7 Lies We Gamers Tell Ourselves

Gamers are an honest bunch….mostly. But from time to time, we do have a tendency to tell ourselves little white lies. Sometimes we do it to make ourselves feel better. Other times our motives are a little more complicated.

So let’s take a look at some of the most common ones and see how many you can relate to.

1. “I’ll just finish this next mission before I switch it off.” – Most Adult Gamers

You are knee-deep in a game. You have lost all concept of time. It was light when you started playing, but the sun has long set. Your partner is shouting at you to do the washing up. The kids want help with their homework before bed… So you’ll just do this next mission and switch it off.

“I’ve got too much to do,” you tell yourself. So the next mission ends…. but something crazy happens. You don’t switch it off. You know you should, but you don’t.

“I’ll just watch this next cutscene and then save it,” you tell yourself. Two minutes later the next mission has started… And you’re still playing. Oh well, sorry kids.

Who needs completed homework or clean plates anyway eh? Not gamers, that’s for sure.

2. “I’ll never pay $70 for a new game. That is ridiculous.”

The release of the PS5 saw the price of exclusive games hiked to $70. This was met with outrage, and understandably so. Granted, there’s not exactly a surplus of exclusive PS5 games available right now, which somewhat minimizes the issue…but still, $70? No chance Sony!

In reality, it’s not quite that straightforward though. Let’s take Horizon Forbidden West for example. When it releases next month, copies are guaranteed to fly off the shelves. It’s already very likely to be a contender for Game of the Year 2022, and gamers have only seen gameplay footage so far. But hang on a second, it’s a Sony exclusive, so it will be $70. So that means we won’t buy it! Doesn’t it?

Nope! News for you…we still will. $50, $70, $90. Sony could put whatever price tag they wanted on it, and it’ll still sell better than bottles of ice-cold water in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Its 2017 predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn, sold over 10 million copies and is one of the highest-selling PS4 games of all time. It’s safe to assume that this one could (and probably will) top that figure, despite its price tag.

3. “I’ll save up this useful item for a big boss fight when I really need it.”

In action and RPG games, throughout your quest, you usually accumulate a load of items designed to help you. Sprinkled amongst them are typically a handful of extremely powerful ones. The sort that restore all of your life, your magic points, cause you to gain invincibility for a short period or temporarily increases your damage output.

So what usually happens with these? You tell yourself, “I’m not going to waste these. I’ll save them for when I really need them on a tough boss.’’ And on you go with your quest.

Then you come across a tough boss….. but you don’t use the items. “I better not use them yet in case there’s an even tougher boss ahead!” you tell yourself.

By the time you’re at the final boss you’ve probably gotten so used to playing the game without the items, you’ve forgotten they’re even in your inventory. So the final credits roll and you’ve built up a nice little collection of unused super items that benefitted absolutely no one.

4. “Games were much harder in my day!”

For gamers the wrong side of 30, who grew up with the SNES and the Sega Genesis, a popular statement is “Games were so much harder back in my day”.

But….were they? Were they really? Sure, there was the fact that there was no facility to save. So you were expected to either leave the console on or complete the game in one sitting. But realistically, most games operated using only two to four buttons at a maximum. Not to mention the fact standard games were basic 2D side scrollers, many of them aimed at younger audiences.

Compare that to today where you’ve got games using a minimum of eight to ten buttons, while controlling two analog sticks simultaneously, in realistic 3D environments where objectives and missions are getting more and more complex.

But ‘’Games were harder back in my day’’? Doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny, does it?

5. “I won’t buy any more games until I get through my backlog.”

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? You’re halfway through a game when something else catches your eye. Maybe a new release, a $3.99 bargain, or a game your mates are all talking about.

Just like the proverbial kid in a candy shop, you’re immediately drawn to this new, shiny game instantly forgetting about game A, the one you’ve invested hours into. So you fire up game B and start to play it.

Now, this can go one of a couple of ways. You either love the new game and forget game A, telling yourself you’ll return to that one after (but likely never will).

Or, you don’t like game B, but you tell yourself you do because you don’t want to admit you just wasted money. So, maybe you put in around 5-10 hours before admitting defeat and resigning it to the gaming graveyard.

Poor old game A meanwhile; waits patiently for you to return. Like a wartime wife waiting for her gamer husband to come back from the latest expedition.

What’s probably more likely though, is the same loop will start again while you play game B. You’ll spot game C all of a sudden (confused yet?), and the cycle will start again. So, game A gets pushed further down the pile. The endless loop continues, and the gaming scrap heap piles up.

6. “This gamer is definitely hacking! I’m 100% sure!”

Ahh yes…. that pesky hacker. You know the one. He tends to go on massive kill streaks in multiplayer games. No one can shoot him. He’s too fast. His bullets are too accurate. So he is most definitely a hacker.

Or maybe he’s not. Maybe, just maybe he’s just better at this game than you are? That may seem like a crazy concept, but the chances are, you probably aren’t the world’s best gamer. There’s always a bigger fish. Hackers do exist, but so do Yetis, have you ever seen one of those? Exactly.

7. “I’ll have to use a walkthrough because I just don’t have the time to search for where to go next.”

In today’s world, there are dozens of written or video walkthroughs instantly accessible for every game on Earth. You can get stuck and find online help in under ten seconds flat.

But some gamers vow to have an authentic, spoiler free experience, using only their brains and skills to get through… That is, until they get stuck.

“I just don’t have the time to waste looking for the solution. I’m gonna have to use a walkthrough. I’m just too busy.” Everyone knows they told themselves this in order to find out how to get through most of the Dark Souls games, amongst plenty others. The reality is though, even if you had all the time in the world, at some point- every gamer is likely to turn to a walkthrough. Thanks, YouTube!

So there we have a comprehensive list of a gamer’s favourite lies.

How many could you relate to? Use the little chart below to work out what type of gamer you are!

0-2 = Pro gamer. Nothing else matters in life. Likely single, and possibly unemployed.

3-4 = Well rounded, experienced gamer. Prefers gaming to spending time with that nuisance family. 

5-6 = Casual gamers. Plays mostly FIFA or COD.

7 = Complete noob. Console is used mainly for YouTube, Netflix and to watch Fast and Furious DVDs.