My grandma's coral reef comment changed how I play

Tbh my grandma watched me play Coral Island for 20 minutes and asked why I was rushing to finish the museum when the fish were just pretty. She said 'you're treating it like a chore list, not a garden.' made me slow way down and now I spend whole evenings just diving and looking at fish. has anyone else had a non-gamer family member totally reframe their play style?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorc401mo ago

Did you try turning off the quest tracking and just setting your own rule like "only dive when it feels good"? That helped me after my dad said I was "speedrunning a vacation." I literally started writing notes about which fish hang out near the coral at dawn vs dusk and it turned into this whole little journal. Now I pick one spot per session and just hover there watching the schools swirl around, sometimes for like 40 minutes without catching anything. It feels almost dumb to say but the game got way more relaxing once I stopped letting the museum list pull me around like a dog on a leash.

kaih361mo ago

Speedrunning a vacation" is my new favorite phrase, honestly. That journal idea sounds way more fun than any checklist I've ever made.