I’ve been playing video games for well over thirty years, and I recently realized that I’m not that great at them. After all of these hours spent gaming, I should be much better at them.

My gameplay style and gaming preferences have continued to evolve over the years. I started out as a Nintendo kid, moved into sports and FPS (first person shooters) games, and today I’m always searching for new genres and experiences.

As a kid, I played plenty of terrible and possibly broken games. Once you purchased (or rented) a game that was a choice you were forced to live with. You’d play the hell out of whatever game whether you liked it or not. Games were chosen based on their name, cover artwork, and screenshots — which were usually purposefully deceiving.

Metroidvanias

In recent years, I’ve become obsessed with Metroidvanias. No matter what game (or games) are currently in my roster, there is always room for at least one Metroidvania. At the moment I’m working on a few — Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, and Voidwrought.

I go through the same phases with most of these games. I start off happily exploring and loving this new world. I find items, new abilities, progress through the story. Next, I reach a terrible boss fight or some impossible obstacle. I become stuck and cannot advance. I quit and move onto a new game. There’s a brief cooldown period — days, weeks, months — before I return to try again. I pass the trial and continue, or I remain stuck and take another hiatus — many times indefinitely.

This series of events is not only a common trend with Metroidvanias, but with other genres as well. I’ve gotten stuck in all sorts of games — turn-based combat, RPGs, JRPGs, action adventure games, and any game that starts off simple and quickly becomes more complicated. I think I finally figured out why this happens — maybe I’m not such a terrible gamer after all.

Gaming Distractibility

The real problem comes in the form of distractions. Today, there are too many screens fighting for our attention. Any cutscene, loading screen, or break from a game’s action becomes an opportunity for boredom to take over. I whip out my phone and start doom scrolling.

The best gaming experiences in recent years have been when my phone is in a different room. Of course, wearing a smartwatch most of the time doesn’t help, with the endless notifications — BREATHE, STAND, MESSAGE! This is probably true with most life experiences. Think about the last movie you watched without checking your phone — it just makes it easier to get lost in a different world for a while.

There are also great games that welcome a little distraction. Mainly online multiplayer games with long wait times between matches (Helldivers II, Marvel Rivals, and Overwatch II). Those are great phone games. They require your full attention when the action is happening, but there is plenty of downtime to check your likes and messages.

New Gaming Goal

All of this distraction has led to me feeling like a terrible gamer lately. I certainly don’t pay enough attention to my games, which leads to not being able to figure things out on my own. I quickly turn to guides and help videos.

It’s time to get back to playing video games the old school, distraction-free way — figuring stuff out on my own. Even if it takes a considerable amount of time before making any progress, it’s much more rewarding to figure something out on your own. Guides can still be helpful, but more as a last resort — not the first instinct.

In 2025, I will work to pay more attention to my games. I had a phenomenal time playing Astro Bot because I spent it exploring every inch of each level. I should treat every game like I treated Astro Bot.