's no reason I can't just play for shorter periods casually and feel no obligation to play for hours and hours. I probably just need to relax and not take it so seriously and maybe not treating it as if it's a chore will allow me to enjoy it more again, I don't know.

Thanks for the ideas man.

Hey, no problem. Glad I could help. And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one going through this, too.

Oh, and you mentioned you have a PS4. Well, if you want to add a fellow hype member to your Playstation friends list, you can always add me. My PSN ID is: KnightPSX

 

[CB Fan]

Try to mix it up. I have found that I can no longer just sit at a tv and only game for some reason as I would feel like I need to move to the next thing (watch a movie or tv show on my list, YouTube, etc..). So now when I game I’ve usually got an episode of something playing on my iPad and I feel like the time wasn’t as wasted as I just completed two things I’ve wanted to do (play a game and scratch some things off my watch list). I just got through God of War (2018) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider doing that and I’m now on Avengers.