Video games are a form of entertainment people use to explore places and worlds not available in the real world to escape the day-to-day grind. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to stay at home, individuals are relying on these escapes heavily.
Erica Cisneros, communications major said in a message over the Citrus College Mobile app she used to play video games very little before the quarantine due to work and school.
Cisneros said she averaged about 4-6 hours of gameplay on days she had time to play. She said she now plays an average of 10-13 hours everyday.
“It does kill some of the repetitiveness because although I have a routine of playing now, every time I log online to play with my friends, we do have different goals and tasks that we want to accomplish each night,” Cisneros said.
Whether it be playing Animal Crossing on her Nintendo Switch, Destiny 2 on P.C. or Pokémon back on her Switch, Cisneros said she finds gaming gives her an escape from the routine of staying at home everyday.
Cisneros said she finds diversity in her virtual escape switching back and forth from her P.C. to her Nintendo Switch.
Cisneros said even if she is playing the same game everyday she can switch from different game modes such as player-vs-player matches, campaign missions and raids. She said she looked to buy another Nintendo Switch for her sister, but found they are sold out online.
Cisneros said they even got their mom to join them. They all play Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Heather Royalty, mortuary science major said in a message through the Citrus Mobile app she only has Animal Crossing: New Horizons and had never played at all prior to COVID-19 and now plays 6-8 hours a day.
Royalty said video games keep her connected with her friends and family.
Royalty said she had a trip planned to Colorado to see her family and introduce them to her partner. However, plans fell through with the outbreak coming home to the U.S. which led to stay-at-home measures being implemented, and airplane travel being suspended.
Royalty has been able to “hang out” with her sister by playing video games.
Royalty said her mother is terminally ill, limiting the amount of activities she can do. She said they take joy in teaching her new things.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons features different fish and insects that you can collect and store in your museum and one of their favorite things to do is to view each other’s virtual exhibit.
Royalty said it is cool to be all together in the game and see the same things at the same time.
She said gaming with her family softens the disappointment of not making the trip to Colorado.
“We can all spend time together… even though we are having to stay far apart,” Royalty said.
