Gaming

Try retroachievements. It helps take those old games that used to have magic, and make them magical again

What helped me after a long period of not gaming was getting a Steam Deck. I already had access to all my PC games, but now I could take them anywhere with me. Elden Ring is nice, but cuddled up in bed next to my dogs just before I go to sleep? It's like nothing else. And all the modding you can do to it too, oh my god. You'd have access to all the retro games you want, and more.

Honestly my current jump back into gaming was playing Breath of the Wild on my Switch while on deployment. I did have a hiatus a few years back which was broken by my attempt at beating Bloodborne (wholly unsuccessful, btw, it's not really my speed but I enjoyed the heck out of it). My go-to game for decompressing is Stardew Valley. I just love being able to jump in and maybe harvest some crops, maybe explore the mines, maybe go interact with the villagers even.

Another tactic of mine when I'm in a funk is to pick up an older rpg (snes or ps1 preferred) and start working on it.

Maybe get into indie games, or retro games? I'm so done with AAA games. The games have all been the same the past 8-or-so years, only with different themes and packaging.

I've started going back to my childhood games, like Secret of Monkey Island, and playing sequels or titles that I never did as a kid. Older Nintendo games scratch the itch too. I'd play Ocarina of Time again in a heartbeat if I hadn't already finished it more than five times.

What did/do you play games for? Think about the moments you enjoyed the most and why. Just to name a few motivations: are you looking to get a sense of improvement and complete challenges, are you looking to live a fantasy, exploration, get a story via a unique medium, flex creativity or be a part of a community. I find myself having different reasons to want to play depending on my mood.

Once you find your reason, you can start searching for what satisfies that. I strongly suggest you avoid triple a titles and focus mainly on indie.

You mention botw resparking things, from what I hear that game really appeals to those who want to express creativity and those who like exploration. I can't help much with the creativity (not really what I like) but for exploration I can recommend hollowknight (a metroidvania that I lost myself in for days) or outerwilds (a space sim with narrative based mystery and light puzzle elements, I highly recommend you go in as blind as possible)

EXERCISE

Ride a bike, run, walk... Get tired it clears your head.

Then. Game it up. Miasma Chronicles is one recently that got me back in

I was also in a lull for a while, I don't remember exactly why I stopped, but someone recommended hypnospace outlaw to me because it had a heavy focus on exploration and following clues, and I gotta say it was a good recommendation. Something about how earnestly and lovingly it represented the turn of the millennium internet and the transition from web 1.0 to 2.0 really spoke to me, it was like digging through a time capsule, almost.

My go to when I'm feeling burned out is something with a small, self contained narrative. Something I can pick up and be done with in like 10 hours of total time. Pretty much anything published by Annapurna has immediately captured me. As a suggestion, I'd say give Outer Wilds a try (not Outer Worlds, the RPG from Obsidian though).

Check out the System Shock remake if you have a gaming PC. I recommend Dying Light as well; the parkour traversal and zombie physics are unmatched.

'Return of the Obra Dinn' is another favorite of mine.

Games that hold your hand and provide waypoints to every objective (i.e. built-in walkthrough syndrome) strip the joy for me personally.

In times like those, I enjoy a 2D retro-style indie platformer or metroidvania. There are so many available, they're usually cheap yet made with heart, and they scratch the itch to recapture a simpler era.

for me I turned to game hosting as a hobby, I really liked Minecraft when I first learned about it and later on I wanted to relive that time when I used to soak hours into my worlds, but now I was an adult so I could just never stick to playing for so long, I setup a realm to be able to have people join my world and they can build alongside me in the world and whenever I could log on Id see their progress. well that continued until I had my own server at home and I started to learn how to host and networking and honestly I dont really play many games except from time to time when something just draws me in but my daily hobby is checking, updating, and recruiting for my servers or media stuff. thinking of hosting my own lemmy instance for example.

I think what Im trying to say really is that you can look for other hobbies to fill your time, then when you get back to games you might find one that feels great and you can lose yourself again, for me that was the latest pokemon game violet, I bought it because I heard about the raids thing and thought that would be fun, and was kind of blown away with how much it has changed from when I was playing on game boy or 3ds so it led me to try and complete my pokedex. similarly I used to be into call of duty a lot back in highschool but really stopped enjoying them after cod4 and just didnt pay attention to cods anymore but my buddy mentioned to me one day about modern warfare and how infinityward was making it a come back so I bought it and got hooked, soaked in some hours to actually get good at aiming since moving from a console to pc and had a blast, but now im burnt out of shooters again so the newer cods came out and Im completely uninterested

If you’re up for a challenge and an adventure my recommendation would be Elden Ring. It gave me that exact feeling you’re describing.

I have went through a similiar phase a few years ago after starting university and moving to a different city. A few years later I had the opportunity to get me some nice computer for very little money which brought me back into gaming but I honestly dont remember which game I played first.

If you’re burnt out on games, more games won’t solve that and will just make it worse

Go explore some other hobbies for a bit

How long has it been since you booted up an N64 or the PS2? A walk down memory lane with the games you feel in love with is a great way to remind yourself what you loved about gaming. I feel like some gamers feel they can't go back to these games because they're "outdated" but no one is stopping you, and the joy of reliving your childhood is great, even if the game aged poorly. My go to revisits were Pokémon snap, Bully, and the Spyro games. I'd suggest going back to those most familiar like ocarina of time or the metal gear games. Even better, if your kids stop and watch and ask, you may be less annoyed by their inquiries because it's essentially sharing your childhood.

If you want to try new games, there are plenty of other categories to try these days; RPGs, Platformers, tycoons or strategy games are some places to start.

For starters, getting treated for my depression and anxiety was a huge help. One of the symptoms of depression is losing interest in things you used to find enjoyable, and for me that was video games. After I started going to therapy and taking an SSRI, I got back into video games not by playing the same games I was, but instead I played KOTOR II on my Switch. I hadn't played that game in forever, but found it really enjoyable to just jump back in.

Personally, I think one of the worst things you can do when finding yourself in a gaming rut is to play repetitive grind games like Call of Duty or Destiny or the like.

Another thing I do is limit the amount I play, but this is more involuntary than not due to kids' activities and whatnot. Right now I'm playing Jedi Survivor when I can, but mostly I'm watching my 6 year old daughter play Roblox and help her out when she gets stuck.

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate and smaller gaming sessions might be what you are looking for.
I usually get an hour or so a day to play and I've been having a blast with Deep Rock Galactic. The game is a buy once and play with the only monetization being cosmetic DLC but I believe it is FREE on Game pass (I think); $30 on Steam but on sale for less than $10 for the next week.

It is an horde based first person shooter with 4 classes that feel unique, balanced, and bring their own strengths and tools to help out each mission. Locations are all procedurally generated, which means that you can select the same mission in the same area and it will be a new layout everytime, and it's done well so you won't get screwed over my stuff morphing into the terrain or areas blocked off cause the cave generated all screwy.

Mission difficulty can be customized to suit your wants, ranging from super chill and very few enemies, to "OH GOD THERE ARE SO MANY ENEMIES AND WHY ARE THEY SO FAST?!". I have been known to play the hardest difficulty one mission, then crank it down to the easiest to finish out a quick mission before bed just to relax a bit.

You can play solo or with a group of 3 other people but playing with others is the way to go, as you get to see how all of the classes interact and help each other, plus the community has actually been wonderful; out of the hundreds of lobbies I have been in, I have had maybe 3 annoying people total. I also never use my headset for talking (sleeping kids and whatnot) but in game text chat is lively and most of your communication can be done through the "ping" system where you point your reticle at something (enemy, item, player, etc) and call it out for everyone to see. Also there is a button specifically to shout "Rock and Stone!" Which will be around 90% of what you need and will use when communicating with teammates, lol.

Unlike some other games that pressure you to keep playing to "progress your character/battle pass" I feel no urgency with this game. While there is a battle pass style system, it is all cosmetic, FREE, and usually last a few months at a time (like 6-8). If you happen to miss something from a current or previous season, they are still in game and can be found naturally through gameplay by finding "lost crates/gear" during your mission.

All in all I recommend this game to anyone who is comfortable with a FPS. Developers are friendly, community is great, game is fun and forgiving. I feel that, in a worst case scenario, it's fun for a bit and you pick up something else. Hope you find what you are looking for, Rock and Stone!

No game ever brought me out of a gaming rut, only lifestyle/attitude changes. Especially related to feeling like I was wasting my time and being anxious about things like work.

I pretty much exclusively played shooters growing up. Call of Duty is the big one. I haven’t played COD in almost 10 years.

I got to a point where gaming was pretty stale. I was playing on a console mind you. I made the jump to pc gaming and the amount of diversified games rekindled my enjoyment. Playing MOBAs, mmorpgs, and even shooters that are pc exclusive.

Long story short, need to diversify. Play games in categories you’ve rarely dived into before and find something new. Playing the same 5 or 6 game series is bound to get boring for anyone.

I’m not sure how old your kids are but maybe you could play a game with them like Diablo? I heard some people say they started playing it with their family (wife and kids) and it really helped them bond and decompress collectively.

How old are your kids?

I ask because if they're really little, you could try to play Tears of the Kingdom with (small spoiler) one of the "alt characters" enabled, then give them a controller that isn't connected.  It's a win-win, because you get to play and spend time with your kid, but you also don't have to cater to their level of play, if you get my meaning. 

I don't know your personal tastes, but if I had to recommend one recent game to help anyone break a rut, it would be Hi-Fi Rush.

Too many games, especially those in the AAA space, are more focused on being bloated engagement treadmills over simply being fun, concise experiences. I'd recommend seeking out shorter, offline games that don't rely on RPG elements. It's also ok to just take a break from gaming altogether.

I want to get back into gaming. I want to feel the magic again.

this amuses me because it sounds like something a drug addict would say. you have that initial magic and then over time you're not using to feel the magic but just not to feel sick

my advice, OP? stop playing video games if you're not getting enjoyment out of it. it's your brain trying to tell you something. do something else with your time and go back to gaming in the future and it will be fun again.

Two words, Steam Deck!

This amazing device has awakened something within me, rekindling my passion for games in a way that I haven't felt in decades. After 23 years, and after restarting and attempting to play through it countless times, I'm finally on a solid trajectory to finish the original Deus Ex for the first time!

Oddly enough, the thing that got me back into gaming after like a 7 year slump was Astro’s Playroom on the PS5. It’s a free pack-in title that literally functions as a tech demo, and yet it’s one of the tightest, most fun 3D platformers I’ve ever played. It’s a fairly short game but the collectables are SO cool- pieces of a mural celebrating PS history and various pieces of hardware from gaming history as big model statues. It felt really rewarding to complete the history museum and the levels were honestly a blast. I also love the cleverness behind one of the boss choices but I won’t say much else.

But also, I’m a pretty big fan of history and archival so it kind of hit that for me ^^; But legit the game is super nice and made me realise that I was just playing a lot of padded, long, rushed games- and this was anything but.

There are plenty of indie games which offer new and unique experiences which aren't just "shooter" or "online shooter". My recommendations would be Celeste, a platformer about a girl who climbs a mountain, and Hollow Knight, a metroidvania set in a dying kingdom, but there are plenty of other great ones as well.

Happens to me regularly. I stay away from video games for a while, read a book, go for a walk or some other activity, cool, do something tangible. Give it a few days at least.

Happens to me regularly. I stay away from video games for a while, read a book, go for a walk or some other activity, cool, do something tangible. Give it a few days at least.

The times im in that state of mind, I try to pick a game with an open world setting. Skyrim will always be my happy place. Being able to go anywhere with no obligation, enjoying the scenery, maybe finding a new nook or a beautiful overlook you forgot about. It brings light to the dark.

When gamea just arent cutting it and I still need that escape, I pick up my favorite book.

I hope you find your joy again soon!

When I saw your post the first thing that came to mind was Breath of the Wild. It's the game that got me back into gaming. I've recently been playing Tears of the Kingdom and it has been a ton of fun with the new building abilities that were added. I'd highly recommend giving that a shot.

For games with that sense of wonder but on a smaller scale that are more chill, I'd recommend something like Omno, which is on sale for super cheap right now. It's a short game with a great soundtrack that's all about exploring and solving some puzzles. Journey would be another good one to try.

I also liked the suggestions here about buying the Steam Deck. Sometimes a new piece of hardware can really ignite the spark. Taking a break and trying a different hobby is also a good idea. I'd suggest Lego building. I found making sets for some of my other interests like Star Wars and others can be really fun and relaxing. It's nice to do something with your hands and turn off your brain for a bit. I'd even listen to audiobooks while I built.

When I got into my gaming rut I took some time off and got into Homelabbing. Used to scroll through my extensive steam library and nothing caught my interest so I needed something new.

Learned about different NAS Os’s, Docker, Linux and seeing what I could get out of some low-powered hardware and what I loved most was learning new things.

Started with a Raspberry Pi when they weren’t stupid expensive and moved onto a cheap Intel Nuc to my home made, small form factor NAS running Unraid and a 2nd cheap Thin Client running Ubuntu Server.

I focussed on doing more with my computer hardware and for a long while, didn’t feel the necessity to game much, then one day I fired up Forza Horizon 4 and had a good, enjoyable 5 hour session on it.

Now I’m back into re-playing Horizon Zero Dawn, I plan to move onto Forbidden West after and tearing around the UK and Mexico in Forza Horizon 4/5.

See if you can find another hobby or something that can enhance your knowledge on something you’ve never tried before for a while, one day you ,ignite just fire up a game after having a rest and get that spark back.

My wife went out of town for a weekend so I decided to re-up Gamepass and download a bunch of stuff, mostly older games. What ultimately brought me back into actively wanting to play was Dragon Age Origins, a game I beat several times but a long time ago.