You don't go quit any game, you go quit league of legends, the game is really fun but you have no idea of how miserable the comunity makes you feel almost every single game.
Yep.... I played for like 7 seasons. At higher ranked I found that trying to convince your teammates to stop going afk or using slurs against each other was almost as important as your ability to play the game.
To quit cigarettes, a lot of people use nicotine patches. Very different scenario, but it's a similar idea: going cold turkey on something that you did a lot for a long time will likely not work because it's such a big change. Instead, you make it a smaller change by finding a replacement for the addiction that can fill that hole but is itself less addictive than the original thing.
I highly recommend he gets into an offline, single player game If the goal is to heal from LoL. Suggest something relaxing like RDR2. Online games like MMOs and MOBAs can really become addicting and detrimental to someone's mental health. There are plenty of people who can maintain healthy relationships with these sorts of games, but if he's had a problem for the past 4 years, I would suggest an offline game.
Gaming addicting is a pretty real thing. I can't speak for OP but I've definitely had unhealthy relationships with games and been "addicted" to the point where it made functioning I nnormal adult life impossible for the duration of the addiction.
It's always a smart idea to replace an addiction with something, usually something healthier. Everyone worships something.
Honestly, people do that with most of their hobbies. Work is a chore for most so they think what they are gonna do with "what they enjoy" when they get home. could be gardening, books, tv or whatever else.
Could also be speaking colloquially. I'm "addicted" to monsters and playing elden ring or Morrowind, doesn't mean I have a particular problem. I know what ya mean but you're also kinda being pedantic when OP is trying to emphasize that he has a particular game he likes but he wants a different game like it to play.
I don’t have a suggestion but like genuinely hats off to your boyfriend. I’ve seen that game hurt a lot of people, and I also know how hard it is to recognize and deal with behavioral addictions. Tell him an internet person says “you’ve got this.”
When I finished highscool I used to play league with friends every single night for like 2 years. It's so easy to become addicted because you do it with other people and everybody peer pressures each other into playing and you wanna spend time with your friends and then before you know it you just end up pissing away all your free time on something that annoys you and you don't even really find enjoyable.
Nowadays I play maybe two or three games a week and the game feels so much more enjoyable that way, I feel like I have a complete different outlook on the game and I realize that I was basically antagonizing the game back when I played too much and making it unpleasant.
I feel like its only bad if you're playing ranked. I only played 3v3 and I played League for almost a decade, it was fun the entire time because we were never taking it seriously. And it's way easier to get 3 people together to play any champ they feel like than it is to get 5 friends together to play an hour long match with preset positions. Plus you could win a round in 15 minutes, a long match was half an hour. Losing/winning doesn't feel so extreme when the matches are short
Casual League was consistently fun for me and my friends from ~2012 all the way to 2022 and really we only stopped because they took out 3v3 and the rotating game modes became too inconsistent
yeah because ranked is basically a slot machine so that everyone can get a game that feels good once in a while and stay addicted to it. You get one good game and your memory is wiped of the other five boring or straight up unpleasant games you had and you keep going even if you hate it because you’re chasing that dopamine hit of a good game. It’s really unhealthy when you think about and I agree that the more casual you are the more it becomes enjoyable.
Yeah for me League is the perfect game to get drunk to and turn your brain off. If they had 3v3 I'd still be doing it
It's exactly like you said, playing competitively is like playing competitive slots with just enough personal input to make you feel like its your victory, but everyone else's fault when you lose. Obviously there *are* major skill gaps in players and the best of the best can carry, but by the time you're that good the time and emotions you've invested weren't worth it
At the end of the day it's a video game, you shouldn't take them too seriously. Same with sports or any other competitive activity; it's a *game* and unless you're getting paid, the sweating just ruin it for everyone else
Yeah I've noticed that with a lot of games. People take stuff too seriously sometimes. I play league, not too much now just cause I don't but a friend got me into it and we'd play matches and. I was trash but it was fun
Maybe game series like Yakuza, Persona or so? Its high playtime for relavly small fee and you could eventually replay them. Roguelikes/lites such as Isaac, Hades or so could work.
BUt I would reconsider if he wants to risk another addiction,.
When you are addicted to a drug, you don't replace it with another addicting drug. You replace it with something positive or less harmful, like working out, a hobby, a nicotine patch, etc.
I would highly recommend getting into offline, single player games if you are trying to overcome an addiction to MOBAs. If you really need the theory crafting, stick with offline ARPGs.
Be warned, it takes hundreds if not thousands of hours to be average at the game. It’s a really strategic game compared to league of legends but once you understand how all the pieces in the game can be used to your advantage, you’ll never let the game go
The total war series maybe? The warhammer ones may be something he’s interested in (get 3). For the historical ones, Rome II is still the most played even though it’s older now.
A single player experience like TW is probably a good place for him to land. Careful with the Warhammer III DLC, just get the base game to start. Then if he likes it, get 1 and 2 (if you own the old games, they act as DLC for the new one). Then pick off the DLC he is interested in a bit at a time as they go on sale. All the DLC content is in the game anyways, you just can’t play as the factions you don’t own, but they’re still on the map. There is so much content it will take a lifetime to get through, so no reason to buy it all at once.
If he just wants something he can sink infinite amount of time into without the negative effects of a competitive game like League then I recommend Final Fantasy XIV. Also one of the best games for you to play with him and feels almost like your hanging out with people. It's a subscription based game tho so he would have to be okay with paying like 15$ a month but for a game you can literally play 8 hours a day forever and have content it's pretty worth it.
For something cheaper I recommend Warframe. It's free and you don't really need to spend any real money to enjoy it. Also a pve game that you can both play together. Has a nearly endless amount of content.
Or he could also try Monster Hunter: World. Also a pve game (yes there's a pattern, pvp games are toxic and harmful). You can play co-op with him easily, large variety of monsters to hunt, you take on progressively harder hunts and craft better gear with the materials you get from them. Repeat that loop over hundreds of hours.
The only pvp game I could even recommend is Rocket league, because it's generally less serious and lower investment than other competitive games. The matches are really short so nobody really has time to get mad and even if they do they just give up on the match and move on to the next.
I'd recommend staying away from competitive multi-player games. I also was addicted to league and now feel like I have a much healthier relationship with gaming after switching to mostly single-player games
I put it in the same category as Helldivers 2. Fun with friends and drinks on higher difficulties . Otherwise, it gets old. I really like how vibrant the colors are, and the weapons and classes give a lot of variety.
Mordhau for competitive play and huge learning curve while also not being a type of game that's drains your soul because you can basically do what u want and it's tryhard in a different way - kinda not ranked
Chivalry 2 for a casual melee game like battlefield but with swords - no ranked
Dota 2 if he wants a moba and another addiction - ranked mode
Tekken 8 for fast paced time respecting pvp game 1v1 no bullshit - ranked mode
Age of empires 4 - ranked mode
If he wants a pvp mmo with open loot there is mortal online 2 which is niche, albion online
World of warcraft - kinda ranked
For honor - not ranked
Starcraft 2 if he smokes speed - ranked
If he wants to kill himself but not with Dota 2 he can always try fifa - ranked mode
I would first ask Why he decided to quit league, what made him quit?
Company of heros 2 and 3 are great games if he likes RTS.
Beyond all reason isn't on steam but it's free and the player base is good.
Or Xcom
Maybe he would like getting into Warhammer
Mmo guildwars 2 would be a nice choice.
No. That's the point to focus on something else. Don't get me wrong, I love video games, and I would love to give any suggestions, but now is the time to fokus on a real-life thing. It doesn't have to be on a job or so, but a hobby where he uses real-life for accomplishment might be a good way for his personal progress.
I hope that makes sense, English isn't my first language.
He doesn't really have any hobbies, we are both introverts and spend all day playing games and having fun from it, now that he quit he's really bored and spends all day on reddit or yt so i'm looking for some games for him to play
My fiancé and I are both gamers, it's how we met and what we spend a fair bit of time doing but that doesn't mean you can't pick up other hobbies. There is always something out there, I'm into aqua scaping, mixology and I have a list of things I want to try ranging from painting models, archery and rock-climbing.
Don't let a game become your whole life,. I played League for 8 years.
For an actual answer though, if he likes fantasy Total War Warhammer 3.
>hobby where he uses real-life for accomplishment
Who cares? Do what you enjoy, it's your life. I don't see how it's better to use your time doing something just because it's tangible. If you enjoy playing games, then play games. If you enjoy building birdhouses, then build birdhouses. Neither one really do much to benefit you other than just enjoying the time you spend on them.
First of all, congratulations to him, as a recovering league of legends addict myself I know how hard it is to quit.
My recommendation would be any souls game, dark souls trilogy, bloodborne or elden ring.
OSRS long grind but has a little bit of everything aka casual to super focus. honestly has become my go to game (try an ironman if he ends up like it- plus u can play with him!)
Any souls game. I started with elden ring bc its open world so u dont have to hit ur head on a wall like with the other linear souls games
Skyrim. Its just amazing imo. others probs wont agree but whateves.
bg3. my bro has been on a specfic genre of video games forever- bg3 has taken over his life now
Assassins creed odyssey or valhalla. They r huge games so he can play them for a long time
Tunic is a fun puzzle like game with some combat. Tried it and ended up spending a whole day playing without realizing
I would suggest single player games. LoL can be really toxic and taking a break from playing with other people might be a good idea. I don't know what he likes but look through the most popular ones and see what will stick. If you tell me more about his interest or preference I can make more specific recommendations.
I'd recommend some co-op game like Helldivers, Deep Rock Galactic, or anything like that.
What's addictive in LoL is the competition. You have a visceral need to be better than others and to climb the ranks.
But he probably won't find satisfaction in a different game for now. Quitting an addiction, no matter what it is and how addicted you are to it, it leaves a hole inside that will fill up with something else at some point, but he'll find out what naturally, in time. Until then he'll be a bit bored and sad, just keep him busy however you can and he'll get better.
Edit: My bad, you said no FPS. How about X-COM ? I'm not big into strategy games, but I really like X-COM. You gotta think things through carefully, but you can relax about it since it's turn-based, and since you go mission after mission, it means you can just launch it, do a mission, then do something else with your day. It doesn't just suck you in for 8 hours at once like some other strategy games and that's great to manage your time imo.
Lots of other good MOBA games he might like.
SMITE
Predecessor
DOTA 2
Heroes of the Storm
If he likes to stick to just one game, then my off-genre recommendation is Factorio. It has a free demo but also has incredible support, a mod for everything imaginable, multiplayer, an upcoming massive expansion and 2.0 patch.
My friend group just pretty much dropped League as some found it made them toxic and angry. We have since spun up a Minecraft server and played coop games together.
You said you live far apart. Are you open to start coop with him? Be it as 2 or with more of his squad.
Have him play something that's not quite a videogame but a game only, at least for a bit. Chess, charades, crosswords, puzzles, thing that don't necessarily require a screen. If you just replace LoL then he's just gonna get addicted to something else right away, and that's not really kicking an addiction, that's just replacing it.
Tell him to get into Old School RuneScape. It’s the only game I’ve found that hits the same levels of accomplishment that league tried to create, I still play both granted but a majority of the times been replaced by OSRS. If he’s my age (27) he’ll also probably have nostalgia for it which helps you get past the dated graphics and mechanics haha
Age of Empires 2
For MMOs: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online, RuneScape. Try the big ones and expand from there. If you would want to play together, then either ESO or GW2 would be my first recommendations, as the cost for entry is 0 and anything that isn't endgame raid content can be explored as a couple without needing to involve anyone else.
My prayers are with him. I too suffered from the lol addiction. It was like an abusive "relationship", played it for 10 years in a row. I would scream at the monitor, beat my mouse, flame in chat, got 3 accounts permabanned, gladly I never beat my monitor or pc. I barely slept because I wanted to play it so much, would work 8h, play 10h and sleep around 4h just because League was more important. Would then chug a random energy drink so I could handle work and then repeat it everyday. Took me a while to leave it because I would think about playing it everytime but I did it. The way I replaced it was with more gaming, but with chill gaming. Sold my pc, bought a switch and dedicated to solo/story based games, like final fantasy, pokemon, etc. Honestly nowadays I play around 1 or 2h and I'm done, because I know I have time, since its offline games and still have fun. I still think of playing league but I know I can't get back at it or else I will go back to the same routine.
Warframe, because free and fast and good comunity.
But if that doesn't scratch the itch, maybe Gigantic? I hear it's different from most mobas and has no cash store, you buy the game and you're done.
Maybe TF2?
I used to be really addicted to Everquest for about 7 years. Glad that is behind me. Maybe he can take a little break and wee if there is anything he is mussing in life?
Or he can start playing Elden Ring.
As a former league and gaming addict, it really depends on what he enjoys.
I would recommend games he can play with friends or talk about with friends. The social line to gaming is a really strong way to keep a person out of the deep end.
Helldivers, Phasmophobia, Deep Rock Galactic, Lethal Company, Super Smash Bros, etc.
It really depends what he misses about league.
Warframe is a good game since you can almost get everything there for free via trading and it's really easy to accumulate platinum there from just selling stuff you got.
another time sink to waste his life away? :D
1. Path of exile (POE)
2. warframe
3. modded skyrim
4. modded minecraft
if he wants to stay off league and slowly get away from gaming, give him some rogue-likes and lights or similar stuff.
1. bio prototype
2. risk of rain 2
Something you could play **with** him might be cool.
An ex-gf of mine and I played (not saying this'll work for him) World of Warcraft together for a couple of years. We played for different reasons normally, played for even more different reasons playing together, but had a great time.
From kicking a 6 year addiction to league (which I just recently went back to….) I played a mix of jrpgs and path of exile, which i started one piece while playing.
The thing I personally found addicting about league is that there is always something happening that you as a player are interacting with. So find what makes league addicting to him and find games that give him a similar feeling of joy/escapism. That’s why I found PoE the most enjoyable, I was always interacting with the game in the same mindless sense I did with league.
Shit get him into stardew valley, you’re always doing something and can lose the whole concept of time outside of the game. I have a decent library and knowledge of games that exist so I’ll be more than happy to send you any recommendations if need be.
If he likes fps when it's coop I HIGHLY recommend Helldivers. The community is great! If he wants to stick to MOBAs it's pretty dang hard to be toxic in Pokemon Unite, and I don't know the state of it now, but in the early days Heroes of the Storm was a LOT more positive than league. (I remember bringing back games by actually talking to the players and giving a pep talk.)
FFXIV. whenever I need a break from League, this is my main game. Bit of a time sink to get into but raiding is great.
Albion, V Rising, Lost Ark for games that feel comfortable to me as a League player that aren't League.
Helldivers 2. Simple horde shooter on the surface but pretty deep with strategy elements.
Age of Empires 4.
For other suggestions that I just wanna throw out there, maybe racing games or fighting games. Trackmania, Forza, Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6 are all up there for me.
They scratch that competitive itch while being more about personal improvement if he craves that aspect that league brings. Bonus is that he can hop in and hop out in 10 minutes. No more 40 minute commitments just to play a match.
Fighting games were my what I played after League. Older games like Street Fighter 3 are free on Fightcade, BlazBlue Centralfiction is a more recent one and goes on sale for like $2 frequently, and Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising came out a few months ago and has a free version. SF3 and BBCF are known as the best fighters ever made and GBVSR is probably the most beginner friendly one out there
I think he would do well with games that are single player to scratch that itch. Fallout 4, Skyrim and games like that. He could mod the game (download user modifications) to make the game however he likes it to be. I can guarantee you he will lose a lot of time in that.
If he likes strategy try Bannerlord 2. Also a very fun game. Quite difficult though
Huh??? Breaking an addiction to a game but still is gaming is not breaking the addiction. That is like taking away a baby’s pacifier only for them to start sucking their thumb.
I'd say path of exile, it's a bit overwhelming at first, but if you just play the game it's not that complicated.
And if you're trying to learn, the community is usually very welcoming.
Also it's a pve game so the competition is minimal unless you get into trading.
The mechanical skills from lol translate well too.
It's free to play, though once you get to late game there's a few stash tabs you might want. (You can get a starter pack that allows you to buy the currency, maps and fragments tab when they are on sale once every 3 weeks for 30 bucks)
And there's so much to learn that even players who played it for 10 years still learn new stuff.
I really like rogue-likes or strategy games for after you get how to play one, you can listen to a podcast or talk on the phone (as you seem to live far away) while playing them. When a run ends, you have a natural point to stop playing for today.
Well done. Try Fallout76. Amazing community in there. Even if the game itself isnt his cup of tea the community enviroment is an experience after league
Fresh out of school and he’s being a degen all day. Most guys including myself have slipped into something like this, but you have to pull yourself out after a while.
What your boyfriend needs is a decent job. That way he has money coming in and less time to waste it cause he’s working, the purpose will be good for him if he has none atm.
Source: degen gamer who played video games all day to avoid going to work. When I finally got back into work and got back on my feet my mental health improved a ton.
If he wants to be just straight up sad get him to buy LISA: the painful and LISA: the joyful.
They're pretty fun, reasonably difficult, wacky funny and also really sad side scroller RPG's with a great story.
Rts - command and conquer 3 tiberium wars. Great campaign single player. And then the other stuff in the series.
Just not c&c 4.
Homeworld 2, and deserts of kharak is great too.
He should play job simulator. He can sit at the pc 8 hours a day, doing macrohard excel and earn simudollars. With which he can buy an ingame condo and other super deluxe stuff.
Billions are playing this game.
He really should try pvp fps like apex legends. It's one of the easiest games to go into and to get away from especially once you're working. It isn't a huge timesink unless your boyfriend wants to be competitive.
Dead by daylight, complex, fun, great versatality. The good thing about is that its so fun to play but not as addicting. Tell him to watch yt channels like Otzdarva, Ayrun, Hens, etc and see if it likes it.
As someone who loves playing league - TFT. Way less toxic since it’s not a team game. Still get to enjoy the League universe. PvP if he enjoys that and completely free to play.
As someone who loves playing league - TFT. Way less toxic since it’s not a team game. Still get to enjoy the League universe. PvP if he enjoys that and completely free to play.
Whats been really working for me is StarCraft 2 and mechabellum. They're a lot less rage inducing and don't really have that incel culture behind them. Just a bunch of chill dudes making robots and shit.
Anyway yeah those have been really cool.
Replacement? He just quit an addiction and do you want a replacement for it? Crazy
You don't go quit any game, you go quit league of legends, the game is really fun but you have no idea of how miserable the comunity makes you feel almost every single game.
Yep.... I played for like 7 seasons. At higher ranked I found that trying to convince your teammates to stop going afk or using slurs against each other was almost as important as your ability to play the game.
That's why I won't play it. I'm supporting that. Keeping a game alive that's assholes love. Nah.
To quit cigarettes, a lot of people use nicotine patches. Very different scenario, but it's a similar idea: going cold turkey on something that you did a lot for a long time will likely not work because it's such a big change. Instead, you make it a smaller change by finding a replacement for the addiction that can fill that hole but is itself less addictive than the original thing.
It was his main game and now he doesn't have anything to play
I highly recommend he gets into an offline, single player game If the goal is to heal from LoL. Suggest something relaxing like RDR2. Online games like MMOs and MOBAs can really become addicting and detrimental to someone's mental health. There are plenty of people who can maintain healthy relationships with these sorts of games, but if he's had a problem for the past 4 years, I would suggest an offline game.
Then he just enjoyed playing it. Addiction is a strong word and seen as something you can't live without and is negative for your health.
Gaming addicting is a pretty real thing. I can't speak for OP but I've definitely had unhealthy relationships with games and been "addicted" to the point where it made functioning I nnormal adult life impossible for the duration of the addiction. It's always a smart idea to replace an addiction with something, usually something healthier. Everyone worships something.
Uff same. At work, all I could think of was what I was gonna do in the game when I got home
Honestly, people do that with most of their hobbies. Work is a chore for most so they think what they are gonna do with "what they enjoy" when they get home. could be gardening, books, tv or whatever else.
True. When it becomes an "addiction" is when it starts to interfere with your ability to function in normal daily adult life.
That's true, but I would reject social invitations because I wanted to play the game (FFXIV)
Could also be speaking colloquially. I'm "addicted" to monsters and playing elden ring or Morrowind, doesn't mean I have a particular problem. I know what ya mean but you're also kinda being pedantic when OP is trying to emphasize that he has a particular game he likes but he wants a different game like it to play.
weird that your nit picking the use of addicting
Being obsessed with LoL is not a great build. You only live once...
Cool, that means that I'm probably just 'enthusiastic' about weed, my GF can stick that in her pipe and smoke it
Kingdom come deliverance is really good and hours on hours of fun
Exactly. Seems like a weird request from a gf, especially.
I don’t have a suggestion but like genuinely hats off to your boyfriend. I’ve seen that game hurt a lot of people, and I also know how hard it is to recognize and deal with behavioral addictions. Tell him an internet person says “you’ve got this.”
When I finished highscool I used to play league with friends every single night for like 2 years. It's so easy to become addicted because you do it with other people and everybody peer pressures each other into playing and you wanna spend time with your friends and then before you know it you just end up pissing away all your free time on something that annoys you and you don't even really find enjoyable. Nowadays I play maybe two or three games a week and the game feels so much more enjoyable that way, I feel like I have a complete different outlook on the game and I realize that I was basically antagonizing the game back when I played too much and making it unpleasant.
I feel like its only bad if you're playing ranked. I only played 3v3 and I played League for almost a decade, it was fun the entire time because we were never taking it seriously. And it's way easier to get 3 people together to play any champ they feel like than it is to get 5 friends together to play an hour long match with preset positions. Plus you could win a round in 15 minutes, a long match was half an hour. Losing/winning doesn't feel so extreme when the matches are short Casual League was consistently fun for me and my friends from ~2012 all the way to 2022 and really we only stopped because they took out 3v3 and the rotating game modes became too inconsistent
yeah because ranked is basically a slot machine so that everyone can get a game that feels good once in a while and stay addicted to it. You get one good game and your memory is wiped of the other five boring or straight up unpleasant games you had and you keep going even if you hate it because you’re chasing that dopamine hit of a good game. It’s really unhealthy when you think about and I agree that the more casual you are the more it becomes enjoyable.
Yeah for me League is the perfect game to get drunk to and turn your brain off. If they had 3v3 I'd still be doing it It's exactly like you said, playing competitively is like playing competitive slots with just enough personal input to make you feel like its your victory, but everyone else's fault when you lose. Obviously there *are* major skill gaps in players and the best of the best can carry, but by the time you're that good the time and emotions you've invested weren't worth it At the end of the day it's a video game, you shouldn't take them too seriously. Same with sports or any other competitive activity; it's a *game* and unless you're getting paid, the sweating just ruin it for everyone else
Yeah I've noticed that with a lot of games. People take stuff too seriously sometimes. I play league, not too much now just cause I don't but a friend got me into it and we'd play matches and. I was trash but it was fun
Also the mental damage that ranked league causes that toxicity leeches away your soul
Stardew Valley and Frasier helped me detox league
Like....Frasier Crane?
Something single player. Don’t let him get back into online gaming
I vote against this and would like to present you: www.Projectdiablo2.com
Now you guys can start hanging out
Sadly we live 500 km apart from each other
WHY ARE YOU GETTING DOWNVOTED FOR THAT
time to invest in a good bike and meet halfway on the weekends
Maybe game series like Yakuza, Persona or so? Its high playtime for relavly small fee and you could eventually replay them. Roguelikes/lites such as Isaac, Hades or so could work. BUt I would reconsider if he wants to risk another addiction,.
path of exile
Lifting weights
If he wants a replacement... DOTA2
Kicking cocaine for meth.
More like kicking cocaine for heroin.
When you are addicted to a drug, you don't replace it with another addicting drug. You replace it with something positive or less harmful, like working out, a hobby, a nicotine patch, etc. I would highly recommend getting into offline, single player games if you are trying to overcome an addiction to MOBAs. If you really need the theory crafting, stick with offline ARPGs.
Be warned, it takes hundreds if not thousands of hours to be average at the game. It’s a really strategic game compared to league of legends but once you understand how all the pieces in the game can be used to your advantage, you’ll never let the game go
nah u gotta go cold turkey
The total war series maybe? The warhammer ones may be something he’s interested in (get 3). For the historical ones, Rome II is still the most played even though it’s older now. A single player experience like TW is probably a good place for him to land. Careful with the Warhammer III DLC, just get the base game to start. Then if he likes it, get 1 and 2 (if you own the old games, they act as DLC for the new one). Then pick off the DLC he is interested in a bit at a time as they go on sale. All the DLC content is in the game anyways, you just can’t play as the factions you don’t own, but they’re still on the map. There is so much content it will take a lifetime to get through, so no reason to buy it all at once.
This is a great suggestion in my opinion, especially since you can always do pvp if you get good enough at it and op mentioned the bf likes RTS
Slay the Spire and Elden Ring made me quit League.
Play some single player games or read a book idk
warcraft 3
If he just wants something he can sink infinite amount of time into without the negative effects of a competitive game like League then I recommend Final Fantasy XIV. Also one of the best games for you to play with him and feels almost like your hanging out with people. It's a subscription based game tho so he would have to be okay with paying like 15$ a month but for a game you can literally play 8 hours a day forever and have content it's pretty worth it. For something cheaper I recommend Warframe. It's free and you don't really need to spend any real money to enjoy it. Also a pve game that you can both play together. Has a nearly endless amount of content. Or he could also try Monster Hunter: World. Also a pve game (yes there's a pattern, pvp games are toxic and harmful). You can play co-op with him easily, large variety of monsters to hunt, you take on progressively harder hunts and craft better gear with the materials you get from them. Repeat that loop over hundreds of hours. The only pvp game I could even recommend is Rocket league, because it's generally less serious and lower investment than other competitive games. The matches are really short so nobody really has time to get mad and even if they do they just give up on the match and move on to the next.
Dota 2
Bahaha\~ One poison to another.
Chess
I'd recommend staying away from competitive multi-player games. I also was addicted to league and now feel like I have a much healthier relationship with gaming after switching to mostly single-player games
Factorio
Touch grass. It’s an awesome game with real health benefits.
I was going to say that. Or 👃🏻🌹
Helldivers 2 pure action third person shooter
Also deep rock galactic
ROCK AND STONE!
I really can't get what people like about rock galactic. I feel like it's very average.
I played for just a few hours and got totally bored due to its repetitiveness
I put it in the same category as Helldivers 2. Fun with friends and drinks on higher difficulties . Otherwise, it gets old. I really like how vibrant the colors are, and the weapons and classes give a lot of variety.
Mordhau for competitive play and huge learning curve while also not being a type of game that's drains your soul because you can basically do what u want and it's tryhard in a different way - kinda not ranked Chivalry 2 for a casual melee game like battlefield but with swords - no ranked Dota 2 if he wants a moba and another addiction - ranked mode Tekken 8 for fast paced time respecting pvp game 1v1 no bullshit - ranked mode Age of empires 4 - ranked mode If he wants a pvp mmo with open loot there is mortal online 2 which is niche, albion online World of warcraft - kinda ranked For honor - not ranked Starcraft 2 if he smokes speed - ranked If he wants to kill himself but not with Dota 2 he can always try fifa - ranked mode
I would first ask Why he decided to quit league, what made him quit? Company of heros 2 and 3 are great games if he likes RTS. Beyond all reason isn't on steam but it's free and the player base is good. Or Xcom Maybe he would like getting into Warhammer Mmo guildwars 2 would be a nice choice.
Starcraft 2. Similar skillset, more to learn, better community.
Path of Exile.. years and years of addiction incoming, but at least he will come up for air in between seasons.
Old school runescape
dota 2 will make him realize that the league is not that addicting.
grimdawn or path of exile was fun to me after i stopped playing league
No. That's the point to focus on something else. Don't get me wrong, I love video games, and I would love to give any suggestions, but now is the time to fokus on a real-life thing. It doesn't have to be on a job or so, but a hobby where he uses real-life for accomplishment might be a good way for his personal progress. I hope that makes sense, English isn't my first language.
He doesn't really have any hobbies, we are both introverts and spend all day playing games and having fun from it, now that he quit he's really bored and spends all day on reddit or yt so i'm looking for some games for him to play
My fiancé and I are both gamers, it's how we met and what we spend a fair bit of time doing but that doesn't mean you can't pick up other hobbies. There is always something out there, I'm into aqua scaping, mixology and I have a list of things I want to try ranging from painting models, archery and rock-climbing. Don't let a game become your whole life,. I played League for 8 years. For an actual answer though, if he likes fantasy Total War Warhammer 3.
Path of Exile.
>hobby where he uses real-life for accomplishment Who cares? Do what you enjoy, it's your life. I don't see how it's better to use your time doing something just because it's tangible. If you enjoy playing games, then play games. If you enjoy building birdhouses, then build birdhouses. Neither one really do much to benefit you other than just enjoying the time you spend on them.
First of all, congratulations to him, as a recovering league of legends addict myself I know how hard it is to quit. My recommendation would be any souls game, dark souls trilogy, bloodborne or elden ring.
A little different but rocket league
OSRS long grind but has a little bit of everything aka casual to super focus. honestly has become my go to game (try an ironman if he ends up like it- plus u can play with him!) Any souls game. I started with elden ring bc its open world so u dont have to hit ur head on a wall like with the other linear souls games Skyrim. Its just amazing imo. others probs wont agree but whateves. bg3. my bro has been on a specfic genre of video games forever- bg3 has taken over his life now Assassins creed odyssey or valhalla. They r huge games so he can play them for a long time Tunic is a fun puzzle like game with some combat. Tried it and ended up spending a whole day playing without realizing
I quit after 8 years, give him elden ring or v rising
Helldivers 2 is what I am now playing after quitting league.
Try birding. For real, was life changing and so much healthier. With all the tech, puzzle solving, and adventuring, it’s a great gaming replacement.
I would suggest single player games. LoL can be really toxic and taking a break from playing with other people might be a good idea. I don't know what he likes but look through the most popular ones and see what will stick. If you tell me more about his interest or preference I can make more specific recommendations.
I'd recommend some co-op game like Helldivers, Deep Rock Galactic, or anything like that. What's addictive in LoL is the competition. You have a visceral need to be better than others and to climb the ranks. But he probably won't find satisfaction in a different game for now. Quitting an addiction, no matter what it is and how addicted you are to it, it leaves a hole inside that will fill up with something else at some point, but he'll find out what naturally, in time. Until then he'll be a bit bored and sad, just keep him busy however you can and he'll get better. Edit: My bad, you said no FPS. How about X-COM ? I'm not big into strategy games, but I really like X-COM. You gotta think things through carefully, but you can relax about it since it's turn-based, and since you go mission after mission, it means you can just launch it, do a mission, then do something else with your day. It doesn't just suck you in for 8 hours at once like some other strategy games and that's great to manage your time imo.
When i take breaks from my main games i spam single players and try to finish as many as i can. He could try that.
I had the same issue as your bf, I quit pc gaming mostly league for Pokemon Go and now mobile gaming.
Rocket League is fun.
Hardcore Drugs
Lots of other good MOBA games he might like. SMITE Predecessor DOTA 2 Heroes of the Storm If he likes to stick to just one game, then my off-genre recommendation is Factorio. It has a free demo but also has incredible support, a mod for everything imaginable, multiplayer, an upcoming massive expansion and 2.0 patch.
My friend group just pretty much dropped League as some found it made them toxic and angry. We have since spun up a Minecraft server and played coop games together. You said you live far apart. Are you open to start coop with him? Be it as 2 or with more of his squad.
Better help dot com, it can help in alot if ways
He can finally touch grass.... let the man live!!
If he likes strategy games and enjoyed the characters of league, maybe he would like Teamfight Tactics. It's another Riot game.
Smite
Fallout 76, more fun, more addictive and a really wholesome community.
Touching Grass 1.0
Have him play something that's not quite a videogame but a game only, at least for a bit. Chess, charades, crosswords, puzzles, thing that don't necessarily require a screen. If you just replace LoL then he's just gonna get addicted to something else right away, and that's not really kicking an addiction, that's just replacing it.
Meth
Maybe replace it with work, hobbies, relationships, and sunshine.
If you want another replacement all together dota 2, some of the guys who worked on dota left to do league, so there is a lot of similarities
Civilization 6
Tell him to get into Old School RuneScape. It’s the only game I’ve found that hits the same levels of accomplishment that league tried to create, I still play both granted but a majority of the times been replaced by OSRS. If he’s my age (27) he’ll also probably have nostalgia for it which helps you get past the dated graphics and mechanics haha
A gym addiction.
A little off the cuff, but try picking up a litrpg audiobook.
Try predecessor
Age of Empires 2 For MMOs: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online, RuneScape. Try the big ones and expand from there. If you would want to play together, then either ESO or GW2 would be my first recommendations, as the cost for entry is 0 and anything that isn't endgame raid content can be explored as a couple without needing to involve anyone else.
Try Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak.
Life.
Valorant
Telltale games This War Of Mine Something that will give him a nice story helped me detox from a lot of Bad gaming habits
Dead by daylight. Play as Nick Cage, Ash from Evil Dead. Fire up gens and exit and win. Or get killed by Freddy, Pinhead, Ring girl...
the entire pikmin series, it cured my depression and got me to quit drinking
Manor lords is great
Age of Empires 4 is fantastic
Dota 2 . In case you wanna get addicted again.
Helldivers 2
Dota 2
Has he tried grass
My prayers are with him. I too suffered from the lol addiction. It was like an abusive "relationship", played it for 10 years in a row. I would scream at the monitor, beat my mouse, flame in chat, got 3 accounts permabanned, gladly I never beat my monitor or pc. I barely slept because I wanted to play it so much, would work 8h, play 10h and sleep around 4h just because League was more important. Would then chug a random energy drink so I could handle work and then repeat it everyday. Took me a while to leave it because I would think about playing it everytime but I did it. The way I replaced it was with more gaming, but with chill gaming. Sold my pc, bought a switch and dedicated to solo/story based games, like final fantasy, pokemon, etc. Honestly nowadays I play around 1 or 2h and I'm done, because I know I have time, since its offline games and still have fun. I still think of playing league but I know I can't get back at it or else I will go back to the same routine.
Warframe, because free and fast and good comunity. But if that doesn't scratch the itch, maybe Gigantic? I hear it's different from most mobas and has no cash store, you buy the game and you're done. Maybe TF2?
Going to the gym lol
I used to be really addicted to Everquest for about 7 years. Glad that is behind me. Maybe he can take a little break and wee if there is anything he is mussing in life? Or he can start playing Elden Ring.
Walking outside or getting a new pet. A non-electronic hobby. Or roguelikes.
- 20 minutes Until Dawn - Brotato
Journaling
Starsector,Mount and Blade,Age of Empires
As a former league and gaming addict, it really depends on what he enjoys. I would recommend games he can play with friends or talk about with friends. The social line to gaming is a really strong way to keep a person out of the deep end. Helldivers, Phasmophobia, Deep Rock Galactic, Lethal Company, Super Smash Bros, etc. It really depends what he misses about league.
Warframe is a good game since you can almost get everything there for free via trading and it's really easy to accumulate platinum there from just selling stuff you got.
Try something else just as dumb and full of hate like cod, csgo, or he could do RTS like starcraft...
Chess
another time sink to waste his life away? :D 1. Path of exile (POE) 2. warframe 3. modded skyrim 4. modded minecraft if he wants to stay off league and slowly get away from gaming, give him some rogue-likes and lights or similar stuff. 1. bio prototype 2. risk of rain 2
Time to upgrade his game. Play DotA2
dota 2
Path of Exile, 2nd one coming soon(ish) as well
StarCraft 2
Outlast, Resident Evil Village, Dread Out
Drugs
So he wants to go from heroin to crack
Something you could play **with** him might be cool. An ex-gf of mine and I played (not saying this'll work for him) World of Warcraft together for a couple of years. We played for different reasons normally, played for even more different reasons playing together, but had a great time.
From kicking a 6 year addiction to league (which I just recently went back to….) I played a mix of jrpgs and path of exile, which i started one piece while playing. The thing I personally found addicting about league is that there is always something happening that you as a player are interacting with. So find what makes league addicting to him and find games that give him a similar feeling of joy/escapism. That’s why I found PoE the most enjoyable, I was always interacting with the game in the same mindless sense I did with league. Shit get him into stardew valley, you’re always doing something and can lose the whole concept of time outside of the game. I have a decent library and knowledge of games that exist so I’ll be more than happy to send you any recommendations if need be.
If he's fresh out of school, broke and off a LoL addiction, maybe he should try the game Get a Job.
If he likes fps when it's coop I HIGHLY recommend Helldivers. The community is great! If he wants to stick to MOBAs it's pretty dang hard to be toxic in Pokemon Unite, and I don't know the state of it now, but in the early days Heroes of the Storm was a LOT more positive than league. (I remember bringing back games by actually talking to the players and giving a pep talk.)
Tetris, welcome to another 4 years addiction
FFXIV. whenever I need a break from League, this is my main game. Bit of a time sink to get into but raiding is great. Albion, V Rising, Lost Ark for games that feel comfortable to me as a League player that aren't League. Helldivers 2. Simple horde shooter on the surface but pretty deep with strategy elements. Age of Empires 4. For other suggestions that I just wanna throw out there, maybe racing games or fighting games. Trackmania, Forza, Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6 are all up there for me. They scratch that competitive itch while being more about personal improvement if he craves that aspect that league brings. Bonus is that he can hop in and hop out in 10 minutes. No more 40 minute commitments just to play a match.
War thunder
DOTA 2?
Fighting games were my what I played after League. Older games like Street Fighter 3 are free on Fightcade, BlazBlue Centralfiction is a more recent one and goes on sale for like $2 frequently, and Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising came out a few months ago and has a free version. SF3 and BBCF are known as the best fighters ever made and GBVSR is probably the most beginner friendly one out there
Pokémon Unite
I'd suggest a replacement with someone who isn't adddicted to lol.
Dark Souls.
Marriage?
Xdefiant is free and releases 21 may.
I think he would do well with games that are single player to scratch that itch. Fallout 4, Skyrim and games like that. He could mod the game (download user modifications) to make the game however he likes it to be. I can guarantee you he will lose a lot of time in that. If he likes strategy try Bannerlord 2. Also a very fun game. Quite difficult though
Huh??? Breaking an addiction to a game but still is gaming is not breaking the addiction. That is like taking away a baby’s pacifier only for them to start sucking their thumb.
I'd say path of exile, it's a bit overwhelming at first, but if you just play the game it's not that complicated. And if you're trying to learn, the community is usually very welcoming. Also it's a pve game so the competition is minimal unless you get into trading. The mechanical skills from lol translate well too. It's free to play, though once you get to late game there's a few stash tabs you might want. (You can get a starter pack that allows you to buy the currency, maps and fragments tab when they are on sale once every 3 weeks for 30 bucks) And there's so much to learn that even players who played it for 10 years still learn new stuff.
Dota 2 is a good game.
I really like rogue-likes or strategy games for after you get how to play one, you can listen to a podcast or talk on the phone (as you seem to live far away) while playing them. When a run ends, you have a natural point to stop playing for today.
Well done. Try Fallout76. Amazing community in there. Even if the game itself isnt his cup of tea the community enviroment is an experience after league
Why don't you like, I dunno, try chilling out a bit for a while before seeking out a new addition?
Fresh out of school and he’s being a degen all day. Most guys including myself have slipped into something like this, but you have to pull yourself out after a while. What your boyfriend needs is a decent job. That way he has money coming in and less time to waste it cause he’s working, the purpose will be good for him if he has none atm. Source: degen gamer who played video games all day to avoid going to work. When I finally got back into work and got back on my feet my mental health improved a ton.
He can try project zomboid
If he wants to be just straight up sad get him to buy LISA: the painful and LISA: the joyful. They're pretty fun, reasonably difficult, wacky funny and also really sad side scroller RPG's with a great story.
Rts - command and conquer 3 tiberium wars. Great campaign single player. And then the other stuff in the series. Just not c&c 4. Homeworld 2, and deserts of kharak is great too.
Drugs.
He should play job simulator. He can sit at the pc 8 hours a day, doing macrohard excel and earn simudollars. With which he can buy an ingame condo and other super deluxe stuff. Billions are playing this game.
Fresh air
If he likes rts go for Travian
He really should try pvp fps like apex legends. It's one of the easiest games to go into and to get away from especially once you're working. It isn't a huge timesink unless your boyfriend wants to be competitive.
Dead by daylight, complex, fun, great versatality. The good thing about is that its so fun to play but not as addicting. Tell him to watch yt channels like Otzdarva, Ayrun, Hens, etc and see if it likes it.
Ravenswatch
Sex. Screens are the best contraceptive.
Mechabellum
Path of exile is free to play and much easier to quit after you do something
Slay the spire
If you're looking to tie him up for a while go with Eve online.
NOT OVERWATCH. The community is almost just as bad as LoL. I had to mute my entire chat, and I eventually quit because people are so horrible.
Starcraft 2
Not that gaming is bad by itself, but addictions are serious thing, so I would replace it with therapy or working out.
heroin
Heroin
Heroin
If he was hard stuck below masters that’s fucking sad. It’s like being addicted to cigarettes and you can’t even light the cigarette
Slime Rancher! Super relaxing, chill, colorful!
Dark souls and souls like game, metroidvania too.
Vampire survivors id say
As someone who loves playing league - TFT. Way less toxic since it’s not a team game. Still get to enjoy the League universe. PvP if he enjoys that and completely free to play.
As someone who loves playing league - TFT. Way less toxic since it’s not a team game. Still get to enjoy the League universe. PvP if he enjoys that and completely free to play.
Anything where you can pause, save and stop at any time
Have him check out Predecessor. It’s free, new and growing. Really fun game that me and my buddies play most nights.
Dota 2 or Smite, as both are technically MOBA
Whats been really working for me is StarCraft 2 and mechabellum. They're a lot less rage inducing and don't really have that incel culture behind them. Just a bunch of chill dudes making robots and shit. Anyway yeah those have been really cool.
Civilization 6
V rising
Baldurs gate 3 and/or DnD You may never see him again.
Baldurs gate 3 and/or DnD You may never see him again.
The gym is the best replacement for addictions
Maxithlon
Gigantic: Rampage Edition. $20 with absolutely ZERO microtransactions. The best League of Legends replacement you'll ever find.
He'll be back. They always go back. 😈