The hardest part about gaming isn't beating a boss, ranking up, or 100%-ing a game — it's actually playing a game you've never played before. That's why most of us replay the same games over and over, and it's why I'm challenging myself to play a new game every day on my gaming channel.
The resistance to something new
I've been a pro gamer (Call of Duty Warzone, League of Legends, retro games) and played hundreds of games over the last decade — but I mostly poured my time into grinding the same games for leveling up, until it became an ego thing and I'd keep playing games I was bored with or even hated. When I go to try a game I've never played, there's this weird resistance, my brain saying "this might be uncomfortable, don't bother." After deleting all my old content last year, I realized my best gaming videos were the ones where I played a brand-new game each day.
A workout for the brain
Playing a new game is like going to the gym for my brain — it has to struggle through the discomfort of figuring out how the game works. I only need about 10 minutes to know if a game hooks me; my mistake before was forcing 30-60 minutes on games I didn't like, which soured me on gaming altogether. I've been pleasantly surprised by games I expected to dislike (Hades, Blueprints kept pulling me back), and consistently disappointed by games everyone hyped. And there's an unexpected benefit: when I play 50 games and 48 are boring, the two that are genuinely fun stand out by contrast.
Gaming that lasts
I don't want to grind games like a second job and burn out — I've quit gaming at least three times for nine-plus months each. As a single dad, coming home after a date that didn't go well and escaping into a game for an hour is genuinely nice. So my plan is to play a new game every day and live-stream the ones I truly love, building a community around gaming as fun, brain-expanding exploration rather than an addictive rut. To me, true wealth is having time to do what I love — and I can always find 10 minutes for a new game. Come hang out on my games playlist here.