Maybe this doesn’t need to be said but this is a different question to which video game genres do you enjoy. For example, I enjoy playing Dota 2. Every few months or so, I’ll play it for a couple of weeks and put it back down. I’ll never play more than two or three matches and I feel ‘present’ for the duration.
Paradox grand strategy games (especially EUIV), however, I can start playing at 7am and in a blink of an eye it can be 11pm and I won’t have eaten or used the toilet or anything. I can do this for multiple days in a row. Furthermore, I don’t often feel like I’m ‘enjoying’ it. I’m just consumed by it.
I’m intrigued to hear whether or not anyone recognises this difference in themselves. If you have any insight as to why you’re consumed by some games and not others, I’d be very interested.
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No one for rougelikes?
I dont even like them that much is just the only things I can play sometimes.
Factorio. At one point I binged so much that I started seeing conveyor belts in my sleep.
Ah, the Tetris effect
Any Paradox game. Oxygen Not Included. Factorio. Civilization. Rimworld. Dwarf Fortress. The list goes on.
For me I think it’s about having non-stop and parallel mini problems/puzzles/goals. By the time one task is finished. There’s two more to take its place.
An observation inspired by your comment. I love video game narratives; I often hate video game storytelling. PDS games tell me stories but there’s no cutscenes or stop in gameplay and the narratives are all dynamic.
I imagine Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress could be very dangerous for me.
Dwarf Fortress is, imo, much less crack-y than something like Factorio. It takes much less constant attention by how slow the game moves and how long your plans take to work out. I find my time in DF to be meditative and relaxing because I’m working towards a clear goal but can relax a lot of my reactions… Factorio is a game where you can do as fast as you can think (outside the early game) - even if you’re waiting on something there is always something else to obsess over.
Especially factorio with mods. I play with bob and angels mod which massively increases the complexity. I use infinite ore as well because anything on a timeline stresses me. I have over 2000 hrs in it.
I absolutely adored seablock… and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who has any social obligations in the next half a year.
This is definitely important in making the very most engaging base-builders - a pleasing mixture of longer term goals (manufacture this piece that I can eventually put in a future science pack or whatnot) and under-performing pieces of your older infrastructure that you have to scale up or re-plan is just so helpful for getting you into that flow state.
Quick and twitchy FPS games. Reason I was so upset when roblox ditched wine support is because it deprived me of my daily dose of randomizer and bad business.
For me it’s ARPGs, but specifically its Path of Exile. The visual stimulation combined with the dopamine hit when something good drops, plus a long term goal to make your character better. They release a new league every 3-4 months and I always pray it doesn’t consume my life for more than 2 weeks
factorio has stolen months from me
You’re not alone. Factorio induces hyperfocus in the neurotypical. You and I never stood a chance.
I only have 1000 hours in Factorio, what are you up to?
This also my be a bad ideal telling you, but there is a DLC coming out for Factorio and boy does it look good.
Honestly, it’s depressing, but nothing solo anymore. Games were such a big part of my life, but now I can only focus and enjoy them with a friend. It can be the most basic game, but as long as I have a friend I’m locked in. Anytime I try playing a game just for me, it’s like the dopamine just isn’t generated 😭
Satisfactory minecraft and monster hunter
Management games where I can play really slowly and focus on small details, normally on very hard mode too so a lot of the easy ones don’t make the cut.
Football Manager and Software Inc are probably the ones I go back to most often.
Also 99% of the games I play I never complete…
Factory games. Resource management… I get all caught up rebalancing inputs and outputs… This building needs an expansion to fit the new gears project… Over here we need more room for screws… Plates??? Why are all the plates gone!!! 🤬
I’ve only ever caught this with Factorio but it had me pretty bad. Do you have any other recommendations? I bought Dyson Sphere Program on sale but haven’t tried it yet.
Satisfactory for me. I also bought Dyson Sphere on sale, but also haven’t tried it yet.
1.0 drops right when I actually have time to take vacation, scratches the same itch as some of the old Minecraft mod packs (so does factorio, I just really like building factories lol) I just really love watching things whip around.
Cheers
I’m surprised that no one have mention Tetris.
4X games, specifically any of the Civilization games I’ve played (everything but SMAC & Civ: Beyond Earth).
MMORPG, specifically Elder Scrolls Online.
Have you ever tried a Paradox Grand Strategy game?
For me, it’s Fallout, Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Hearthstone and Stardew Valley.
But pretty much anything like those will do it if I’m enjoying myself.
With TES, Fallout and Stardew, I’ve definitely had something approaching hyperfocus. Not as severe as my PDS hyperfocus. Never with MMOs though. I’ve played a decent amount of a few but could never play more than one or two hours per day.
In WoW, I was a solo player that wanted to do everything. So, I’d go to a town, grab all the quests, and start crossing them off until it was time to go to the next one. And in between, I just spend hours wandering around looking for flowers to pick or ore to mine.
