I haven't played a game for more than 30 minutes in years. Once you have a big boy job, responsibilities, and a family (if you choose to do so) game time ends up being really low on the list of priorities. I'm sure many will disagree, but you just can't devote time to such things once you are an adult. You have to outgrow such indulgences or life will smack you in the dick. If your car is broken, the dishwasher is being an asshole, you need to refinance, the kids have music lessons, the dog is old and needs to go to the vet (again), your mom needs someone to replace her hose faucet, you just can't sit around dicking around with a game.

Retirement is amazing. Game time anytime.

I just play games with my kids, there’s no reason why you need to stop. It’s like saying you don’t have 30 minutes to read, yeah, of course you fucking do.

It's absolutely possible to balance all of what you've mentioned with a bit of time for yourself. Less than when you're younger, yes, but you can make time for yourself. In fact, I'd say it's the wiser route since it fights general burn out, which is all too easy to fall into given how long that list of responsibilities can be. I've heard some say they prefer to do something less interactive with the downtime they have, which I competely respect, but saying you can't devote time to personal hobbies as an adult simply isn't true. It just takes more concious effort

Have to say, the steamdeck has been great for this. Pick up exactly where you left off, press the sleep button to pause exactly where you are. I tend to play on story mode now because I don't have time to grind and just want to experience the game. Sits beside the bed so once the kids have been put to bed and if there's down time it's pick up and go.

I was able to retain time and money for gaming and other hobbies by having a vasectomy. Edit: Typo

The real issue here is actually just your opinion of games. You consider games to be “sit around dick around” time wasters. If that’s all it is to you then yeah you’ll naturally find yourself moving on as basically *anything* else will be more fulfilling. Games to me are a form of art which have the power to change lives. A medium I’ve been continuing to develop an appreciation for my entire life, alongside other pursuits such as music. As life gets hectic into adulthood I’ve found that games are **far** more meaningful to me now than ever before. And I’m not sitting around looking for time to kill. I make time to play because of how restorative and life affirming it is. Games like Citizen Sleeper, Spiritfarer, Outer Wilds, To The Moon, Slay the Princess, Hollow Knight, Eastward, Arctic Eggs. Some experiences stay with you forever, expand the depth of your empathy, and steer your heart towards kindness. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you if you try to crank out endless rounds of Call of Duty to the point where it interferes with you taking your dog to the vet. But I’m 100% certain all working adults would benefit from engaging with meaningful art regularly. Be it games, books, film, etc. Whatever strikes you.

I switched to books. Portable, cheap, can start/stop any time. Can read in down moments, can listen on long car rides. I started playing Outer Wilds. I just don't have the time to prioritize it to the point where I can enjoy it.

I respect that, but at the same time, if you don't make time for leisure, 30 years will disappear down the drain in a blink of an eye. Nobody is going to make that space for you; you have to advocate for yourself.

This. I lost 7 years to a well payed job I needed due to financial mistakes I’m still recovering from. My new job pays about 25% less but even then I’m down to 25 more month until I’m done. I don’t remember anything of those 7 years except when covid hit and I got super depressed, and that one time I was dating this girl for 3 months and I willingly made time for her, like taking a 4 hour walk or urbexing for a day. Now I’m back at doing nothing but work and housework, cook dinner and being "forced" to spend the evening watching movies… longest time in the last 2 years was a 3 month job training, felt like a whole year. Get out, do something, get new experiences. Make time for that.

Yeah, I had plenty of time and money for gaming and other hobbies before having little mischievous halflings. Now at least two thirds of my free time goes into them instead of me. Would I love more me time, absolutely. But I also love them and I feel incredibly privileged to have the time that I can spend on them and I can't fathom not wanting to spend time with them. But this is more about letting potential future parents know that children are a fucking huge commitment and you better have your own life sorted because you won't have time to fix your shit later. Kids are post-campaign content. You finish your main story and then if you're looking for some challenging content, you get kids. Don't get kids during your main story because then they become your main story.

Nah. That's nonsense. A career? Fuck that noise, statistically you will *never* make enough to make the effort worth it, get a job that offers you what you *need* and doesn't demand more bullshit from you (although i understand some places just won't let this happen). Family? Frankly i think having kids is a mistake regardless, but once they are old enough you shouldn't be a helicopter parent anyway. A partner? Good partners let you have some time for yourself and your hobbies (and that goes both ways!).

Referring to kids, quite aptly, as "post-campaign content" /chefskiss

I can't be the only one whose parents strictly limited video games and who plays way more video games as an adult.

While I definitely have *less* time for things like that, I still find time to play some games usually by giving up a little sleep and playing after the kids are asleep and tons of chores have been done. I can't imagine that you still don't need some downtime, you can't just be "on" all the time without it heavily affecting your mental health. I hope that you have simply found other pursuits that do that for you.

I found that I can't just start and stop reading and get anything out of it in the same way that I can't just start and stop a game, but that's good that you can.

Yeah that’s part of what makes games specifically so valuable. It asks a lot of you. You have to meet it where it’s at. You have to muster the energy to be able to appreciate it even when life drags you down. Otherwise you can’t progress. I obviously don’t know you, and reading books and investing time in your family is obviously great. But to anyone generally, I would say be careful and make sure you advocate for your time and energy. It’s **very** common for people to fall into a loop of passivity. The audiobook is on in the car but their mind is elsewhere. They endlessly scroll algorithmic slop on their phone without it ever actionably enriching them. They turn on a show at the end of the day just to tune out. If your life is already full of the experiences that make it worth living, great! Again, I don’t know you. But irl, what I see most often when people complain about not having time for deep passions is that their job drains them, then their responsibilities drain them, then they lay, crushed, letting images on the screen flash by them as the days turn into months. Then somehow years go by and they’re left without the memory of ever living them. In the midst of this, many people adopt the belief that they’ve simply aged out of participating in deep passions, and the way life slips through their fingers is just the way life is. This is a difficult belief to weed out once it has taken root. Ironically Outer Wilds specifically is a great way to confront this mindset lol

This is complete BS. Think of the traditional cliches of dad puttering around in the garage, watching the game on TV, going on a fishing trip - is anyone questioning how he has time to do these things? When a hobby is worthwhile to you, you make time for it. This just reveals your bias that playing video games is not a worthy way of spending leisure time, which is a super boomer take.

Thing is, I would like to have some time for this. However, I just can't prioritize it above the responsibilities of life. If I don't play a game, there is no real impact beyond a little disappointment. If I don't handle the other stuff, there are real and immediate (often expensive) consequences. I believe that every person should have a hobby that enriches their life. However, I also feel like that enrichment demands some effort. Things like painting, playing an instrument, sculpting, demand effort but provide reward in equal measure over time. Not just for the individual, but for others who also get to experience the results. Playing a game is an indulgence; its like a movie or show that you participate in. The end result is an experience for the player alone. I don't see life enrichment by pursuit of arts and crafts as the same as consuming a game. I truly believe that you must move beyond playing games and that adults who do not pursue beyond are experiencing arrested development. Games are fun, but if you stop there, you miss so much. That's why I don't prioritize them and I find it fascinating that saying something as noncontroversial like "you should stop gaming at a certain age" really touches a nerve with so many people.