You know, I’m not a gamer myself, but there was a time when I could sit all night long,
playing some new and awesome game.
And it’s then I wondered completely out of the blue: what would happen if I played
for 24 hours straight?
You think I didn’t check it?
Fat chance!
What I did first was prepare in advance.
I planned my game day for Saturday so that I’d have no work to do, could sleep until
well rested for the event, and would have another day to recover after it.
I bought a dozen Red Bulls (big ones, not those tiny little cans) and made sure I had
enough coffee at home to keep me going.
Then I fixed my armchair so that it was a bit less comfy than I’m used to — I believed
it would help me not fall asleep too.
Boy, was I wrong, but that’s getting ahead of myself.
I turned off my phone so that nobody could call and distract me from playing, and put
some easy-to-grab food on my desk next to the monitor.
Of course, I realized I would have to, um, do some business from time to time, but I
thought it wouldn’t be cheating to spare a couple of minutes to visit the bathroom.
The alternative was just too gross, you know.
Having done that, I began my… let’s call it an experiment, shall we?
I chose an action RPG that I knew would take me a lot more than 24 hours to complete.
I considered playing some MMO because, you know, it’s kind of eternal, but I’m just
not into that stuff.
So I opted for a single-player game.
I launched it and off I went into the world of might and magic.
By the way, do you play RPGs?
What’s your favorite class?
Let me know down in the comments!
Me?
I’m a sucker for wizards.
Feels good to rain fire and brimstone on your foes.
Well, what can I say?
The first three hours flew by like one minute.
When I looked at my watch, I had to catch my eyebrows from slipping right off the top
of my head.
I remember thinking, “Hey, if that’s how it’s gonna be, it’ll be the easiest experiment
I’ve ever done on myself!”
I didn’t feel hungry or thirsty, or tired, for that matter, just nothing.
But come to think of it, that wasn’t really surprising, because it was just three hours,
after all.
After two more hours I finally started feeling a bit of discomfort in my belly.
No, not that kind of discomfort.
I needed some grub and water, so I took a couple of buns I’d prepared in advance and
continued playing.
By the way, I didn’t lose any interest in the game whatsoever!
I guess it’s because when you’re playing, you’re inside that world, living that life,
so you don’t give a hoot to what’s outside.
Ah well, psychology is cool and all, but I’m not here for that.
After seven hours I remembered that I had legs.
Nature called, and I tried to stand up, but almost failed.
Sitting in the same position for such a long time did the dirty on me, and first I had
to twist and bend some life into my feet and knees.
When I stood up, though, another surprise called: my back was aching.
Remember I told you about the chair I rendered a bit uncomfortable?
Well, joke’s on me!
I decided to make it as comfy as possible instead — it wouldn’t take more than a
couple of minutes, so I guess it wasn’t like I cheated or something.
Anyway, after no more than 5 minutes I returned to my game.
Three more hours passed, I had another couple of buns and my first energy drink of the evening.
Gaming started to take its toll on me — apart from leveling up my character real fast, I
started feeling a bit tired.
But I was determined to go on.
After all, I only had 14 hours left.
Two more hours in, and I popped open another Red Bull.
Not that I had to energize myself, but I just needed a distraction.
You see, I’d just completed a really awesome chain of quests, and I really had to savor
it for a bit.
Was I tired?
Nah, forget it!
I was pumped up and ready to go playing the whole night!
I was also ready to go and fight the crime in the streets with my magic sword, but that’s
another story.
Be careful with energy drinks, pal . Another three hours, and that was fifteen
in total.
It was late at night already, but I didn’t care.
I was on a Quest!
With a capital Q!
I don’t really know what was happening to me after all those hours of playing, but once
again, care I did not.
All that mattered was that I was going to collect that legendary set of armor whatever
it took.
And after two more hours I finally got it!
Woohoo!
Now my character was virtually invincible, and I could do whatever I wanted without saving
the game every several minutes.
I jumped up and down in my chair with joy when the unexpected happened.
It broke under me.
Yeah, snapped just like that.
17 hours of non-stop playing, and all of it only to get my armchair broken.
I gathered myself from the floor, rubbed my back, and remembered about my legs again.
Ouch!
I forgot that I hadn’t stood up for hours and didn’t even stretch them every now and
then, completely engrossed with my in-game progress.
I used the opportunity, though, and walked to the bathroom.
When I returned, I tried to fix the chair, but couldn’t.
So I took some wooden one from the kitchen and set it before my PC, determined to finish
the chapter before dawn.
Oh, and there was also my experiment, right.
I couldn’t leave it just like that.
Three more hours and two more cans of energy drink passed.
I did finish the chapter just like I wanted and, having lots of time ahead of me, went
on to the next one.
By the way, I completed more than half the game by that time, which was an achievement
in itself.
My vision was just a tiny bit blurry because my eyes were tired from all that staring into
the screen, and my thoughts were increasingly chaotic, but otherwise I felt absolutely fine.
Remember that legendary set of armor?
Scrapped it.
It turned out to be awesome only before the third chapter, and when that started, my gear
became trash almost at once.
Anyway, I had four last hours ahead, and I realized I had to squeeze everything I could
out of them.
I started looking at my watch more often than before, wondering how it could be that time
suddenly moved so fast.
Three hours to go… then two… then one.
I was still somewhere mid-game, and I wasn’t exhausted or anything.
Or so I thought.
When the last minute of my 24-hour marathon ended, I saw that, ironically, I couldn’t
just save and quit in the area I was at the time.
And I guess you know what I did then.
Yep, I gave myself time to finish that zone.
As soon as I was done, I thought, how about going to the nearest town and selling my unwanted
loot?
After all, that’s just a few minutes, not gonna hurt.
So I came to the town, sold my wares, bought some new gear and potions — the usual stuff.
And then there was that NPC with a question mark nearby.
You know what that means, right?
Of course I approached him!
He told me there was a very promising quest not far from where I was.
How could I miss such an opportunity?
Well, you see where it’s all going, don’t you?
I quit the game after another four hours.
I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I closed the game.
I stood up and rubbed my eyes, and then I started stretching as if my life depended
on it.
I just couldn’t stop myself!
28 hours of sitting, of which 11 were spent in a wooden kitchen chair.
Not a small feat, if you ask me!
But I can proudly say that my quest — I mean, my experiment, — was a total success.
Not only did I spend 24 hours gaming, but I even stretched that goal and came out victorious!
I can’t say I had any serious trouble connected with it.
Yeah, my eyes were sore, as were my legs and lower back, so I stretched like crazy and
went on to do some exercise before going to bed.
But otherwise, it was pretty cool.
I don’t know if I’m ever going to repeat it, because I don’t have that much time
on my hands, but I don’t regret it in the least.
After all, I managed to complete more than two thirds of that game!
But man, did I sleep like a log after that…
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