Most of us are probably feeling a bit of a strain on the psyche with the current pandemic. An unseen plague walks the land, those who do have work (and they’re lucky to have it) are stuck at home, and both the media and the people they report on seem to delight in whipping up the populace into ever higher peaks of frothing rage – no doubt in service of furthering one’s own agenda rather than any sense of civic responsibility. It’s just depressing.
Sitting down at the end of a day and playing video games is a huge stress relief. I know it’s a crutch, and that I might be better served with an equal amount of time praying, keeping a thought journal, or otherwise working on my mental health. Even writing this blog entry seems like difficult work and is a big reason why I’m updating it so sporadically. It’s far easier to just sit down and chill out to video games.
Over the past few months, I’ve typically latched on to a single game and then played it until I’ve won it or I get tired of it. The major games over the past few months have been:
- Civilization VI – Some folks I used to work with started up a weekly multiplayer game of this on Friday nights. Been really fun.
- Skyrim – I played this one to the end. Best computer RPG I’ve ever played.
- Crysis 2 – Finished it…it was OK.
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong – I was playing this before the pandemic, but I finished it early on.
- Into The Breach – I loved FTL, and this one was equally as excellent. Difficult, but once you hit your groove it’s manageable. Just completed for the first time recently.
- Invisible, Inc. – great tactical strategy game. Not too long.
- Tabletop Simulator – been playing the “Pathfinder Adventure Card Game” pretty regularly with folks I used to game with in-person.
Each one of those could probably be its own post. I just don’t always feel like writing. Oh, I’ve been doing creative things – just not on the blog. I had started to write this blog post on 7/22, and here it is 8/14 and I’m just getting it out. I’ve been…busy? Distracted? Had a lot of other things on my mind? I suppose I’ve also just started being the Dungeon Master of an “Embers of the Last War” campaign with some friends on Roll20.net. Maybe I should write about that, too – a session-by-session breakdown. I just don’t always feel like writing it…sorry folks. Let me set a goal of writing out what happens in each session of my D&D campaign. That might help alleviate my malaise, get me writing more regularly.