> Games for me was able to fill a very odd spot in my mind I think, they were challenging to the extent that you felt like you were growing a skill, and at the

> Games for me was able to fill a very odd spot in my mind I think, they were challenging to the extent that you felt like you were growing a skill, and at the same time rewarding [...] stuff that gets your lizard brain going you know. For me, I see games as a very simple effort/reward process. I can put in some time solving a problem and I get a dopamine hit. It's like junk food for my brain's reward centers :) The "odd spot in your mind" that you mention, for me, is that cycle: solve a small problem, receive dopamine hit, move on to the next problem. Gaming makes that reward cycle very fast. That makes it efficient, but it also seems to acclimate me to a cycle speed that isn't common in real life. I find that some hobbies are an acceptable substitute, at least for a while. Most of those involve physical skills that need to be built over time. Some hobbies that I've tried that fill the same mental niche for me include: * repairing and restoring vintage fountain pens * metalworking/machining * building and flying (but mostly building) FPV drones * shooting sports (always expensive, but much more so right now) * mechanical watch repair/"modding" * playing a musical instrument (ukulele is inexpensive and fun) * photography * 3D printing - both optimizing the printers themselves and designing solutions in CAD