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In case you missed the memo, adults playing video games is hardly the unicorn of hobbies. The medium has long since surpassed its status of being a children's pastime, though we sometimes do get the sense that the public opinion of it is yet to catch up. Such is life! After all, normalization is a slow and often arduous process. This goes doubly so for something that's as enticing as video games.
We'll make our argument as to why we think the notion of adults playing video games is hardly problematic in the following few paragraphs. Whether you agree or disagree, we hope our take on the stigma surrounding games will give you a different perspective of things. Silly stigmas such as this ought to be dispelled! Even if only bit-by-bit.
The actual, verified benefits of playing video games
If you've been visiting our Community Page, then you may know we've actually been covering this issue rather extensively. Just a few days back, we released an article that discusses whether games are good for you, and another one that deals with specific cognitive pros that video games afford. The topic can even be described as 'tired' at this point, because study after study, the results are clear: video games are useful!
It was almost two years ago that Psychology Today published a similar, albeit even more exhaustive article covering these positive aspects of gaming. A great read, if we might say so! Perhaps more importantly, it's written by experts and sources heavily-researched and well-established studies on a wide range of applicants. In 2020, it's getting harder to argue against playing games than otherwise!
All of this aside, there are few other pastimes that are more interactive than video games. TV? Movies? Short of actually going out and playing sports or spending time with people, no other medium comes even close to video games. They're fun! Doing fun stuff is one of our basic necessities. So - why not play games? Get a dopamine boost or two! You know you deserve it.
Fitting video games in your schedule
We get it: time is a serious consideration for most of us. If you're a career-oriented child-rearing adult, the amount of free time you get on a weekly basis is... well, minuscule doesn't quite cut it, now does it? In more cases than you might imagine, the lack of time is the main culprit behind one's giving up on video games. It's a business of give-or-take in that case, no matter what you do. Sure, the COVID Crisis might give you enough time to enjoy a large, sprawling adventure or two, but this is a simple temporary situation. What if you get hooked on gaming and then have to go back to the real world in a few weeks or so?
Ideally, if you're looking to get (back) into playing video games, you need a sustainable plan. We recommend you immediately write off truly large and free-form sandboxes, like Assassin's Creed Odyssey. A phenomenal game in its own regard, it will easily take you 100 hours to do everything here. Instead, we think your focus should be short video games instead! You can check out this article for a list to get started with. Digestible games that you can wrap up in two or three one-hour sessions are the name of the game here, pun fully intended.
Going back to the issue of having time to play in the first place, chances are that you're gonna have to make a few sacrifices. Does that mean less watching TV, less overtime, or less sleep? For yours truly, there's no dedicated gaming time. Instead, it's relaxation time: whether these few hours get spent on a good book, on a good show, movie, or game matters very little. Where there's will, there's a way.
Are adults playing video games actually juvenile?
This argument is tied to the notion that "playing" is something humans stop doing at some poorly defined point in their lives. Thing is, this has been widely disproved for a while now. The importance of play is difficult to overstate, in fact. Even Plato knew as much. Besides, humans don't live to work, but work to live. Playing absolutely needs to be taken into account here, too. It is a crucial part of the equation, after all.
It's hardly secret that video games are being made for adults. We've had the ESRB - the rating system - in place for just over 26 years now, in fact. It should be obvious that a substantial portion of game releases just aren't meant for kids to play. In fact, even games for kids are often simply awesome. Perfectly playable if you're an adult, too! Perhaps even more so, even.
It's all a matter of mentality, we think. Whether it's with curiosity or apprehension that you approach a medium you're unfamiliar with, we don't know. However, we are huge proponents of simply giving things a chance. After all - why not?
Get in the Game ! 
