Computer Games

What Computer Games Mean to Me and Why I Play Them

Review of my five favourite video games

The Pleasure of Playing Computer Games

I started playing computer games when I was only two years old. As my parents were computer literate and in the education field, they got me started with educative games.

My first experience was with Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer games. I thought Sniper was a real animal and always felt sorry when trying to steal Dora’s possessions. I still keep my stuffed toys of favorite characters like Elmo and Big Bird.

On my fifth birthday, my grandparents spoiled me with a laptop computer. On my seventh birthday, I was gifted an iPad, and on my ninth birthday, a high-end iMac computer full of games.

In addition, most of my friends gave me gift cards with games. So, my childhood was all about playing computer games. I got so into games that I never had a day without playing at least one computer game.

I am also part of extensive game networks such as Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Network, Scoreloop, Mobage, OpenFeint, and Twitch. I will introduce these networks in my upcoming stories.

I would like to introduce five games I played most frequently in this story. As I played hundreds of games, including them all in a single story is impossible. So, I decided to introduce around five games in each story.

1 — Minecraft

Minecraft is the oldest game that I have been playing since my childhood. I collaborated with several friends in primary school, and we even created our server on a free Unix operating system.

I still play Minecraft daily. I usually play with a few friends in a survival world we created together. Minecraft is a creative or survival game in a world of blocks.

I enjoy Minecraft because the survival aspect is straightforward to understand. For example, I love gathering materials, building houses, fighting enemies, slowly making and obtaining better items to complete the main objective of defeating the Ender Dragon.

I also enjoy the creative aspect of Minecraft since there are hundreds of blocks and items we can use to create whatever structure we desire. For example, a structure can be a house, city, castle, pixel art, sculptures, etc. Here is the link to download Minecraft and learn more about it.

2 — Rocket League

I enjoy Rocket League because it relies on teamwork if we are playing with others. Just like any other team based games or sports, Rocket League requires us to play with the team and defend or score goals with the help of each other.

Rocket league is a game of soccer but with the players replaced by rocket powered cars. There is just something really rewarding about improving our skill and achieving a higher and higher competitive rank.

Rocket League is a competitive game in which we can play against other players in a team of three, or a team of two, or in a one versus one duel approach.

Here is the link to learn more about Rocket League. You can also check Rocket League YouTube channel.

Surprisingly, I found an article posted by Dr Mehmet Yildiz before I joined Medium. He provided a sophisticated review of the game, which I enjoyed. He looks at it from the perspective of a cognitive scientist. I link it here to give you an idea of what he thinks about Rocket League.

3 — New World

As described on their website, New World is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game abbreviated as an MMORPG set in “an alternate-history in the twilight of the Age of Exploration, and takes place on the fictional and supernatural island of Aeternum in the 17th century.”

I enjoy playing the New World game for various reasons. However, the main reason I like it is because of the enticing story.

From the beginning of the main story to the end was a blast to play through. And even after you complete the story, there’s still a bunch of side quests to complete.

Another reason I enjoy New World is after we complete all the main story quests and the side quests, there’s still a bunch of PvP (Players vs. Player) and PvE (Player vs. Environment) content which can be very fun to play through with the 1000+ players in your server.

The final reason I enjoy New World is because of our role in completing PvE quests or PvP events. We can play our choice of three leading roles, which are

Tank (A player with high health who distracts the enemy as well as dealing damage)

DPS/Damage Dealer (A player whose main objective is to deal as much damage as possible)

Healer/Support (A player whose main objective is to heal their allies as well as deal damage.)

Within these three roles, there are also a bunch of sub-roles that use different types of weapons based on our playstyle, whether we prefer close-range weapons, long-range weapons, or magical weapons. Here is more information about the New World game.

4 — Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is an online and offline open-world racing game set in Mexico. Forza Horizon 5 is the type of racing that can be played however you want. I

f you enjoy circuit racing, you can exclusively focus on that. On the other hand, if you enjoy cross-country races, drifting, online PvP racing, etc., you can focus on that.

I enjoy Forza Horizon 5 because it caters to any type of player. Whether you are brand new to racing games or have played for multiple years, you will love this game.

In addition, the various difficulty settings not only adjust the difficulty of the races but allow you to precisely change the difficulty of every aspect of the game, such as steering, braking, traction stability control, damage tire wear, etc.

Another reason I enjoy Forza Horizon 5 is the fine-tuned handling dynamic. What I mean is the handling isn’t like a simulation game where it’s impossible to play without a wheel.

It also isn’t too arcade-like such as games like Need for Speed. In my opinion, it is the perfect middle ground. Here is more information about Forza Horizon 5.

5 — Splitgate

Splitgate is an online FPS (First Person Shooter) game but with the unique addition of portals. It is a mix between the games Halo and Portal.

Like any other FPS game such as Halo and Call of Duty, we play against other players in a team in different games modes such as team deathmatch, free for all, domination, king of the hill, etc.

But unlike other FPS games, the player can open portals around the map by aiming where they want the first and second portals to be opened. I enjoy Splitgate because of the unique addition of portals.

That itself adds a whole new spectrum to the game. It gives players the ability to escape when they’re backed into a corner or sneak up on enemies from behind through a portal.

Splitgate also has a few competitive game modes, which gives players a rank based on their skill level.

And based on your rank, each season, players receive specific rewards according to what rank they achieved. You may check the details of Splitgate at this link.

Conclusions

I enjoy computer games for various reasons. The main reason is to keep my mind active. The second reason is to reduce my stress.

The third reason is to socialize with my gaming friends. I never get bored when playing computer games.

Like my parents, my only concern is the addiction to specific games. I sometimes forget about the time and spend hours playing.

A few times, I forgot my meals and missed nights of sleep. I had to go to work without sleeping at all. It was not fun, and I learned my lesson.

To prevent the effects of addiction, I set a timer that reminds me to stop. Unfortunately, due to excessive gaming, I also had some back pain. It was also not fun.

Therefore, I learned to take a break every hour at least.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoy my reviews. Please comment if you play these games and how you find them. I also plan to introduce these games on the YouTube channel of ILLUMINATION, where I post guiding videos for YouTubers.

Here is my latest story introducing top writers such as Bill Abbate, Karen Madej, Julius Evans, Dr. Preeti Singh, Shashi Sastry, Lawson Wallace, Arlo Hennings, Ph.D., Dr Michael Heng, and Carla Woody.

Invitation to my Gaming and YouTube Publications

I am editor of two publications on Medium.

One is for YouTubers and another one for gamers.

If you are interested in these topics, I look forward to hosting your stories and promoting them.

Here are the invitations providing the scope of publications and details to join.

1 — Invitation to Write for ILLUMINATION on YouTube Publication

2 — Invitation: Join ILLUMINATION Gaming Publication as a Writer

Writer applications can be sent via this weblink.

Here is a collection including my videos introducing our top writers.

Connection

I post informative articles in my field covering gaming, film-making, media, and design. You can subscribe my account to get notification when I post on Medium. I also support Illumination Integrated Publications as an editor.

Thank you for reading my stories and watching the videos. I look forward to collaborating with you. I can be contacted at Illumination Slack workspace. I use the same ID (Illumination YouTube Coordinator) on Slack.