During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been another figurative one spreading (although much less severe) amongst adolescents: boredom. Students have resorted to doing crazy things with their hair, making Tik-Tok videos, spending more time than usual with their families, and taking up the art of cooking. However, some students have found solace in the calming confines of video games. Listed below are a few video games that I suggest you try out or play during quarantine to cure yourself of boredom.

League of Legends:

If you have grown tired of playing console games sponsored by Mountain Dew and Doritos, League of Legends may be the game for you! League of Legends (LOL) is the world’s most popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), hosting up to thirty million players worldwide per day. You can play 121 characters in the game, and each of them require a different way to play. There are also many different play types for different champions. There are five major roles: supports, attack damage carriers (ADCS) who play in the bottom lane, top, mid, and junglers, all of which need to cooperate to win a game. If a skill necessary game is what you are looking for, then you should try LOL.

Pokémon:

If a ‘Multiplayer Online Battle Arena’ (MOBA) is not what you are looking for, maybe Pokémon battling would be more to your liking. Much like League of Legends, your team needs to consist of Pokémon, creatures which you store in balls and take out to do battle. They each have different roles: physical/special sweepers, annoyers, drainers, spikers, tanks, physical sponges, special sponges, toxi-tanks, toxi-trappers, toxi-shufflers and so many more. You need to choose 6 of these for one team, so you have to make your selection carefully. If you want to competitively battle, I suggest the Pokémon Showdown website. You can watch  videos such as this one for tips online. You can also play a story mode (on emulators or a console). The Pokémon titles that I suggest are the HeartGold and SoulSilver, Black and White, or Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. “Pokémon is a really great game with so many different facets and ways to enjoy the game,” said Jonathan Pang ’21.

The Sims:

If you do not want any of the strategy involved in the past two games, but you want something enjoyable to do with your friends, you should try out Sims 4. It is a simulation of the daily activities of virtual people (“Sims”) living in a suburban household near a fictional city. Players control customizable Sims as they pursue a career and relationship goals within the tiny world. You can make a virtual life with your friends in one house while you are on a zoom call with them, or just simulate your own life in the sims. Any way you spin it, you will have a great time playing the Sims. “The Sims is totally a good game, and I really enjoyed playing it with my friends during these past two weeks,” said Brandon Wong ’21.

These are three great game suggestions for you and your friends to play while separated under quarantine during this difficult time of the Coronavirus pandemic. Remember to stay safe, and for once, you can tell your parents that video games are helping you.

“Pokémon is a really great game with so many different facets and ways to enjoy the game,” said Jonathan Pang ’21.