I’ve long since separated two things: the game is just software, while life is everything else. You boot up software when you have the time and the mood. You shut it down when the fun fades, when fatigue sets in, or when irritation creeps up. Software should never have the right to “call you up” in the middle of the night with thoughts like, “What if I just had one more go?”
That’s why I have a set of “house rules” – to ensure this remains a brief pause in the day, rather than a “just one more” trap.
Gaming as Software, Not Life
If you treat a session like a small service (like putting on Netflix for the evening), everything falls into place:
- A service has a usage time.
- A service has a spending limit.
- A service has a “Stop” button – and using it isn’t a defeat; it’s a feature.
When you think this way, your biggest enemy vanishes: that urge to “push through the evening” as if it were a second job.
The Golden Limits: Two Rules That Are Easy to Remember
1) The “One Charge” Rule The session lasts exactly as long as the phone battery does. Once the battery hits the red – that’s it, the game is closed. No “I’ll just plug it in and continue.” Why this works: The battery is a physical timer. It doesn’t haggle or argue; it simply runs out. And with it, the session ends – no internal negotiations required.
2) The “Gift” Rule If the evening goes well and my wallet ends up a bit heavier, I try to cement that win in reality:
- Buy something for the house.
- Pay off a useful bill.
- Get a small gift for a loved one. This isn’t about superstition; it’s about logic. It stops the win from being an abstract number on a screen and turns it into a completed episode. Completed episodes don’t pull you back in.
Stop Signals: When “That’s Enough for Today” is the Best Move
Everyone has their own, but there are a few standard signals that are easy to spot if you’re honest with yourself:
- You start playing faster than usual (as if you’re rushing to catch up with something).
- You catch yourself saying “just one more” for the third time in a row.
- Minor things start to grate: the sound, the interface, the dealer, the ads, or the game itself.
- You want to “win back what’s yours” instead of simply ending the night.
In these moments, closing the app isn’t “giving up.” It is literally saving your sanity. Sometimes, the most powerful skill you can have is knowing when to put a full stop.
The People Around You: A Gentle Anchor
I don’t believe you need to make your hobby a public report. However, I’ve noticed one thing: if you start hiding it – not because you “don’t want to discuss it,” but because you feel uncomfortable with it yourself – that’s a reason to be cautious.
The healthiest approach is when someone close to you at least knows that this is how you unwind occasionally. Not for them to “monitor” you, but simply so that gaming doesn’t become a secret room where there are no boundaries.
In an ideal world, you should leave the app feeling a little lighter than when you entered. Then, you can go off and watch the Cricket with the same mood you had before you started. Your balance might go up or down, but what matters most is the feeling that you were the one to put the full stop, rather than the feeling that the evening just carried on without you.