Do you have the energy to play games after work+chores?

I'm curious.

I can't seem to muster the mental energy to play a lot of games post-work, post-workout, post-dogwalk, etc.

This isn't anything new for me, I was just wondering if it's normal.

Sometimes, I can - but I have this thing where - if I don't have the entire next day off - I sort of don't see why I should bother, because I hate stopping something I enjoy in the middle of it.

So, on those rare occasions when I do have the energy - I still don't play that much on workdays.

Anyway, is that just me?

Do you have the energy to play games after work+chores?

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The Witcher 3 and proper works of art - yes.

Star Trek Online and any other mmo - no.
Candy Crush Saga and any other phonegame - no.
Grinders, scams and bug-o-ramas - not even if I wasn't overworked.

Yub. In fact on weekends I usually sleep longer and do some other stuff (like posting to forums as I do now). So while I play like 2-4 hours during week days, I also don't play more than maybe 5 hours a day during weekend days.

When I used to work, I simply budgeted time for game playing just like I did for fencing and horseback riding. Now that I no longer work it isn't an issue, but prioritizing things tends to work best for me, and keeping a set schedule is me performing at my best.

I am ‘worse’ than you. I have to have several days off. I like to finish a game in one go. I hate stopping and continuing after days or weeks. I’d rather start over again.

I do have the energy, but it is different depending on the shift I work. If I do morning shift (8:00 to 16:00) I can play easily after work. But if I work afternoon/evening shift (14:00 to 22:00) I am more reluctant since I know I will have to go to bed after two hours of playing, and I don't like to limit myself so strictly. Even in the morning before work, I usually have time between 11:00 and 13:30 but I am still reluctant. In those cases I play some multiplayer games that last 15 to 30 minutes per game, usually Overwatch, and almost never a big RPG.

I actually tend to turn to games when I'm feeling a bit burned out. They have that quality of fully taking your attention away from other things, without being very demanding. I find a gaming night quite refreshing.

I feel that I don't have enough time to fully immerse myself to games (especially good RPGs) during the weeknights but I find that I need to play something even for an hour to get rid of stress each night. Usually, Friday and Saturday nights = long gaming session for me & hubby

I don't at all. I work overnight and when I come home in the morning I just browse a bit before going to bed. When I get up in the afternoon I may play for an hour or two, but not always. I get most of my playing done on my off days.

Usually not. I don't play too much during the week unless I am very into a game. Instead I prefer to muck around with games. That might be trying some character build ideas or, more likely, getting into FO4 and working on a settlement, playing with some ENB tweaks, trying a new mod out, playing with a new outfit, or doing a very simple mission/quest. Likewise for Skyrim.

I often spend my work nights on forums like this or chatting with some friends on our Discord server. Real serious game play I can't muster that well.

I also find at my age even when I have time my body and/or mind don't have the stamina I wish it had. Some of that is because I work at a computer 8-9 hours a day for my job. Coming home and sitting and playing on a computer for more is tough. I tend to play with the dogs and putz around so not sitting all the time.

My main gaming sessions are when I have a day off/holidays, and weekends. Now and then I stay up on a friday night but since I do chores in the morning for the week, and after a long work week, I tend to be at my most burnt come Friday night. Saturday and Saturday night are my sweet game playing spots. Sunday is a mix.

I did enjoy PK enough to play 1.5 to 2 hours a night on most work nights though as well as weekends. But also a long game

Heck yeah I do - as long as I don't get too caught up "blah blah"'ing on forums.

joxer said:

The Witcher 3 and proper works of art - yes.
Candy Crush Saga and any other phonegame - no.

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Sad to say, I'm the opposite of Joxer. The less a game engages my brain, the likelier I am to play it while brainless.

After a long day at work I still often find myself blankly grinding through one round of Hearthstone after another until it's 2:00 a.m. and I'm facing the morning even more exhausted.

Yet I don't have the attention to persist with games I actually care about and want to finish. I've been 45 minutes into Pathfinder for a month and counting.

So the less time I have for games, the greater the proportion of that time gets taken up by crap.

Hexprone said:

Sad to say, I'm the opposite of Joxer. The less a game engages my brain, the likelier I am to play it while brainless.

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Same here. A bit of hack & slash may be just fine after a busy day.

Sometimes the game is too mentally demanding for my exhaustion level I’ll fire up a Diablo type. But I game while commuting so I’m ok with 1 hour slices generally. It certainly stinks though when I’m still in a round of complex turn based combat and the train ride ends.

Interesting that so many of you can relax while playing games. I wish I could do that.

I don't know why, but I've always played games to stimulate my mind (and likely a few other senses as well).

So, if a game doesn't engage me, mentally, then I lose interest almost immediately.

For relaxation, I tend to use passive entertainment - mostly reading, watching a show or a movie.

Something like Diablo can be almost hypnotic - but I'm always highly engaged in the progression process - and my mind never stops coming up with ways to optimise and deal ever more damage

I'm always very "present" at work or in any kind of social interaction. Which means I burn out after a day of that - and that means there's really nothing left once I get home.

Certainly, it's rare that I can sit down and enjoy a game under those circumstances - regardless of how good it is.

What I find is that if I'm worn out, I can be in a slightly agitated state, and I can find it hard to focus on a book or movie. And, if the book is interesting, it'll keep me awake thinking about it.

I find gaming demands my focus, but in a fairly low-energy way. I think what I lose in a bit of mental effort, I gain from not expending energy on ruminating and scheming.

When i worked (painter), no. I did have energy in the weekends, but very little time for gaming because there's tons of other stuff to attend to (that you also didn't have energy, or time to do). To me it wasn't living, it was more like being a zombie or a prisoner for 80% of the time.

Single player gaming is very relaxing for me, where the challenge and stress came for me was when I raided online in Everquest. I don't miss that stress at all, I'm much happier just playing the single player games now, and I find it unlikely that I'd ever go back to doing raids online.

Short answer: Yes I do.
Long(ish) answer: It's somewhat part of my job, so why not play in the office as well?

And that's why I adore my trusty Switch. Play some modest time at the office, then continue playing at home. Heck, play a bit more on the loo as well.

Note to self: gotta relocate to Japan soon. I want to play AC:Odyssey on Switch.

Darth Tagnan said:

play a lot of games post-work, post-workout, post-dogwalk, etc.

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That's pretty much the only time I play games, otherwise I would only play games on Sunday morning.

Sometimes post-workout I feel too tired though, this one depends more on the type of game I'm playing.