Games are still fun. Some of us just forgot how to enjoy them

There was a time when games felt endless. Not because they were massive, but because we lived in them. We wandered. We experimented. We replayed levels just to see what would happen. 

The joy came from being present in the world, not rushing to the end. But somewhere along the line, something changed. Unless you play games professionally, chances are you do not spend as much time gaming now as you did growing up. 

As an adult, I found myself spending less time actually playing games, despite having access to more of them than ever. And for a while, I thought the issue was a lack of good new releases. Games were either too expensive, too similar, or simply no longer enjoyable. 

Some people might suggest that having access to every game possible makes choosing what to play harder, like having the money to eat anything but never knowing what to order. But then I realised something.

Playing to enjoy, not merely to finish

Black Myth Wukong was the first game in a while that broke through that numbness for me. It was exciting, frustrating and surprising in the ways games are meant to be. But when it ended, the old pattern returned.

Something became clear. I was not playing games anymore. I was just finishing them. I would complete a campaign, uninstall the game, and move straight to the next one. No exploring. No wandering. No curiosity. No replaying. Just completion for the sake of completion.

Then I finally played the first Death Stranding. It was years late, but the timing turned out to be perfect. Death Stranding is slow. Intentionally slow. Every delivery means something. The game forces you to exist in the journey, not race to its conclusion.

I can't even recall why I had skipped it for so long, but the moment I started playing, the experience was unexpectedly refreshing. Carrying the fate of a world on your shoulders makes every small action feel meaningful. Death Stranding pulled me back into gaming in a genuine way, and to think that a game from 2019 brought me more joy than all the ones released in 2025. 

That is when I realized what I had lost. I was not tired of games. I was tired of how I had been approaching them. Adulthood had trained me to treat everything like a task. Work. Errands. Goals. Even hobbies. I was not escaping anymore. I was managing. Fun had become something to check off a list.

Rediscovering the joy 

So I decided to go back instead of forward. I began revisiting games I had skipped, ignored, or rushed through because I was too focused on whatever was new and trending at the time. I played through Black Myth: Wukong two more times and have completed the game thrice now. Again, what a game.

Then I played InFamous Second Son and remembered what it felt like to play something simply because it was enjoyable. Shortly after I moved on to God of War (2018) after initially rushing through it on PC some years back, but another playthrough has helped me understand a lot of the narrative I missed, which made me realise I probably should replay God of War: Ragnarok as well.

Then I finally tried Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and that is where everything clicked again.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not a game you rush through. It's a game you live in because it wants you to be present, to learn, to struggle and to grow. It reminded me that games can still draw you in and make you care without relying on constant spectacle or big-budget flash.

So Isa, are you saying every game needs to be like that? 

No, not every game needs to be like that. But if you're anything like me, sometimes you need one that is exactly like that to get you to fall in love with games again. Games that encourage you to inhabit a world, not just complete a campaign. 

So what's the problem here?

Maybe the problem is not that modern games are less fun. Perhaps, if you're like me, you've just gotten worse at letting yourself enjoy things slowly. 

Growing up teaches you to value outcomes. But games were never about outcomes when we were young. They were about being absorbed, being somewhere else, being someone else, because sometimes all you need is a game that charms you to stay, not just finish it. 

Right now, that game for me is Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I’m taking my time and moving more slowly and choosing to play more intentionally. I plan to stay with the game even after the story ends, and I already know I will let myself live inside the sequel too.

Your version of that game might be different. Maybe it is something you played years ago. It may be something sitting untouched in your backlog, but if you feel like games are not fun anymore, the answer is not to look for something new but to return to something old.