20 How Baldur's Gate 3 Hooked Me on Gamifying Life
As the sorcerer raises his staff, you steel yourself for battle.
This is the moment you’ve been training for. A victory here brings you one step closer to fulfilling your quest.
Life can feel like a grand adventure when viewed through the lens of a game. But how do we bring that sense of questing and risk-taking into our daily lives?
A Lacklustre Life
Let’s face it - real life often needs more excitement and the clear objectives we find in games.
My day goes like this:
- Wake up
- Walk the dog
- Take my daughter to nursery
- Work the 9-5
- Pick my daughter up
- Start the evening routine of bath time and bedtime
- Repeat 🔁
We go through the motions. We trudge through monotonous to-do lists without a larger purpose.
There’s no action or risk, just the “comfort” of routine.
But what if we approached each day like a hero on an epic quest?
Geared up, ready to battle enemies, and forge ahead into the unknown!
Games resonate with us for a reason. They provide a sense of agency, progression, and growth we crave.
Baldur’s Gate Has Got Me Hooked
I bought Baldur’s Gate 3 the other day. That sure was a silly move for someone who likes to be productive.
While playing it for the 3rd hour in a row, I stopped to ask myself: “Why do I find this so fun and addictive? How can I make my real life more like this?”
And that sent me down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos all about gamifying your life 🎮
After lots of videos detailing how to break your life down and work on your “stats”, it struck me that that’s not why I enjoy games like Baldur’s Gate 3.
I don’t enjoy the grind. I don’t look forward to tweaking my spell slots. And levelling up doesn’t interest me.
So, what is it that keeps me playing?
The story.
Taking Risks Is The Key
The more risks you take, the more interesting the story is.
The willingness to venture into the unknown opens up exciting new experiences and opportunities for growth.
In real life, we avoid risk because there could be real consequences. But embracing it is critical to making life feel more like a game. In other words, more exciting and rewarding.
Last night, I took a minimal risk.
I asked the barman at the brewery how I could get one of their discount cards. They’re usually only for investors, staff, and people buying bulk beer.
And you know what happened? The barman set up a 10% discount card for me immediately!
It wasn’t a big risk, but it’s not something I would have felt confident asking before. And now I have 10% off beer for life. Cheers! 🍻
The Hero’s Journal
To make this gamified life idea stick, I downloaded “The Hero’s Journal”.
It structures your days as heroic quests and keeps you productive and focused.
How cool does this look?
It features sections to log:
- Epic goals
- Daily quests
- Allies and enemies
- Reflections and lessons learned
Filling out quest entries and watching the character on the page progress through lush artwork adds a sense of adventure.
Also, you get to do some colouring in if you like 🖌️
If you’d like to check out the physical and digital journals they have to offer, head to their site: The Hero’s Journal
Key Takeaways
Gamifying your life using journals like this provides many benefits:
- A feeling of purpose and progression
- Excitement and engagement in daily tasks
- The structure that provides direction
- Novelty breaking up monotony
- A growth mindset focused on taking risks
Just like games, real life deserves to feel epic.
Adopt the courage and curiosity of a hero.
Take more risks day-to-day.
Let your story unfold 🧙♂️