You’re not crazy, you just need to get away from 40 hour long open world chore games
I started liking games again by going back to long open world games
Arcade style games that give you a quick hit are what I miss. Things that drop you straight in the action and don’t let up.
I think some are making a bit of a come back on the Indy scene though.
I got back into gaming with “bullet hell” games like Vampire Survivor and 20 Minutes till Dawn. All action and no BS, but they do get repetitive after a while.
I recently started playing Diablo4 and that was pretty fun. I am trying to like Baulders Gate 3, but my patience for dialogue and wandering around is not what it used to be, and it never was that high to begin with. It is an impressive game though, which might help me stick with it.
Vampire Survivors is amazing! I can’t believe it’s so cheap. It’s also one of those games that could have easily been microtransactioned to hell and back, but the worst I’ve seen is a few optional ad’s in the mobile version of the game. It’s a bit harder to play on mobile than on PC which is a bummer.
As for BG3, I’ve been very slow to start, and it does feel like a lot up front. I think the problem for me is I’m used to these kinds of games where I’d treat it like the Witcher or HZD and check off every box and complete everything I come across, and exhaust all dialogue options. The beauty of BG3 that I’m starting to realize is I can actually immerse myself in it like an actual role playing game. My last few play sessions I’ve actively been working against my instincts of trying to be the all-star savior of the world, the do no wrong Commander Shepard good guy liked by everyone, and instead choose an identity and play their story out. Having that mindset and treating the game like a marathon and not trying to keep pace with a community (like in WoW or something) is really what I’m enjoying about it.
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s a refreshing change of pace with BG3 to sit back and enjoy the journey, rather than race to the end and inevitably burn myself out in the game trying to min/max everything.
Bro. Broforce
I started playing Ys origin again, such a simple fun game with instant action and feels good combat.
Yup. That’s me. I have to have games where it doesn’t rely on you logging on for a few hours a night, every night…. yeah sorry not gonna happen with a wife who doesn’t like video games and a 2 year old to entertain.
Same, but for me it’s because of the depression
Pretty sure I’m in the same boat. Literally nothing is enjoyable anymore and I have 0 motivation to do anything “productive” after work since it’s all just more work…
My friends must think im nuts when they see me bounce from game to game to game within 1-2 hours because nothing keeps my attention lol
Need a different hobby. Electric unicycling is great for this.
This has been me the majority of the time since about 2020, which I chalk up to depression and more recently suspecting that I have ADHD (I know self-diagnosing isn’t cool, I intend to explore this more formally eventually, but I have many reasons for suspecting it in general). Sometimes it’s bad enough that if something doesn’t grab me in 5-15 minutes, I’ll bounce off to something else and probably repeat the cycle a few more times before giving up and doing something else instead.
I find that I can’t really play modern games at all anymore. They just feel like work and are more concerned with monetization rather than being enjoyable to play. Modern experiences feel so hollow to me now. I miss when the main draw of a multiplayer game was feeling your skills improve rather than spending 100+ hours to get some skin from grinding out a battlepass. It feels like a chore. I fell off of TOTK in May and apparently haven’t been too eager to return to it. I’ve been doing a decent job sticking with Mass Effect lately though. Helps that it runs perfectly on Steam Deck so I don’t always have to be on my PC. It’s my first time playing ME1, which helps. We’ll see if I can stick with it through 2 and 3, which I played many years ago.
This has also led to me drifting apart from many of the people who I previously considered to be my friends. Most of them barely leave the house anymore and only hang out and communicate on Discord, which I am barely on anymore due to my general lack of interest in games lately, my general disinterest in modern games specifically (which is all they play), and my disinterest in participating in more voice calls after being in Teams calls during the workday beforehand. They also have significantly more free time than I do due to almost all of them being single, so the rare times I have tried to play anything progress-based with them has been a bust because I inevitably fall behind. It’s unfortunate to drift apart like that, but it took longer than it should have for me to realize that we probably weren’t actually that close if me losing interest in games is all it took for them to cut me out. Oh well.
I know, self diagnosing isn’t cool
It’s cool and useful as a starting point. The main thing is to be authentic and say it the way you said it: That you suspect it.
I know a few people on the suspectrum, and it’s fine as long as you don’t try and claim that you most definitely have the thing and that your self diagnosis is valid/means you should have access to healthcare/etc.
Thanks, I appreciate your perspective, and I’m glad to hear that I’ve been handling the communication aspect of it properly - I’ve never used my suspicion as an excuse or justification of anything, so far I have just told a few trusted people that I suspect I have it, basically like I said here.
I have experienced several financial rough patches in the past year (job loss due to my employer shutting down, for example), but now that things have seemingly stabilized, I hope to begin pursuing a formal diagnosis soon, and I look forward to doing so! Thanks again.
Best of luck getting diagnosed! I know in a lot of places it can be tricky. For me my GP did it for my ADHD, apparently it was that clear and obvious.
Yup, that flame died out a long time ago.
Depression is a bitch.
And age :(
When I hear this, I wonder if people are playing the wrong types of games for them. Most AAA games have great graphics and cutscenes, but the core gameplay loop is just tedious and feels like you’re following a GPS from chore to chore. I don’t fault anyone for feeling bored with 10hr interactive movies.
I still love games that challenge me and offer a real risk of failure, for example. If there’s no chance of losing, then beating the game just feels like “finishing” it, like how you would describe a movie or TV show. I’d get tired of that too.
To be honest with you, I think a lot of it is just a factor of adulthood.
Between work and life, I don’t have the energy to start a new game, even though I daydream about playing video games all the time.
Yeah that‘s my point as well. I play games on the lowest difficulty possible because after a day of work I do not want to be grinding during my free time. And even on easy mode it‘s sometimes just too tiresome.
Exactly. If I’ve got time and energy to play something, it’s going to be for the experience. Not to die repeatedly until the bossfight is ingrained in my memory and I hate myself.
Yeah having the time and energy to log on every night and play games is something I constantly daydream & fantasize about, but when I rarely get an opportunity to do it, it’s extremely hard to enjoy it because I know I’m not gonna get another chance again for who knows how long. My enjoyment is directly related to looking forward to the next time I’d be able to continue what I was doing in game.
This is why I bought a steam deck and have accepted joy in Stardew Valley.
Yes but that chore stuff used to be fun for me.
I’d play morrowind for hours and hours in college. Now if I try to play an RPG, I don’t have the patience and it’s a boring chore like you said.
I’ve gotten into gaming more again by simply sticking with indie games. No more 100 hour boring open worlds.
There is Something about a simple two hour game about a guy and his girlfriend getting stuck in the woods fending off the mothman.
Recently been just playing cozy games I used to scoff at. So much I’ve not only played more games this summer than the last few year but felt great joy actually finishing a game. Sometimes short and sweet is best.
I’ve heard good things about A Short Hike, it sounds like something you might enjoy.
Just picked it up with the Whims & Wonder Humble Bundle. I’ve been enjoying the shit out of all those games. I have yet to try A Short Hike but it’s on my list.
All entertainment fills a need in your daily life. It only makes sense that the need changes as you grow older.
When I was younger, I was poor and had something to prove. Thus, I loved big games with hundreds of hours of gameplay, grinding for the best bobbles, and competitive multiplayer experiences.
But as I get older, I don’t care about any of that anymore. What I need instead is a way to relax within my short gaming windows, to have unique experiences, and maybe have a sense of control as my life gets more chaotic. As a result, I’ve tended more towards shorter indie titles. But also towards non-gaming things like travel, gardening, and crafting hobbies.
We spent so much of our lives building our identity around a single hobby - gaming. And maybe that was a mistake. So many of us end up sliding away from gaming as we get older and that change is okay and even expected, that shouldn’t give us an existential crisis.
Your identity should reflect the person you are, not the thing you do.
Now I only have game sessions that last for about 10+ minutes and only about 3 times per day at most.
My enjoyment in gaming has died out a few months ago and I have only been working for one year(23yo). My friends are still trying to get me back to Valorant and I’m having trouble explaining I have so many other important things that I need to do other than grinding Valorant. I just don’t have the time to improve my skill at that game because it requires so many hours and so many of those hours could give me a good coding project for my portfolio which would improve my job prospects. I do enjoy coding but coding all day outside of work is turning me into a robot.
Screw this capitalism society.
Honestly I’ve always hated any online coop / multiplayer game unless it had a significant single player aspect to it.
Multiplayer games are more like work, they aren’t just for enjoyment.
That’s quite true actually. I’ve had way more enjoyment playing singleplayer games than multiplayer games(unless they are casual coop like Stardew and the like) nowadays.
I still like fps but it requires too much effort.
Single player with cheats is where it’s at. Sometimes I like challenge in my games and with some games it’s the challenge that gives it flavor, like some wargames. But if it’s just a game where you play for some story or it’s about building stuff, give me Creative mode.
Also, “cheating” as long as everyone is in on it in multiplayer is fun. Of course trashing public lobbies with aimbots in CoD is just stupid, but playing a coop game like Raft or Payday with a friend and having the option of just turning off some of the difficulty elements so that you can focus on what makes it fun for you is awesome.
I’m a bit iffed by Payday 3 having some super strong anticheat that also kills mods. I’m not big on public lobbies anyways, why can’t I just give my money for the developer, get a game and play how I like it? Anticheat for public lobbies makes sense. But please let me turn it off for me and my mate who just want to have fun and are both in on it.
Lol, meanwhile my friends all want to play hard mode on Minecraft so they don’t play cheats lmao.
I stopped playing online competitive games a while back, the last ones were overwatch (1) and dota. Now I almost only play solo games and I have a lot of fun. Currently 110+ hours in TOTK and I’m far from done with it. It’s a category that’s far from dead and there are any flavor that could fit your tastes.
The only online game I keep playing is MK8D because frustration never last long and there’s no ELO ranking to be obsessed with. Also Splatoon once in a while.
Competitive games ruin the mood a lot for me. I know it differs from person to person, but as a person who usually takes games seriously it’s hard for me not to care about my skill within the game. It took me a pretty long period to stay away from competitive/skill-based gaming(fps and rhythm games) to be able to treat games as a casual thing.
I play val exclusively socially. Grab a couple friends and play a couple spike rushes or swift plays. Just hope on to chat to strangers in VC basically.
I have friends who want to play comp so that’s part of the reason why I stopped 🥹
Games (mostly MMO) feel like chores to me now, sometimes it even like a second job. Grinding the same endless tasks for hours, go there, do this, kill that.
This is why I play mostly single player and games that have private servers that you can self host
Don’t fight it. Just find another hobby that deserves your time and move on with your life. Games haven’t been truly good for a long time. Unless you’re a Twitch streamer or an esports athlete, games shouldn’t be drudgery. “But it gets better after 10 hours,” “you have to get to the endgame before you’re really playing the game,” “you can’t say you’ve played the game unless you did 3+ runs,” “AAA games suck but indies are still good” Man, shut the fuck up, I’m too old for that shit.
If you want to capture the excitement of how you felt when you first played videogames as a child, find a different hobby. Seriously, find a hobby that’s completely out of left field. Gardening, fixing mechanical watches, backyard astronomy, raising an ant farm, croqueting, kayaking, trainspotting. You don’t have to be that aging nerd who constantly malds at how modern videogames suck while continuing to fall for nostalgia bait that’ll always fall below your expectations.
Games haven’t been truly good for a long time
Meanwhile, here I am loving gaming and thinking we’re in a golden age of gaming compared to my youth…
Or just engage in moderation like every other medium, it’s weird to me that playing videogames is automatically supposed to be a “hobby” but the same doesn’t apply to watching movies or reading books or whatever.
Couldn’t agree more. And even thought I hardly play games anymore, that actually makes them all the more special when I’m excited about a game and play it. It’s rare nowadays, but games like celeste or a short hike were really wonderful. Other than gems that really speak to you though, you really should find another hobby.
Agreed. My most recent binge was Stray, and before that it was The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening on the switch lmao
I don’t really play games but I absolutely eat up From Software games every time one comes out
Baldurs Gate 3 is the cure for me. It probably also helps that I haven’t played that type of game in ages.
Exactly, its not that I’m not interested in gaming anymore. It’s that none of the games released recently are worth playing.
In an endless sea of call of dooty clones and other derivative drek finding something decent has become hard. I want new ip damn it, not yet another remake or sequel.
Exactly. So sick of all the remakes and crappy sequels.
Try Battlebit if you like FPS games. It was made by three guys and is dramatically better than any battlefield or CoD entry in the last decade. Looks like Roblox, plays like SOCOM.
My time is currently split between Battlebit and Baldurs Gate 3. I’ve been having a blast with both!
Honestly I have less and less love for videogames that streamlined the gameplay into a cookie cutter trope.
I noticed having way more fun when playing indie games because you never escape the wierd shit develloped industry free from the general gamplay loops.
Stop playing for a while and the love might come back (was like that for me).
Yup, same. I just need like a 3-12 month break every once in a while.
Ok going through this now.
I never thought it’d be like this though. I thought that video game would literally stop being fun. Like I’d grow out of them or something and not find them enjoyable anymore.
But that’s not it. They are still fun and enjoyable. What I didn’t expect was that my mind would be so full of responsibilities that it would just be impossible to enjoy video games. As if there just isn’t enough room in my brain.
I’m sitting there trying to play but I’m just thinking about all the things I need to do tomorrow. Or this week. Or this month.
There is just too much to think about that I can no longer enjoy not thinking.
Okay, now try again with alcohol.
No try again with 5-20mg edible. You will feel the wonder of a child bless you
Weed*
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What platform are you playing BG3 on? I was thinking about trying it.
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Idk if it is me getting older or if videogames just suck now.
Its not your age, it’s the games you’re playing. There’s a ton of great games out right now, but if you’re playing the same kinds of games you’ve always played, maybe you’ve outgrown them. You could be frustrated with their mechanics, or think their progression isn’t as good as the old games, maybe you cant see as well or grind as hard as these twelve year olds on adderall, whatever it may be.
Try playing games you enjoyed before. You’ll probably still like them. Branch out into different genres, even if it’s something you don’t know if you’ll like or not. I don’t care for top down games, but gave Hades a try and absolutely loved it. Maybe try to play remakes/remasters/new takes on old games. The REmakes for Resident Evil (particularly 2&4, I liked 3 but it gets a lot of deserved hate), and even the continuation of the RE franchise in Biohazard and Village are fun and scary. Just some recommendations. :)
Definitely changeling taste and enshittification. Don’t care to play another million dollars AAA fps-box purchaseing simulator or whatever this years dead horse is.
Get me a chill basebulding and automation game and I will literally risk unemployment from staying up late. Bonus points for boobs or warcrimes.
You played Against the Storm yet? I find it’s the best base building game. No war crimes yet unfortunately
Looks interesting, I’ll try the demo if I get a chance. Looks like there’s no modding yet though.
You’re getting older unfortunately. I’ve been watching this happen among my friends for a long while now. They all slowly grow up and leave gaming behind replacing it with other hobbies or interests. Your free time becomes more limited the older you get and the more responsibilities you aquire in life (career, spouse, children, etc.). I’m one of the last hold outs from my childhood friend group, and even I’m slowly starting to lose interest in gaming. I don’t think I’ll ever give it up entirely, but it definitely doesn’t hold the same appeal for me that it once had.
Well, and video games suck now. More and more they are just becoming over-glorified skinner boxes full of micro transactions and bullshit.
If I can ask, around how old are you and your friends? How many years do I have left Doc?
I’m in my early 40’s. I’m still hanging in there, and I do still enjoy gaming, just not with the same passion or levels of enjoyment I once had. Every once in a while a new game drops that will bring it back but only for a little while though.
Good to hear you can still have fun with them, even if it’s muted in comparison to before. I imagine after so long, the reused game mechanics in most stuff would start to feel stale for anyone.
Hope you get some bangers in your favorite genres soon!
They don’t have the same punch but there are games that will bring that excitement back.
I would argue it’s a side effect of getting older.
Not that you’re growing out of games, but moreso that you’re spending more time working, and doing other life related things that gaming no longer feels productive of fun.
I’m working full time and take online classes, but I really love gaming still, I’ve just had to find games that respect my time, since my time is so precious to me right now.
I’ve grown to loath multiplayer match-based games because it’s the same thing over and over again with nothing to show for it, while things like DOOM, Skyrim, Dishonored, older assassins creed games, and various indie titles are all quick, fun, to the point and offer good stories that I enjoy.
I just can’t deal with round after round after round of the same thing. Or an MMO where it’s just “Do this for hours and hours to grind out this skill and that skill”
Like I want to play the game, not click 30,000 times.
There’s nothing really “new” anymore, at least not mechanics-wise. Sure, graphics have become pretty good looking. But it’s all still the same RPGs, first person shooters, and other shit from the 90s. When I see modern FPSs, I’m still seeing Wolfenstein 3D from 1992. Not a damn thing has changed.
If you’re playing the same types of games ,yeah
Microtransactions are killing, or have killed if you’re cynical, modern gaming. Whether you have disposable income or not, it is viscerally tedius to try to escape into a game just to be pestered to use real money. I play games to avoid our capitalist exploitation dystopia, not further engage with it.
I’ve largely abandoned live games for this reason. I used to be good at online FPS, but it just isn’t worth the “buy this skin or you suck” every single login bullshit. I’ve been modding the Bethesda games and there’s really no getting bored of those world’s with constant new enthusiast content.
Definetly the second one.
The classics are the best. 🕹️
Probably both. A lot of games really do suck ass. CoD is just comically bad in so many ways.
There’s some cool stuff out there, though. battlebit is aces, better than any CoD or Battlefield in years. Hunt Showdown is unqiue and cool. Darktide is an awesome horde shooter. Warframe… is warframe. Deep Rock Galactic is fun spacedorf action. Splitgate mixes up old school HALO:CE gameplay with portals that let you pull off cool kills or radically change the movement rountes across the map. There’s ARMA3 and Reforger if you like milsim, with varyiung levels of milsimminess from “Sir yes sir” tryhards to people who just try to use basic infantry tactics and cooperate. There’s apparently a huge star wars mod scene right now.
lol I played CoD BLOps at the opening and had the existential moment of “WTF am I doing with my life”. It’s so shitty.
It’s both. The 90s are never coming back, and you’ll never be however-old-you-were-during-the-90s.
from what ive heard trying different genres might help
I think I’ve been feeling this lately. I’ve always been a huge fan of semi-RPGs and open world games, but there really haven’t been many great ones in a long time (tried Elden Ring, needs difficulty slider).
I’m realizing I should probably branch out into something new, but I don’t even know where to start. I don’t tend to care for turn-based games, and fighting games aren’t my thing because of how long it can take to get decent at them.
Anyone have any recommendations for games that you don’t have to invest too much time into to really enjoy? I just don’t have the time in my life for a crazy investment and focus in a game.
To be fair, Elden Rings difficulty slider is the same as any other RPG… going off and doing other stuff for a bit until you’re OP for the part giving you trouble.
Also summoning people (or even the seamless coop mod that allows coop all the time everywhere) that’s also an effective difficulty slider.
I’ve had very little time to make an investment in gaming lately (not bad, just no time) but what I’ve found are emulators for old retro games and that has filled the itch quite nicely…the bonus is that if you put it down and walk away it’s not as hard on your soul (less guild about spending money or time). plus games are easy to pick up and put down.
Until you end up like me; spending more time messing with the emulator than playing, just to see how good you can get stuff looking and what other cool stuff they can do.
still a win!
But messing with that stuff is fun right?
This isn’t unique to video games*. It can happen with anything that you spend a ton of time on, and either burn out on or start to develop more refined taste in. I’ve had it happen with:
- novels
- board games
- movies
- people
You start to see patterns, tropes, or just plain get burnt out on something. It’s a sign you either need to take a break, or that your tastes have simply become refined enough that you require a higher bar to find something interesting.
I’m in my 40s and definitely don’t play games as much as I used to. But there are still times I get sucked in and have a great time. Most recent example: Cosmoteer, a spaceship building game with loads of freedom and creativity. I’m also looking forward to the Factorio DLC and the Dyson Sphere Program combat update.
Edit: case in point that I can still get excited about games: I finally tried Shadows of Doubt and, wow, what an interesting game. It’s like a Deus Ex shadowy sneak-around world with detailed voxel simulation.
* though the enshittification phenomenon is a real thing, and why people should play more indie games
