Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, or smoking, any kind of addiction is bad—including addiction to video games. People can spend a huge portion of their daily routine in front of the computer or television hammering on the keypad or controller of their gaming console of choice. Their social lives disintegrate into nothingness because they’re just locked up in their rooms, sometimes refusing to even go to the kitchen to grab a bite or drink, only leaving their hiding places to pee but maybe not take at least a shower. You know you’re addicted when that’s a picture of your daily life.

Everyone knows these games can be addicting. The game developers know it, hence the continued and even rising production of such products, even if some of them are already a recreation of something that’s already been in the market for too long. What should you do as a gamer? Have discipline and self-control. Prioritize. Take care of the things you need to get out of the way first, e.g. homework, chores, hygiene concerns, and then play. But even when you play you must set a timeline for it, e.g. just two hours of this RPG, and then maybe when your brother comes home you can play Tekken for 30 minutes, but then that’s it. Don’t immerse yourself too much in video games that you forget you have a life outside of those virtual worlds.