Too Tired to Play: A Cautionary Tale

When the Remote is Mightier than the Controller

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I had a bunch of gaming-related thoughts that seemed like they might go together. Not sure how much they actually do, but here they are anyway. Fair warning: this gets a little rambly.

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The end of the day comes, a time when I give myself permission to engage in some form of leisure activity. Initially, I feel excited to continue a game I’ve been playing. I sit down on the couch, grab the PS4 controller, but then… it happens. Within seconds, my tiredness manifests itself and overtakes my entire being. This tiredness seemingly wasn’t there before, I did not feel groggy before I sat down. Now that I’m sitting, I have given “the tired” unconscious permission to land.

My mind informs me that, should I try to play a game, I will be terrible at it, so don’t even bother. I do not fight with my mind, because I can’t. My body is slowly sinking into the couch. The couch is too comfortable, I willingly give in to its contours.

Soon, I can hardly move or think. The most I can do is turn on YouTube and watch videos that require as little brainpower as possible. Cats chasing a laser pointer. Ranting about the latest woke TV show that’s destroying an entire fandom. A person eating expired food set to vaporwave. Pure rot, I am aware, yet I feel helpless to it. Why don’t I just go to bed? Because I’m not bed tired, I’m couch tired. You all know what I’m talking about. And anyway, didn’t I want to play a game just a couple minutes ago, before I sat down?

I’m not proud of this. Feels like not too long ago, I could play any game at any time of day with absolutely no issue. Had Dark Souls existed in my college days, I probably could have turned it on at 3am and beat Manus, no problem. Not so now. At the moment, a Lego game sounds too taxing.