Gaming

I remember renting a box in the video store (1980s) with some sort of console. It hooked up to the TV and we'd play for a few hours.

Some time after we got a commodore 64 and turning in on in front of the family and no one knew what would happen. I vividly remember how the on/off button and all the keys felt. The tapes and discs and everything is a tactile memory that I'll never forget.

One particular gaming session does stand out. My brother and I had both invited friends over one random day after school and while we were of different age and had no other relations across the groups everyone were united in completing this single player game. One guy at a time getting a little further than the previous one - until it was dinner time. That was the best.

Being physically together and playing games is somehow better. Later on in my early 20s, I had a close friend and we'd always just game and drink and then hit the pubs later on, but it's mostly the games that stand out. Myst being one. It's an excellent single player puzzle game, but it's even better when you're two people trying to figure it out. We also went through Roller coaster Tycoon, GTA 3, vice City and San Andreas amongst many more together. Just gaming, drinking and sometimes we wouldn't even make it to the pub.

It's been many years since then. I played many games alone that were fun but didn't mean that much. Lately I've stopped gaming for myself. I only play games with my kids, hoping to give them a similar experience as I had as a child.

Minecraft does that well. We can sit and play together or stream on the TV and talk and hang out in the room or through servers. It is probably the best game ever.

Not because of the graphics or story or gameplay or balance or FPS or... No, it's because you can watch the screen and be indulged without even playing the game.