Brain fog gaming

I’ve decided that I need another category of gaming, brain fog gaming. 

You know, when you play the games that you play when you are too physically or emotionally exhausted to think. As opposed to the games other people play with you when you are too physically or emotionally exhausted to think.

 

I suppose I could also use the term fidget gaming but I feel that implies either anxiety or boredom. That probably involves playing some of the same games but the motivation isn’t the same.

We are definitely talking about short games, games that fall under the filler label. Either simple rule sets or rule sets that you know like the back of your hand. And you should have fun. 

And brain fog doesn’t mean brainless. There still has to be something to engage you. Years ago, I read about a betting game called Pig which was just rolling one die until you quit or roll a one. Without betting, there’s no engagement. But Pass the Pig with its cute pig dice, that’s engaging.

Even in brain fog, I need some spark. Be it theme or chrome or some quirk of the mechanics, it needs to not just not tax my brain but also entertain me. So, if you want to get through my brain fog, it does take some kind of hook. 

Brain fog gaming definitely has elements of guilty pleasure. Because a huge chunk of the games that I reach for are not good games from a mechanical standpoint. In fact, when my brain is clear, I find myself wondering what was I thinking playing some of these games lol And yet, these help me relax and have fun.

I don’t think I can cross the line to saying that brain fog gaming is part of mental health. I think that’s giving them too much weight. However, I do think they help.