Ask HN: What's your philosophy towards entertainment and productivity

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on news.ycombinator.com

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  • warzone2100

    Command the forces of The Project in a battle to rebuild the world after mankind has been nearly destroyed by nuclear missiles. A 100% free and open source real-time strategy game for Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD+

    As an adult Ive gotten back into games as a way to augment my attention.

    A few games I’ve gotten back into…

    - Warzone 2100; I played Total Annihilation when I was younger, and this is a superior open source clone. Real Time Strategy with management and delegation components.

    - OpenTTD; Simulate running the business end of a transportation empire.

    - Remnants of the Precursors; No nonsense galactic conquest

    One note, I don’t just “play” these games, I “train” on these games. Sometimes I will play only until my strategy fails, and then restart from scratch to try to build faster, better, with fewer mistakes. I like to pause and think about things if necessary, I like to have a plan and make progress in phases. Sometimes I try to make myself do things I don’t like, such as rely more on trade or negotiation (when available), or play against my “strong strategies”.

    I think there are things relatable to valuable life skills, especially the parts that feel like running a virtual business.

    Other benefits I have rationalized about …

    - time pass. We need them. Disconnected in between time, down time, introversion revisioning.

    - Keep the analytical free form alive. Imposed structure is both our ally and inhibitor; rotating the mind through various contexts discourages complicity and atrophy

    - Some games are as good as (old school low res) interactive movies. Check out Scummvm!

    All of the games I’ve mentioned are free or open source.

    https://wz2100.net/

    https://www.scummvm.org/

    https://www.openttd.org/

    https://www.remnantsoftheprecursors.com/

    My insights on the topic are …

    - switching over to a quick game when your feeling burned out or attention stalling is good

    - playing short sessions of ~15-30 minutes are more fulfilling. Break away while “into it” and get back to work.

    - playing long sessions beyond an hour becomes counter productive escapism, unless it’s a “down day” where you plan to recharge and not get anything else done.

    - Spending a rainy Sunday playing any of these can be as fulfilling as a mini life vacation.

  • scummvm

    ScummVM main repository

    As an adult Ive gotten back into games as a way to augment my attention.

    A few games I’ve gotten back into…

    - Warzone 2100; I played Total Annihilation when I was younger, and this is a superior open source clone. Real Time Strategy with management and delegation components.

    - OpenTTD; Simulate running the business end of a transportation empire.

    - Remnants of the Precursors; No nonsense galactic conquest

    One note, I don’t just “play” these games, I “train” on these games. Sometimes I will play only until my strategy fails, and then restart from scratch to try to build faster, better, with fewer mistakes. I like to pause and think about things if necessary, I like to have a plan and make progress in phases. Sometimes I try to make myself do things I don’t like, such as rely more on trade or negotiation (when available), or play against my “strong strategies”.

    I think there are things relatable to valuable life skills, especially the parts that feel like running a virtual business.

    Other benefits I have rationalized about …

    - time pass. We need them. Disconnected in between time, down time, introversion revisioning.

    - Keep the analytical free form alive. Imposed structure is both our ally and inhibitor; rotating the mind through various contexts discourages complicity and atrophy

    - Some games are as good as (old school low res) interactive movies. Check out Scummvm!

    All of the games I’ve mentioned are free or open source.

    https://wz2100.net/

    https://www.scummvm.org/

    https://www.openttd.org/

    https://www.remnantsoftheprecursors.com/

    My insights on the topic are …

    - switching over to a quick game when your feeling burned out or attention stalling is good

    - playing short sessions of ~15-30 minutes are more fulfilling. Break away while “into it” and get back to work.

    - playing long sessions beyond an hour becomes counter productive escapism, unless it’s a “down day” where you plan to recharge and not get anything else done.

    - Spending a rainy Sunday playing any of these can be as fulfilling as a mini life vacation.

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  • OpenTTD

    OpenTTD is an open source simulation game based upon Transport Tycoon Deluxe

    As an adult Ive gotten back into games as a way to augment my attention.

    A few games I’ve gotten back into…

    - Warzone 2100; I played Total Annihilation when I was younger, and this is a superior open source clone. Real Time Strategy with management and delegation components.

    - OpenTTD; Simulate running the business end of a transportation empire.

    - Remnants of the Precursors; No nonsense galactic conquest

    One note, I don’t just “play” these games, I “train” on these games. Sometimes I will play only until my strategy fails, and then restart from scratch to try to build faster, better, with fewer mistakes. I like to pause and think about things if necessary, I like to have a plan and make progress in phases. Sometimes I try to make myself do things I don’t like, such as rely more on trade or negotiation (when available), or play against my “strong strategies”.

    I think there are things relatable to valuable life skills, especially the parts that feel like running a virtual business.

    Other benefits I have rationalized about …

    - time pass. We need them. Disconnected in between time, down time, introversion revisioning.

    - Keep the analytical free form alive. Imposed structure is both our ally and inhibitor; rotating the mind through various contexts discourages complicity and atrophy

    - Some games are as good as (old school low res) interactive movies. Check out Scummvm!

    All of the games I’ve mentioned are free or open source.

    https://wz2100.net/

    https://www.scummvm.org/

    https://www.openttd.org/

    https://www.remnantsoftheprecursors.com/

    My insights on the topic are …

    - switching over to a quick game when your feeling burned out or attention stalling is good

    - playing short sessions of ~15-30 minutes are more fulfilling. Break away while “into it” and get back to work.

    - playing long sessions beyond an hour becomes counter productive escapism, unless it’s a “down day” where you plan to recharge and not get anything else done.

    - Spending a rainy Sunday playing any of these can be as fulfilling as a mini life vacation.

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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