Gaming

Had this happen to me during college. For a long time I didn't play anything but league of legends and when I finally got sick of it, I stopped playing altogether. Then during my internship I decided to pirate two games I saw mentioned on reddit that were similar to Crusader Kings: Kenshi and Rimworld.

Proceeded to sink hours and hours into Kenshi, then tried Rimworld and it didn't click. Tried again, didn't click. Then the third time I had to stop myself from playing because I had played through the end of my workday, back home and hadn't had slept or worked on my thesis at all. After a long time playing those pirated copies I got the dosh together to buy them off of steam and Rimworld is a game I play every day. A little in the morning while I have my coffee, and a little at night if I have nothing else to do. I have over 3.5k hours on it.

The thing that made Rimworld different was that it is a story generator. There are other games that are better at survival, base defense, and basebuilding than Rimworld, but story generation is peerless imo. i mean I still remember how that base that I lost so much sleep with ended, I remember the name of the cowboy drifter who became the leader, the junkie crafter who lost his head, and his pyro girlfriend who put the final nail in the coffin for all the other colonists.

If you want to try something different, maybe take a peek at Rimworld.

During the lockdowns my son was born. What's really rekindled my love for gaming was not a particular game, but how I gamed. Getting a Steam Deck totally changed things for me and made it really convenient to access my gaming library.

The first thing I did with it was not actually play new titles but visit my backlog of older JRPG games that I had missed out on (specifically the Trails series).

Gaming at my desk where I worked wasn't the same as gaming on the couch or next to my son while he was sleeping. Sounds silly but it's made it much more enjoyable!

Taking breaks and work on hobby’s and stop playing online games for good. I have a pretty bad anger problem so online games where just suffering.

My wife went out of town for a weekend so I decided to re-up Gamepass and download a bunch of stuff, mostly older games. What ultimately brought me back into actively wanting to play was Dragon Age Origins, a game I beat several times but a long time ago.

If you’re up for a challenge and an adventure my recommendation would be Elden Ring. It gave me that exact feeling you’re describing.

If you feel burnt out, take a break from your game

Within gaming
Try out a different genre or a different game, preferably something simple
Pick a random game from your library and play a short chapter or 2

Outside of gaming
Spend more time on your current hobbies
If picking a new hobby, try doing hobbies that take you outdoors like running, walking or outdoor sports

For starters, getting treated for my depression and anxiety was a huge help. One of the symptoms of depression is losing interest in things you used to find enjoyable, and for me that was video games. After I started going to therapy and taking an SSRI, I got back into video games not by playing the same games I was, but instead I played KOTOR II on my Switch. I hadn't played that game in forever, but found it really enjoyable to just jump back in.

Personally, I think one of the worst things you can do when finding yourself in a gaming rut is to play repetitive grind games like Call of Duty or Destiny or the like.

Another thing I do is limit the amount I play, but this is more involuntary than not due to kids' activities and whatnot. Right now I'm playing Jedi Survivor when I can, but mostly I'm watching my 6 year old daughter play Roblox and help her out when she gets stuck.

Perhaps emulation might get you interested. Replay the games of your childhood. Emulation also offers save States so you can immediately save or reload without silly save point mechanics, though you can stick to that if you want. This would let you basically get 10 minutes in here or there.

Get yourself an anbernic rg351or other models, or a steam deck. Anbernic's models can emulate generally up to ps1 and sometimes n64 or psp. I played through several childhood games on my 351m. Steam deck can emulate most things, namely ps2 ps3 360 and switch, but I've only tried psp thus far.

Check out the System Shock remake if you have a gaming PC. I recommend Dying Light as well; the parkour traversal and zombie physics are unmatched.

'Return of the Obra Dinn' is another favorite of mine.

Games that hold your hand and provide waypoints to every objective (i.e. built-in walkthrough syndrome) strip the joy for me personally.

I was also in a lull for a while, I don't remember exactly why I stopped, but someone recommended hypnospace outlaw to me because it had a heavy focus on exploration and following clues, and I gotta say it was a good recommendation. Something about how earnestly and lovingly it represented the turn of the millennium internet and the transition from web 1.0 to 2.0 really spoke to me, it was like digging through a time capsule, almost.

I want to get back into gaming. I want to feel the magic again.

this amuses me because it sounds like something a drug addict would say. you have that initial magic and then over time you're not using to feel the magic but just not to feel sick

my advice, OP? stop playing video games if you're not getting enjoyment out of it. it's your brain trying to tell you something. do something else with your time and go back to gaming in the future and it will be fun again.

If you’re burnt out on games, more games won’t solve that and will just make it worse

Go explore some other hobbies for a bit

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate and smaller gaming sessions might be what you are looking for.
I usually get an hour or so a day to play and I've been having a blast with Deep Rock Galactic. The game is a buy once and play with the only monetization being cosmetic DLC but I believe it is FREE on Game pass (I think); $30 on Steam but on sale for less than $10 for the next week.

It is an horde based first person shooter with 4 classes that feel unique, balanced, and bring their own strengths and tools to help out each mission. Locations are all procedurally generated, which means that you can select the same mission in the same area and it will be a new layout everytime, and it's done well so you won't get screwed over my stuff morphing into the terrain or areas blocked off cause the cave generated all screwy.

Mission difficulty can be customized to suit your wants, ranging from super chill and very few enemies, to "OH GOD THERE ARE SO MANY ENEMIES AND WHY ARE THEY SO FAST?!". I have been known to play the hardest difficulty one mission, then crank it down to the easiest to finish out a quick mission before bed just to relax a bit.

You can play solo or with a group of 3 other people but playing with others is the way to go, as you get to see how all of the classes interact and help each other, plus the community has actually been wonderful; out of the hundreds of lobbies I have been in, I have had maybe 3 annoying people total. I also never use my headset for talking (sleeping kids and whatnot) but in game text chat is lively and most of your communication can be done through the "ping" system where you point your reticle at something (enemy, item, player, etc) and call it out for everyone to see. Also there is a button specifically to shout "Rock and Stone!" Which will be around 90% of what you need and will use when communicating with teammates, lol.

Unlike some other games that pressure you to keep playing to "progress your character/battle pass" I feel no urgency with this game. While there is a battle pass style system, it is all cosmetic, FREE, and usually last a few months at a time (like 6-8). If you happen to miss something from a current or previous season, they are still in game and can be found naturally through gameplay by finding "lost crates/gear" during your mission.

All in all I recommend this game to anyone who is comfortable with a FPS. Developers are friendly, community is great, game is fun and forgiving. I feel that, in a worst case scenario, it's fun for a bit and you pick up something else. Hope you find what you are looking for, Rock and Stone!

Many people are saying to pursue other hobbies, and that the magic will come back on its own.

I think they have great advice, but it doesn't answer your question.

I have 3 suggestions: 1 hardware and 2 games, all of which are outside of your previous experience with games.

1: Get a steam deck. This device on it's own brought much of the childhood magic back into gaming, and i can't describe how it feels in text. Just get one.

2: Buy Wildfrost, which is currently my Best In Class pick for UI design and a tight gameplay loop
Bonus: It pairs really well with the steam deck

3: Get Factorio. I bought this back when it was $20, and it has more playtime than any other game i have. The mods available make the game fresh and new, and the base game is deeper than 99% of other games out there. This is the game that gave me the same feeling like BoTW, and as long as you find the gameplay fun it will be a permanent Favorites contender.