SweetieGames

I love playing games of all different genres. One minute I’ll be racking my brain over a puzzle game and the next I’ll be dual wielding guns to blast my way through demons. Of course, there are genres I always go back to; I’m particularly partial to an RPG or visual novel. But what happens when the games I love aren’t as enjoyable anymore?

One of the lesser talked about aspects of gaming is burnout. Yes, it’s very much possible for you to get exhausted by a genre or game that you have enjoyed for a long time. In fact, it’s because you’ve enjoyed it for a long time that it’s become more of a chore to play it. For me, I’ve been playing otome games since 2014.The genre is one of my autistic special interests; I love playing them, researching them and talking about them to anyone who will listen. But mid way through last year, I was playing an otome game with a particularly long and repetitive common route, and after the fourth time I found I couldn’t take the repetitiveness anymore. It was a shame, because I loved the characters and the game itself, but I couldn’t take playing the same common route over and over again. This experience burned me out not only on this game, but on otome as a whole!

I finished my fourth run of that game back in September 2024, and I haven’t been back to otome since. I did briefly play the Cupid Parasite fandisk in the hopes it would re-spark my interest, but you can see how well that went in my review. I also played a bit of the Virche fandisk when I was gifted it for Christmas, but when I realised my favourite character was still not getting the good ending I hoped for, I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I still love otome games; I love talking about my favourites and finding out about upcoming releases, but for a long time the thought of playing through my otome backlog felt like a chore. I don’t want to push myself to the point where I fall out of love with the genre.

You may relate to my experience with a genre you love. It may be your favourite, your comfort, but all of a sudden it feels like work to play. As mentioned earlier, it may be because you’ve been playing the game for a long time that you feel tired by it. But how do you fix this? It feels awful to not enjoy something you know you love!

During my burnout, I ended up picking up a PS5 as I’m primarily a console gamer and don’t have a big enough desk for a proper gaming PC. As mentioned a few times on this blog, I immediately bought Baldur’s Gate 3 as I am a huge turn-based fan and wanted to see what all the hype was about. It’s now my current hyperfixation; playing it has become my nightly routine and I’m on my second run. I’ve found switching over to something entirely different, something that stimulates my brain has really helped me get over my burnout from my favourite games. I think that once I finish this BG3 run, I’ll finally be able to start a new otome! I got 9RIP for Christmas and I’m excited to play it. You may even see a review for it on this blog! We’ll have to wait and see.

Games shouldn’t be a chore. You shouldn’t be playing them because you feel you have to keep up with your faves, you should be playing them because you want to. Give yourself a break; find a new game that you haven’t tried before, something in a different genre to really get your brain moving. You’ll be through that burnout in no time.