What are your non-gaming hobbies?

[Madden_07]

We talk about gaming a lot here (I guess it is in the name) but what are some of your non-gaming hobbies you enjoy?

Me personally, I've been getting into Pickleball and do a league a few nights a week. It's definitely a lot more fun than I initially thought it would be, and the barrier of entry is super low. It's easy to pick up but difficult to master.

I also play rec kickball as well, and it's been a blast.

What about you all?

 

[Smacktard]

I have quite a few hobbies, but I feel like I can only ever focus on three of them at a time. Usually (but not always), that's gaming + gym + something else.

I make sure to go to the gym around 3x a week, unless I had a bad sleep or something came up to interrupt my schedule. I focus on heavy lifts, but I'm also focusing a lot on losing weight at the moment. I think a couple months and I'll be at my target weight.

I do some writing, but I haven't been writing for the past few weeks. I might go tomorrow morning and force myself to do some writing... but I'm also really close to finishing Yakuza 0 and I'd like to be done with that game. I mostly write non-fiction. I have a few ideas for fiction writing, but I don't know if I care enough to explore them.

I also play guitar. No specific style preference, just songs I like listening to and would like to learn, and which are complex enough to keep me entertained. I dropped it for a few years but picked it back up again recently. I've been practicing a lot of Classical Gas and Bistro Fada because I want to get them down well enough that I never make a mistake while playing (which feels impossible with these pieces). I can also play Tuolmne, Sligo River Blues, Feather on the Clyde, and a bunch of strumming-based songs. I used to know a few others, too, like The Rain Song, Black Water, and Gran Vals, but I haven't played them in years.

I used to do game development, which involved coding (GML) and pixel art, but I haven't been working on that much lately. If I really hunkered down and worked all my free time on it, I could probably finish the small game I'd been working on in a month or two. The art was killing me though.

Whenever I get time off work, I try to travel somewhere new. That's where I spend most of my money. I've been to around 80 countries so far, and I'm planning to go to Switzerland next month on a hiking trip. I'm supposed to be prepping for that now but I'm procrastinating by writing this post.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

I occasionally play golf and go bowling. Also engage in domestic travel (international is too much of a pain in the ass).

 

[Rachel]

I like to quill




Also used to make books

 

[Smacktard]

I've never heard of quilling before, but that's beautiful

 

[Rachel]

here's my version next to my son's version

 

[Smacktard]

Which one did you do

 

[Quagmire]

I like to read, watch TV or movies.

Do a lot of hiking

Watch sports and I do enjoy cooking

 

[Benzine]

wow rachel that stuff is terrific, i really like that

 

[Benzine]

i play cricket and basketball

i go to the pub quite a lot, it's fun down there, and all the pub activities too

i play poker

i cook, i go out eating

i watch basketball, i go to rugby (member domestically, go to international games when i can) and cricket games (just internationals for me though)

like other card and board games too

 

[Tommy Boy]

I don't know if this is an excuse or a legitimate answer, but I was put on to so much extracurricular stuff as a child/young adult, that I kind of don't have traditional hobbies as an adult lol. All the things I was once super interested in (singing, photography, writing, sports, etc) have all kind of faded away over the years - and not in any bad, palpable way. Sort of a natural one. I gave up easily when I was younger, probably because I didn't have much confidence, but also not much encouragement outside my own parents - which is honestly more than most people get, and I still didn't really do anything about it. I was forced to do Boy Scouts my entire youth, so every kind of hobby I'd learn there felt forced and planned, so I'd avoid it. Self destructive behaviors I guess, and also not realizing I was setting the course for the rest of my life. This sounds way more negative than it actually is; I don't feel like I missed out or anything, I just think I'm at a point where I can look back and say "ohhhh, that's why I only like to play video games now".

Growing older, especially into my late 20s/early 30s, I was big into bike riding. A few accidents in 2020-2021 were enough to get me off the bike for good, but I still like to ride my scooter around and jam to some tunes. But honestly, I love hanging out with my wife lol. Doing anything with her is fine with me. When I have a job again, we would like to travel, but while I'm unemployed, just hanging out with her is my favorite thing to do.

If I could narrow down things I like doing that I guess can be considered a hobby as an adult:

• making perfectly infused espresso
• building figurines/legos - furniture is fun too
• anything boat related
• long walks through the city/parks
• singing
• creating narratives for tv show contestants
• guitar hero (this is a hybrid of video game and instrument fucking fight me)
• clearing storm drains on the streets after big rain storms
• swimming
• cleaning things and seeing how clean the things are compared to when the things were not clean
• talking to strangers

ok this is actually a good list I guess, better than I thought ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Kat]

I like to go camping and to Renaissance faires (which often have camping). There are so many excellent campgrounds in my area, I doubt I'll ever get the chance to visit them all. This spot is one of my favorites:


I also like to do jigsaw puzzles, then lift them by the corner at the end to see how well they hold together. Usually they collapse into pieces (which is fun), but occasionally they do this instead:

 

[Tommy Boy]

I also like to do jigsaw puzzles, then lift them by the corner at the end to see how well they hold together:
View attachment 33982

ok this is a very neat quirk of the hobby! Do you ever use puzzle glue (before/after the corner test)? Any preferred brands that work better than others?

I've found Ravensburger to be the best at holding naturally, but the last 1,000 pc really took me and the wife out so we've been taking a break lol.

 

[Smacktard]

I also like to do jigsaw puzzles, then lift them by the corner at the end to see how well they hold together:

This is one of the most unhinged things I've ever seen

 

[Kat]

ok this is a very neat quirk of the hobby! Do you ever use puzzle glue (before/after the corner test)? Any preferred brands that work better than others?

I've found Ravensburger to be the best at holding naturally, but the last 1,000 pc really took me and the wife out so we've been taking a break lol.

Nah, I don't ever use glue. I do way too many puzzles to bother to glue or keep them. This started as a fun way to quickly disassemble them, but then I started finding puzzles that just... stayed like that.

Ravensburger used to be my favorite brand, but it generally doesn't hold up to that test, and I've been kind of annoyed lately at how much they fall apart when trying to move sections around. The puzzle pictured is some weird one-off branded by a fashion designer I've never heard of and was sold at Joanne's. It is by far the highest quality puzzle I've ever seen in my life. The pieces were so thick and lovely and perfectly cut. It's so weird. I wish whoever made it would make a whole line of them!

You might think a Lego-branded puzzle makes perfect sense. After all, what is LEGO known for if not making sets with all the pieces that fit perfectly together? It turns out they'll apparently sell their brand to anybody, because my LEGO puzzle was missing pieces and it was nearly impossible to tell which pieces went together.

In short, I have no idea. I'm almost always surprised by the quality of a brand; the only question is in which direction.

 

[Mark]

here's my version next to my son's version

View attachment 33959

You tried your best.

I also like to do jigsaw puzzles, then lift them by the corner at the end to see how well they hold together. Usually they collapse into pieces (which is fun), but occasionally they do this instead:
View attachment 33982

Ma'am, are you okay?

My hobbies outside of gaming are pretty uninteresting, unless, of course, one of you weirdos find it interesting as well.

I've played guitar since I was 14, so that's a quarter century I've spent just jamming out with no intended destination. No band. No tracks. No albums. No worldwide tours. Just me playing in solitude.

I'm a pretty hands-on person, so I like activities that not only stimulate my mind, but require physical effort. I can build stuff ranging from a custom upholstered living room set to the room it's placed in. I take pride in being able to build stuff and help my friends with their projects. Some people like sitting around hanging out, I prefer to keep myself busy. I'm not happy unless I've got some kind of project I'm working on.

 

[Smacktard]

I've played guitar since I was 14, so that's a quarter century I've spent just jamming out with no intended destination. No band. No tracks. No albums. No worldwide tours. Just me playing in solitude.

What do you play, acoustic, electric, Spanish? Any favorite songs you like to play? Do you still remember the first song you ever learned? Learning anything new lately?

 

[Mark]

What do you play, acoustic, electric, Spanish? Any favorite songs you like to play? Do you still remember the first song you ever learned? Learning anything new lately?

I play electric.



The guitar in the back is the one I've had since I was 14. I saved up for it with my first real upholstery gig replacing all of the lobby benches and seating for some retirement community in Baltimore.


I play everything from classic rock (our parents era, not the shit we grew up on that's now called "classic") to the stuff I grew up with (80's-00's metal, grunge, rock). One of the first songs I learned to play was "Blind" by Korn or "Insane" by Cold. I can't remember which one specifically, because I was bouncing around a lot trying to find my sound and learn every little bit I could learn from this song or that song. I was not very disciplined early on.. I would learn a riff or two from one song and move onto another, rarely learning complete songs until I was about 16-17. As far as favorites go, there are a bunch. If I'm in a 90's mood, I'll play through Alice In Chains' "Dirt", if I'm in a mood for some more aggressive stuff, I'll run through some Pantera or older Metallica. If classic stuff is appealing to me that day, I could run through some old Black Sabbath, Golden Earring, or even some Pink Floyd. For me, half the battle is knowing what music I'm gonna "feel" like playing on any given day. It all depends on the mood.

 

[Smacktard]

Of all of the songs and artists you mentioned, Golden Earring was the only one that seemed so incredibly unexpected and out-of-place amongst the others haha

 

[Mark]

Of all of the songs and artists you mentioned, Golden Earring was the only one that seemed so incredibly unexpected and out-of-place amongst the others haha

2019:



1984:



You can't tell me those guys done jam the fuck out.

 

[Smacktard]

I like that song, but they're so different from everything else you posted

 

[shortkut]

Of all of the songs and artists you mentioned, Golden Earring was the only one that seemed so incredibly unexpected and out-of-place amongst the others haha

Just like we slipped into the twilight zone

 

[Mark]

I like that song, but they're so different from everything else you posted

I have a weird taste in music. It's predominantly rock, metal, and rap, but.. there are definitely some outliers. Tennessee Ernie Ford. Cab Calloway. Frank Zappa. Chvrches.

 

[Spiner202]

I have a few other hobbies beyond gaming. The big ones are heavy metal, football, and wrestling.

Metal is by far my biggest interest and pretty much has been for almost 20 years now. I'd say I'm more of a fan than anything else though. I spent about 10 years writing reviews. I've also played guitar for most of this time, but it's been on and off over the years, and I can't say I enjoy it very much truthfully.

As for football, I think most here know I'm a big Chiefs fan. I've seen them play a few times over the years (mostly in Buffalo), but was able to go to Arrowhead once and that was an incredible trip. Over the years, my interest in the NFL has declined somewhat while my interest in the CFL has increased exponentially. I have season tickets for the Argos and love going to their games. They don't have much support in Toronto, but the fans who are there are just as passionate as NFL fans.

Wrestling is a new one for me. I liked it for a few years as a kid until falling off from watching it. A couple years ago, I kept seeing clips getting recommended to me on Facebook (which are now conspicuously absent) from the era I used to watch. It took a couple of tries for me to get back into it, but now I'd say I actually enjoy wrestling more than football.

 

[canadaguy]

I'm a pretty hands-on person, so I like activities that not only stimulate my mind, but require physical effort. I can build stuff ranging from a custom upholstered living room set to the room it's placed in. I take pride in being able to build stuff and help my friends with their projects. Some people like sitting around hanging out, I prefer to keep myself busy. I'm not happy unless I've got some kind of project I'm working on.

Nice. I'm working on building up my building skills (and tool supply, reciprocating saw is next on my list). Last weekend my dad and I built a big extension onto the deck at my house

As for football, I think most here know I'm a big Chiefs fan. I've seen them play a few times over the years (mostly in Buffalo), but was able to go to Arrowhead once and that was an incredible trip. Over the years, my interest in the NFL has declined somewhat while my interest in the CFL has increased exponentially. I have season tickets for the Argos and love going to their games. They don't have much support in Toronto, but the fans who are there are just as passionate as NFL fans.

Sorry to hear you are an Argos fan lol. If you ever wanna chat cfl sometime hit me up. Seasons going great for my Riders lol



As far as hobbies myself, used to play on a coed soccer team with my wife, but on a hiatus for a bit. Still try to get out to watch the team play when I can.

Learned how to crochet and have done a couple projects. Want to focus on that more. It's a nice way to get into a flow state and really peaceful. Trying out some other similar things (cross stitch, maybe knitting eventually).

Also started getting into building these little wooden models called book nooks. Essentially they are little dioramas meant to be placed on your bookshelf along with your books. I'm running out of bookshelves.

 

[Mark]

Nice. I'm working on building up my building skills (and tool supply, reciprocating saw is next on my list). Last weekend my dad and I built a big extension onto the deck at my house

That's the great thing about those kind of skills, there's really no such thing as too young or too old to get started learning them. I know guys who, like me, came from blue collar upbringings where family trades were everything, and I know college educated dudes who swung a hammer for the first time in their thirties and switched careers to a trade because they loved it.

 

[Quagmire]

Tea, not sure how I forgot to mention that

 

[canadaguy]

That's the great thing about those kind of skills, there's really no such thing as too young or too old to get started learning them. I know guys who, like me, came from blue collar upbringings where family trades were everything, and I know college educated dudes who swung a hammer for the first time in their thirties and switched careers to a trade because they loved it.

Definitely not looking to switch careers. But it's good to be able to handle things around the house and not have to pay a couple hundred bucks to have someone come do a 5 minute fix

 

[Mark]

Definitely not looking to switch careers. But it's good to be able to handle things around the house and not have to pay a couple hundred bucks to have someone come do a 5 minute fix

Oh, I meant I actually know someone that did that. Not for the sake of saving money, but, to break out of the monotony of one career path to enter the monotony of another. But, you're right, the average person doesn't realize how much they can save on simple home repairs, let alone the big projects. For example, we had a vehicle fire outside of the house that melted some vinyl siding. Going through insurance would have cost thousands, I said to hell with that and we got it done for a few hundred. You can't even tell it happened.

 

[Kat]

I wish I could learn to be handy. I have a ton of house projects getting procrastinated because I don't know how to do them.

 

[Mark]

I wish I could learn to be handy. I have a ton of house projects getting procrastinated because I don't know how to do them.

I'd be happy to walk you through that kinda stuff and point you towards resources. You'd be amazed at how much stuff you'd be able to accomplish even with a little walkthrough. Just hit my inbox with your projects or what you wanna figure out how to get done, and I gotcha. 90% of household projects seem far more intensive or intimidating than they actually are.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I have a few.

Sports are a big one. I'm a massive Liverpool fan. I'm a very big NFL fan. I'm a very big tennis fan. I follow boxing. I'll watch just about everything else. I haven't spent as much time watching sport live since we've had kids because I don't want to be that dad who is sat watching sports and ignoring the rest of his family, but I have a lot of really good memories tied to sporting events that I've been to, and will also be happy to sit and watch live sport if the opportunity arises. I do play sports and keep myself fit, but I wouldn't count any specific thing in that regard as an interest anymore. I played tennis for the school team, then used to do a lot of martial arts (I'm a black belt in Taekwon Do and competed to a high level at university) and then played club level badminton for a while, but I don't do anything like that consistently anymore.

Reading is the obvious one after sports. I generally have several books on the go at once. Usually one physical book, one on my Kindle and one graphic novel. I don't tend to read crime or romance based books (whether general or romantasy), but I read just about everything else. A lot of fantasy and sci fi. A lot of non fiction (across the spectrum). And just about anything else that catches my eye, I think I might like, is popular, or I want to read for any other reason.

Beyond that, I think travelling has become an interest. My wife has slowly converted me to it during our relationship, but I do have a real desire to discover new places and things about those places. Our recent trip to Scandinavia was my idea. If you'd told 16 year old or even 24 year old me that I would have happily proposed and planned a holiday where I drive around Denmark and Norway for four weeks, that version of me would not have believed you. But I'm really keen to collect new experiences for both me and my kids.

I wouldn't count television as an interest anymore, but I am (unsurprisingly) generically geeky. I really like board games, but struggle to find the time to play them, so I own more than I ever really get chance to play. The one other thing I'd mention on that front is that I used to collect and play Warhammer when I was younger. I really enjoyed the lore, rules and models, but never had an interest in painting them. A couple of my close friends never gave the hobby up, and one of them is an exceptional, national level painter. We're both NFL fans as well, but I see him quite a lot, and have tried over the last couple of years to get into painting. I've had some success and have painted a fair few models, but I want to do it more consistently. So hopefully in another year or two I can count it as a consistent hobby, because it's rewarding, quite meditative, and helps me develop a creative side that I don't really credit myself as having for the most part. It's probably not something I do enough to strictly count right now though.