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Just because you have to stay at home doesn't mean you can’t have fun. With 2020 largely lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, people all over the world have turned to video games for entertainment.
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Did you know that 82% of global consumers played video games and watched gaming-related content during the COVID-19 pandemic? Or that video game sales saw a whopping 63% increase worldwide? While it’s true that video games were popular before the pandemic, now they seem to be everywhere. This is not surprising — as millions of people are quarantined at home, games have become a way to escape and relax. The NordPass team is not an exception. For us, gaming has been a source of entertainment both on a team and individual level.
Gaming at NordPass
Games are fun, and we at NordPass love having fun. Whether it’s a board game night, a poker tournament, or a LAN party, it is always a great way to have a good time. And, when you think about it, a good gaming session is nothing more than an exercise in a team effort.
At NordPass, we took to games to stay connected during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Our NordPass Business team are avid lovers of Scribbl. Every Wednesday, the team joins in for a session of Scribble. It’s fun, often unpredictable, and a way to take your mind off the stresses of the day. Kamile from the NordPass Business team has even started collecting some of the most amazing drawings.
Among us is another game the whole NordPass team has been loving. The game is pretty simple. It’s based on the real-life mafia game, which many are familiar with. Essentially, Among us is a social deduction game, where players have designated roles of either a “crewmate” or an “impostor”. The “crewmates” are tasked with finding out who among them (pun intended) is the “impostor”. It is a great team-building game as it forces “crewmates” to work together as a team, communicate, and evaluate the situation and evidence at hand.
Video games are becoming a staple of team-building activities, and rightly so. A study conducted on the effects video games have on team performance has revealed that video gaming activities within a team setting increases the teams’ actual performance and productivity (feel free to use this as a subject line in an email to your boss). The bonus is that it’s also fun!
NordPass gamers recommend
The NordPass team is filled with people who love video games, and they were eager to share some of their picks that helped them get through the lockdowns. Without further ado, here are their recommendations:
Tomas ― NordPass Product team
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Mordhau - a medieval battle simulator which requires lots of training and endurance. It's an indie game, so developers interact with the community a lot, and the spicy memes just make it so much more interesting to play.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - one of the best games I've ever played. It's a very fun, unique, and historically accurate medieval simulator. You start as a simple peasant who can barely lift a sword and eventually become a great lord or a petty criminal if you wish. It's extremely immersing and unique in its genre.
Prison Architect - a very fun game with the goal to build a prison. It's a sandbox type of game where you have lots of freedom. The devs gave it some spice with the ability to automate a lot of things and unforeseen scenarios that might happen while you play.
Gerald ― NordPass Business team
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The Last of Us & The Last of Us Part II - gorgeous, story-focused Playstation exclusives that are now also getting made into an HBO series. The older version has been remastered and Part II was the game of the year in 2020.
Mass Effect Trilogy - remastered edition is coming out this May, sci-fi shooter RPG, with a brilliant story that you can lose yourself in for days.
Borderlands 3 - an RPG that is both funny and different from the usual first-person shooter.
Aurelija ― NordPass Marketing team
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Dota 2 - the game I play most of all (I have over 1,400 hours in-game). It's a competitive multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that is played 5 versus 5 players and involves a lot of strategy and team coordination, among other things. There are 120 different characters (heroes) that you can play, each wielding a unique set of abilities, and each of those can be further enhanced by purchasing items in each individual match. This means that even though the concept of the game remains the same, every match is different as there are very many combinations and counter-picks that can occur.
Subnautica - I feel like it's a game that is very relatable during the times of a pandemic. The story brings you to an alien planet that's almost entirely covered with water, where your spaceship crashes and you are stranded alone to survive. As you explore the world and what is going on there, you learn that the planet is under quarantine due to a mysterious infection, and you need to find a cure in order to stay alive and, hopefully, find your way back home. There is just you, water, and a variety of alien sea life that is not always very friendly.
The Witcher 3 or Skyrim - during the days when I miss travelling the most, I usually play either one or the other. Two of my all-time favorite single-player games that have a vast world to explore and many side-quests to go on. Since both of these games have been out for a while, their worlds are very familiar by now, but I find that they still offer a much needed change of scenery, especially during those long winter evenings.
Now, let’s hear it from you. What games did you binge on during the lockdowns? Any of the mentioned ring a bell? Share on social media and we’ll pass on your picks to the gamers at NordPass.