So, uh, does anyone know what happens in the Red Dead Redemption 2 stranger mission with the photographer and, was there a coyote in it? I may have fallen asleep while playing it last night.
Readers, I am not knocking RDR2, which I’m happily sauntering through. I’m instead recognizing my limits as a tired father of two whose gaming time has been tight these last few weeks, and for whom the daylight savings time switch this week did his babies and himself few favors.
I’ve been falling asleep with a game controller more this season than I ever have before in my life. I also have developed new strategies for not squandering the precious little weeknight gaming time I can manage. One strategy involves being at peace with playing huge games only incrementally. Another is remembering to make multiple manual saves in case I need to—yes, this is embarrassing—go back to the part before I fell asleep and try it again.
A couple of weeks ago, I conked out during a misadventure in Red Dead’s New Orleans-like St. Denis. When I woke up, I realized I had no idea how one of the sidequests I’d just done had ended. Had I played the last part of it in my sleep? Is that possible? Or had my brain just not saved my progress, even though my PS4 had, such that I then woke up on my couch further in the game but with no memory of how I got there? In any case, my eye-rest had left me invigorated, so I then played another hour into the game. The lost time bugged me, though. I couldn’t remember how that pre-slumber sidequest had ended. The next day, I loaded an old save just to play it again, but then switched back to my newer save to basically continue the true timeline of my game.
Some might suggest I need caffeine, but that’s not my style. Two glasses of red wine last night didn’t help. The second definitely got me drowsy. Some nights, I go for runs. That wakes me up, so maybe I’ll do that tonight, then gallop around virtually without fear of sudden fatigue.
What a silly problem to have, but maybe you doze off when playing games, too? Offer your tips below!