Have you ever gotten out of gaming?

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Sometimes as we get older, we have periods in our lives where we stop playing games altogether for one reason or another. It could be a few months or even years. Have any of you ever had a period in your lives where you've gotten out of the hobby? Was it due to business or did you feel you outgrew it for the time? And if so, what brought you back into it?

So far I've never had a period where I stopped playing games altogether. I've certainly had busy times where I've gone days, maybe a week w/o playing something, but I never got out of it.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

This year especially I haven't been gaming as much as I normally would. It's been a month since I played anything and I'm unsure if I will get time to play anything this month. I wouldn't say it's because I don't want to, I do, it's just hard to find time between work and my other hobbies.

 

[Fraxinus]

Yeah, definitely. Happens for an assortment of reasons, but there are 'drought' periods where I just don't have the focus or time to spend on games. I'll maybe play something for small sessions during that but don't keep at it for very long. Last year going into this one, I hadn't played many games because I've just been busy with my own projects and couldn't really afford to spend much energy playing games, cuz I don't have much energy to start with and needed it for other things. And I like gaming but I just was not feeling it, for some reason. I attempted to get back into my routine of gaming a couple times with my most recent Breath of the Wild and Hollow Knight playthroughs but those both ended up being circumstantial binges and then afterward I just stopped gaming again.

It's hard to say if Rune Factory 5 is the end of this current gaming break for me, or if it's just like an episodic thing like BotW and HK were, and I'll resume my low gaming activity afterward. Mobile gaming I guess is nice for like, accessibility when I'm busy at least.

 

[Morbid Minish]

I do all the time. It's not that I don't care for it. It's just that I have a hard time motivating myself to do things I enjoy a lot. It feels like it takes so much energy I don't have. So usually I'll game in small bursts. Like I'll start a game and play it a lot for maybe a week or two. And then I don't play anything for quite a while. So if I don't finish what I'm playing during that small burst it takes me so much to get back into it, if I even do at all. I have lots of unfinished games.

 

[ExLight]

gamer for life bb
give me anything that isn't a sandbox or shooting game and I'm guaranteed to get addicted an unreasonably unhealthy amount and procrastinate everything else and see life falling into shambles as I regret and cry while still playing nonstop because the grinding never stops

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

procrastinate everything else and see life falling into shambles as I regret and cry

I'm so powerful I don't even need video games for this

 

[Dio]

Yes I did. It was after I sold my GameCube. I decided that would be it for me. No more gaming. I didn't want another console and I didn't need another console. I was free to pursue other interests instead...Then saw an advert for Twilight Princess and knew that I simply had to have a Wii! That was where my gaming journey began again.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Yes I did. It was after I sold my GameCube. I decided that would be it for me. No more gaming. I didn't want another console and I didn't need another console. I was free to pursue other interests instead...Then saw an advert for Twilight Princess and knew that I simply had to have a Wii! That was where my gaming journey began again.

ironically you could've used a gamecube for that one

 

[Vanessa28]

Yep, there are times I'm too busy with work or other things I don't have time left to play a game. Or when I finished all my games and still have to wait for a new one to be released

 

[Bloody Kun]

I don’t necessarily game every day now, really just because of work or other priorities, but still more than your average person I’d guess. I didn’t do much at all during a point in my life where I suffered severe depression, but I don’t really count that because it had little to do with why I stopped.

 

[A Link In Time]

Not really. I would say I made my way through at least 3-4 games every year since I got into gaming. I would say 2014 was my low point for gaming, though. It was a hard calendar year for me in school, and I needed to focus. I pretty much only played League of Legends to unwind on Fridays and also Mario Kart 8 as well as Smash 4 for 3DS and Wii U when those games came out in 2014.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

There have definately been times where I just haven't been in the mood to play any games. For instance, right now. I started the year playing Spirit Tracks, got sidetracked by Hollow Knight, and then got sidetracked by Earthbound. It has me really on edge now because I have no energy or motivation to play anything. I tried to play ST the other day and it was getting me way more worked up than it should've. The fact that I have Cadence of Hyrule, Metroid Prime 3, and Minish Cap on my backlog makes me feel like I should get a move on and actually beat something. But I just don't have the motivation for any of it.

 

[ZeldaFanatic64]

No, not really. Sometimes I'll stop playing certain games, but I'm always playing something. Like if I stop playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I'll still be playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

 

[ThatCat]

Any time I've tried to get into a competitive game, mainly shooters, I've always burnt out and stopped gaming for a while. I've pretty much given up competitive gaming all together since its frustrating to push really hard to "git gud" and there were days I would just play, keep losing, keep lowering my k/d, and it turned gaming from a relaxing hobby to a frustrating grind especially considering that many players have been playing and grinding those games for years and in some competitive games it's impossible to improve when everyone is such a tryhard. Then I'd quit playing games for a while and then I'd get back in a little while later with a good singleplayer game. Last year though, I broke this frustrating cycle and I haven't tried to get into any sort of competitive game.

 

[Jimmu]

I think since I finished high school there has been more off than on time in terms of actually playing games on a regular basis since I’ve kept myself busy with University and work ever since then. In recent times I rarely purchase new games because I still have so many in the backlog to clear.