So lately I've been trying to improve my habits and I've been noticing a disheartening trend in a lot of the self-improvement communities I've invested into. Whenever people bring up video games, they're usually grouping them with things such as porn, internet addiction, and junk food.  Some believe that moderation is key, while others believe that gaming is a waste of time. I hate this. I hate that our hobby is constantly demonized when you can say the same for other hobbies like enjoying movies, reading fiction, and so on. I'm not making this comparison because movies and fiction are worse, I'm stating the obvious; hobbies do not need to be productive. It's so easy to fall into this mindset of optimizing every little thing you do. You see it a lot from Sigma Grindsets and other movements for self improvement. However while gaming may not push us towards our goals, it does offer us a break from our daily challenges. Burnout is one of the biggest killers of productivity, so much so that therapists are often advised to take vacations or risk harming their clients. But for us designers, gaming is VERY productive!

I've run into a lot of developers who have quit gaming altogether. They don't have time, they see it as a distraction, etc. Problem is that when you discard gaming, you're not a player anymore. And what are we advertising our games to? Players! Now, moderation is still important. You can't make the next Starcraft if all of your time is spent on Starcraft II. However what sets us apart from other players is that playing games serves as a font for inspiration. The best artists steal from other art, boxers will watch the matches of their opponents, authors will read books in their genre, and so on. That's not to say that your game will tank if you stop being a player, but there are a lot of advantages to being one. I've been playing more visual novels lately and Utawarerumono, Mask of Deception (try saying that five times fast) has taught me how to make inner monologue hilarious. A lot of the people I interviewed in various communities claim they play games just to understand their appeal. Us being game designers also gives me incentive to try out demos from my fellow indies for more reasons than just altruism. You can learn a lot from games made by people in your league. Indie devs stand out from AAA because they're more likely to experiment with innovative design choices. It's why you'll see indie titles like Stardew Valley perform better than AAA farming simulators.

But if you really want to optimize, try taking notes. By writing down everything you liked/disliked about a game, it'll help you remember experiences from your session and help you brainstorm ideas for your own game. How many times have you raged about a game's design than wrote a changelog of how you'd improve it (I'm looking at you Spyro, Enter the Dragonfly…)? Suddenly this activity gets you more than upvotes on a subreddit because you can make those changes in your game! I usually play for an hour and then jot down bullet points. I may talk about characters I like/dislike, moments that made me laugh/RAGE, plot twists/holes, you get the idea. This may sound like homework…because it is. This is completely optional, and I encourage you to enjoy the games the way you've always had. Again, we do not have to optimize every moment of our lives!

In conclusion, keep playing video games! There's a huge youtuber called HealthyGamerGG who treats gaming addiction, yet still plays video games! We shouldn't have to forgo our hobby because people can get addicted to it. People have been doing the same with alcohol yet we still have bars everywhere. And we have a lot to learn from video games. Creative expression and engagement is often cited as important to our wellness. Don't give up on your hobby just because it's not lifting weights. You can do both, and should really start lifting if you haven't. It's awesome!

If you enjoyed this blog, please leave a comment down below and tell me how awesome I am. If you'd like to support me, follow my itch and play my prototype here https://totalleeaweaomw.itch.io/philistine. Let's become better developers together!