I feel like this has been a problem for anyone who enjoys a certain type of media; people get tired of watching movies, people get tired of reading books… For me, I get tired of playing video games.
It’s kind of sad to say every once in a while that I’m tired of playing the things that I love so much. Considering that video games are literally a good majority of my personality – as sad as that sounds – it’s the shit I love and I’ll always stick to it.
But these days I pick up a game that I’m really enthusiastic about and I can only sit down for an hour or so before I get tired and just want a nap – I think the only way to get out of this rut is through a couple of things.
I think the easiest thing to do here is find enjoyment in other things. When I’m wholly interested in games and only games, I don’t give TV shows and movies a second glance… But recently I just finished The Boys’ first season in one night and have been watching a movie here and there again, and it feels great!
One aspect of media consumption that has always scared me was literature. Yes, the stupid gamer boy can’t read. Well, he can, but his attention span is so short that I’ll wander off and chase butterflies only a few pages in… But recently I’ve forced myself to read a book and boy am I loving it. Give new forms of storytelling a try you guys, you’ll thank yourself for it.
I feel that everyone has their comfort games. Games that despite anything you know you can come back to and spend any amount of time to unwind. I think that’s a good thing to have since it just keeps you playing something at the very least, and eventually you’ll build yourself back up to playing stuff you’ve been meaning to.
I usually play Tetris or Devil May Cry to unwind – It’s something familiar and it gives me that good ol’ serotonin guaranteed, or it could just be a game that you enjoyed and you know you could play all over again just to get back into the flow of things. Sometimes it’s when you’re playing new things you end up just not wanting to beat them.
I think this is what brings you back to playing games like an absolute mad lad again. For me this happened back when the PS4 came out – I didn’t want to play anything at all. I barely even touched my damn console until a certain game came around and made me realise how fucking rad videos games are, and that game is called Bloodborne.
Then later on the game that brought me back from the dead was Yakuza 0, and if we really want to have a throwback back in 2013 I legitimately stopped playing games for about a year until I got my hands on Persona 4 Golden… Even then, I didn’t put it down until I beat it. It’s all about reminding yourself why you love the medium.
So go out there and playing something familiar. Or something completely out of left field. Something that’ll be able to catch you off guard and make you feel something you hadn’t felt in a long time…
If any of you have good ways to fight against burnout let me know in the comments; I’d love to hear what you guys have to say!
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