What a Difference a Game Makes! (but only when it's the right game)

I have been playing "cozy games" since long before they were called such: I literally got hooked on the Nintendo64 version of Harvest Moon before 2000, and have been playing games of that ilk ever since.

The last few months since Frida died, I have been playing Skyrim on my Nintendo Switch, as it was ported there recently, as I don't currently have a PC gaming setup, and my Mac is limited not only by available titles but the fact that it's ancient.  (I've also been playing The Elder Scrolls games since TES3: Morrowind in about 2004.)  Skyrim on Switch has been limiting compared to playing it on a PC, as it's notoriously buggy and you can't install unofficial patches to fix it, but it's been gaming comfort food since losing my little doggy.

However, a few weeks back, I saw a trailer on the Switch Store that promised a new title to get into, one I could play from the comfort of my wingback chair (which requires less energy than playing at my desktop), and which promised to tickle the same sorts of happy places in my brain as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  (ACNH was my saving grace the first few months of lockdown, before magnesium supplementation improved my health enough that I signed up for intensive online German classes.)

You see, the disadvantage with Skyrim is that there are no logical pause points, so it becomes far too easy to fall into a game-shaped hole, only getting up when biological dictates force me into it.  It's been a beneficial pattern at some points in my life to engage in "Stardew and Stuff", where I play a day in-game, and then get up and do something for a bit.  (I do have Stardew Valley for my Switch, but I'm so used to playing it on the desktop that I just haven't been able to get into playing it on console.)  

Since last Friday, I now have a new source of serotonin and structure: "Fae Farm and Futz".  I'm nearly through my first year in-game, and still have lots to do in the main story quest, to say nothing of things like romancing the romanceable locals.  The art is beautiful, the story is satisfying, the gameplay is intuitive, but has enough to distinguish it from Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, or Stardew Valley to make it worth the somewhat high price point.  More importantly, it helps me to get back to doing little things around the house to help both my mental health and Lars's (without falling prey to the behavior I inherited from my father where I pounce on my first bit of energy in days, try to do ALL THE THINGS, neglect to take breaks, and end up feeling worse than ever).

Now I just face the challenge of enjoying my game without sacrificing too much time to it that I could be spending on Spanish or blogging, which is another set of problems inherent in stimulating my ADHD brain with a Shiny New Game.  ¡Buena suerte para mi!