Gaming Detox

Someone in chat during yesterday's Bombcast mentioned that they were going to "detox" before Cyberpunk 2077 and not play much of anything before playing Cyberpunk.

It made me realize that I'm not alone with that feeling I get after playing a game that takes 40 or more hours to finish. For several weeks afterwards, I can't play anything more involving than pinball or maybe an arcade game. More often than not, I take a break from video gaming. Have to wonder how the Giant Bomb staff ploughs through game after game without feeling this way, it is their job after all, or maybe its a rare reaction to playing a really long game.

I haven't played a game since April and I feel great about it

It's a good idea, but a good idea, but considering how they delay Сyberpunk, this"detox" can take a long time

The obvious joke about the Giant Bomb folks is that they don't have this problem because they never finish games.

For me I actually have more trouble starting a game than moving on after I've finished one. The beginnings of modern games are always long processes of tutorials and story set up and cut scenes and it's often like 2-3 hours before you're on to the good stuff, sometimes more. It's a real problem. Finishing a big open world game often leads to me not playing anything for a while just because I don't want to devote the time to getting through the beginning of something new.

I do take breaks, sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes even months. Gaming is like anything else and there are diminishing returns, especially when immersing yourself and playing hours per day. There's nothing wrong with "detoxing" so you don't get burned out or start to feel like things are monotonous and super repetitive.

I don't think playing arcade games or pinball games is really "detoxing" from gaming, it's just switching things up and it makes total sense. I try to intentionally switch things up in terms of genre as much as I can anyway. I've done a few marathons in the last few years (God of War series, Assassin's Creed) and though that can be fun, when I'm done with part of it I might not play a game like that for a whole year after. Too much of the same thing and not only does gaming get boring but you start to see the seams and everything feels more mechanical and less immersive.

Exactly the same thing for me here. I have a lot of 'big' AAA games that I want to play, but the beginning slog is usually so arduous before a game gets interesting that I would rather spend the few hours I have just playing a service game or known quantity or whatever instead.

I've gotta agree with the "beginning slog" problem. Learning how to play a new game isn't a difficult task but committing mental energy to it on a weekday after work doesn't often seem worth it. I could instead play something I already know well, or something similar to something else I already know well, and find a good weekend to focus on learning a new game... but then I've spent precious weekend hours and argh!!!

This is part of the reason why I've played a bazillion hours of Skyrim, Dark Souls, and Minecraft. I know them well, they're so easy to jump into and back out of, and I rarely if ever have a bad time playing them.

"Detox" is a bad way of describing the feeling in the OP, though. This is simply your brain's way of telling you to do something else, not your body getting rid of a toxin.

Taking a break occasionally is a great idea. Especially if there's a lot to play in the immediate future. I kind of took it easy before these new consoles hit. I'm playing a lot of games these days but sometimes I'll take a few weeks or months off. After FF7 Remake, I took one of those breaks. And if I feel like playing something, it'll be a Genesis game that can be finished in an hour or maybe a round of Spelunky, til I'm ready to dig into something big again.

It's why I'm 35 and still enjoy my gaming time without getting burnt out. A healthy approach to the hobby has been good to me.

I kinda did my detox during the first lockdown. Reviews aside, I got nowhere near my backlog. I spent more time out and about.

There's always SOMETHING different to jump to. I finished Miles Morales, and now I'm finally tackling Spiritfarer.

I still decompress with anything from Persona 5 to Stardew Valley at night, but ironically to get a sort of "detox," I go back to something I bounced off of before. Honestly, after two failed attempts, I only JUST got into Breath of the Wild (and there are still parts of it that grate on my nerves), but sometimes it really is best to just step back and take a breath.

Read a book or watch a TV series you've been meaning to get to. Do something to reset your brain a little and actually engage with games.

As for how the Duders do it: well...the old adage about doing what you love and never working a day in your life is absolute bullshit. Some days: even a dream job is still a job. And I'm sure that's why when they come back from vacations, they don't usually immediately launch into the 3 games they played over the week, it's usually stuff from outside the sphere of videogames.

I often take a couple weeks to start another story-heavy game after finishing one. I'll dabble in some games that are easy to pick up and put down or don't require a lot of attention to story.

Also, if you need to take a break from a hobby so that it doesn't become a chore, PLEASE DO SO. You just finished that game you've been playing every night for 2 hours? Go to bed early the next night and use that time to read a book! Or start writing a book! Or play some music! Or anything!

I've done it if I know I can't beat X game before Y game comes out. For example, I didn't play Horizon: Zero Dawn, because Persona 5 was coming out. So I didn't really play a lot during that lead up.