Talk to strangers about gaming

Gaming talk with friends gets stuck in whatever you both already play. A stranger plays different genres on different hardware in a different region, so you get recommendations you would never have found and arguments your usual group is bored of having. Nobody knows your rank, so there is nothing to defend.

• Games you sank hundreds of hours into and why they held you
• PC vs console vs handheld, and what you actually play on
• Indie games that deserved far more attention
• Boss fights, endings and plot twists worth spoiling
• Microtransactions, live service and what ruined your favourite series

• “What game stole the most hours of your life?”Use this
• “PC or console — defend it.”Use this
• “Most overrated game everyone loves?”Use this
• “Last game that genuinely surprised you?”Use this
• “A series you have given up on — and why?”Use this
• “What is in your backlog right now?”Use this

• Ask what they are playing this week rather than their all-time favourite. It gets a more honest, current answer, and it is much easier to follow up on.
• Trade a recommendation for a recommendation. Name one game they might not know in a genre they mentioned, then ask for theirs; swapping picks gives the chat a natural rhythm.
• When you disagree, ask what the game did for them. “What kept you playing?” turns a console war into a conversation about why people love games at all.

Leading with your rank, your setup or your hours played can read as a flex. Spoilers for recent releases end chats quickly, so ask first. And skip the gatekeeping: someone who mostly plays mobile games or cosy sims is still a gamer, and often has the more interesting recommendations.