How game friends share how playing together helps survive the opening

During the COVID-19 entry, I asked people on Twitter to send me stories on how to fight loneliness and how video games can help. I have received many comments describing play sessions that improve health in various sports. Here are just a few of them.

Thank you all for posting your stories. Entries are edited and allowed to be clear.

Conclusion 2

“Most of my friends are playing Conclusion 2, ” writes Manuel, a Mexican digital artist. “Much better than, say, make a video call. Talking while playing helps keep conversations from being affected. One minute we're talking about how our day is going and the next NPC is making a comment we never heard before, leading to a whole new discussion about the game's launch.

“There is a default that you don't get with standard phone calls. When you live alone, you often hear the same words all the time (if you are lucky enough to be locked up with someone). To hear about friends who live elsewhere and know they are alive, is very helpful. ”

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizon fish seller C.J. buying fish somewhere — Animal Crossing: A new light

“One of my friends is suffering from asthma, so when all this started, I immediately realized I couldn't see him in person,” writes Anna from Florida. “He had been delaying for days until the release of Animal Crossing, so I decided to win the game because he was very excited about it and wanted to see what all of this had to offer.

“After a few days of playing, we decided to visit the islands of others. Since the chat feature in this game is very difficult for instant messaging, I just called him. We spent, like, two hours just wandering around each other's islands until we ran out of things to do. Eventually we left our fellow citizens, who were sitting just around the bench, and we talked about other things for an hour. At one point, I noticed how strange but interesting that these little video game characters who were just like us in real life were sitting next to each other in the virtual space as they had a different conversation. We couldn't see each other, but we couldn't meet anyone Animal Crossing

“For anyone who feels lonely right now, I definitely recommend finding a good game to play. Reach out to people you know and see if they have other multiplayer games like this one you can play together. If you have a friend who has stolen you to try their favorite game, now is a good time to try that. “

“My twin sister and I have always had problems with each other. I think we were fighting before we were born and now we are old, there is still some conflict there, ”wrote Andi, from Virginia. “But since the closing, we've been talking a little bit.

“We both have Animal Crossing New Horizons, and on Sunday we spent over two hours working for Stalk Market selling turnovers. Let's play the game together for two hours, forever. And the whole time was wonderful. It sounded like a real bonding experience.

“We send more messages, and not just Animal Crossing. I learn more about him than I do over the years and all that negative spirit around our relationship feels like it's over. I really hope that after all this is over, we can continue to do things like this every week, because I finally get the chance to have a closer relationship with my sister. ”

Magic: Gathering Online

Eric, from Boston, wrote: “My friends and I have a definite idea of how to organize a social gathering. “We also meet regularly at competitions in shops and conventions, as well as in small weekends.

“Now we cannot meet in person, using Magic the Gathering Online. I made a league of eight friends, we all clocked up one night, and two weeks ago we were playing a robot.

“That league is over and we will start a new one this week. It has been a pleasant distraction from stress; three of us lost our jobs, one of us has a partner who works as a physician's assistant, and one person was diagnosed with COVID. We are in a bad mood, but it is from the team that the league is the only thing that has given our lives a sense of happiness. ”

Jackbox Party Pack

Christine, from Baltimore, says: “I spent four days in isolation before deciding to start associating with friends. “I don't want to just find people with a Google Hangout, because we get to ask what people cook for dinner. It's a nice detail to have, but it doesn't need that much review.

“I've played Jackbox games in people's houses before and watched some of their streams, so I've decided to catch him Party Pack 2 on Steam and invite my old college friends, who are now all over the country.

"For at least two nights a week last week, I spent a few hours after work telling funny stories, falling in love with animals, painting house murals, making beautiful suits, and viciously bidding with some of my best friends. we are often genuinely enjoying ourselves during happy and unpleasant times, sometimes because someone has had a bad day and needs to step up.

“We found a way to recapture what made us such great friends in the beginning. It's not so much about community reductions that I want to continue after the epidemic, and I have no doubt that we will have weeks where we can jump on the phone every other day when this is over, but I think we all want to start being a Jackbox game night even when our lives are busy coming back. Seeing and playing games has been part of improved health since all this began. “

Minecraft

“My girl begged me to find out Minecraft playing with her and her friends when she was alone, ”wrote Olivia from Virginia. “It was a wonderful way to fight loneliness and feel like hanging out in a space we could go to change it.

"I think it gives the added benefit of promoting a sense of discovery and control of our surroundings by interacting, exploring and building the world. It wasn't a game I was interested in before, because it was very scary, but playing a game of spending time together was a new thing for me."

Rust

“I have a bunch of great friends playing Rust, and other games, which often survive in the open world and co-op games, ”writes John from South Carolina. “Playing these games helped us a lot through this difficult time, but it was a relief before the ban.

“Before it's closed, H1Z1 it has always been my game of choice, but it has been very difficult for me to be a solo traveler. I was a friendly player trying to meet the people I was going to work with, but I didn't have much luck. One day I was looking up a hill and met a man named Hipster. I don't know what it was like to say let him trust me but he let me listen to him back to basics (which was a no no H1Z1). Down there, I met the rest of the group, from all over the world.

“Next year, we all play together. We made memories for the whole community. We were always stuck doing our basics and causing as much trouble as possible to the servers we chose to focus on. We all had many different personalities from different backgrounds. But we were together when we were struggling with health problems, telling each other about ourselves for a lifetime.

“Over the years, I've met a lot of teams and we've laughed a lot, and team activities like hiking and playing board games. I had photos of myself meeting everyone for the first time and some memory game screens we all shared. I look forward to the end of this space, to be reunited. ”

Danger of rain 2

Ben, from Missouri, writes: “I know all my online friends at school. “We all have an agreement together. Even if we don't play games together, we're always on the phone talking about anything. Great for some of our friends who struggle to stay inside all day.

“Right now, one of the games we play Danger of rain 2, which is about collaboration and finding ways to live in an increasingly challenging environment.

“My advice to anyone wanting to find a group, is to start with people you already know. Discord or Reddit are also great ways to find a good community. Any place where you can have a good conversation about sports, you'll be able to find great people to talk to or play with. ”

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