So I’ve been thinking about how I have suddenly had a lot more motivation to play games for longer (what with beating the first three bosses of Forgotten World in 1 day). And I think it’s because I’m not at work and aren’t putting in shorter sessions in my lunch break or in the evenings.
It’s kinda like snacking, do it often enough and it will fill you up. But it’s not as satisfying as sitting down for, and savouring, a proper meal.
Sounds like what Epos and BBK have been talking about in their podcast: session gaming - short playtimes instead of multi hour marathons.
Yeah, I think going forward I’m going to try to find a better balance between the two play styles.
I’m thinking of trying to keep my short sessions to at least 30 minutes so that I don’t use all my energy up before I get the opportunity to sit down and really get sucked in.
It’s not like I could really play much in the 10-15 minute sessions anyway. I can probably do something better suited for short sessions, like all the reading I have been wanting to do.
So to expand on this analogy a bit. In my eyes, sitting down for a couple hours with a game is like sitting down for a meal. It takes a bit of commitment, but it’s going to offer a lot of satisfaction.
Then shorter session gaming is like having a good burger for lunch. It’s not gonna give you what you get out of a full meal, but is still satisfying in it’s own right.
Then this 10-15 minute “snacking” is like a can of Pringles. It’s satisfying in the moment, and sometimes it can be just what you need. But if you have to many not only will you feel full, but you also won’t feel very good either.
It’s very funny to use that Pringles analogy as I’m sitting down to finally read this with a can of Pringles on-hand.
I like this analogy, but I do caution about taking it super seriously - as there’s nothing inherently wrong about “snacking” with games. Sometimes it’s more like the eating strategy of “grazing” - and sometimes that’s all you need.
For the past month or so, my personal gaming has been exclusively snacking. I mostly play what I call “session games” as I just referred to in this video today!
I’ve mostly played those the past month or two. And that’s okay!
IMO it’s too micro-manage-y and intense to try to “balance” how you play games. These days I’m a firm believer in “whatever feels the right way to game in a given moment, is the right way.”
I’m feeling a bit of fatigue from the nonstop session games at the moment, but still not feeling the capacity to squeeze a bigger game into my short windows. (I have been sitting with my wife playing HZD for hours at a time, though, so I get some of that energy out.)
The second I start trying to force myself to play a specific kind of game/way just because I think I “should”, I burn out.
I’ve been thinking a bit more about this and I think the issue was more trying to play the wrong type of games in theses sessions at that point in time.
I was trying to make a Pokémon playthrough work during lunch breaks on busy days, but I just wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with type matchups and team building. What I needed was something a bit more mindless.
Yeah. On further reflection, I was just feeling burnt out and attributing those feelings to how I have been gaming.
If anything the short sessions were helping me more than hindering me.
