As players of video games, we all know the feeling. The blood-boiling hatred of starting over again and again and again in a hard spot. You've been sniped five clicks away by a sniper in a losing "Call of Duty" match, or gotten your face kicked repeatedly by final bosses or been through the Dark Souls series.
I know the feeling. I kept hitting a wall in "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel," when a gunship replete with rockets and shield-sapping lasers, supported by an army of alien and human soldiers on the ground, attacked me. I may have invented six new swear words before I'd had enough.
I thought about giving in to my basest instincts: throwing my controller. You want all the stress and anger to fly through the air, hitting a wall or that surprisingly sturdy carpet, then have pieces of stress (transformed into a flying controller) shatter across the room. It's kind of symbolic: You're telling the game that it won't beat you, and that it has no hope in doing so. Except that this creates the complete opposite effect and you're out 50-plus dollars.
Try these tips to not only get yourself calm, but to save a few dollars as well.
Breathe
The first thing you want to do, of course, is pause the game, then put the controller down. Set it onto a safe place, preferably onto a pillow (goose down filled if you've got a gold game system). Then, breathe. Hold your breath for a few seconds (up to 10), then exhale. Do this as much as you feel you need, so long as it replaces whatever rant you were screaming at your screen. Remember, the game stops being fun if 80-year-old Mrs. Anderson next door calls the cops on you over a noise complaint.
Walk Around/Go Outside
Another good move works in tandem with the first. Pull yourself from your chair, couch, bed, beanbag or boyfriend/girlfriend's lap — whatever. Get up, walk around for a bit while you breathe — preferably outside if it's been a long session and the air in that studio apartment is kind of stale. Get some fresh air and a little sunlight.
Walking around is a slow burning of the stress energy you've built up from getting shot at or hacked to bits repeatedly by a mid-laner in "League of Legends." If you're playing on a handheld, set it down — same as above. You'll want to separate yourself from whatever is giving you a case of the red mist, and the light physical exertion keeps you from either snapping that controller in two or punching a hole in your closet door.
Think
Whatever game that's kicking your ass is probably doing it with a smirk and a middle finger to the sky, which seems to be raining at the most inopportune time. Whatever (or whoever) it is — Ornstein and Smough from "Dark Souls," or, hell, even "Temple Run" — don't let them/it get to you. When you've calmed down, come up with a plan.
Watch for signs or patterns in opponents or levels that you may have missed before, and then try something different from the usual approach. A higher angle or different weapon in a first-person shooter, or a different magic attack in a role-playing game. The beauty of games is that when made right, there are many different avenues to take in order to move ahead. Use them.
Let the Game Go
In my years of playing games, one phenomenon always eludes me as to just how it works. Sometimes, if a game is wrecking me left and right with no recompense, a good thing for me to do is just drop it. Stop playing that game. I'll pull up another one or more (particularly ones I've beaten) and run through those — without thinking about the game that's been a hassle. The damn thing is not going anywhere (unless you've borrowed it and your buddy is expecting it back in a day).
This happened to me when I was playing "Kingdom Hearts II" a few years ago. I stopped playing because of a boss called Demyx, who swarmed me with what seemed like endless water attacks of a sitar (it could've been a guitar). My healing couldn't keep up, and I quit after my tries ran into the double digits. About a year after that, I found the game again and went back into it. It took me less than 10 minutes to beat him on my first try.
Long story short, leaving (or even forgetting) a tough game, then coming back to it, can work in your favor. Other times, you'll wind up right back where you started when you first left. The allure is the unknown, though. So give it a shot and see what happens.
Vent to the reporter about your least favorite boss at Damion.Julien-Rohman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @legendpenguin
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