My wife and I recently welcomed our first child into the world. First of all, amazing experience. Seeing the little body of a person my wife carried in her belly for 9 months be pushed out into the world was a moment that would change my life forever. It changed how I view work, my relationship with my wife, the space that we live in, and (least importantly) my relationship with video games.

I took a 3-or-so-year hiatus away from gaming during my time in college – why would I play Death Stranding alone when I could be playing Smash with friends? However, in the early fall of 2023, video games become my main hobby and source of entertainment.

I knew a baby was on the way so I tried hard to play games like:

I delved into the 3DS modding scene and started playing games like:

It was a great time. I’d come home, take care of my pregnant wife, make dinner, watch a show, and play some games. Games fit really well into my daily and weekly schedule, but then – baby.

With the arrival of Lottie, my priorities completely shifted. During the first few weeks of Lottie’s life, I was able to wake up before my wife, play something while Lottie napped on me, and then pass her off when it was time to work. However, as Lottie got bigger, the sleep regression began catching up and my wife returned to work. That meant my work hours went from 9-5 to 7:30-3:30 (we only have one car so I drive my wife to and from work.). Did I mention we’re in the middle of a move?

Everything seemed to be working against my gaming hobby and habits, and honestly… I didn’t mind.

Yes, I want to play Animal Well, and I look forward to spending more time with Ryuji in Persona 5 Royal, but I’d be miffed if I prioritized that time over making sure my wife is well-hydrated, and that my baby knows I love her.

That being said, I have found ways to play games here and there without ruining my already shaky sleep schedule or avoiding responsibility.

Sometime in May of 2024, Apple announced they’d allow emulators on the App Store. This lets iPhone users play games from various gaming systems. The most prominent of these is Delta Emulator.

Delta lets people emulate games from old Nintendo consoles. This includes the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES,) Nintendo 64 (N64), Nintendo DS (DS), Game Boy (GB), Game Boy Color (GBC), Game Boy Advance (GBA).

Delta might be one of the most exciting gaming things I’ve experienced in the last few years – especially since I didn’t have a good way to play N64 games until now.

With the Delta Emulator, I can now play games while I:

I love my 3ds so much, and I’d prefer to play games on it, but when in the pinch I’m able to boot up Delta and play some WarioWare – Twisted within seconds. And with Delta’s save states it’s easy to get into the action quickly.

I have a really bad habit of eating my lunch while I work – I hate it for a number of reasons.

First of all, I’m lucky enough to have a really nice mechanical keyboard – the Mode Envoy. I like having a clean desk and I don’t want to mess up my keyboard or desk mat.

Second, not taking the time to step away from work actually makes me less productive. Being at the grindstone all day only makes my brain more mushy, but taking lunch away from work helps my brain get all nice and wrinkly.

I’ve recently picked up the habit of eating my lunch outside while playing Pokemon Emerald on my 3ds. This might not be as beneficial as just sitting outside for a little bit, but it does help my brain stay engaged with SOMETHING.

It’s important to note that this lunchtime can’t be used for hanging out with my baby. I’m working in an office again so it would be a little wild to drive all the way back home to see my daughter for 5 minutes then drive back to the office. Instead, I choose to redeem this time by playing some Pokemon and enjoying the sun.

Ok, this may seem counterintuitive for how to handle what minimum gaming time a new parent has. However, it’s incredibly effective in increasing your enjoyment of video games.

Let’s be honest, taking care of a three-month-old while you and your partner work is not easy. It’s like, really hard actually. On the day that I’m writing this, our alarm went off at the typical 5:30 am, but we didn’t get out of bed until 6:55 – and we had to be out the door by 7:20. I’m freaking tired man.

The thought of sitting down and playing a game for an hour or two sounds like a great time, but taking a burden off of my wife by bouncing, playing, or bathing our baby, is so much more rewarding.

I don’t know how much of this will be encouraging or helpful for people who want to play more games but feel unable to. I think this is more of a self-reflection on my current relationship with video games.

That being said, I do hope people realize that when life gets busy, video games may not be the best thing to partake in.

Take care of yourself.

Take care of your friends.

Keep it simple.

And clean.