I tried to play video games over the break but none of them stuck.

In Hitman (2016) I found myself getting bored as I walked around a lavish location looking for murder opportunities.

In Monster Hunter: World I enjoyed the premise and the cute cat companions but lost interest when I had to run around the map.

Genshin Impact was beautiful and I enjoyed playing through a tutorial quest but I felt like I had seen enough. You use lightning attacks when the enemies are standing in water - I get it, I like it, but I don’t see any reason to spend more time on this.

I did enjoy and finish Wide Ocean Big Jacket. It’s really good. It’s an hour long narrative game.

I think this shows my state of mind right now. I’m sure I could fall in love with any of these games at the right time. Currently, I seem to have little interest in exploring virtual spaces, no matter how beautiful, or learning combat mechanics. I am enjoying narratives and character-driven stuff.

I play Fortnite every day, but that’s a routine now and doesn’t really count. I want to earn a Battle Pass without paying for it, which will require almost a year of playing every day.

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Our Swedish classes have started up again. Swedish class is the hardest thing I do. It’s 1 hour 30 minutes long, and I find myself looking at the clock and wishing it over. Our teacher is amazing, and the class is really good - but it drains my energy, similar to exercise I guess. It shows how easy the rest of my life is; I’m sure many people spend more than 1 hour 30 minutes each week watching the clock.

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One of my old indie game-dev friends tweeted that he wants to do no programming this year except at his job. I like the idea and I can see how it would lead to a more balanced lifestyle, but I don’t think I could do that myself.

I want to do something outside of work this year. There’s a lot of constraints: it can’t involve physically meeting people, and I don’t want to buy objects that will make it harder to move house. Doing something on my computer would definitely be the easiest answer. Hmmm.