Dating a gamer or “a nerd” used to be something people mocked for decades. Yet, with the advent of the Internet, the rise of the tech industry, and the rise of the gaming niche, people quickly realized that dating a nerd isn’t all that bad. And, as most nerds tend to be gamers, and gamers themselves are becoming more and more common, dating a gamer has become quite common. So much so that there are almost as many women gamers nowadays as there are men.
Still, if you’re just about to enter your first relationship with an avid gamer, you may have some questions. Does he really spend that much time on the computer? Will he have time for me? Should I be offended if he’d rather stay up gaming rather than come and cuddle?
To answer questions and a few more, let’s go over the Pros and Cons of dating a gamer.
Cons of Dating a Gamer
1. They can spend A LOT of time gaming
Gaming is different from many other hobbies in one very particular way – it can be very time-consuming. If your partner is into dancing, for example, chances are that they go dancing two or three times a week, for a couple of hours at a time. If your partner is a gamer, however, they can often spend north of eight hours a day gaming, if their work schedule allows it.
This is a time they don’t spend with you, or working, or practicing another hobby. For many, this drawback alone is enough of a reason not to date a gamer.
If you like going out with friends or making small 2-day vacation trips out of town every other weekend, dating a gamer can be challenging. Because their preferred hobby is done at home, they often have little to no desire to go out and do other things.
Even when they do, it’s often simply to make you happy or after they have already had their fill of gaming for the time being. This can be a problem for many couples as it either means you can’t do what you want to do with your partner, or it means you have to watch them force themselves doing things they aren’t really interested in.
3. Looking after their physical health can be a challenge for some of them
As we know, desk jobs are infamous for the health issues they often lead to, and regular gaming is basically a desk job without the job part. Fortunately, more and more gamers (and desk workers) are learning the importance of maintaining a good physical fitness, but even then it can be a challenge. If your preferred hobby means spending hours a day sitting on a desk, and your job requires the same, making time for exercise and fitness can be difficult.
4. They often have irregular or unorthodox jobs
Many gamers either work from home, or part-time, or freelance. Neither of these is necessarily a bad thing, people can make a lot of money in such ways. However, when looking for a long-term partner, it’s often easier and smarter to look for someone with a more orthodox job and a stable income.
5. It’s common for their sleeping schedules to be drastically different from your own
Because their favorite hobby can be practiced at home, and because they often love it a little too much, many gamers will take every possible opportunity to play – often even in the middle of the night. This is further complicated by the fact that many games are multiplayer and are played with people from all over the globe – including from other time zones.
All this often means gamers have drastically irregular sleeping schedules, and especially – a different schedule from your own. This can lead to a whole host of different health problems. Plus, it tends to mean even less time you get to spend together, as someone who has spent all night gaming usually won’t be able to get up early in the morning with you.
Pros of Dating a Gamer
1. Free time
A gamer’s love for gaming can also be a positive if you like having some free time for yourself. After all, not everything in a relationship needs to be shared. Maybe you can use the time they spend gaming, practicing a hobby of your own, or reading a book, or catching up on some work, or anything else you fancy doing.
After all, many couples have the opposite problem – an overbearing partner who is smothering you with their attention and doesn’t leave you enough time for yourself. Suffice it to say this will rarely be an issue with a gamer.
2. Less of a worry about being cheated on
The thing about indoor hobbies is that you don’t really get to spend that much time with others in person. So, if you have an outdoorsy partner who loves to socialize, you may get worried they are cheating on you. However, with a gamer, you don’t really need to worry that they are going to cheat, if all they do is stay home all day.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for gamers to look for partners online, browsing dating apps or looking for the best mail order bride websites out there. So, unless you see them opening up Brides Universe or suddenly starting to go “to parties” more often, there shouldn’t be much worry about infidelity.
3. They can follow instructions like no other, but also think outside the box
Leave it to a gamer to follow instructions to the letter. At the same time, you will often be surprised at how creative their thinking can be. After all, as silly as some video games can appear at first glance, all good games have intricate and complicated logic behind them and are meant to challenge the gamer’s thinking and skills at various levels.
Few things feel better in life than sharing something you love with someone you love. This is 100% true for gamers too, and that’s great for their partners as well. All you need to do if you feel you need to earn some brownie points with your gamer partner is play a little with them, partake in their hobby. There aren’t many easier and simpler ways to make a loved one happy than this.
Final Words
As you can see, being with a gamer has its ups and downs, same as with any other relationship. Gamers are all different too, however – some are better at relationships, some are worse. What’s key to remember is that the latter usually aren’t bad at relationships because they are gamers. At the end of the day, gaming is just a hobby.