Feeling stuck, bored or restless in life? You might be ready to start a side quest. In video games, it's a mission that deviates from the main storyline, helping to build the world's lore . In real life, it's an activity that doesn't serve any other purpose than bringing more whimsy into your day-to-day.
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When was the last time you did something just for fun? Like skipped down the sidewalk, roller-skated or learned a new language without the pressure of becoming fluent?
In other words, when was the last time you took a side quest?
The term comes from video games. It's a mission that deviates from the main storyline, helping to build the world and add flavor to the experience.
But in real life, it's an activity that doesn't serve any other purpose than bringing more whimsy and exploration into your day-to-day. And it's a great way of practicing play and opening up new possibilities, especially if you're feeling stuck, tense or restless.
"Just like in the gaming world, it makes the main quest stronger. It gives it more nuance or new dimension or brings out a facet of you that you convinced yourself you couldn't [be]," says Kyra Gaunt, an ethnomusicologist and the author of The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes From Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop.
Research has shown that play can help us adapt to difficult circumstances, practice survival skills, problem-solve and collaborate. "Doing something you've not done before will open up the brain's different neural networks," Gaunt says. "You'll get this sense of wonder and awe."
Ready to find your side quest? Let's go.
This is a good prompt to start with, said Jeff Harry, a public speaker who teaches workshops on the importance of play, in a 2023 interview with Life Kit.
Were you super into Lego? Finger painting? Catching fireflies? Seeing how far you could catapult yourself off the swing set?
Then, think about how to incorporate that form of play into your life now. If you liked pretend play, maybe your side quest could be an acting or improv class. If you liked physical challenges, maybe you could go on an adventurous hike.
If you're striking out on your fave activities as a kid, take this quiz to find your play style. It uses thousands of personal play histories collected by the National Institute for Play and play researcher and psychiatrist Stuart Brown.
The idea is to find the type of play activity that naturally "gives you a sense of joy and engagement and sustained motivation," Brown told Life Kit in 2023.
According to the quiz, you might discover you're a "dreamer," someone who finds play in fantasy or alternate worlds, or an "organizer," someone who enjoys creating order by arranging things or connecting people. Then, see whether your results spark any side quest ideas.
You can also make your side quest something totally different from what you're usually drawn to. "I like to encourage people to do things [they] don't know how to do," Gaunt says.
