My Journey with Video Games

I started playing video games when I was five years old after my father bought a PC and a couple of games. I'll mention some of them in this article.

The Early Days: True Crime

One of my earliest memories is playing "True Crime: Streets of LA", a police detective game rated 16+. I was too young, but I was fascinated by the story and gameplay. I loved chasing down criminals, fighting them, and making arrests. It felt like I was making a difference.

An Unexpected Impact

Gaming helped me develop critical thinking skills early on. In 4th grade, a teacher gave us a task to create true and false statements. I wrote things like:

True Statement: I am 10 years old
False Statement: I am 4 years old

True Statement: X found guilty
False Statement: X found not guilty

My teacher looked at it and said, "You are going to be a jury at court." At the time, I didn't get it, but now I understand. My statements resembled legal testimonies, which showed an early grasp of logical frameworks, likely influenced by the problem-solving nature of games.

Continuous Play: Far Cry

The next game I loved was Far Cry 1 and its modifications. It offered a great experience of exploring locations and using strategy to overcome challenges. I also enjoyed the mission-based objectives.

The mutants were both amusing and terrifying. I remember a glitch where a mutant I grenaded started "dancing" erratically. I couldn't stop laughing. I played this game for years, even into university, largely because of the CryEngine editor, which let me design the game as I wished.

Multiplayer Games

Counter-Strike: Source was my first consistent multiplayer game. While community servers were fun, I eventually moved on to its successor.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive felt like a more mature gaming experience. I focused on improving my skills, but dealing with toxic players was a challenge. A fun way I enjoyed the game was by creating a table to track competitive maps and match lengths, striking through completed ones. I continued this until CS2 was introduced, which my laptop couldn't support.

Mobile Games

During the era of mobile games, I sought small accomplishments to feel fulfilled during moments of boredom. I primarily played RPGs for relaxation but eventually quit, as they required more focus than I wanted from a casual gaming experience.