Have an awesome Bank Holiday gaming weekend with these top tips

22/08/2014

Chris Smith

Games

Have an awesome Bank Holiday gaming weekend with these top tips

For some, the bank holiday weekend is the perfect chance to do something productive, like building a new house, or cooking some elaborate 10 hour stew that ends up going wrong and getting replaced by a takeaway anyway.

For gamers, though, the bank holiday weekend is the perfect opportunity to do more of what we love without being bothered by inconveniences like work or responsibilities.

Making the most of your bank holiday weekend of gaming isn't as easy as just sitting down in your pants and picking up a controller, though. It requires meticulous planning and thought.

So, without further ado, we present a few (not entirely serious) tips for planning the perfect Bank Holiday gaming weekend.

Make a schedule

If you've got all the time in the world, the minutes you spend choosing a game to play probably don't matter that much to you. For the time-strapped though, these minutes are essential. Every minute you spend dithering over what game to play "" or even worse, choosing a game and then deciding you don't want to play it after 5 minutes "" is a minute lost from your weekend. And you don't want that, do you?

So, before you even think about picking up a controller, make a gaming schedule. This can be organised by time (so you'll play 2 hours of Watch Dogs, have a nice little Titanfall break for 30 minutes, and then go back to Watch Dogs) or by reaching certain milestones (complete 4 missions on Watch Dogs, play 3 matches on Titanfall, do another 2 missions).

Turn off your phone, tablet and anything else people can bother you with

Most people check their phones whenever a game dares to display a loading screen, but this presents an unwelcome distraction that could cost you valuable time. Turn it off your bleeping attention-seeking machine (but tell your friends what you're doing first) and enjoy pure gaming bliss.

Buy a treadmill and play while you jog

As fun as gaming is, it's not the most active of hobbies (unless you're one of those people who actually enjoy Kinect games) and a whole weekend of gaming and snacking isn't going to be good for your waistline.

The solution to this little problem comes from an unlikely source: American workplaces. Many of them are adopting treadmill desks, which allow you to walk while you work. Sounds like something that could easily be adopted for playing games, doesn't it?

Well, it would be if treadmill desks didn't cost upwards of £2,500. We guess you'll just have to jog on the spot while you play instead (disclaimer: we accept no blame if you look like a total idiot doing this).

Buy spares

The ideal bank holiday of gaming involves a minimal amount of trips outside, so the last thing you want is an enforced trip to the shops because one of your controllers broke (either for technical reasons or because you chucked it against a wall after someone beat you on FIFA again).

Therefore, it's wise to stock up before you even start playing. Make sure you've got a spare controller, some batteries and a battery pack (in case your charge kit breaks) and anything else you might need to make your weekend a success.

Plan easy meals, stock up on snacks

Cooking is a time expense that you can't afford, but at the same time you don't want to be eating takeaway for tea every night (or maybe you do, in which case be our guests). Plan out some meals that'll take a minimal amount of time to cook and which won't interfere too much with your gaming plans "" a salad for example (you just chuck some meat in a bag of leaves and drench it in salad cream, right?)

You'll also need to stock up on plenty of snacks. The general rule of thumb is to buy more than you think you'll need to eliminate any unnecessary trips to the shops. You'll probably eat the extra stuff anyway.