No More Time to Play Video Games? Here’s How You Can Still Enjoy Them Casually

As we grow older, we start to take on more responsibilities that ultimately eat into time that we’d spend on hobbies. If you’re someone that grew up with video games, then you might miss the days of sitting at your PC or in front of the television enjoying your games into the early hours of the morning. But now that you’re all grown up with a job and perhaps even kids, it can feel like you’ve lost all of that magic and wonder of video games, and it can be really hard to make time for it because of everything else on your plate.

 

But you don’t have to play games all day to enjoy them! In this post, we’re going to give you some sound advice and a few tips to help you continue enjoying games casually even if you’ve got a lot of adult responsibilities to handle.

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Make time for your gaming just like any other hobby

 

It’s totally normal for adults to enjoy games for fun. It’s just like any other hobby! Some people like to do some gardening, others like sports, and some people have fun painting. If you enjoy video games, then there’s nothing wrong with calling it your hobby! Don’t be ashamed to do so, and don’t be afraid to set time aside for that hobby.

 

Let’s say you only have a few hours each day to enjoy your hobbies. You can schedule that time and focus on finishing other tasks and responsibilities so that you can play in peace without worrying about other things. Similarly, many people like to indulge on the weekends, reserving an entire day just to play video games with their friends! It might involve inviting them over to play some multiplayer games while snacking on pizza, or it could be an online gaming session with all of your friends.

 

So to conclude, don’t be afraid to call gaming your hobby and to reserve some time for it. It’s not weird, childish, or bad by any means. People are allowed to enjoy whatever hobby they want, and if that means sitting in front of your PC or television playing games, then so be it!

 

Be realistic with your gaming goals and achievements

 

Let’s face it, most of us can’t sit on video games for 12 hours a day anymore. Many of us can’t even sit in front of a screen for an hour without needing to stretch our legs and get a drink. While you might not be as skilled or dedicated to your video games as you were before, that doesn’t mean you can’t still reach your gaming goals and achieve great things–but you need to be realistic!

 

For instance, don’t get worked up because you can’t compete in a multiplayer game against young adults and teenagers that have more hours in a game than you. Lots of younger players these days are incredibly skilled at video games and can afford to spend time honing their skills. When you come against these kinds of players, they will most likely have the upper hand against you. But that doesn’t mean you should give up or get annoyed! It’s fine to just accept that others are more skilled and will ultimately beat you in some games. There’s nothing to get annoyed about!

 

The same thing also counts for single player games and achievements. Lots of gamers these days like to hunt for achievements to fully complete games, but some of these can take days or even weeks of playing to accomplish. Don’t be annoyed or frustrated if it takes you longer to complete something. Enjoy the journey and embrace life as a casual gamer!

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Get your friends and family involved with gaming too

 

One of the best ways to enjoy games more often when you’ve got more responsibilities is to try and involve your friends and family members. This gives you an excuse to play games with them and it also turns your solo hobby into a family or group activity!

 

You can start by enjoying some casual games together. This could be as simple as Tetris or Mario Party, but you can also do more intense things that require a bit more organization, such as the ever-popular game Among Us or the more recent indie success, Lethal Company. A lot of these games have simple rules yet endless replayability due to how they work in a multiplayer setting.

 

It can be challenging to introduce people to video games, especially if we’re talking about young children or your partner who’s never played video games before. However, once you get your foot in the door and convince them to try, it can turn into a wonderful group or family activity that will give you endless hours of bonding time and fun.

 

Don’t waste your time on bad games!

 

Gaming tastes are obviously subjective, but there’s no denying that bad games do exist! If you really want to optimize your gaming time, try to avoid any game that is considered bad, boring, or just plain awful. Do a bit of research on websites before you buy a game on your console, or look at the reviews on platforms like Steam. You can also check out websites such as Metacritic to get a rough idea of what both critics and regular people think about certain games. This will remove any media bias and will give you a clearer view of how people perceive a game!

 

Don’t forget that you can just stop playing a game if it’s not fun. You don’t have to subject yourself to a terrible game if you don’t want to! On platforms like Steam, you can fully refund a game automatically if you’ve played fewer than two hours. For console games, you can always return them or sell them after you’ve finished playing them to get some of your money back. In short, don’t force your way through a game–just stop playing it and remind yourself that you game for fun!