Term 3 Gaming: To play or not to play?

If you’re a regular reader of the Games section, chances are that you seek some solace in gaming, and there’s no time in the university calendar more stressful than term 3. Whether you’re a FIFA fanatic or a Candy Crush king, you will surely know the sense of panic as you look at the clock after a gaming session and realise that your 30 minute break has turned into a three hour extravaganza.

Do play:

1: Pokémon

An ‘old but gold’ classic. Pokémon is great for a revision break – not only does it have the nostalgia factor going for it, but you can save at any point (except during battles and in the safari zone) and there are a myriad of benchmarks to set yourself. Playing to the next city, beating the next gym or passing through the next dungeon are tasks that are unlikely to take more than an hour. If players do find themselves lost in Victory Road or struggling to beat the final gym, there’s always the option of saving, quitting, and trying again after another stint in the books.

2: Tetris

Tetris has stood the test of time, and there’s a very good reason for that. Though it is massively addictive, it’s not the sort of game that requires hours and hours of your time. Try to find a version with a limited number of levels – many online Tetris games have a cap at 15. As long as you’re not in competition with someone else, you’re likely to get bored quickly, and probably won’t stick at it for more than half an hour at a time.

3: Call of Duty

Though people may disagree with me on this one, COD’s a recipe that provides the perfect revision break. The campaign style caters for natural breaks during gameplay. There are also few games that provide more stress relief than first-person shooters. However, beware the difficult levels that result in multiple failed attempts and screaming at the TV – if you end up failing a mission, you may find yourself too irritated to get back to the books right away!

Don’t play:

1: Rollercoaster Tycoon

Any simulation game is a massive no-no. The open-ended nature of the games and the lack of real-time clock mean that it’s very easy to lose track of how long you’ve been playing. Rollercoaster Tycoon is particularly bad, as it gives the illusion of having goals and benchmarks, but in reality, those goals can take upwards of three hours to complete! Players could attempt to set their own goals, such as playing to the next day or the next month, but these rarely result in any form of finality.

2: Final Fantasy      

Many RPGs are very inconsistent with gaps between save points, so the age old motto of the RPG player, ‘I’ll just play to the next save point’, is a dangerous method when the clock is ticking. A dungeon could take 20 minutes, so you won’t feel as though you’ve had your well-deserved break. Bigger dungeons may take much longer, so your revision to gaming ratio becomes slightly skewed. A difficult boss may make you rage quit, but frustration isn’t the best way to return to the books. The Final Fantasy games have little opportunity for saving when you want. Players may find themselves trudging across a whole city before they can finally save and quit.

3: Angry Birds

The only reason to quit an Angry Birds session is rage. Depending on your stubbornness level (and let’s be honest, we all get quite dedicated to procrastination during term 3), you may end up wasting forever trying to complete one particularly tricky level. If you do manage to win, your newfound confidence is likely to force you to attempt the next level. When you eventually give up, you’ll be far too frustrated to study effectively. That last stubborn pig will nag at your brain until you give in and pick up your phone again.