What Makes You a "Hardcore Gamer"

After returning from a business trip to Turkey, Elijah and I began talking about the various games, both tabletop and video that we had been checking out recently. After a while this got us commenting on to how expensive either hobby can be with minis and board games being notoriously pricey, and AAA video game titles quickly reaching the same price bracket. The main theme of our converstaion was the idea being that to be a "Hardcore Gamer" meant that you probably had to spend a decent amount of money to keep up with your hobby regardless of what it was.

After a bit of back and forth on that, the question ultimately came up: What actually makes some one a "Hardcore Gamer".

We began by considering what it meant to be Hardcore throughout our lives and came up with the following ideas. In the 90's being a Hardcore gamer meant that you were likely a PC gamer. PC games were aimed at adults, where Nintendo, Sega and the like were advertised toward kids. On the table side, being a serious Magic the Gathering player was about as Hardcore as you could get. In the 00's this idea changed, with the release of the PS2 (the most prolific console in history) to be Hardcore in the Video gaming world meant that you had a Play Station: otherwise you were missing out on hundreds of titles. For tabletop games with the release D&D 3, those who played Dungeons and Dragons in the back of game shops always seemed the most "hardcore" to me back when I was playing Magic and Warhammer 40k at my local store.

All of these groups have something in common though. They all had experience with various other titles from both the video and/or tabletop gaming world, and had extensive knowledge of what they were playing and where it game from.

However in today's modern era of gaming Elijah and I began to question if the title "Hardcore gamer"  actually means anything any more.

Let's take the example of some one who plays mobile games. This person is usually refereed to as a "Casual Gamer" but if they are putting 20-40 hours a week into phone games (such as Pokemon Go and the like) then that's pretty damn hard core in my opinion. On the tabletop side, players of games like Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and the like are seen as "Casual Gamers". But I have a buddy who can destroy me at Settlers of Catan every time we play, because that is the only game he plays. And despite the over 200 titles that I have played and owned over the years, when it comes to Settlers he is way more Hardcore then I could ever dream to be.
So if the definition of Casual Gamer is fairly arbitrary, then what makes some one a Hardcore Gamer?

Elijah and I after some debate figured it comes down to this:

Do you feel like a Hardcore Gamer? Do you feel connected to the game and game culture that you are playing?

If yes to any of these questions, then congratulations you can consider yourselves among the ranks of Hardcore Gamers!

Despite the arguments online over what is casual and what is not, it doesn't really matter. It all comes down to how you want to define yourself. And If you think you are a Hardcore Gamer, then who the hell am I to tell you otherwise!?

So go out and enjoy your games! Whether you consider yourself casual or hardcore, games were only ever for fun anyways.


Written by: Andrew Gregory