While lockdown measures have fundamentally changed our lives forever, robbing us of the opportunity to spend the spring and summer months of 2020 socializing with friends and family, it has been a godsend for our inner gamers. Many people can’t work, or focus on building their business. No longer is there guilt attached to spending the day, and early hours of the morning, locked in your favorite virtual world.
With so much time on our hands and nowhere to go, there’s never been a better time to enjoy the best games virtually with our friends. Here are just four great online games we recommend during the lockdown.
Poker
All sport is canceled for the foreseeable future, so you can’t bet on that. Casinos are closed, so the buzz and atmosphere of your favorite club are unobtainable. Your buddies can’t come round any time soon, so poker night is off the table. How are gambling fans supposed to get their buzz?Step forward online casinos. These virtual playgrounds of classic games have grown in popularity exponentially in recent years, and look set to offer the relief fans need during this difficult time. In particular, there is a wealth of excellent virtual poker games out there for fans to enjoy. Miss the feeling of outsmarting your friends and keeping your cool with a killer hand? This is the best and fastest way to reclaim it from the comfort of your own home, on your PC or smartphone.
Whether you want to get serious and play for money or just enjoy a few casual rounds with nothing on the line, you should make sure to check trusted websites that review online casinos, such as OnlineCasinos.co.uk, to make sure you’re using a quality platform.
Stardew Valley
If you’re looking for something a little bit more relaxing and uplifting than competitive poker then I recommend the peaceful world of Stardew Valley.Nintendo’s latest in the Animal Crossing series New Horizons may have arrived just in time for everyone to live out their virtual second life, but we think the world of Stardew Valley is too well developed and fulfilling to go without a mention.
If you’re looking for something to occupy you while you’re off work or recovering in quarantine then Stardew Valley is here to consume your life. This farming simulator will remind long time gamers of Harvest Moon, but there is so much more to do in this little indie gem.
As well as tending to your crops and animals there are quests to complete, mysterious caves to explore and fish to catch. Don’t forget to woo a potential partner either. Hours will fly by as you ease into farming life soundtracked by some of the best music ever featured in a video game.
Play alone or with up to three friends for one of the closest things to a community experience you can experience without going outside.
Minecraft
Maybe you like the charm and relaxation of Stardew Valley, but want a little bit less direction in your game. Step forward one of the most popular games of the century, with good reason, Minecraft!Minecraft’s enduring popularity is built on its sandbox gameplay style, allowing users to build whatever their heart desires. If you haven’t played since the early days then you’ll realize a lot has changed, with optional quests, new blocks, and a whole host of mobs rounding out this award-winner into a truly special game.
The core-gameplay of Minecraft is still much the same. You mine blocks, you build things, rinse, and repeat. With build-mode still very popular everything else in the game is essentially optional, but hugely rewarding if you and some friends invest the time into it. That’s without even talking about the host of mods available that can turn Minecraft into everything from a puzzle game to Pokemon.
There are few games out there better for spending an evening with friends than Minecraft. It made a huge impact on the industry and people continue to go back to it for a reason. Log in for a couple of hours and see where your creativity and sense of adventure takes you.
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Geoguessr
Okay maybe you’re not a hardcore gamer, console owner, or gambler and nothing on this list has taken your fancy. How about something a bit different, that anyone, gamer or not, can play and enjoy?Geoguessr is more like a visual quiz than a video game. Powered by Google Maps, it drops you in a random location around the world and asks you to guess on a map where you are. You get more points the closer you place your marker to the actual location. After five rounds the player who has the most points wins. Sounds simple right? Well not if you’re getting dropped in some dirt road in the middle of Australia rather than outside Bucking Palace.
Geoguessr is fun because it rewards creative thinking. You have to use the things you see in everyday life to decipher where you are. Traffic signs, road marketings, and advertising boards become your biggest tool. It’s strangely addictive and something even older people with no interest in video games can play with you virtually. It might even inspire your first post-lockdown adventure.
This might be the best chance you ever get to enjoy video games to their maximum, and these games are perfect for long sessions or little hits when the boredom hits.
