Why I Love Playing Video Games (Spooktacular Day 5)

BySarra Cannon

Wow, can you believe we are already into Day 5 of the Spooktacular Halloween Party? I always have so much fun reading your comments here on the blog and in the Coven Facebook group.

Yesterday’s live chat was awesome, and it was great to see over 200 people there across all platforms. If you missed the chat, you can watch it on the replay here.

Also, don’t forget to enter the two currently open giveaways – You can enter the grand prize, 15 signed paperbacks giveaway here, and you still have time to enter to win the $50 Archer & Olive gift card here. Keep reading to find out today’s giveaway, scavenger hunt clue, and to learn more about tonight’s gaming event on Discord.

Why I Love Playing Video Games

Growing up, I was never much of a gamer. I was always outside, running around in the woods, reading books under a tree, or making up games on the trampoline. We played a lot of board games in our house, but I will shamefully admit that I was often a sore loser when it came to games like that, so I wasn’t a lot of fun to play with.

But I very clearly remember when our parents gave us a Nintendo for Christmas one year. It was our very first real “gaming console” and I loved it from the start! We couldn’t afford any games for it for a long time, so we played the two that game with it – Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. Sometimes, on a rare weekend, we were allowed to rent a game from the local Radio Shack.

Eventually, we did add a few games to our collection, like Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Jeopardy, and a few others. Overall, I was fascinated by the idea of gaming, but since I had to share with my siblings, I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted.

Not until I became an adult and discovered gaming all over again. I was in my 20’s when I really started getting into gaming. I bought a GameCube by Nintendo, and I was totally hooked. I played this one game: Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, so many times I basically had it memorized.

(And I’ll shamelessly admit that sometimes I daydream about trying to find an old GameCube and a copy of that game to play it just one more time.)

Some of my other favorite games were Fatal Frame, which I played on Playstation, and Guitar Hero on the XBox.

I love gaming, but it’s not just about the games. It’s about the relationships and connections I’ve made playing those games.

My sister and I never really got along growing up. She was five years old, much more popular in school, and always a step ahead in the “cool” department. I was a total nerd. We didn’t mesh.

Not until she went off to college, anyway. At first, we bonded over horror movies when she’d come home on the weekends to hang out and do laundry. She worked at a Blockbuster and would check out three or four movies, grab a bag of oreos and a six-pack of Pepsi for us to hang out. It was the first time we really became friends in our lives.

The movies were awesome, and I will cherish those memories forever, but over the years, we started bonding over video games even more. I would visit and we’d get into a three-day marathon of guitar hero. Or we’d connect every Sunday night online to play Left4Dead until the wee hours of the morning. I have never laughed so hard in my life as those days and nights playing video games with my sister.

Those games brought us together in ways I can’t fully express. And it was awesome.

Video games also brought me to my soul mate and husband, George. We met while playing an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) called Everquest II. We had both played the original Everquest MMO for years, but we’d never crossed paths. Then, one day, while crafting some jewelry in a small village in the game, we struck up a conversation.

He made me laugh instantly with his quick wit and intelligent humor, and even though his avatar looked like a frog, I was instantly in love.

Gaming is about so much more than pointing and shooting at a screen. It’s about connection and creativity. Joy. Fun for the sake of fun. Friendships (some of which will last a lifetime) and in some strange ways, even about finding myself and discovering who I truly am while playing.

Sometimes when I just need a reset when I’m stuck on a plot hole or scene, I’ll fire up the XBox and play a few hours of games to get my mind into a new story. It always sparks something new.

And I love games of all kinds. Console, PC games, puzzle games on my phone, MMORPG’s, first person shooters, and best of all – survival horror. That’s my all-time favorite genre of game. We’re talking Fatal Frame, Fear, The Evil Within, BioShock, Condemned, Eternal Darkness, and a thousand more if I could name them all.

I also love games like Fable and Arx Fatalis (another more obscure game I’ve played through at least a dozen times). They’re fun, relaxing, challenging, and even though I don’t have as much time to play now with two young children and a lot of responsibilities, I do love to fire up the console or PC every once in a while and run through something fun.

Tonight, we’ll be doing just that, and I hope you’ll join me! Let’s continue to make connections and friendships as we play and hang out together.

Tonight’s Video Game Event

I’ll be livestreaming the survival horror game, Until Dawn, tonight on Discord! Come join us if you’d like to! This game is moderately gory and scary, so I don’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t enjoy scary movies. If you do like them, though, this game is awesome. It’s kind of like a “choose your own adventure” movie that you get to play with the characters.

If you’d like to join my Discord server, here’s the link to join. It’s possible a previous link I posted has expired, so be sure to check out this new link.

I’ll be starting around 8PM Eastern, and I’ll go until I’m tired or no one is left hanging out! I’d love to see you there! You’ll be able to join on voice chat with me, too, if you want. If there end up being a ton of people there, we’ll move the chat to text instead of voice, but don’t worry if you are new to Discord. You can ask questions there and we’ll help you figure out how to use it and what to do! It’s super easy!

Today’s Giveaway

Let’s do another gift card giveaway today! I’ll be giving out a $25 gift card of your choice. You can choose between GameStop, XBox, Walmart, or Amazon. Open Internationally as long as you can receive a digital gift card from one of those stores.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scavenger Hunt Clue #5

SCAVENGER HUNT CLUE #5:

The book today is Rival Demons. Go to the chapter titled “It Really Is You”. What is the 5th word in the 6th paragraph?

Happy Hunting! If you haven’t purchased and read Rival Demons yet, you can find links to buy here. This is Book 5 in the Shadow Demons Saga.

Coming Next

On Day 6 of our celebration, I’ll have a new YouTube video for you with my basic Book of Shadows set up. I’m so excited to show you how I’ve set this tarot journal and resource book up, so be sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel or following me here on the blog to watch! We’ve got a really fun and popular giveaway, too, so come back tomorrow.

I’ll see you soon!!

38 Comments

  1. I love playing The Sims 2/3/4 (at the moment, I’m playing more of the sims 2 and 3, since the sims 4 is really glitchy for me). I also love playing time management games on my PC or cell phone (like Diner Dash)

  2. Hi Sarra, I enjoy playing hidden object games and usually I find the ones that have a missing person or a quest I have to go on. I am not good with controllers so I don’t play games like that. I used to play Sonic on my Sega Genesis but have not played that in a while. I am enjoying the scavenger hunt and all your free items you have given us. Have a good weekend.

  3. I can’t wait for this. I hope I can figure out how to get on. My daughter is great with discord so hopefully she’ll help me. I played Until Dawn years ago and really enjoyed the game. Looking to maybe replay it in the near future.

    My childhood games were Tomb Raider and Need For Speed. We had a game boy, Sega, the original Nintendo then a PlayStation 1 and 2. Now as an adult I have 2 Xbox 360’s, a PlayStation 4, Nintendo wii, Nintendo lite and a Nintendo switch and a Xbox one s. Hoping to get a Pc soon.

  5. Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 are at the top of my list, along with Skyrim! For relaxation, I like to play Story of Seasons.

  6. I’ve been thinking of getting into gaming, just get a chance meet new people. It’s so hard for me meet new people in real life, but I’m not sure which gaming system start with.

  7. I used to play The Sims all the time in high school. I mostly just play games on my phone though now 🙂

  8. I did like to play on the psp or psp2 many moons ago. I played legend of Lagaia, legend of dragoon and kingdom hearts. But most days I just play on my phone now

  9. Good old Pac-Man was my jam back in the day. Now I love watching my husband play games. He has a standing Saturday night “date” with his 3 best friends from college who live all over the US to play. Like your sister, Sarra, it has reconnected them all.

  10. I really like hidden object games and puzzle games. I play board games as well. I like some nintendo games, but I am not very coordinated when it comes to games like that. Which is why I like the hidden object and puzzle type games where I can go at my own pace.

  11. I never really adjusted to video games once they went 3D, but once Wii came out with a Mario game, I was all over that. We also have a mini Nintendo with all the original games on it.

  12. Admittedly, I’m not a gamer. I played mostly Nintendo games growing up and I just stopped altogether before I was a teenager. But I have always enjoyed those online games where you create a space, make a farm, etc. I think that those are the ones I play most, even if I only play them for about a month out of the year.

  13. I love games…board games currently our family favorite is Blockbuster, card games my family loves to play rummy and canasta, video games I love Animal Crossing & Mortal Combat & Mario Party.

  14. I love all video games! I love killing zombies, but I love hidden object and escape room type games too. My oldest son is 5 and he loves to watch me play and help me! He likes watching me play donkey Kong right now

  17. I said, I’m all here for the books. But that’s not entirely true. I am more of a reader than a game player. But, I do love to play the Sims, minecraft and the Elderscrolls. And when I do play them, I can play for hours.

  19. I am not a gory game or multiplayer I Online games. I love playing Lego Harry Potter or any of the Lego marvel games.

  20. My son and I play Mario all the time on the wii and the switch. Love spending time with my little man ❤

  22. I like many games including The Outer Wilds, Halo, Cyber Shadow, Celeste and Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

  23. I LOVVVVE Nintendo games. When I was young, I saved up my money and bought a Nintendo DS Lite off EBay. The touch screen wasn’t calibrated, but I loved it! I played Pokémon Pearl and Animal Crossing Wild World. Now, I still have the DS, but I also have a Switch and play Animal Crossing New Horizons, and I’ve preordered Pearl!

  24. I used to play PacMan and QBert on the old Atari system, which totally reveals my age! I totally rocked them both, too! Nowadays I’m more into word games but I’ll try different things when I get bored.

  25. I absolutely loved playing Nintendo games and even Playstation. I have very fond memories of playing with my step father and my brother throughout my childhood when I was younger

  26. Both of my sons are gamers so I have played many games over the years but my favs have been, SSX snowboarding games, all of the Assassin’s Creed games, Days Gone, and of course Mariokart and Minecraft.

  27. Some of our fav video games are BOTW, Animal crossing, Need for speed, Gran turismo, Final Fantasy, mario anything, etc. And this is just a small amount of the games we own. We are totally a gaming family for sure. 🙂

  28. I’ve always been addicted to video games — my father had the original Playstation when we were little, and I remember being four or five and trying desperately to beat Final Fantasy VII even though I could barely understand the battle system. My little brother actually learned to read and tell time thanks to video games! Mom would tell him he had an hour to play, and if you asked him at any point how much time was left he could tell you the exact minute, even at three years old!
    Fighting games and racing games have a special nostalgia for me since they were what we had in the early days, but I’m also a dating sim addict, and I’ve logged more hours than I’d care to admit into the Sims 4. At the moment, though, my obsession is Animal Crossing. Gotta get my island ready for the November update!

  29. I never played any video games until I had kids, and even then not until my 3rd got into games. He plays better then I do already, but we have fun playing Pikmin 3 and Mario Kart together.

  30. Some of my favourites are the resident evil games, the sims, zombie games, red dead redemption, and some of the assassin’s creed games.

  31. I play Candy Crush, just to relax at night. I love watching my son play Fortnite for some reason.

  35. Oh, gaming! Great to let my mind wander when I play games on my iPad but also love to watch my husband play story mode games. When we were first married I’d guide him through the puzzles on Tomb Raider! My kids bought me the Until Dawn game because they know how much I love creepy stuff and that game had me screaming because it’s so engaging and real feeling as I play the characters. Tho my eye/hand coordination is slow and I kept getting the characters killed. Lol. My new daily stress reliever is VR Beat Saber. So fun!! And my son is a game developer with two games on Steam!!

  36. I actually suck at most video games. I sucked as a kid, then as a teen and now as an adult. Nothing has changed but it has helped my kids know that they will never come in last place or get killed as many times as me. I have learned to love watching just not playing.

  38. Video games are great way to escape and sometimes it’s nice to play alone and other times it’s nice to play with others right now currently I’m enjoying Pokemon and Mario kart and a few others. Still love my Xbox 360 and I got the Nintendo switch play a few games on the computer so just having fun overall when I can

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