Author’s note: Catholic Game Reviews is not sponsored by any of the tools recommended in this article. These are simply what I found helpful in my journey to having a better relationship with technology. Also none of the advice in this article is meant to be dogmatic, I simply feel very strongly about my positions and have seen positive change in my life flow from them.
As time went on, I found it harder and harder to enjoy games. There was something wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. In this article I will share the answers that helped me rekindle a joy for games, form a healthier relationship with technology, and even gain a better appreciation for life.
Curbing Invasive Technologies
Whether it is scrolling on our phones or listening to a podcast while we play, we have lost our ability to immerse ourselves into the games we enjoy. It’s no wonder we don’t find games fun anymore when we quit at the slightest challenge or zone out after a minute of quiet because of how short form content has conditioned us. This is why we must create friction between us and distractions, as simply choosing not to distract yourself isn’t enough, human nature is too fickle and you will give in. The solution to this predicament is to eliminate the ability to distract yourself altogether. This is where content blockers such as ScreenZen and Cold Turkey come into play. By blocking your ability to surf the web or listen to music while you play, you free yourself from distraction without having to make a choice.
Your reward from following this advice is preserving your sense of immersion. Immersion is important because games are built upon what is known as a gameplay loop, a series of responses to gameplay obstacles. One of the most intuitive gameplay loops is that of a first person shooter, which could be boiled down to: shoot your enemy, take cover, reload, repeat. Gameplay loops take time to ease into, especially those of genres such as strategy and fighting games, and if someone doesn’t ever accustom themselves, they will likely never enjoy the game. The benefits of immersion also extend to experiencing the other factors that contribute to a game’s essence such as its music and art. It’s impossible to fully enjoy Halo without listening to its glorious soundtrack, Persona 5 without appreciating its unmistakable artstyle, or Touhou without staring in awe at the beautiful bullet patterns.
Outside of immersion, I believe that using a content blocker and even disconnecting yourself from the internet entirely, is the only way to enjoy singleplayer games. When playing with your friends, it’s a lot harder to get distracted as being with others and engaging in shenanigans naturally keeps you in the moment. However we have all experienced how easy it is to get pulled away when playing a single player game, whether this be through browsing the Steam store endlessly or responding to Discord messages. So next time you try to play a title such as Deus Ex, follow this advice and you’ll actually be able to finish it.
Finally this advice also has applications outside of gaming as I have come to believe that we weren’t made to be so stimulated all the time as our brains are constantly being worked at 100%, never giving them a chance to breathe. Lots of us can admit to wasting two or more hours everyday mindlessly scrolling on our phones. This is time you could instead spend walking outside, picking up a hobby such as drawing, or maybe even reading your bible again. To end this section, I will leave you to reflect on the prophetic words of 17th century philosopher Pascal:
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
Genre Considerations
Now that you have created an environment where you actually have the mental capacity to enjoy playing games again, the second section of this article will be about categories of games that I believe should be avoided.
My first recommendation is to play fewer competitive games. Now, I won’t tell you to forgo them completely, for I still dabble in Rainbow Six Siege with my friends and have fun, but I will tell you to keep your time on competitive games to an absolute minimum. This is because I believe competitive games are more akin to sports, as the ultimate end of these games is competition and not fun. Putting competition first means you have to constantly outperform others, which means you are always on edge. Competition also means you will frequently lose and those losses are bitter. There is also an addictive quality to competitive games as males naturally have a desire for mastery, and with how in-depth games such as Rainbow Six Siege are, you can easily be sucked into playing every day in pursuit of excellence. I also believe that competitive games are one of the main reasons why many gamers get burnt out. They identify all games with the negative experiences they had playing competitive games such as League of Legends and forsake the hobby altogether, never having made an honest attempt to experience the variety of genres out there.
My second recommendation is to quit all games that encourage you to play frequently. This is often done through manipulative game design, such as taking advantage of the human tendency to fear missing out on things. Games with battle passes such as Fortnite come to mind, as passes have to be completed before a season ends or you will miss out on the rewards. They also encourage you to play frequently as you get massive XP boosts from doing daily and weekly challenges. While there are some signs that this trend may eventually disappear with Halo Infinite and Marvel Rivals allowing you to finish your battles passes at any time, a rare win for both 343 Studios and NetEase, recent games like Battlefield 6 still have expiring passes. Grinding to unlock the rewards in these passes is often stressful, as you are frequently tasked with objectives trying to get you to fill checkboxes rather than having fun.
You know the feeling – perhaps you want to play as Soldier 76 in Overwatch, but your challenges require you to play support. So, by choosing to play your favorite character you are missing out on rewards. This forced dilemma doesn’t sit right with me. Finally, I believe genres such as MMOs like Destiny could also fit in this category as if you aren’t playing frequently, you won’t be able to partake in the newest content due to the need to always have the latest weapons.
My third recommendation is closely related to my second and that is to avoid Gacha games (games that let you gamble money). Like games with battle passes, these titles utilize FOMO, but frankly to a much more sinister degree as they often lock whole characters or weapons behind limited time windows. Participation does not even guarantee the character or weapon you are after as you are spinning a slot machine that will either take an absurd amount of real life money or have you play through mind numbing tasks for measly scraps of in-game currency.
I also believe that the gameplay in these games is typically very shallow and not even worth bearing the Gacha system to play. Why would I play something like Zenless Zone Zero when I could pay a flat fee for a similar game and have all of its characters and not have to be connected to the internet to play? Finally you should consider that many Gacha games heavily lean into sexualization. Obviously, this can be a stumbling block that can cause you to fall into lust or discourage you from trying to pursue a real person.
How to choose what game to play?
Now that you have created a distraction free environment and know what games to avoid, how do you choose between the plethora of titles you have amassed during Steam sales? To have a clear mind and be freed from the analysis paralysis that comes from staring at a giant library, step away from your computer, grab a piece of paper and write down a list of games that seem the most interesting to you.
Once you have created this list, narrow this list down to three games, and then choose one. Now you will dedicate yourself to playing this game and no other game. To help you accomplish this, add a shortcut of the game you have chosen to your desktop and block other titles to prevent double guessing yourself. Give the game a fair shot, and if after a couple of days of playing it you were unable to find enjoyment, you can put it away knowing that it wasn’t for you.
Don’t regret this decision and fall into the sunk cost fallacy as your time and enjoyment are more important that extracting value from your purchase. Besides, you can always try and return to it later. This will also help you avoid the guilt of feeling like you have to play every game in your libary, as site owner Catoons has said before: there are more games then you will ever have the time to play.
Concluding Thoughts
Thank you for reading, I hope you find my advice useful in your endeavors to enjoy playing games again. God bless.
