Sorry about last week. The frequency of updates was distinctly under par and that can be firmly blamed on my attempt to contract Swine Flu. I say “attempt” as according to the Government issued list I only had three out of the five symptoms which brought it swiftly down to Man Flu level.
Illnesses that are weighty enough to stop you from going out but not quite vicious enough to keep you off work are tricky things. When suffering from such a bug the ability to go out and play football or visit friends are frowned upon as they may exacerbate or spread it around. Instead, any gamer worth his salt should take it as an opportunity to catch up on some quality time in front of the television.
If only it were that simple.
Two Decembers back I was struck down during the festive period and spent four days housebound. During that time I was determined to put in some hours on Halo 3 but less than five-minutes into my Ringworld excursion my hand-eye coordination was proving troublesome. I’ve never suffered from motion sickness but the combined elements of my constantly swinging first-person perspective and inability to focus on the glowing box in the corner brought me very close.
On that occasion I found a surprising outlet in Brian Lara’s cricket. Test Match cricket is hardly renowned as a lightning fast spectacle and that really fitted my compromised state with reaction speeds just up to batting and bowling being enough of a mystery to focus my mind on conquering it before the close of play. In only a few sessions both halves became almost rhythmic, with only minor tweaks to vary your shots and deliveries respectively, and at that point the brain could return to its fogged-like state, turn off those portions required for concentrating and I could slip into a relaxing demolition of the Australian side.
This time around, Rock Band had to be cast aside. The constantly flowing stream of notes may appear innocent enough but anyone who has played a guitar-based game will know that familiar feeling or the entire room warping around the patterns once you’ve finished. Your eyes, so used to seeing these coloured bars flow from the top of your vision downwards will recreate that effect on everything you look upon for the next minute or so. Not to be advised if your head is already straining with the rigours of the day.
In its place an Xbox Live Arcade title has taken its place, Magic: The Gathering – a collectible card game based off of Dungeons and Dragons. Originally I had dismissed its XBLA release due to D&D never tempting even my innermost nerd, but after a quick demo by a friend I knew that I could see past my preconceptions to give it a go. Although at first I thought the sheer amount of cards would confuse my aching head, all work off of simple principles that I found it incredibly easy to pick up, and now the Man Flu is receding I can really appreciate the flexibility and possibilities that come from games that work from such ideology.
So, what games do you play when you’re ill? Are you tough enough to still absorb the pace of Burnout and the twitch reactions needed on Call of Duty or do you have to scale things back with Tower Defence and Advance Wars?
I make my living as a programmer at a British games developer. In my spare time I try and spread myself between writing, gaming, drumming, goalkeeping, rolling dice and keeping my hair blue. Somewhere around that my wife fits in.
Disclaimer: the views expressed are my own and do not neccessarily reflect those of my employer. "
3 Comments
I too have been off due to potential swine flu.
My illness games have to be Fallout, quietly skulking around the world ruins and getting into random skirmishes, the enjoyment of exploratory adventure.
Final Fantasy is also a win for immersing yourself in, also played a little Resi – entertaining due to being ill with the amount of references to virus’s and infections
I can barely play anything when I’m ill. I spent the whole of Sunday watching films after an inFamous session on top of nausea and a headache wiped me out.
I seem to remember playing Uno extensively the last time I was bed-ridden, and I’ll bet Ticket to Ride would work nicely.
I always thought braid would be a good shout. But it ended up making me feel worse.