[Saka]

Hey Legionnaires! The fun month is nearing end, but due to ahem... the current season in my country I have been inspired to talk about the topic of playing games when bedridden. I've been down with the worst kind of hayfever, because I only recently started my allergy meditation and the wind from the south brought pollen bit earlier than expected.

I haven't been able to sit up for extended periods of time. However, I can't just sleep all the time. At this point, I am not sure if I am dying more to allergies or boredom. Now I wish I had a Steam Deck, but unfortunately the financial situation is not allowing me to get one yet. My laptop in the bed is a no go, because it threatens to set my duvet and legs on fire. I have a cooling pad for it, it slightly helps, but then the whole setup becomes really heavy and inconvenient. I am weak and sensitive when sick, alright?!

What I did for now, was dusting off my Nintendo Switch. It doesn't have many games on it, which is part of the reason why it's not used very often, but for now I just decided to buy a new game. I started playing the Pokemon Purple and it's been fun so far. Maybe I can also explore how long I could use Steam Link on the phone before my fingers die to arthritis. That's some issue I have, I can't use the touchscreens for very long before my joints start screaming.

What about you? Do you still play games when sick? What kind of setup and which games would that be?

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka An interesting question. Before I go into games I play in bed, I want to ask, what sorts of cooling pad are you using?

I am using one all the time with my laptop, a Lavolta stand, similar to this one:

Normally it just sits on my table and helps me to adjust the angle of the laptop. You may remember I had plans to buy a monitor last Black Friday and @GoLLuM13 was kind in advising a good model, but I had some reasons to postpone those plans for now, so maybe next time.

So for now I am using this stand, and one of the good things about it is that it is customizable and adjustable, so if you need to stay in bed for long, it is possible to adjust it so it would heat your legs or duvet, even more so with that fan function. So this could, potentially, be a solution for your laptop overheating problem.

For this reason, I do not switch to new devices if I need to play from the bed. But that being said, as I mostly ever need to do that when I am feeling sick, in situations like that I mostly play games that have routine and meditative elements to them. Nothing that would demand quick reaction or complex brainwork.

Something like Stardew Valley or Potionomics. Or, from the recent releases, I quite liked Dredge. It is a fishing game with a Lovecraftian twist, but the gameplay, when stripped of all Eldritch lore, is actually quite relaxing. And I save shooters and strategy games for when I'm up.

Though you were quite a good Impostor last week when we played Among Us together. It is nice to know that staying in bed with hayfever does not dull your murderous instincts. 😉

[Saka]

I have a more plain cooling pad, not as fancy as the one you linked. It's designed to be on a flat surface like desk, so when it's on my lap it doesn't stay as steady and it is full of annoying edges pinching my legs.

The overheating problem is when I have the laptop in the bed without the pad. I think, to fix my problem I would need something like a small table that you put on top of the bed, for example to eat a meal.

I played Among Us from the PC, it was in the evening when I managed to scramble myself out of the bed. For some reason the symptoms get a bit easier later in the day, mornings are the worst. Sure, I was still not at my 100% but murderous instincts are well honed in me. Remember, I do practice bonking people on the heads!

In the past when I hauled my laptop to the bed I would typically do some casual exploring in games - if I drop the settings I can also reduce the heat a lot. I had some point and click puzzle games too. That reminds me, there are some in my Steam Library that I haven't finished.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka You can adjust a stand like mine to be like the table that you described, or you can invest in a proper "bed table". To take supper in bed. A table is a more traditional option, but a stand wins in utility.

It is good of you to manage to crawl out of the bed for us. There is something to be said about Impostor-murdering someone first thing out of the bed, puts a right spin on the rest of the day. But how long do these seasons normally last? Or how soon would the medication you started on normally kick in?

Click puzzles are a bit too much brain activity for me, but maybe we're thinking about different things. What kind of games do you mean by "click puzzles"?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I am not sure if the stand would be wide enough to go over my ahem, generous, backside. 😅

Regarding the sessions, it depends, I was able to be up until past midnight lately. The meds usually take a week to kick in, I started early last week, so should get there soon. There was promise of rain in the forecast, so that should help too.

The games I had in my mind were like "Deponia" for example.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka It is actually wider than you might think, but point taken. Though I can only speak for myself, but it does fit me. Even though I very rarely use it like that. More often if I need to stay in bed I try to catch up on my naps backlog.

Hopefully, the forecast and meds would pay off and you will feel better soon. Is there a particular pollen that you are reacting to more severely than others?

Ah, Deponia, I played that (though humor can be crude. I mean, tapeworm joke, seriously?). So it is more of a quest in my understanding. Puzzle for me is more like "find an object" or "escape the room" or something like that. Those I can't do in bed. Can't do quests, though, either. Not in the right state to appreciate them in bed.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Wide dimensions do pose a problem. With the armour too, currently I have a loaner do piece that is way too high up because the club doesn't own anything that wouldn't pinch my hipbone and it's not easy to order one either. What I use is more or less corresponding to XL size.

The humour in Deponia is crude, but the game was okay otherwise. I usually play other kinds of game, but in the bed I can't have the same level of commitment. I just recalled something else that works too, visual novels.

[GoLLuM13]

I have some unfinished games on Switch, so when I'm sick and can't be in front of my PC, I play the Switch on the TV in my room (that's what I did when I was sick few months ago, I finished the 3 Bayonetta games 👀)

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Oh, visual novels are a good option! I like them, though I rarely play them, they take too much time. And they are...a bit like books, sort of, it can be hit-or-miss with them. Maybe they even deserve a separate thread just for them so we can share and collect the good ones.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I saw that Necrobarista is 25% off on Nintendo Store for a few more days, so maybe I could get that if I want to play more games on the Switch than Pokemon.

Next month there's a powerful handheld coming out, Asus ROG Ally. It's specced more powerful than Steam Deck and runs Windows 11, but the price was not yet disclosed. The release is scheduled for 11th of May. People are expecting the base version to be $999. 😐