this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2025
251 points (96.3% liked)

Ask Lemmy

32515 readers
2206 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I honestly don't see how the average working class adult find that time. I feel like gaming is a luxury for rich/middle-class teens.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] deathgrindfreak@awful.systems 2 points 4 hours ago

Yeah and the only way I've been able to make it work is with the steam deck since it allows me to hang out in the TV room with everyone. Sequestering myself away in a dedicated room is over I'm afraid lol.

[–] HurlingDurling@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago

Yes. It's the only thing keeping me sane at this point

[–] atlien51@lemm.ee 1 points 7 hours ago

I shall always make time <3

[–] Nightsoul@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

I work from home and have no kids, so yeah I have plenty of time.

[–] JDPoZ@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)
  1. Cook at home and eat healthy
  2. Sleep enough hours every night
  3. Cultivate and maintain healthy non-familial relationships
  4. spend meaningful amounts of quality time with family
  5. Work at a full-time job 40+ hrs a week
  6. Play video games or engage in other hobbies

Choose 3

You cannot effectively do the rest.


I do 4, 5, & 6.

I slept 3 hours last night and have an embarrassing number of Uber Eats deliveries each month… but on the bright side I count the video game time sometimes as “cultivating healthy relationships” when I can get ahold of my fellow gaming dads who don’t go to bed until after 1am… 🫩🥱

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 hours ago

Barely anymore.
When I have free time, I spend it on my hobby projects, or I'll watch YouTube because it's less commitment (i mostly play multiplayer games where I don't wanna quit on my teammates mid-match).

[–] RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 1 points 9 hours ago

I dom't have kids so yeah.

[–] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

Very seldomly.

Gaming for me at this point is playing Rimworld on my work computer while I am waiting for something / someone.

[–] SilverShark@lemmy.world 16 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Adult here. I have now over 10 years of experience as an adult, although closer to 20 years of experience playing video games.

There are two realizations that are needed to understand the relation of someone in this life style who is also a fan of video games.

First, no I do not have as much time as I used to have to play video games. In school and university times I would easily play over one hour per day on a week day and much more on a weekend. But nowadays, I spend 8 hours per day on a weekdays working on my job, plus a few hours doing house work. So can't play as much as I could.

But second, I also want to do other things. Nowadays I actually read much more then I used to. I also try to do other hobbies, and try to do social activities much more. I tend to spend more time with other people too. So out of my free time that I would use for video games in the past, I actually allocate that time for other activities.

I still absolutely love video games. They are a part of my life. But I probably play two to four hours per week only. These hours are few but highly meaningful anyway.

I think part of the journey for me to become an adult, to have a job, responsibilities, and such, has also been about broadening what I do, so it doesn't upset me that I can't spend so much time on video games, but rather it makes me happy that I have a fuller life.

[–] BitsAndBites@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

This response resonates to me. I would also add that after working all day looking at a computer screen and my mind is tired I like to enjoy other activities away from a screen. If I do look at a screen in the evenings, many times I dont want to think about a game or have to make choices for a game character. The times I really enjoy games are on the weekends. I imagine one day being an old man and getting to play video games all day again like I did when I was a child.

[–] SilverShark@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

OMG! This is exactly what I'm missing.

Thank you so much!

[–] SilverShark@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

Oh yes definitely. We get way to much screen time. And I also feel the same when I sometimes don't really want to think too much in the evening. I've come to not play certain games I deem a bit too much. Elden Ring comes to mind. I like souls like, and I did play Lies of P recently which I enjoyed. But Elden Ring looks way to long and might be a hard game.

[–] cley_faye@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. But I worry about your premises. Except for a few thing, gaming is not a 10 hour long experience every time; you can just easily slip-it in any free time. Not having the time to play video games sort of implies you never have free time, which would be concerning.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question and it is not about having time to play video games as much as will to play video games. Interests can shift over time; for some people, it's playing different types of games, for other, it's having different hobbies over time.

I think the same way people have to be a bit social, they need a bit of "me" time here and there. All things in balance and all that. But the material "time" needed to play video games? Yeah, it's there.

[–] kassiopaea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 10 hours ago

I can't speak for everyone but for me, I'm not going to sit down and play a game unless I can do it for at least an hour or two. Almost all of the games I have aren't the type where I can just pick something up for 15-30 minutes and not leave completely unsatisfied because I couldn't actually accomplish anything.

As far as actually having free 1-2 hour blocks? Ha. Yeah, right. I mean, maybe after work on the rare occasion that I can put off the things I need to do for a bit and the stress about them later, keeping me from playing anything for another 2 weeks... that's the best-case scenario for working full-time and I don't even have kids.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

in my experience, adults yes. adults with kids, not for a while.

you get to play some games again when your child starts sleeping longer hours at night. if your spouse is ok with it you might be able to go to sleep later and play a session. just make sure your spouse is ok with it. even better if your spouse also plays.

and hopefully when they're old enough you'll play together anyway.

if you have another child only a year or two apart however that'll set you back a couple years probably. 2x children is like 4x time sink for some reason.

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

When my child was a baby I played tons of games, because they napped so much.

My wife and I would each take an 8 hour shift alone while the other person napped, and an 8 hour shift together. While I was alone and my child was napping for a couple hours at a time, I could get in a few games.

This, of course, relies on you living somewhere that gives reason amounts of parental leave to both parents.
Once my child got older, and started sleeping through the night, and we had to go back to work, then the shift system didn't work anymore, and my gaming took a precipitous decline

[–] DancingBear@midwest.social 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People watch about 3 hours of television a day. Yes, you have time to play video games.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe? I can watch tv while I fold laundry or exercise. I can’t play games and fold laundry at the same time.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 22 hours ago

Skill issue! Train harder!

[–] catnip@lemmy.zip 7 points 23 hours ago

Yes, just dont have kids

[–] STUNT_GRANNY@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Only on the weekends, between chores.

I drive a truck for work, and it's my home during the week. Theoretically, I've got some gaming time while waiting on loading docks, but in terms of providing time for gaming, I can't count on it. Some of my customers are annoyingly efficient. I prefer to nap anyway.

I could always play once I'm parked at the end of my trip, but after 11 hours of driving, I'm often too mentally fried to even watch TV.

Plus, my truck's power inverter can't handle running my gaming PC anyway. So it waits for me at home.

[–] kassiopaea@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 9 hours ago

I drove for Schneider for about a year and the standard equipment inverter was more than enough for my computer at the time (i9-12900k, 2070 super). I could run the microwave at the same time too... it was probably at least 2kw.

But yeah, it kinda sucked not knowing if I was going to be docked for 30 minutes or 4 hours... it was always best to be able to get paid to play video games or take a nap.

[–] theherk@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago

I have all the time I ever did (little), but I use it differently. I’d rather take a walk in the mountains with my wife than play a game. In my mid-30’s I quit smoking, smoking, and playing games. Nothing against those things; I just wanted to use my time differently.

I read a ton more too, and find it far more enjoyable.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 6 points 23 hours ago

No, but i neglect important things to play anyway.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 3 points 20 hours ago

Sure.

Energy to play? Well that's a tough one...

[–] gerryflap@feddit.nl 3 points 20 hours ago

Depends what kind of adult. I'm in my 30s and I still game for hours on multiple days in the week. But I don't have a family with kids to maintain.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 3 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, as I chose not to have kids and my wife also enjoys video games.

Edit: However, I do tend to hyperfixate on other interests for periods of time.

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Me setting, trying to set up home assistant and immich with a new NAS so I can ditch Google photos/home/assistant/drive.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

Lol I did that a few months ago too

[–] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

If you got time to browse the internet, you got time to game

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Generic_Idiot@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] mechoman444@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm 39. I have a 15 year old daughter. 2 year old son and a partner who's still hot as hell.

Sometimes I can get away with a few cow levels in diablo 2...

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] tomkatt@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. mid-40s, no kids, and I work from home.

Wife and I play RPGs on the weekends (currently enjoying Last Epoch and waiting for the next Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader DLC), and during the week I usually play single player games (right now in the middle of Lies of P and Fire Emblem: Awakening).

[–] TheOakTree@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Are you halfway through the base game or the DLC? I am halfway through the base game, but this is my second run because I unfortunately started NG+ on my first save... The DLC is only accessible from the second-last chapter :(

[–] tomkatt@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

First playthrough, currently in the tunnels or whatever under the Vegnini (sp?) factory.

[–] Fourth@mander.xyz 5 points 1 day ago

Yes. Less but yes.

[–] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Even when I do I can't truly enjoy it cause I know there's something I gotta do.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago

No, most definitely not, and it.... Sucks.

I just wanna sit down and play Minecraft or something again.

load more comments
view more: next ›