Hey everyone,

So I actually did manage to stave off gaming for about 2 months around 1 year ago but then fell back into it for the past ~10 months. Looking to hit 90 days, and I'll journal my thoughts and chat with you on your own journals as well.

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow 👍

Edited October 6Oct 6 by Pulse
Title correction ('day' to 'days')

Day 2:

All going well with no games, it should be relatively smooth sailing very early on. I maybe feel a little more irritated sometimes but apart from that I'm okay. I think I tended to use games sometimes in the past to try and ignore things IRL that I needed to confront, so when you don't have that 'safety net', your emotions will naturally change as you have nothing to really fall back on.

1 hour ago, Pulse said:

Day 2:

All going well with no games, it should be relatively smooth sailing very early on. I maybe feel a little more irritated sometimes but apart from that I'm okay. I think I tended to use games sometimes in the past to try and ignore things IRL that I needed to confront, so when you don't have that 'safety net', your emotions will naturally change as you have nothing to really fall back on.

Your emotions will definitely change, you are changing your hormonal balance and not getting the dopamine urge you used to, and your body most probably should be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Keep at it.

Edit(Clarification): Dopamine surge I mean (The urge is still there ;) )

Edited October 4Oct 4 by Yan
as described under "Edit(Clarification)"

Congratulations @Pulse on your 90 days off of games.

I initially quit playing games in May 2025, then three weeks ago I played a few hours so I broke my streak of not playing games.

But only for those a few hours of gameplay I started to have bigger cravings, moments where I thought only aboug games, I could not concentrate because my mind wondered off and so on.So, I started doing some googling, then I found Cam Adair's Youtube channel and I watched a few of his videos

This led me to his book which I jsut finished reading last week or so and I took notes from the book on my notebook which I revisited these days when I started to have cravings again and this has helped me a lot.

I also started reading books again, currently I'm reading one about ancient egypt and other days , after work, I study for a different certification that I want to go for (I work in IT so I need to keep myself relevant to the employers ).

I don't remember the day when I first started to quit games (for a 2nd time), but based on my calcualtions, I'm three weeks off of games and I'm feeling good.Sure, i still get some cravings to play games, but nothing like in the first two days.

I'm feeling good and I'll keep going with this on and on :)

Stay strong brother and good luck moving forward

9 hours ago, Yan said:

Your emotions will definitely change, you are changing your hormonal balance and not getting the dopamine urge you used to, and your body most probably should be experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Keep at it.

Edit(Clarification): Dopamine surge I mean (The urge is still there ;) )

Thanks @Yan, and yes I think that's it. When you don't have those pixels to look forward to (I was very big into live service games (card games, MMOs, sports games), so constant updates, constant source of dopamine), it's difficult to find as much dopamine from other activities. However, as we all know, it's not so much that we're getting less dopamine from other activities, it's that games gave us way too much dopamine, which were frying our receptors for us to enjoy more normal activities.

Thanks @Adrian, and a great idea about Cam's Respawn book, I haven't actually seen it before but I will definitely check it out as I do also enjoy reading on the Kindle app 👍

Cool! I also work IT and yes I also need to complete extra certifications (it's not mandatory but it's something I'd like to do to 'upskill'), so I'll definitely have more motivation to do that now, rather than having video games swirling around in my subconscious all day, being excited to finish work or whatever it is I'm doing that day to get back to playing games. It will be nice not to have that anymore and being able to focus on real life more.

Thanks both for the encouragement, speak soon

P.S. I will enter my journal log later today, until then 👍

1 hour ago, Pulse said:

Cool! I also work IT and yes I also need to complete extra certifications (it's not mandatory but it's something I'd like to do to 'upskill'), so I'll definitely have more motivation to do that now, rather than having video games swirling around in my subconscious all day, being excited to finish work or whatever it is I'm doing that day to get back to playing games. It will be nice not to have that anymore and being able to focus on real life more.

It's hard after a full day's of work to get back home and study/learn/practice a new skill, it's just tiresome, at least for me it is.

I work as a Linux Inftrastructure Engineer therefore I work on support not development/programming, and I have days that are tiresome, too many tickets, too many meeting and so on.

But, if I force myself to study at home for 40 minutes after a full busy work day, then it will be easier for me to study for two hours straight on another day or during the weekends.

I feel you man, I know it's tough, sometimes I don't have the drive either...but, pushing it when we don't feel the need to, it will make it easier later on.

There was that quote, I don't know where the hell I heard it first , or read it first, either it was on a Joe Rogan's podcast, or some article on the web, regardless, the quote goest something liek this (if I remember it well)

"It's always better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardner in a war."

"Sweat more in times of peace so you can bleed less in times of war"

It's hard to live by these two statements...yet...we must push ourselves in order to have a nice cozy life after that.

I progressed so much in the past 10 years that I finally got to a spot where I can finally say that life it's getting easier now, yet, i need to make sure that I don't procastinate, otherwise I risk to be irrelevant to the job market and lose my job, as much as I strruggle to remember things, i need to practice over and over again, so that I don't get pushed aside by someone else and lose my job.

Regardless, the bottom line is that i know it's hard and it's hard for me, but in time it gets easier and I am sure that in another 10 years I'll thank myself for pushing it now even though I don't necessarly have the drive.

Anyway, good luck to you brother and stay strong, you got this, only you can "break" or "make" yourself.

Stay strong , it's fine to have days when we feel down, it's part of human nature

Day 3:

Good day today, was very productive, did what I needed to get done and was able to relax for the rest of the day. Did have some cravings for games I haven't actually played in quite a long time, but I tended to get that when I was playing games as well.

One topic I did want to bring up was the predatory nature (in terms of predatory of your time and money) of some types of games. I think some games are purposefully predatory, but some games aren't blatantly trying to take away your time and money (although I think games released in the last 5-10 years or so do tend to have more psychologists working on them in order to increase their addictiveness).

As I was a big live service game player, they really prioritise FOMO. You have to complete X objective by X date and time otherwise it's gone forever. You can argue that's what makes the game 'fun', but when you take a step back you realise 'damn, this stuff just snowballs out of control until they literally have like 10, 20, 30 objectives you need to complete in a week and it takes around 2,3,4 hours PER DAY of playing time in order to complete them and not feel like you missed out'.

The creep of this FOMO was WAY too evident, and that was a very big reason for me saying 'Dude, this is ridiculous, there's absolutely no point to this at all'. Spending that time, money, and effort on pixels just didn't seem worth it. Sure there were 'fun' moments, but most of it just felt like a chore masked as 'fun'. I think I liked the patience aspect of live service games, as you don't just get what you want straight away, you have to grind for it. But the reward at the end was just some pixels that become worthless in a few days/weeks/months anyway.

What's the point spending that time in your short life on that stuff when you can work on things in life that last an entire lifetime?

But yeah, Day 3 was a success. On to Day 4! I might revisit some topics later on down the line and go into them a bit more but I'd like to spread it out over the 90 days.

@Adrian Yes! I have that exact problem as well, in terms of finishing work and then being tired and thinking 'I have to do more work?!' but I suppose as gaming takes less and less of my time, that time needs to be filled by something, and becoming better at things at work gives me that feeling of not getting things straight away and having to be patient, just like live service games used to. So I'm looking forward to that aspect.

10 hours ago, Adrian said:

There was that quote, I don't know where the hell I heard it first , or read it first, either it was on a Joe Rogan's podcast, or some article on the web, regardless, the quote goest something liek this (if I remember it well)

"It's always better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardner in a war."

"Sweat more in times of peace so you can bleed less in times of war"

It's hard to live by these two statements...yet...we must push ourselves in order to have a nice cozy life after that.

I progressed so much in the past 10 years that I finally got to a spot where I can finally say that life it's getting easier now, yet, i need to make sure that I don't procastinate, otherwise I risk to be irrelevant to the job market and lose my job, as much as I strruggle to remember things, i need to practice over and over again, so that I don't get pushed aside by someone else and lose my job.

Fantastic quotes, and I totally agree. Sometimes we may not know exactly what we're 'training for' (in all senses), but it's for the inevitable day that we need to use those skills we've accrued, and the days thereafter.

Are you me btw? 😂😂 I have the same sentiment at work, it really is quite easy to be replaced, sadly. And yes I struggle to remember things as well and I was just thinking recently about repetitive memorisation tactics, basically re-reading things over again until it sticks in my mind. I tend to make a lot of notes as well and organise those notes so I can reference them back when I vaguely know what someone is talking about but need a refresher.

Plus it's a lot better to have things in your own notes so they're easier to understand rather than going straight to Google or AI for the answer as you can explain it in your own way - I'm sure you probably do that already but yes, practising things I vaguely know the answers to is something I need to do more so it's ingrained in my brain and I can quickly respond to questions about things.

Thanks for the encouragement and knowledge, Adrian, it's very appreciated.

Fight the good fight, and speak soon 👋

9 hours ago, Pulse said:

Are you me btw? 😂😂 I have the same sentiment at work, it really is quite easy to be replaced, sadly. And yes I struggle to remember things as well and I was just thinking recently about repetitive memorisation tactics, basically re-reading things over again until it sticks in my mind. I tend to make a lot of notes as well and organise those notes so I can reference them back when I vaguely know what someone is talking about but need a refresher.

If you find a method that helps you to remember what you read/study/practice better and faster please let me know, I'm searching for a method as well :)

So far I'm doing exactly what you do, I study, I take notes, I study/read again what I just read and practice things on my home lab (I use vmware workstation pro 17 for personal use for my homelab)

But I still struggle to remmeber most of the things that I read.

If you find a method that sticks, let me know, I would appreciate that

😁

Day 4:

Quick journal today as I've been super busy, but keeping super busy makes it easy not to think about games too much, which is great! So a very easy day 4!

I don't really have many memorisation tactics, @Adrian , just repetitive re-reading of material, noting it down in my own way, and then another thing is maybe creating a list of questions for yourself, so it's like a mini exam, you revise for the exam, take the exam, and then when you've got all the questions correct, you come back to the exam a week/month later, take it again, see if you get the answers right. Obviously just a small list of questions, not a full exam paper or anything 😂, but it helps if you want something to permanently stick in your brain without having to remind yourself.

I've heard of 'flash cards' as well that can help, either physical or digital.

Day 5:

During the week the logs will be smaller (including not really discussing any game addiction topics in more depth) as I have work, but I'm having no real cravings which is good. Business (Busy-ness? 🤣) is a big factor for me (and probably most other people) to avoiding cravings, and reminiscing, which can sometimes lead to relapse. All in all a good day 5, and I've added my badge to the StopGaming subreddit to boot!

85 days to go, see you ALL at the top 👍

Day 6/90:

Again been really busy today with work, working out, watching a movie, doing some more work, etc. So it's all been very easy as I've just been so busy.

As explained before; I think once the weekend hits that's when it will get a little more difficult, when you have the time to think, reminisce, maybe watch an old gaming video here and there - that's when you know you're in - what I like to call - the 'Danger Zone'. Similar to any addiction or anything that you're trying to completely cut out, that boredom is the 'Danger Zone'. It's making sure you can recognise when you're in this Danger Zone, and do things to get you back out of it ASAP so you don't risk your progress.

Let's keep it going, stay frosty, and good luck to everyone out there 👊

Day 7/90:

Last night before bed I did actually think about an MMORPG I used to play, those ever so slight cravings coming back into the forefront on my mind. The key is obviously not to give attention to them and allow them to wash over you and simply pass to the sands of time.

So a slightly more difficult very-end to Day 6, but overall a relatively easy Day 7.

I have checked out the Respawn program, I think if my cravings start to get worse and I struggle to deal with them, I think I might check it out. For now I haven't relapsed, but I know it's still early days, and even if I make it to 90 days, there's still that slight danger of a relapse even a year or more down the line.

I've also looked for other material from other authors, forums, etc. as I really want to immerse myself in all of these communities as I said in my intro thread, as being a non-gamer but still using the internet, it's a bit lonely as it seems like everyone is a gamer and not many people tend to understand us non-gamers.

It's great to be here and I'm glad there are people like us here, on the StopGaming subreddit, and in certain other pockets of cyberspace.

Until tomorrow, stay focused, stay ready, because those cravings can come at anytime, from anywhere, especially when you least expect it. Stay vigilant out there, people 🤝

Day 8/90:

Wow, busy day again, a couple of small cravings as I did come across a couple of gaming related videos on my phone, but just let them pass like tears in the rain.

Not much insight into things today, relatively easy day, on to the next day tomorrow.

Speak soon 👍

Day 9/90:

Another REALLY busy day, life is so busy right now. I did have a thought about a different game I used to play, but again I just let it pass as I had a lot of stuff to do.

One topic I have been thinking of is the way some games (live service games especially) give you the sense of FOMO and then when you can only complete objectives and gain rewards by beating other players (PvP), and even worse when you have LIMITED attempts at it, it's like the 'elites' (game developers, publishers, hired psychologists) watch the experiment unfold.

It's like they're watching the experiment on lab rats, or watching some starving slaves in a pit, and one of them decides to throw in their left-over chicken wing for them (us) all to fight over it. But it's even worse, because it's not a tangible item you're fighting over, it's a bunch of non-existent PIXELS!

Not only is there AI SLOP, but video game SLOP as well!

'Hey look, look here, look at this video game we made, oooo shiny, now look at this other video game we made, yeeeees, shiny - Wait, what? Life? What's that? You don't need that, you just need these shiny video games! Life is too difficult and boring, but video games are shiny and look at all these addictive bright colors, oooo yeeeessss!'

But overall, a good Day 9!

See you tomorrow, all the best 👍

Day 10/90:

1/9th of the way home!

Definitely more of a chill day today but didn't have any cravings to play, did come across a YouTube video or two but I had a little watch and got bored.

On to tomorrow!

Bye for now 👍

Day 11/90:

I did actually check gaming news today as I wasn't quite as busy as I have been all week, and I briefly watched a couple of gaming videos. I didn't have any urges to play any games though, so I'm still in there. It's also back to work now anyway so I'll be plenty busy again. I'll be very busy from next weekend as well, so I'll have little time for browsing the internet.

Let's all have a strong week, everyone! 👍

12/90:

Busy work week this week, haven't had time to think about games or watch any videos etc. so it has been quite an easy day 12 today.

Keeping the streak alive one day at a time,

lisss gooooo 👍

Day 13/90:

Busy work day today as usual so no time to really watch videos, or play games.

The withdrawals I'm currently having are something to reward myself with, as I quite like the productive task: reward aspect of life. That used to be games. Food is kind of the only other thing I can reward myself with, but I've been making sure to keep exercising up to burn off the extra calories.

I was also thinking today how games, even though I never really spoke to people on voice chat etc. a whole lot (apart from raids in WoW), how it creates a sense of belonging and community. Content creators create the YouTube videos and Twitch streams, and you can feel the excitement in the air when there's new content drops/expansion packs etc. coming. It does definitely feel a little lonelier without that sort of community, but there were just way too many cons to gaming to outweigh it, plus there are communities IRL instead.

I'll probably talk a bit more about the sense of community at a later date, as it's an interesting topic.

Still keeping strong, on to Day 14!

See you ALL, at the very top 👍

Day 14/90:

Wow, two weeks already. It has gone pretty fast and pretty well. Busy-ness really is the key to any addiction, if you don't have the time to do the addictive activity then you're much less likely to do it, the less you do it, the less likely you'll want to do it, and it just snowballs until the ball grows so big that it's not really an addiction anymore.

That takes time, of course, but time heals all wounds.

Stay safe, stay SHARP, and I'll see you ALL at the top of the mountain ⚔🛡⚔🛡⚔🛡

Day 15/90:

Still trucking on, not much to report today apart from:

I watched a couple of gaming videos briefly just in some downtime but nothing for any real length of time.

One other thing I loved doing was playing certain games around seasons in the year. So Christmas I normally like to play World War 2 games (and FPS games in general), and Halloween I enjoy playing Dead By Daylight. I did check out a couple of Twitch streams of it today, so I might check them out again over the Halloween period if I have a bit of downtime.

But watching them I didn't get an urge to want to play, I just enjoyed the comforting feeling for a little bit and let it pass to the sands of time.

I will be watching a couple of slasher movies closer-and-on Halloween, though!

See you at the (you know where:) TOP! 🛡⚔🛡⚔

Day 16/90:

Just going back to the topic of seasons and playing games, a lot of games tend to have seasonal content updates, so Christmas skins, Christmas maps, Halloween skins and maps - some maybe have Easter themes as well. So I did used to enjoy those.

Pretty fine day today overall.

Not much else to discuss, so I will see you all TOMORROW for another day of No Games.

Until then 👍

Day 17/90:

Still trucking along, been very busy this weekend so that has helped a lot, haven't had any cravings etc. so been a very easy weekend thus far, but as always we gotta keep our guard up.

Until tomorrow, stay alert and I'll see you somewhere called the very top of the mountain ⚔🛡⚔🛡

Short but consistent. May be helpful for the long term

1 hour ago, Yan said:

Short but consistent. May be helpful for the long term

Day 18/90:

Thanks Yan (I can't @ you for some reason, it errors)

Yes definitely, it definitely help keep me accountable and hopefully some people can come in and check it out and it will motivate them also.

One topic I wanted to bring up:

Games were always something I'd do to fill the 'empty' time I had - so I felt as though, when I had an hour or two of 'dead air' (free time) I was always doing something and it was always so accessible. Rather than maybe get ready to go out, and then spend time socialising or working on my projects, it's much easier just to boot up a game. For example, as if we compare the times of both:

...Let's say it takes 30-60 minutes to get ready to go out, then you're travelling to where your friends are, that's maybe another 30-90 minutes, then you're spending the time socialising, that's 6 hours or so, so all-in-all you've sent let's just say 8 hours or so doing something healthy like socialising.

On the flip side, you just need something to fill the hour, so you boot up your favourite game which takes about 30 seconds let's say, then you login, and you're playing right away. Compare the two and the prep time for socialising is much longer than the quick game boot up and you're in and already getting that dopamine flowing.

So that does make Gaming harder to quit because it's something you can reward yourself with very quickly. Finished a hard day at work? Jump on a game as it's an INSTANT dopamine hit, it's an instant reward.

Socialising takes time to set up, prepare, travel, actually do - gaming is right there, instantly gratifying you. Same with maybe approaching those of the opposite sex: It takes effort, it's scary, it's so much easier to just boot up a video game and get insta-dopamine.

What I want to identify as is someone that, even if say my dating life doesn't really take off, I don't fall back into games. I don't identify as a gamer anymore. Even if things don't work out the way I want them to, I don't NEED games to fall back on, I can fall back onto just surfing the internet, or YouTube or movies, TV shows, books, whatever. Just not games.

As long as I do that and stick to it for the rest of my life, even if I fail at everything else in life, I know that I overcame my addiction to video games, and for that when I hopefully get to old age I will be really proud of myself for achieving, because for a lot of people they will die still addicted to video games, and I just don't want to be that guy.

I've played enough games at this point to last a lifetime, so I'm over it now. It's time to continue to do something, ANYTHING else. And for that, I am proud.

Until then, see you guys tomorrow.

Edited October 19Oct 19 by Pulse

Day 19/90:

Quick log today as very busy, no issues today with games, another day in the bag, lookin' good, feelin' good, hopefully catch up tomorrow.

See y'all at the top ⚔🛡⚔🛡