Finding time for gaming can be difficult, but there are many ways to incorporate gaming into your day
I have to admit something embarrassing: I’ve been a really bad gamer lately.
Let me explain: The busier and busier I get with school and life, the less and less time I have to devote to games. I’m sure a lot of you are in similar situations. Sure, I have free time, but I find myself using it for other things besides playing games.
For someone who writes a column with “gamer” in the title, this is pretty embarrassing. My problem is that while I do have time here and there to play a few hours of a game, I don’t always have enough time to finish new games. Starting a game takes dedication — once you get sucked into the plot, you don’t want to stop!
If you’re like me, you’re probably trying to figure out ways to get more video games back into your life in any way you can. Here are a few tips to help you get gaming back into your schedule (even if it’s a little different than it used to be).
My favorite thing is to start playing a game with friends. My roommates and I do this a lot: we’ll all split gameplay up and go back and forth with who is playing. If you’re a focused person, you might be able to get some homework done when others are playing. If not, at least you’re hanging out with friends when gaming. Two birds with one stone!
If campaigns aren’t your thing, get a fun multiplayer game you’ll all like. Something like Mario Kart 8 or one of the many sports games out there are perfect for this. They usually don’t require full attention, either. It makes it easy to hang out with your pals andplay.
When I had more time in my schedule, I would be more apt to trying out a lot of different games. Even if I weren’t 100 percent interested in what it was about, I would at least have enough time to figure it out. Now, I spend more time reading reviews and seeing what people think of a game before I shell out the money and time to get into it. I was super excited for the game Watchdogs, but after I saw how bad it went over with most other gamers, I’m really glad I didn’t get it (for both my schedule and my wallet).
I love campaign games that require many hours of gameplay, but lately I’ve begun to get more interested in short mobile games to get my fix. Whether it’s puzzle based games like Candy Crush Saga, classic “reboots” like Crossy Road (this game is essentially Frogger for your phone) or mobile game show apps like Family Feud, they really help give you some down time with video games but don’t require the commitment that a $60, 30 gameplay hours console game does.
I know none of these are secrets, but maybe it’ll give you a little inspiration about how to get back into the gaming world.
Sophie Kruse is a junior studying journalism. How do you fit video games into your schedule? Email her at sk139011@ohio.edu or tweet her @kruseco
