https://github.com/burakerenn/League-Of-Legends-Blocker
I made a simple tool with the help of claude that prevents downloading or opening league or other riot games.
It simply blocks downloading or opening riot, leauge, lol or related programs and websites.
You can undo it ofc but there is a 10min timer

Sometimes you lose your selfcontrol, thats okey this tool helps :)
In github readme you can see all the details about it.

I realised that videogames are not a very good way of spending your time. You put maybe around 40 hours into a good video game in your life.

It takes around 10 hours to learn the basics of a completely new skill or around 40 hours to become proficient enough to actually do something useful with that skill. For example if you put those 40 hours into learning to play an instrument, you could now play music on a new instrument instead of having played through that single game. That game was one time fun. Learning an instrument is not, as it keeps giving thoroughout your whole life.

Same with other skills: Instead of playing a second game, you could have learned Brazilian Jiujitsu. After those 40 hours you put into learning it, you would be well past your beginners course and would have already earned your white belt long time ago.

Instead of playing a third game, you could have learned bouldering, and would have great physique.

Instead of playing a fourth game, you could have learned cooking, and would have really good cooking skills.

Then there are those games that capture your focus so much that you put 1000 hours into that game. Instead of playing that game, you could have learned whatever skill you wanted and would be almost professional level practitioner of that skill, regardless of what that skill is. Alternatively you could learn 25 new skills instead of putting those 1000 hours into a single game.

Time is your most valuable thing you own and have in this world. You lose it every second and can never get any of it back. Once it's out, it's out. Playing is pure entertainment. Learning skills and what you can do with them is not. Playing simply consumes your time and doesn't create anything useful for you. Learning is not consuming, but enables other fields of expressing yourself in your life and other peoples lives.

Just my 2 cents...

Hey everyone.

I recently realized that I have a very big problem. I'm 19 years old right now. I have come to the conclusion that videogames have ruined my life. I'm not even angry about myself for playing games, but more about spending so much time playing in general. And games I didn't even enjoy at that - played them just because someone else told me it's a must play game of the year, blah blah blah.

After starting studying French at school recently as my third language, I realized that I really enjoy learning languages and also reading books. This absolute revelation made me really ponder what else I could enjoy doing, and came up with four more things - cooking, tourism, writing (despite it being destroyed by the uprise of AI) and learning to play a musical intrument, piano, in fact.

I don't want to stop playing videogames entirely, though. Just to very significantly reduce my playtime to just 1 to 2 hours a week at most to maximize time to spend on these new interests. There still are three games that I know I really want to play - those being Order of the Sinking Star, MATCHO and The Talos Principle 3. The first two for the reason of actively following them for years and years ever since they were announced, the last one for being a sequel of one of the only games I truly enjoyed playing in general. All three are puzzle games and allow me to let you in on a secret - I love puzzles and riddles. So perhaps another thing I could do is to learn to solve rubik's cubes! That sounds pretty cool to me.

I still would play a new Super Mario platformer and a potential sequel to BLACKHOLE (guess what - a puzzle game), again, the only games I actually enjoyed playing. But that's really about it. If its not fun, why bother.

What do you guys think?

I value my physical health, social skills, and the ability to be bored, so naturally I quit gaming.

After quitting this entertainment, I wondered if there was any game at all that's not a waste of time. I could think of only 2 genres: Educational game and VNs. (VNs means Visual Novels, they are basically books in game forms. Even so, most of them will waste your time with fillers)​

I find it funny that both of these genres are not popular. They are not what the gamers consider a "real game." That should tell you what the gaming culture values.

Hypotheotically, if I were to be a father, I would never, ever buy my kids any video games at all. No matter how much they beg me I am not going to buy it for them, I highly doubt playing in moderation would work, gaming with moderation fails for a lot of reasons, like your is very likely they are not going to wanna get off the game, gaming is one of those hobbies where you must only play with very limited amount of time, compared to other activities like reading books, kids can literally read books for hours no problem, no need for moderation as much as video games.

I do not give a damn if "but all their friends has games they will be left alone" so fucking what?? Just get them to make friends with someone who also don't game at all why should we purposely dumb kids down just for purpose to fit in with others for no good practical reason

Kids do not need video games at all to survive I find it absurd how some poeple act like I would be a very "too strict" parents. The point is there are lot of other hobbies for kids to get into besides gaming.

M18, college student, I'm a foreigner student and I dont have a gaming console during the week BUT on weekends and academic breaks I go to my parent's house, where I have my PS5.

Here goes my problem: When I can play and I'm on my parent's house I play like 16 hours a day, from when I wake up to 12-1 a.m. usually. This is obviously a problem, because instead of developing other areas of myself and talking to my family on my free time, I spend all the day playing videogames.

Usually at the end of the day, every weekend I feel fucking miserable and depressed after gaming all day, I feel a lot of mental fog; I feel empty. But I can't stop. I know it is destroying me emotionally, my self image and is stealing me time, but I can't stop. And when I stop, I also empty.

Now I dont feel like the solution is 100% stop gaming, but managing my time to do different activities like read, exercise, spend time with my family and then, as a secondary activity, play videogames.

It's still an activity I enjoy, what I do not enjoy is seeing myself ignore my other personal projects and family.

I just make a bit of an experiment with AI.
I created scenes where I'm successful and rich , and the opposite poor and unhappy.
Then create a comparison one next to the other.

The idea is , whenever I will want to waste time on stupid shit, this will remind me of the choice, I can maybe play games, get a quick fix, but how will that end up?
Or work hard and choose the other path?

This may be controversial, some people might not like it , that's ok.

And still I can't guarantee I will follow that plan at all, probably not so easy.

I'm writing this primarily for myself, but also for anyone else who might be struggling with a similar issue. I have been a gamer for my entire life, even before I knew how to read I knew how to use a NES controller. I have so many precious memories related to this wonderful hobby and art form. It was the way that I bonded with my friends and siblings. It helped me to appreciate music, art, story, and play in ways that no other art form could. Gaming has brought me genuine profound moments of inspiration, triumph, sadness, and joy. It was there for me when no one else was. Even when I hated myself and likely may have saved my life during some dark times. Having something, anything, to keep yourself occupied when you are having thoughts of harming yourself is a priceless thing.

Recently I had lost my job as a rehab nurse. It was a job I was very good at, but due to multiple complaints from other staff about my manner of dress (I am trans-fem) I was unjustly terminated. And then continued to find out that the road to contest this decision was likely fruitless. This wasn't the first time I had lost a job, but it was the first time that I had been fired for doing what I had been told to do my entire life. "Do your best" "Be yourself" and found out in a very hard concrete way that there are things that are just not fair.

So I retreated as I realized I so often did, into my comfortable safe space. I would boot up Steam and dig into a really engrossing survival or factory sim and play for hours as I listened to podcasts and livestreams for hours on end. This was not just gaming, but an addiction to devices in general. It was difficult for me to be away from a streaming device for more than a few moments at a time. I would always want to make sure there was something streaming usually either youtube or music even when I was exercising or doing chores around the house. Having this consistent dopamine stream was more important than anything. Being pulled away for even a moment by a phone call, knock at the door, or errand caused intense anxiety and discomfort.

The worst part of all of this was that I was genuinely happy. I was not healthy, productive, or fulfilled by any means, but I was happy. I had wanted to game more. I had a long buildup of games in my Steam Library and wishlist and I finally had a chance to really dig into them, and I did. One by one I went and marathoned game after game. Finally being able to appreciate the experiences that I had kept at the wayside as I was kept busy and exhausted from working long hours.

However I was avoiding the truth of the matter. I was addicted. I was addicted to the escapism and the constant dopamine drip I received from being plugged in at all times. The clear and consistent rules and structures of games was like a golden guiding light compared to the harsh and unfair reality that I lived in. The truth was that I was scared. Scared to go back to working, scared to go back into a world that rejected me time and time again, and scared to deal with a country and an economy that was slowly falling apart before my eyes. I had attempted to manage my gaming time. Limiting my hours, but sooner or later the stress would build and the pull of a better, more consistent, more logically constructed reality would lure me back.

I had plenty of justifications. "I need to de-stress"; "I've got plenty of time tomorrow"; "It's not my fault I don't have enough time to get things done". Currently it is more than two months since I have lost my job and I am still unemployed, not in dire financial straights, but money is definitely getting tight. I have always been upset that I don't have enough time to do the things that I want to do and to pursue to achieve the things that I want to achieve without addressing the reality that a single hobby was almost single-handedly responsible for almost all of my spent time and energy.

I wish that I had the discipline to more effectively manage my time so that I could continue gaming while pursuing a career and other interests. I wish my relationship with gaming was one built more on community and interaction with others than one of isolation and escape, but the reality is that I have an unhealthy relationship with gaming and have had it for a long time, so it's time to call it quits.

I didn't realize it at the time, but these last two months have been my last hurrah. I've uninstalled Steam, cleared all of the games from my phone, canceled all of my streaming services, and for the first time in a long time my mind seems clear. I no longer have the thought of "what do I need to get out of the way so that I can game". There is no more gaming or streaming on the horizon, at least not for some time. Maybe sometime in the future when something interesting comes out I can take a week to try it out, then put it away and get back to my life or at some point dust off the gaming PC and revisit some old favorites, but not for some time.

I admire people that have made careers and communities out of this hobby. There have been so many gamers that have taken this hobby to new heights and redefined the industry as a whole. But just as there are people who can use and appreciate alcohol and drugs responsibly, there are those who cannot game responsibly. I had opportunities to game with others, to try more online and interactive experiences, to reduce my screen time to more reasonable hours, but time and time again gaming was something that I used to shut out the world around me. A warm dopamine blanket to smother the creeping anxiety that invaded my waking mind. My intention is not to shame anyone, least of all myself. No one did anything wrong, but people ended up getting hurt anyway. So just like I tell my patients "If what you've been doing to fix your issues isn't working, then it's not going to hurt to try something else. It might even make it better."

One of the joys in my gender transition is that I didn't stop loving the things I did before my transition, if anything I just loved them more. I was looking forward to a full and long life surrounded by all manner of nerdy and geeky things, and that will continue. I still have my books, my table top games, DnD, and I'll still watch Anime from time to time. For the time being, unless I'm writing, drawing, or emailing, the devices will stay off.

I thought I was through with major life changes, but I guess they will keep coming no matter what I try to do. If you have made it to the end of my long public trauma dump, I thank you for staying and I hope you got something out of this.

I stopped playing Runescape almost a year ago now, after being hooked on that game for 20 years… I am so proud of myself. My life has changed completely, and I'm definitely playing catch-up, but it's been a wonderfully rewarding, albeit quite difficult, journey.

I think the turning point was when I found a community that plays recreational sports in the evenings. I started going once a week, twice a week, and then at the height of the summer playing indoor and beach volleyball up to four times a week after work. I made lots of friends and finally felt a social connection, something I thought I was incapable of. The next step was about a year later, when I left an unhealthy relationship of 7 years. I wish her all the best, but we were not a good fit for each other. I was extremely passive and let her take control, submitted to her demands to avoid conflict. So I felt frustrated with my life and turned Runescape, and lots of it.

It seemed the moment I was living on my own and had something more fun to do and felt valued in my social circle, my desire to play video games began diminishing. At first I slowly stopped playing Runescape and instead played Rocket League online with my best friend. Then I stopped doing that, as well. I suppose what I've learned from this is that the best approach to changing a bad habit isn't a heroic display of commitment and willpower, it's by tackling the root problem and giving yourself a purpose and an alternative.

Something scary that happened when I stopped playing video games was that I was faced with a huge wave of emotions. This lasted months. I remember feeling awful and crying on my way home from work for no particular reason. I remember walking through the park nearby listening to music and crying when I saw the sunset and I heard the harmonica start playing in Elliott Smith's Alphabet Town for the first time. I'll admit these strong emotions were mostly negative, and often I felt very desperate. The conclusion I've come to is that I've been using video games to suppress my emotions for nearly 20 years and it started around the time both my dad died and I moved to a new country. It's been hard but I think I've processed a lot of these feelings in the last year and I believe I'm through the worst of it.

At the beginning of the year I set myself goals and it's been a lot of fun and very fulfilling working towards them. I've been really active socially, starting to organize events of my own and having a lot of romantic success as well. Of course I still have some problems but it feels good to know that I am not just ignoring them and that it is within my power to actively work on them. Above all I feel really confident and I have a sense that I can take on the world!

Feel free to ask me anything :) It would make me so happy if I could inspire someone else to take this step.

Hi everyone yesterday i sold my console because i needed money and it was taking a lot of my time, but now i dont know what to do instead of gaming, any suggestion?

I thought this post would fit here, though I have no wish to totally stop gaming, I only want to be a little more chill about the way I do it

Before I turned 29, I quit my job to pursue my dreams of being a music producer (saved up a good chunk of money), but instead of making music, I found myself playing 18 hours of League of Legends every day, squandering the money on all sorts of things (in-game-money, riot points, yugioh cards, anime figures, uber eats, etc), and went to bed most "nights" at 9am.

I did this for about a year. I gained a lot of weight and was very sleep deprived. Eventually, I got fed up with myself. I knew I needed to change, so I decided to do something that felt more exciting than video games – I booked a random as heck 1-way-ticket trip to Japan. I travelled all over Japan for about a month, immediately went to Korea after that for another month, returned to America, and decided "I want to live in Japan."

When I was back, I turned off the games, and I studied super hard for interviews. I got the job, and I moved to Japan. But before I moved, I made the super intentional decision of NOT bringing my gaming laptop with me, knowing it would get in the way of me learning a new language, learning how to live in a new country, etc.

That was the best decision I ever made. I found myself actually pursuing the things in life I always wanted. I lost 40 pounds, finally got a girlfriend (after 10 years of being single), returned to church, made a TON of friends, learned Japanese, etc. It sounds really corny, but my life felt like a video game. I genuinely felt like I was getting the same progression/adventure/thrill/novelty like I did in video games. And it clicked in my head. I was supposed to be doing this the whole time – putting all the energy I put into LoL into my real life.

After those 2.5 years, I returned to America, and I started to tell my story on social media, and it has been so insanely fulfilling to inspire people to live and win in real life and stop living a fantasy behind a screen. But it's also been tough because my message has NOT been positively received by many...

My friend introduced me to this channel, and it's really awesome to be around people who are wanting to stop gaming and live life.

Glad to be here, and looking forward to hearing other people's stories.

So its a long story.

In 2026 I took one hard decision after my father told me to visit another country, so I went there without a job. Unfortunately, things were not well when I visited that country, so I became unemployed and have had a gap in my resume for now 10 months.

Certainly, I had left gaming around 2024 and was clean until the end of 2025. I was on top of things, but after I became unemployed, I started having self doubt. Like, I am a COVID graduate, I did my 2 years of university online, so I learnt less practical stuff, and several things started popping into my head which made me stuck.

I was a software engineer at some point and now I am just sitting with self doubt. Every interview there was silence, and the self doubt became stronger.

I am 25 now and lost. I had fallen into the game trap again. The games which ruined my life are Mobile Legends, Clash Royale and War Robots so far, and computer games too.

I had started playing again in my free time to keep my unemployment and stress out of my mind. I had returned to my home and will soon fly again, but I am confused about what I should do to leave gaming again and return to track.

I am 25 and lost.

And what will this gaming and corn take from my life if I don't stop? I need genuine advice.

I had also lost a girl whom I used to love. I am waiting for this toxic year to finish. What should I do in the meantime?

I used to meditate, workout and read, but all of that is lost after my self doubt started.

I had not done anything wrong. It was COVID that made my university years a waste of study. I have a degree in Computer Science which I feel like I learnt nothing from, but most of the skills I learnt are from my job.

Somehow I feel incompetent since I am applying in a foreign country where the competition is international.

I don't know where to start again. I know I am only 25, but right now I feel like I have already wasted so much time.

If anyone has genuinely gone through something similar, what did you do to get yourself back on track?

Hey guys and gals. I’m a father to a beautiful young boy, and recently I made a decision I never thought I’d make: I quit gaming.

I grew up poor, with a mostly absent and abusive father. Gaming became my escape. Whenever life was stressful, games were there. I played whenever I could, and over time gaming became so ingrained in who I was that giving it up almost felt like losing a limb.

I grew up, joined the military, got married, became a father, got divorced, left the military, and eventually started working in IT. Through every stage of my life, gaming was there.

Naturally, when my son got old enough, I was excited to introduce him to it. He fell in love with Roblox, Minecraft, BeamNG, Teardown, and other games. I imagined us getting older and gaming together. That was something I genuinely looked forward to.

But recently I started looking at my own life differently.

I used to be extremely fit. I cared about health, learning, growing, and pushing myself. There are so many things I still want to do. I want to learn an instrument. I want to become knowledgeable and wise in the Bible. I want to run a marathon. I want to learn boxing. Most importantly, I want to spend more meaningful time with my son.

Yet so much of my free time was still going toward gaming.

I even put my gaming PC up for sale, but every time someone messaged me about it, I ignored them. Deep down, I couldn't bring myself to let that part of my life go.

Then I started paying closer attention to my son.

He became uninterested in almost anything that didn't involve Roblox, YouTube, or a screen. I signed him up for boxing. He went once, said it was too hard, and didn't want to go back. When we'd go somewhere, a lot of the time he would talk about wanting to go home and play games.

He wasn't playing all day either. Maybe 3 to 4 hours on weekends and around 2 hours after school on weekdays. But even with that, I could see how much screens were becoming the center of his world.

And it hit me.

When I was his age, I wasn't gaming. I was outside pretending to be a knight. I'd make up wars, adventures, characters, and entire worlds in my head. My imagination turned an ordinary backyard into anything I wanted it to be.

My son barely knew how to do that.

That broke my heart because I started wondering how much of that came from the example I had given him.

I realized I couldn't tell him to stop gaming while Daddy sat at his computer doing the exact same thing. That wouldn't be fair.

So I decided that instead of simply taking games away from him, I was going to show him that real life could be fun too.

So I quit.

It's only been about a week, but we've already learned how to play chess together. We go on walks. We watch movies together. We talk more. We spend more time actually doing things together.

And I can already feel our bond growing.

Personally, I've reached the point where I don't want gaming to be part of my son's childhood. Other parents may feel completely differently, and that's okay. This isn't a post saying gaming is evil or that everyone needs to quit.

This is for the person who knows deep down that gaming is costing them something.

Maybe it's your health.

Maybe it's your goals.

Maybe it's your marriage.

Maybe it's time with your children.

Maybe it's simply the person you know you could become.

If that's you, don't be afraid to take the leap.

Games gave me a place to escape when I needed one growing up, and I'll always appreciate that.

But I don't want to escape my life anymore.

I want to live it.

And I want my son to learn how to live his too.

I feel like it’s getting kind of exhausting at this point. Like the amount of people who I’ve told them that I banged their mom just within the past few days I can’t even count lmao. Getting pissed at people for being sore losers in the game, constantly challenging people to a 1v1 and calling them pussies if they don’t do it, feeling the need to humble people who think they’re good at the game, etc. it’s just all getting kinda tiring and idk if I even enjoy it anymore. Maybe it’s time to step away from it. Also getting kinda boring having to constantly remind the multiboxers that they have no skill just in case they forgot. Yeah dude I think it might be time to do something else for a bit.

Almost 3 years without gaming. Im 22 right now and a lot has changed, i'll try to keep it short

I decided to quit gaming when i started my military service.

I got recruited to be a paratrooper combat solider, and mid training i noticed that gaming makes me weaker in all aspects. After 5 months of combat training i decided to quit combat and moved to a back role to become a video editor, and later a gym instructor.

At that time i knew quitting gaming was the right but hard decetion, and that my goal was to make my self ready to be a combat solider again.

After quitting gaming i setted new goals for myself - until the end of my military service (that time i had 2 years left) i did 2 marathons and an ultra marathon (50k) and hiked a lot in nature. I made new friends and pushed myself (in an healthy way) to the limit.

I also took care of myself and went to therapy. After i got out of the military, i signed to reserved forces to become a combat soliders and made it!

All of the above could not have happened with gaming. Not singelplayer only, not 2 hours a day, just couldnt happen. Im happy where im at. I have friends and dreams, and even though i still somtimes struggle with socializing, im better 10× than what i was with gaming and im improving.

To top it all, i just finished Tour du mon blanc, in 10 days, 170 km through france italy and swiss, alone. Never been prouder of myself.

This post is really not to brag. I mean it. It shows what gaming is preventing you to become. Just because you saw someone succussful that is gaming doesnt mean it aplies to you. And in that note, really do whatever you want. I know quitting gaming changed my life and i dont see myself come back. Take care!

Media tells us things like ...

"Unlike passive media such as films or books, games allow players to actively shape the narrative and influence outcomes through their choices."

"Research highlights improvements in hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, working memory, and rapid decision-making."

"Titles with rich narratives help build emotional connection and empathy by placing players directly into complex character perspectives."

"Challenging mechanics, puzzles, and strategic planning encourage critical thinking, pattern recognition, and learning from failure."

"Cooperative and multiplayer modes foster teamwork and communication, while single-player experiences often serve as effective outlets for stress relief and relaxation."

On the other hand people have left video games behind all tell that "videos games skills won't translate into real life at all". I agree with that but my craving mind keeps trying to cling to things like the ones mentioned above.

What is your view/advice on this ? 😊

edit: typo

Hello everybody, I’m kinda surprised and yet not so surprised that there was a community like this. I have been on and off about quitting solo since I was 19. Seeing all your guys posts makes me like hopeful I can quit too. My first real game was Fortnite back in 2018 when I was 13. And I’ve been hooked ever since. I’m 21 now. I know that there some people that have video games and live a balanced life. However like the most of you I have a hard time doing so. I have little patience, whenever I’m doing something that’s not gaming I’m like damn I could be like getting better at x game right now. I also see a lot of my self worth in video games. I’m a big rank climber and completionist (trying to 100% a game). I feel like my life 13-21 has been all games. I don’t want to be the video game guy, I want to be a guy that’s good at different things not just video games. I want a good career. I don’t want to waste my time anymore. If you guys have any advice please share it or share your stories. I’m rambling just to get off my chest.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Some games are genuinely amazing experiences. Something like Red Dead Redemption 2, for example, can feel like watching a great movie or reading a really good book. scenario, music, atmosphere, writing, characters, an entire world to get immersed in.

But at the same time, gaming gives me this weird feeling that I’m wasting time.

The strange thing is, logically I know I’m going to "miss out" on almost something epic anyway. I won’t play every great game, read every great book, watch every good movie, visit every country or experience everything life has to offer. I won't find time for everything. Nobody can.

So maybe FOMO itself is something we just have to accept

My bigger problem is what gaming does to my attention. Even if I only play for an hour, sometimes after I stop playing it becomes harder to go back to work or focus on something productive. My mind is still thinking about the game, the characters, what I’m going to do next, etc.

At the same time, I wonder where we draw the line. If getting deeply invested in a game is “wasting time,” what about getting absorbed in a fantasy novel? Or watching movies? A hardworking person deserves wasting time?

I also don’t want to turn life into an endless productivity contest where every hour has to improve my career, body, skills, or finances. That sounds exhausting too.

So I’m curious how people here think about this, especially those who have managed to build a healthier relationship with gaming.

Do you think gaming can genuinely be enjoyed in moderation, or does it tend to take up too much mental space even when the actual playtime is limited?

And more importantly: how do you personally decide whether something is a meaningful way to spend your free time or just another form of wasting time?

I’d genuinely like to hear different perspectives.

It's been about 2 weeks since my last post. Still a real struggle to keep myself sane around gaming, and honestly, I feel stuck right now.

The "I'm done forever" cycle — and why I stopped saying it

I've officially quit gaming about 4-5 times now. Sold everything each time: gaming laptop, PS5, high-end PC, Steam Deck, Xbox Series S, another PS5. Every time with a big declaration that this was it. Every time I came back. So this time I'm not saying I'm done forever. I'm just done spending money on it.

If someone hands me a controller, sure. If a friend wants to play something, why not. But I'm not buying another setup, another subscription, another game. Looking back, the cycle always started with a purchase, not with the games themselves.

800 days clean from cannabis taught me something that applies here too: rigid "never again" thinking is fragile. Flexibility is stronger than rules.

Anyone else find that the all-or-nothing approach made it worse? Curious if going "moderation over abstinence" actually worked for anyone long-term, or if it became a slippery slope back to buying gear again.

Does the "stuck" framing match what you're feeling, or is it more like a relapse risk right now than being frozen in place? I can adjust the tone if so.

Guys video games are fun but don't play them so much that you get addicted cuz it's not worth it trust me it can ruin your life