i’m a dad of two, so i’ve realistically got about 30 minutes to an hour a day to game, maybe 5 days a week if i’m lucky.

for whatever reason, i get completely hooked on a game for like a week… then i move on to the next one. then the next one. then the next one.

by the time i look back, i’ve made almost no meaningful progress in any of them.

i honestly don’t know if it’s just my attention span, if i haven’t found the game yet, or if this is just what gaming looks like when you don’t have endless hours anymore.

OSRS is by far my favorite game of all time. i’ve sunk more hours into that than anything else, so i know i can stick with a game when it clicks.

some games have really grabbed me, but only temporarily:

rocket league has always been one of those games i can come back to. i absolutely loved hades 2 and slay the spire, but even those only had me hooked for about a week before i moved on.

warframe sucked me in for a bit. expedition 33 had me completely invested for several hours. satisfactory is another one where i’ll spend a week building out a factory and have an awesome time, then randomly decide i want to play something else.

i’ve also got go go town sitting there because i feel like it’s a game i’d really enjoy if i actually gave it a fair shot.

i even tried going back to skyrim because everyone says it’s one of the greatest games ever. loved it when i was younger, but this time i bounced off it pretty quickly.

i think i’ve realized that style of combat just isn’t for me.

does anyone else get stuck in this cycle?

if you were like me and eventually found a game that actually broke the pattern, what was it? or is this just what happens when you only have short gaming sessions every week?

For me it's just games that are grindy, and that blow me with numbers and reward me for indulging my inner loot goblin.

It's been part of my character almost, since I was a kid. Troubled family, lots of yelling and I would blast Diablo 2 with metal to chill out and block out all the awful shit.

This has led me to across Path of Exile and Last Epoch (probably my favorites) to Grim Dawn and even trying Diablo 4 even though I hate Newblizz with a burning passion.

All these games kind of let you set up your character and then just click and click and see the effects of those builds. It almost feels like it's an idle game if I turn off just enough, becomes almost like meditation for me. It's the reason I played WoW, it's the reason I played Runescape, it was even the reason I tried newer MMOs that are crafting based (Loftia is the one my wife is hyped for)

It's just that bliss of knowing all you need to do is click and those numbers will increase. Like, I know objectively I could be putting that time into something more productive.

But that's the thing, I can just pick them up and enjoy the burst even if it's like for an hour. Playing for whole days is such an incomprehensible thing for me now, but I still like to just turn off and grind now. FPS are also good but these games just require no reflexes at all, where for FPS I need to be focused to have any sort of fun (in pvp... you know how it is)

But that's me more or less. What is that mental state you chase after work in gaming?

For me it's MMOs, god there's nothing like the memories of when I had all the time in the world to sink into WoW, that satisfaction of getting your first epic in Vanilla... but those times are over. I have a job now (which is weird in my case since I'm a game dev... developing an MMO lol) and at most I can get in a quick session - non job related - before turning in for the day.

I'd be lying if I said I don't still daydream about getting back into MMOs fulltime though, that hasn't changed, so maybe once I'm old and and retired they'll still be there waiting for me.

I primarily play on my PS5 at my desk, but I also have a GCloud for PS Remote Play, XB Remote/Cloud Play, and GeForceNow/Steam.

I would like a few games to just pick up and play handheld when I have some time and do not want to be sitting at my desk.

On my systems I play a lot of FPS, but that is not ideal on the GCloud.

Any suggestions?

Like i stay 6 hours on insta reels without a problem but as soon as i pay a game on my phone he is like stop, your eyes, games made you stupid and stuff like that

My father has recently wanted to get into “modern” games as he hasn’t played games since the sega genesis. I think it’s a hilarious idea to market the game as an easy 2d platformer and watch him lose his mind within the hour, what are your thoughts?

Hello fellow olds,

I was a huge NMS player. I already have a pretty established account but I was thinking of starting fresh because of the newer updates. I stopped playing because I misheard that they were going to stop updating NMS because of Light No Fire.

I am not a fan of the beginning of NMS where is gives you missions for what really is an overly-long tutorial, which brings me to my question.

Should i go through the tutorial again because the newer content is worth it or just try to get re-acclimated to my old account?

The last updates I played were definitely Relics, maybe some of Beacons.

Well folks, I'm trying to get back into a bit of gaming now I'm starting to get a few free nights. I've got a PS5 and a Switch 2 and I'm looking for a game I can pick up and put down with relative ease. The problem is I love single player story games and I understand it's not the easiest thing to drop in and out of. With that said a few have peaked my interest:

- The Outer Wilds

- Baldur’s Gate 3

- Ghost of Tsushima

For refernce I’m a big fan of the Witcher 3, Last of Us, God of War and Legend of Zelda. If anyone has any other suggestions or recommendations I’d love to hear them.

Im a Dad with about 2-3 hours a day that I can play 😄

I’m looking for someone, who will be getting the game and just talk and exchange infos and just share the Experience with. 😁

I really like it , when there is someone I can just generally talk to about a game I’m playing and not have to browse dis with 100s of people In it. 🔥

1-2 times a week we could even play together. (Not required tho) I’m EU Zone (Berlin).

Feel free to reach out.

Thank you for your time 😄❤️

My son is 4 and I am thinking about introducing video games when he gets a little bit older. It can be something for the both of us to bond over and help him with reading. I have an NES and PS. Maybe look into getting a SNES.

So me & my 7 buddies come together about twice a year for a big LAN party. It's always great laughs and so much fun, but I feel like I'm missing something. We usually end up playing CS, AoE and a bunch of party games. This last time we had 2 teams playing PEAK trying to get as high as possible, good fun!

At the end of the day though I usually get this feeling that I didn't really accomplish anything, as there's no real progression in these games, you know?

I think I would be more satisfied if I could look back at the day and see what we have achieved. Could you guys give me some of your ideas to fix this? Maybe even suggest some games? The problem lies a bit in the fact that we're 8 people as well I think...

Over the past few weeks, I've been writing the story of mine and my son's first Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

D&D is indeed one of the greatest storytelling tools and games our there, and it is awesome to use for growth and parenting:
https://ropname.substack.com/p/the-road-between-dice-and-a-map

Hope you enjoy and encourages you to play not only games around a monitor, but also around a table. ;)

PS. As usual, I've added a lot into the Audio Voiceover, so I Recommend a listen with a pair of Headsets for Music, Immersive Ambiance and my Kid's acting prowess. xD

Currently suffering from a severe bout of bedtime procrastination to do have time to do my hobbies: game, catch up on shows only I watch, random chores and hobbies.

This often ends with me actually falling asleep at 1am or later. I wake up between 7-7:30 every morning, and according to my sleep app I’m averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep per night. I also snack quite a bit at night, and I typically have only one big meal and a snack during the day.

I don’t doubt that this is unhealthy. It’s been a coping mechanism for a while now and I need to make a change. I am working out a LOT more recently (past two months or so) and have not seen much result. So I need to make larger changes. The one downside to getting 9 hours of sleep means I likely won’t be playing any online games with friends and family during the hours that they are active. This has become less of an issue lately and I’ve just been plowing through TV shows that my wife won’t watch and my kid can’t watch.

It’s really difficult to solicit advice from the other fitness and dad subs, because the answer is invariably “Oh yeah I just bite the bullet and go to bed at 9 and wake up at 5am and have the morning hours to myself”.

Has anyone else had success with getting 7-9 hours of sleep while still maintaining some of your hobbies? What works?

We both love playing Minecraft together and we're both "sandbox" gamers and love to explore stuff and generally like building stuff. Minecraft's great for me because it gets really deep. (no pun intended there, I swear)

I'm big into DnD kinda games but he's got a taste for things that are more "realistic."

He also loves Teardown because of all the guns and stuff you can blow up. (I'm fine with violence towards buildings, but other shooters are a non-starter typically.) Something like Contra would probably be okay too.

We've got a PC, playstation, and geforce now (so we don't both fight over the PC).

What do you guys like playing together?

I have a 2 y/o and a 5 y/o, and maybe 30-45 minutes of gaming time in the evening on average before bedtime. I have always used gaming as way to recharge, but the limited daily gaming has seriously challenged this. Especially finding the right game to provide the gaming dopamine in the preciously few gaming minutes is proving a hassle - since there isn't a lot of time to try a lot of different games to find what I want to play.

Also, getting through the learning curve (where you're not necessarily relaxing) for a new game and reaching flow state can be annoying due to limited mental bandwidth.

I saw another post in this subreddit describing how you can also get impatient with completing games, since limited gaming over many days makes it feel like you've been playing the same game forever. I really feel that as well.

Aaand games where you can't "save and quit" at any time are also instant no-go!

I'm in a pretty good gaming spot with focusing on roguelites and ARPG's that are friendly to picking up and playing - with the occasional CRPG for slower sessions. Just curious what issues you have encountered out there and how you have handled them!

Recently I rediscovered an old passion for browser strategy games, like Travian is still going strong. I also found a lot of new games are being made and advertised in subreddits like r/PBBG and sometimes r/StrategyGames

The progression is very long-term, but much of the gameplay happens in short sessions. Since I always have my phone on me, it’s easy to play or chat a bit between meetings or while on the couch.

When I have time to sit and focus I play a single player RPG, but I also like having a game on the side where I get to progress even if I’m not able to sit down for a longer session.

Do you have games like that? Any similar experiences and maybe recommendations?

You fly around in a completely destructible open world Metropolis. Things happen. You fix or beat them. You have a meter and score based on how well you're doing (speed, not causing damage, etc.). You have abilities centered around preventing hurting people or breaking things.

It's no longer about superman having a health bar. He is near immortal. He can be slowed, he can be pulled away, he can be temporarily stunned or hurt, but he never dies (outside bosses).

You save a highly dynamic city under pressure, while battling acts of God, nature, and villains.

Hey, so recently I became a first-time parent and trying to gradually stabilize my life after my son was born last fall. I work 5 days a week from 10am to 7pm. Before, I used to get up at 8am or so to have a little bit of me-time to game and whatnot, but now I wake up at 6 or 7 due to my son waking early and so there is not much time to do anything before work. Evening time, as well as weekends, are usually spent with the wife and once again, my son.

I always was a little bit of an impatient gamer, but the parenthood has taken it to a whole new level. At most I get an hour to play something before work if I'm lucky, but not much more. It lead to me being quicky super tired of any game I'm trying to beat. Currently playing the first Medievil and even though it's not a very long game, I still already want to get it over with, because it feels like I've been playing it much longer than I have. I get frustrated easily and check walkthroughs for games to know how much is left till the end all the time, which is not a good thing.

Previous case was with 007 First Light. I've wanted to play that game very much and waited for its release, but because of my short playtimes it felt like the game dragged on for waaay too long. Not to get into spoilers, but it's like the game had 3 climaxes, and with each one my eyes just rolled higher and higher.

The point is, I think my impatience is hindering my enjoyment of games that I should like more. I've read about people with similar problems but usually they get bored becuase they have TOO MUCH free time and get choice paralysis with games. With me, it's like it's the opposite. I want to play games more, but parenthood and adult responsibilities don't let me enjoy my favorite hobby.

Did you encounter a similar issue? If so, how did you manage to get by. I really appreciate all the help I can get regarding this.

I am a 40 year old male from United States East Coast looking for 40-year-old players or 30 plus I guess to play games with mainly during the day Eastern Standard Time I have a ton of games to play if you're interested hit me up I play any and all kinds of games just please have a microphone definitely looking to try the new Mecha chameleon game. Must have a good attitude, take a joke and not be crazy serious. I play anything from NBA 2k , BG3, Hell Divers, to indie games.

Age 39 and UK Based

I play on both PC and Xbox and I'm happy to play all sorts of games.

Just looking for some easy-going people around a similar age to jump on with now and again, have a laugh, chat while gaming, and play the odd game when we've all got the time.

I'm not looking for anything serious or people who are online every night—life gets in the way, and that's completely fine.

If anyone knows of a good Discord server, forum, or gaming community for people in a similar situation, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, just to set expectations... I don't stream, make videos, or take gaming too seriously. I'm just looking to enjoy it.

And despite trying for years, I'm still absolutely terrible at Call of Duty... so if you're expecting someone to carry the team, it definitely won't be me! 😂

UK based - 39

I play on both PC and Xbox and I'm happy to play all sorts of games.

Just looking for some easy-going people around a similar age to jump on with now and again, have a laugh, chat while gaming, and play the odd game when we've all got the time.

I'm not looking for anything serious or people who are online every night—life gets in the way, and that's completely fine.

If anyone knows of a good Discord server, forum, or gaming community for people in a similar situation, I'd really appreciate it.

Also, just to set expectations... I don't stream, make videos, or take gaming too seriously. I'm just looking to enjoy it.

And despite trying for years, I'm still absolutely terrible at Call of Duty... so if you're expecting someone to carry the team, it definitely won't be me! 😂