Here’s some important questions to ask yourself when assessing a partner’s gaming habits….

1.) Can (and does) he lose gracefully to other players?

1. Can (and does) he lose gracefully to you? Or does he make a million excuses why he lost to you and can’t wrap his head around you being better at a game?

3.) Does he get aggressive with the physical system? (Throwing controllers, hitting the console, etc.)

4.) Can (and does) he win gracefully?

5.) How does he talk to other players?

6.) Is he kind to players who are inexperienced, less skilled (and likely younger)?

7.) Does he use aggressive language (misogynistic phrases, racial slurs, homophobic phrases, curse words, etc.) with other players?

8.) Does he speak appropriately to opponents he knows and inappropriately to opponents when he is anonymous?

9.) Does he decide when to game?… Or does he let bros pressure him into gaming when he doesn’t want to? (Or when he has other responsibilities?)

10.) How do his gaming friends to speak to other players?

11.) Where did his gaming friends come from? Is he keeping in touch with hometown buddies? Are they from weird corners of the internet?

12.) What kind of content appeals to him? (Sports? Fantasy? Creative play?Adventure?….Or weapons? Violence? Destruction?)

13.) Are his games one-time purchases, or is he continually dumping money into them?

14.) Is he transparent about the amount of money he spends on gaming?

15.) Does gaming cut into his ability to maintain healthy sleep habits? (Or God forbid, good hygiene 🤢)

16.) Is a gaming set up the focal point of his home/room?

17.) What are his gaming habits over time? Has he always played for hours a day? Is it a new form of escapism? Has he always done this in moderation?

18.) Is he obsessed with a certain character or game series? Does he sexualize any of the characters?

19.) Does he invite you to play? Or does he want to keep his gaming life entirely separate from you?

20.) If something comes up, is he able to able to save the game and quit? Or does he “need” to finish, only to turn off the console hours later?