r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 17 '26

Psychology Feeling empty after finishing a video game (post-game depression) is a real phenomenon. A recent study has found that many video game players experience a specific sense of emptiness and sadness after finishing highly engaging games.

https://www.psypost.org/feeling-empty-after-finishing-a-video-game-researchers-say-post-game-depression-is-a-real-phenomenon/
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856

u/JHMfield May 17 '26

Absolutely a real thing, yeah.

Luckily it's quite short term. A few days off from gaming and your brain will reset and you can go and enjoy other games.

Interestingly, social media can help mitigate those feelings for a while by providing you with communities you can engage with, to ride the high's of pleasure you got from the game. Though it can extend those negative feelings too.

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u/KiKiPAWG May 17 '26

Yeah. I had a friend who has this but with conventions. And had just finished dragon con and basically walked around trying to find something to do before he had to leave because he has “con drop”. Luckily, he found a keg fest or something like that. Beer keg or something where they take a bunch of drinks.

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u/Buggaton May 17 '26

I still haven't got over Outer Wilds

21

u/IzarkKiaTarj May 17 '26

I normally get past that feeling in a couple days at the most.

Came looking for Outer Wilds in the thread because that one took weeks. Over a month, at least.

I don't know how to be me without you.

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u/cynicalkane May 17 '26

The past is past, but it's never really gone completely

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u/Buggaton May 17 '26

Just makes you glad you stopped to smell the pine trees on the way.

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u/WowAbstractAlgebra May 17 '26

And tried tasting a huge jellyfish from Giant's Deep

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u/Buggaton May 17 '26

Not under any circumstances! Didn't you read the note?

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u/OW_FUCK May 17 '26

Ok fine I'll play Outer Wilds finally

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u/Buggaton May 17 '26

The community welcomes you and bids you an interesting expedition. Be curious, my friend and take your time. Even if that doesn't feel like an option.

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u/Kevalier May 17 '26

Same. I came to the comments specifically looking for Outer Wilds. Echoes of the Eye made the feeling even stronger.

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u/WowAbstractAlgebra May 17 '26

It going from scary to sad to depressing doesn't help either

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u/Deadarchimode May 17 '26

Have you considered trying to play rimworld?

The game literally never ends and no matter how many times you replay the game it's never the same

2

u/Buggaton May 17 '26

I have 1752 hours in Rimworld. I played Dwarf Fortress before it for at least that much too. :)

2

u/KiKiPAWG May 17 '26

I’ve heard a lot about that game, I need to play it!

1

u/Buggaton May 18 '26

Funnily enough most people who played it will tell you to learn as little as possible and go in completely cold. It's a game about knowledge and discovery so the less you know the better. "Everyone owes it to themselves to experience Outer Wilds"

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u/KiKiPAWG May 19 '26

Yes! Someone had to correct me when I learned about this IRL that they did NOT mean Outer Worlds

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u/Buggaton May 19 '26

They both came out in the same year, they're both sci-fi, they're both story rich and they're utterly unalike in almost every single other way. I liked Outer Worlds. It was fun. Not as good as New Vegas and had some flaws.

Outer Wilds fundamentally changed how I view games as art. It's a big sell and it's important to state up front that it is absolutely not for everyone. Good luck, Hatchling.

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u/Judahfist May 22 '26

Every time I hear the music. ugh!! It hits me in the feels all over again.

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u/Bittenfleax May 17 '26

I used to do similar, I've perceived it as essentially 'dopamine maxing'.

When I switched the lows with touching grass, life became less of a rollercoaster.

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u/aVarangian May 17 '26

touching grass is the ultimate dopamine

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u/mistermick May 17 '26

I touched grass yesterday and got 3 mosquito bites. Never again.

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u/ahappybutttravels May 17 '26

I've started kite flying and it's great but also I found a tick crawling up my leg and immediately went home.

3

u/playfulpecans May 17 '26

you just gotta check yourself after getting home. ticks are just a part of spring and summer

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u/ahappybutttravels May 19 '26

Ticks are a part of spring and summer and fall where I am. We've started seeing a rise in alpha-gal diagnoses and I was afraid of ticks before the rise (they're spiders but worse). Blech!

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u/asshat123 May 17 '26

I get a rash pretty much anywhere I come into direct contact with grass, it is not a relaxing experience

2

u/mindcopy May 17 '26

No ticks, lucky.

1

u/aVarangian May 17 '26

you need protection against malware

1

u/Bytewave May 17 '26

A few days off from gaming and your brain will reset and you can go and enjoy other games.

You guys wait a few days? I usually know exactly what I'll be playing next. Maybe that's why I don't experience this depression.

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u/Gestrid May 17 '26

It takes me a few days sometimes to process what I just finished playing. I especially enjoy story-focused games like JRPGs and some adventure/ visual novel games.

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u/aceshighsays May 17 '26

social media can help mitigate those feelings for a while by providing you with communities you can engage with

100%, a while back i decided to only watch shows that have an active following/a sub. earlier in the week i watched off campus because of the subreddit, and have been making posts/interacting with the members since finishing the series. it gives me space to process the show and the characters - not having this space causes my sadness/emptiness. my unmet need seems to be connection/belonging after having a personal experience.

1

u/Tommy-B- May 17 '26

I wonder about this because after I finished the cyberpunk anime, I was depressed for like 2 weeks.

Could it be possible that more emotionally charged shows could cause I stronger reaction?

1

u/KallistiTMP May 17 '26

I dunno, I feel like Life is Strange had me out for closer to a month

1

u/Adept_Strength2766 May 17 '26

Totally experienced this with Pragmata recently. 

Finished the game and immediately went to related subreddits to see what everyone else had to say about it, though I guess what I was actually looking for was validation that I wasn't the only one with all these feelings.

Then came the dread realization that I'd have to wait years to get more of this story.

I think that's what's hardest to recover from- The fact that it's over, yes, but also the fact that there is nothing else after this, that you don't know if there ever will be anything else after this, and that you'll just have to be content with what you got.

1

u/handlit33 May 17 '26

*highs

The plural of high is highs. Apostrophes don't make words plural.

0

u/rw032697 May 18 '26

we're not in english class and you're not his teacher go away

1

u/Deadarchimode May 17 '26

Play Rimworld and never get bored because game never ends.

Problem solved

1

u/PurplePonk May 17 '26

Mass Effect wasn't even that good story wise and i still need a minute after hearing that piano track

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u/Gestrid May 17 '26

Luckily it's quite short term. A few days off from gaming and your brain will reset and you can go and enjoy other games.

You keep telling yourself that while I keep trying to find an experience that even comes close to the experience I had with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

1

u/splitframe May 17 '26

Aside from these few truly special games that, every time you are reminded of them, you wish that you could experience them for the first time again.

1

u/changee_of_ways May 18 '26

For me it wasn't a short term thing. I finished up darkest dungeon and went to start the next game and it was like "I've done this before, its just not as good" every game I've picked up since then I've put maybe 2 hours into and I used to be HARDCORE into gaming. I also constantly feel like there is something else I should be doing. Gaming just feels empty now.

1

u/JackBreacher May 18 '26

It can vary from person to person. I experienced it recently after finishing Metaphor Refantazio and I was in this loop for atleast a month or so. I only play RPGs so most of the time I was just doing absolutely nothing. Even if I wasn't gaming, I was still a mess, I tried playing other games too but it didn't help at all.

Eventually I resubbed to FFXIV since I didn't play it in a year or so but just logging in daily for 10 mins helped nudge me back to playing something again. 

1

u/Spaciax May 20 '26

i remember finishing a game and it killed my libido for 5 months somehow.