Struggling with Games

[savi83]

Hi everybody,

Does anyone struggle to enjoy playing games?

I have tried playing many different games; computer games, boardgames, card games, snooker/pool, etc but I have never enjoyed them. From time to time I will take part to please others and so that I'm not segregating myself from them but I don't get any enjoyment out of it.

Thank you,

 

[Ezra]

I don't like games for a variety of reasons. Poor coordination. Poor attention span "wake up it's your turn!".

Someone I know from a forum got me to play a very easy slow paced multiplayer online game with him. Although I was difficult to play with. Like trying to herd cats for him.

I mostly play it solo at my leisure and it is the only game I play.

 

[Ella Spell]

I was afraid of games as a child because I couldn't understand / remember the rules and I didn't like the social aspect. I was afraid to ask questions, look dumb, or be partnered with someone and cause them to lose. I had a phobia of one board game in particular and it still frightens me, and I've always had an aversion to card games (too many games / rules to remember, and too many cards to organise). I've never played a video game. I really liked Operation because I could play it by myself.

 

[Pieplup]

I don't like games for a variety of reasons. Poor coordination. Poor attention span "wake up it's your turn!".

Someone I know from a forum got me to play a very easy slow paced multiplayer online game with him. Although I was difficult to play with. Like trying to herd cats for him.

I mostly play it solo at my leisure and it is the only game I play.

I'm guessing it's LOTR Online?

 

[Ezra]

I'm guessing it's LOTR Online?

Yup.

 

[Fino]

Most games are just stressful.

 

[Els]

I like games on my own, I don't enjoy them with other people. I have difficulties to understand what they do, and I often miss the purpose of it and get bored. When it asks a lot of focus and being fast, I'm really bad at them. I don't like all the pressure that's around it too. But I enjoy games on my own, a lot.
I even take photography and drawing as a game, althrough it's not the conventional meaning of what a game is. But they are games for me. Singing is a game for me as well. I have games and I have fun althrough I seem serious and focused or am inexpressive. But in my head I'm having real fun. Even ordering things can be a pleasant game for me.
Since I'm a kid it's like that anyway, I have a very different take on what is a game compared to other people. My games don't imply a team or a relationship. I'm a fun person who likes games through. Mmmm, yes, I just don't seem like it.
But it would be wrong to say I don't play games or dislike them. I play a lot.

I don't know if it's because in my language we have an extended definition of "game" or not.

1. 
   game1
   /ɡeɪm
   
   noun: game
   1. 1.
      an activity that one engages in for amusement or fun.
      "the kids were playing a game with their balloons"
      h
      Synonymes :
      pastime
   diversion
   entertainment
   amusement
   distraction
   divertissement
   recreation
   sport
   activity
   leisure activity
   frolic
   romp
   source of fun
   • a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules.
     plural noun: games
     "the game of cricket"
     h
     Synonymes :
     match
   contest
   tournament
   meeting
   sports meeting
   meet
   event
   athletic event
   fixture
   tie
   cup tie
   test match
   final
   cup final
   play-off
   clash
   playdown
   split
2. • tourney
   • a meeting for sporting contests.
     plural noun: games
     "the Olympic Games"
   • British
     athletics or sports as a lesson or activity at school.
     plural noun: games
     "in order to be popular, you had to be good at games"
   • the equipment for a game, especially a board game or a video game.
     "buy your games and software from us"
   • a person's performance in a game; a person's standard of play.
     "Rooks attempted to raise his game to another level"
3. 2.
   a complete episode or period of play, ending in a final result.
   "a baseball game"

Yes, I do play games ("an activity that one engages in for amusement or fun."), but most people wouldn't recognize it as such.

 

[Major Tom]

I rather enjoy games, probably too much. I used to be addicted to MMORPGS.

 

[Raggamuffin]

I enjoy video games - but only a select few. Finding new ones I enjoy has become increasingly harder as I've got older. Most, I don't give the time of day. Others I buy, and barely invest 30-60 minutes before giving up and never playing them again. The few games I do enjoy are titles from my youth which may or may not have had sequels. Nostalgia is very important for me when it comes to video games. Most are offline titles. The only online titles I play are the Phantasy Star franchise, and occasionally a co-op game. Very rarely I invest time in online shooters. I tend to avoid them as they evoke a lot of negative emotions. I prefer games which don't wind me up.

I often struggle with board games. Again, my preference lies with what I already know and feel nostalgic about. Me and my partner hold quite a few board game nights at our house. Whenever a new game is played, the rules are often read aloud. I get lost quickly. I have to play to learn, even then it's a slow process. As such, it's often worth me playing a couple of games of the same board game - so I'm up to speed. Even once I've got the knack for something, my interest will often switch off suddenly. Then I don't want to play anymore. Obviously board games are social settings, and so I can't just leave. But it's obvious I continue the game with no intention of winning or playing properly.

Anything with a lot of rules, or a lot of features and things to learn will often overwhelm me. I have to feel genuinely intrigued or drawn towards a complex game, otherwise I give up promptly. However, the few games I do find enjoyable - I will invest an excessive amount of time in playing. Especially when it comes to video games. A conservative estimate that I calculate each year currently sits at 38,000 hours spent gaming in my life time. Which equals over 4.25 years of my 34 years alive has been spent gaming 24/7.

Dedication.

Ed

 

[Progster]

My problem with games is not that I don't want to play them, or that I find it hard to learn or remember the rules, but social: the aim of most games is to try to win, and that's what I do, but other people don't seem to like this. I also learn new games very quickly, and can memorise the answers to quizz games, which leads to accusations of having a photographic memory or deliberately memorising them, when I'm not - I just remember the answers! I also remember the rules and remind people of them when playing, then I get told that I'm taking it too seriously.

I don't play video games. That's something that I didn't have access to when growing up, so never got into them. But probably just as well, as I get very frustrated when losing or when I make a mistake and lose progress - I can't stand it! I have a very low frustration tolerance. The closest I come to playing video games is Tetris or Alchemy.

 

[AprilR]

Like others mentioned, i also tended to be afraid of games. The worst is card games, i can't memorize too much info in a short time and get overwhelmed. This also happens in video games. I am very bad at them because i have trouble memorizing all the different things you have to do at the same time. I also get lost very frequently while playing video games.

 

[Ella Spell]

Like others mentioned, i also tended to be afraid of games. The worst is card games, i can't memorize too much info in a short time and get overwhelmed. This also happens in video games. I am very bad at them because i have trouble memorizing all the different things you have to do at the same time. I also get lost very frequently while playing video games.

I don't even know how to play Crazy 8's, or Old Maid, or Go Fish: basic children's card games. I got overwhelmed by all the cards. Adult card games are even worse because I associate them with people smoking, gambling, or needing to think strategically. Likewise I have no idea how to play Checkers or Chess, or most standard board games. I do love Scrabble and Boggle though. I can always understand word games.

 

[AprilR]

^I am deathly scared of chess i suck so much at strategic Thinking. Also word to everything you mentioned especially about card games.
One of the reasons i hate games is because of the competitiveness, i am scared i will lose all the time and people will make fun of me.

 

[Progster]

Another issue I have when playing with other people is that I find it hard to concentrate, I need time to think to make my move and I don't like people trying to hurry me along. I find it hard to concentrate when there people round me talking.

 

[Metalhead]

I enjoy playing FPS games in SP on easy. Mainly to feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger for a few hours because life is stressful enough as it is.

 

[Karamazov]

I enjoyed board games as a child: I found them less stressful than other activities with my family because the rules gave the proceedings a structure.
I particularly like games where you had to work something out using logic: Cluedo obviously, there was one called “Scotland Yard” and one where the board was a maze made up of movable tiles with altering the board being part of each move.

In our teens my sister and I played ‘Solo’ (it’s a whist variant) with mum and dad, and Mahjong with our grandparents (my grandfather altered some of the rules to make it K friendly): I played for the enjoyment of following the rules and getting a result in terms of a move that received praise, I was never bothered about winning.

Had a major chess-playing period when I was unemployed and living in shared housing: wasn’t any good at the strategy aspect, but it was absorbing as an intellectual exercise, and kept my housemate quiet by requiring him to focus.

Never liked video games: give me motion sickness and I can’t respond fast enough.
Quite like city building computer games in their initial stages, but the bit where other cities with armies and competitiveness comes in disintegrates my interest, so I don’t bother.

 

[Ken S.]

Never been able to play FPS/Third person games as they make me dizzy and nauseated. Been playing Diablo (All three versions) since 1996 but as of late can only play for up to an hour before I have to stop and I only play single player as I don't let others dictate how I want to play. Same reason I can't watch video for very long, it causes me sensory overload. Same reason I hate the city and love wilderness areas mostly void of people. It's not that I hate people. I actually like people, It's society and it's social "Rules" I don't have any need for.

 

[tree]

 

[BenderRodriguez]

^
LOL

I don't usually like playing with others, mostly by myself or against the computer. I particularly hate board and card games or any game that makes people prone to throwing hissy-fits or argue about the rules for hours. I like playing poker, but only online.

 

[HappyHermit]

My social circle is pretty decent though small, but I haven't played a board game in decades. I don't miss it. There was one, maybe two, that I liked well enough way back when, but even if I got my hands on them now, there would be no one to play them with. No loss, though. The people I know aren't into games, any games — with the exception of their children, who like video games, but not the same ones as me.

Cards, especially, have never appealed to me; I would even call it an aversion.

Online video games I could play with random strangers don't appeal to me at all. The absence of having to deal with other people is what makes it possible for me to enjoy video games in the first place. If I have to deal with social interaction at the same time as playing an - often fast-paced - video game, my mind is both have here-half there. That's what I have to do all day every day just to earn a living. Too tedious.

I do like some video games, but it's probably about one percent of all the video games in existence.

Pool I am actually curious about and would like to try it sometime. But, again, for the game, not for the social aspect. So I don't know if that'll happen.