A few weeks ago someone wrote into our podcast saying that they felt like they had reached a gaming rut. I know the feeling. I’ve loved games all my life, but sometimes I don’t always feel like playing anything. Sometimes I have a stack full of games that everyone is raving about, but no desire to actually play any of them. What do you do when you feel like you’ve lost your taste for games? Do something crazy!

Video games are designed to be entertainment, but like any good thing, you can get desensitized if you have too much. Have you ever gone off sugar for a certain period of time? Things that you once thought were only mildly sweet suddenly start to taste like the most saccharin foods in the world. This is how our minds work with entertainment too; you can become less excited by entertainment when you are overexposed to it. That’s why I think it’s good to have a balanced gaming diet.

What is a balanced gaming diet? It’s probably not the same for everyone, but I think its good for gamers to take breaks for games occasionally and even explore genres that might traditionally be outside their wheelhouse. If you do this, you’ll likely find that you enjoy certain types of games that you never thought you’d enjoy. You may even find whole new segments of the game world opening up to you.

When I was a kid, I loved platformers and beat ‘em ups, and I felt like I would never grow tired of those types of games. But I had one friend who was a fan of games like Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy and was constantly talking about these sprawling game worlds that took 20 or 30 hours to complete. It seemed crazy to me that a game would take that long to play. I’d never played a Final Fantasy game before and all the talking in those games seemed ridiculously boring, so I wasn't interested. I didn’t know how much I would actually love those kinds of games because I never even tried them.

Then one day I saw a new Mario game on the rental shelf at a nearby video store and I took it home (don’t worry, I paid for it.) The game was Super Mario RPG. I didn’t know what an RPG was, so this Mario game was the weirdest things I had ever played. Every time you approached an enemy you were thrown into a separate game area and you then took turns attacking them. It seemed very strange, but I loved the game's humorous writing and how it made me feel like I was growing more powerful with ever level. It turns out that I loved RPGs; I just had to spend time actually playing one to discover that.

I always remind myself of that instance whenever I start to feel like my enthusiasm is running dry for video games. When I feel like I'm in a gaming rut, it’s possible that I’m just tired of playing my usual go-to franchises. I never would have gotten into titles like Darkest Dungeon, This War Of Mine, or Bloodborne if I didn't constantly try games that were outside of my comfort zone. And I'm glad I played those games, because I now have a bunch of special gaming memories associated with them all.

So if you’re having trouble getting enthusiastic about video games, maybe it’s time to shake things up. Go for a walk, read some comics, have a BBQ with friends, and then consider picking up a game that you wouldn’t otherwise try. You might thank yourself for it later.