The Dreaded Gaming Funk

After finishing Elden Ring, my life has become a bit chaotic. My wife and I just moved to a new city and into our first house, I’m on the hunt for a new job, and every day presents a new and challenging set of problems. Suffice it to say, it's been hard to sit down and put time into a new game. This is probably for the best. Every time I’ve obsessively played through a really remarkable game, it’s left me in a game funk. Attempting to replace that feeling with another game, no matter how good it might be, has often left me feeling frustrated and empty.

It feels a bit foolish to talk about because hey, they’re just video games. But I’ve fallen into the same kind of funk after watching a phenomenal movie or after reading an amazing book. While I’m enthralled in a great piece of media, that time spent with said media becomes ritualistic, magical. Once it’s over, it’s a strange loss. I try to remind myself that when I feel like this, it’s just reinforcing that I've experienced something special. That sense of loss, while uncomfortable, is one to be cherished. It’s a sort of mourning for the amazing media that is now part of me.

In the past, when I’ve dealt with a similar gaming funk, I’ve found that ‘forcing’ myself into a new game has always left me wanting. It just couldn’t grab my interest. I'm still craving 'more of the same,' even though I used up everything the previous game had to offer. What I've found most effective is leaning into another hobby or interest–throwing myself into a new book, or finally checking out that great TV show I’ve heard so much about. As someone who enjoys always having a game I’m ‘in the middle of,’ it can be tough to set aside gaming for a little while, but that’s all it ends up being–a little while. It doesn’t take long before I start getting the itch to try out a new game.

So if you ever find yourself in a bit of a gaming funk after playing something that just took your breath away, consider taking a break--at least for a few days or weeks. Give your other hobbies a little time to shine. Before you know it, you’ll be itching to jump back into that great game you’ve been hearing so much about–or you’ll feel ready to finally tackle some of that gaming backlog. After taking some time away from gaming, I'm excited to dive into a new game, something that wasn't even on my radar, and I'm excited to share more about it in my next entry.

Later!