Video games and Reddit: how I learned to play video games
The internet has roughly 5.03 billion users according to Digital Around the World but how many of those users have experience playing video games? It seems most of the internet is composed of two camps: people who have played video games and people who have not.
So what happens to people who’ve never played a video game, and have no idea where to start? Growing up I did not play any video games besides RPGs in my internet explorer browser on my family desktop. I would get the rare privilege of playing Wii sports at my cousin’s house, but things like Nintendo's, tamagotchi and play stations were forbidden at my house.
Video game linguistics have always felt overwhelming to me, like a language I didn’t understand and a cultural experience I wasn’t privy to. I’ve been chronically on the internet for most of my life, but the world of video games felt too steep to climb into. If I had never played video games before, what made me think I’d be any good at it now?
Reddit helped to change my mind about video games.
After purchasing my first Nintendo switch at the behest of one of my friends, I quickly became overwhelmed at the multitude of game options. I had no idea what I liked, what would be most difficult or easiest for me to learn.
As I became exposed to more game styles with different types of play and quests, I joined their reddit communities. Places like r/AnimalCrossing r/StardewValley and eventually r/Linkdies and r/BOTW actually began to inspire me to try new things in video games that I had either gotten stuck in or given up on.
I love reddit, and one of the reasons I do is because there is a community for everything, including video games. When I finished the emotional Spiritfarer game, my favorite game of all-time so far besides the discontinued Bookworm Adventures deluxe, I found solace in the reddit community as players who had completed the journey or were just starting out came and shared about their experiences.
I also take long breaks from video games, but seeing players try silly or even outrageous stunts in different games from Reddit communities has often inspired me to hop back into a game and continue on my pursuit to 100% completion.
I’ve never played video games before last year, and having reddit to guide me as well as many helpful friends has made my progress in video game lore that much more swift.
