Gamers Stuck at Home: Here are some IRL Side Missions you can do

Greetings, gamer. We are living in a very unfortunate time. But let’s admit it, all this quarantine and social distancing business put us in our natural habitat — Safe and sound at home. We’re at our desks, on the couch, phones in hand, playing video games. If you are truly one of us, then being stuck at home has been a breeze so far.

While we’re at it, we might as well view this entire situation through the lens of a video game, under the assumption that it’s easier to handle mentally this way. Your life is the main campaign. The COVID-19 lockdown is just another main mission.

But there’s more to it than staying at home and gaming on. Consider doing the following side missions for more life XP.

Sharpen the Axe

If competitive multiplayer games are your cup of tea, then you’ll want to sharpen your fundamentals. Practicing your skills is a long grind, which is a good thing since you probably have a lot of time on your hands right now. Don’t just play while stuck at home. Git gud while you’re at it.

Objectives

• Practice in the non-ranked game mode
• Watch guides on YouTube
• Learn from esports athletes and streamers
• (For FPS games) Get Aim Hero on Steam

Old Friends and New

“I’m busy.”
“Next week?”
“When are you guys free?”
Do these sound familiar? Since pretty much everybody is under house arrest, it’s likely that you and your gaming buddies are now free to hop on Discord and play together like the old days. While you’re at it though, meet some new friends. Don’t be shy. Build the community.

Objectives

• Regroup with your squad and play online together
• Ask a buddy to invite you to games with their friends
• Try out games together that you never had the chance to

Demon, Poison
(in Tagalog: dimunyu, lason)

Looking to expand your game library? Watch out for sales on Steam and other platforms. There have been some publisher sales going on in case you want an old AAA title, and you may just find an indie gem that suits your tastes.

Objectives

• Find good deals
• Your wallet is sad
• But your soul is happy

The Number 1 Platform

If you consider yourself a proud member of the PC Master Race, or perhaps you’re a console peasant, get your head out of the gutter. Gamers are gamers, there’s no room for divisive ideology in this culture. But if you mainly play on PC or console, consider expanding your horizons to Mobile. There are tons of amazing games available on the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Huawei Mobile Gallery.

Objectives

• Dominate in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Call of Duty Mobile
• Start a virtual life in Adorable Home
• Try out some of the lesser-known mobile games

Spring Cleaning

No matter what platform you game on, it’s your responsibility to keep your equipment well-maintained. The less worried you are about the state of your PC, console, or phone, the more time you can worry about the actual game.

Objectives

• Clean your keyboard/mouse/headphones/controller
• (PC and Console) Clean out the dust from your air vents
• (Mobile) Clear up your phone’s memory

Dear gamer, these are just some of the many possible IRL side missions you can do while we’re all stuck in the lockdown chapter of this game we call real-life. I suggest you try all of them out. Who knows? You might just end up discovering some more along the way.

If there’s any mantra that we, as gamers, should stick to throughout this unfortunate time, it’s this one from the folks over at Razer:

Stay home and game on.