Prepping for Entertainment in the Apocalypse
Most people are probably ready to just stop thinking about 2020 and pretend like it never happened. They’re ready to head to the movies, take the family on a long vacation and ditch the masks. However, as a prepper, I find it hard to take my mind off of it at all. It was such a fascinating glimpse at a near SHTF situation and what the world could easily look like when the big one hits. We got to take a rare peek behind the curtain of the human mind, and see how the unprepared masses can and will react to a situation that they are not equipped to deal with either physically or emotionally. While the avoidable and seemingly never ending loss of human life is an absolute tragedy, I feel like we have an obligation to learn what we can from the mistakes that were made.
Boredom
Let’s talk about something that may sound a bit crass, In the wake of 2.5 million deaths and counting, job losses and untold economic impact, the Covid-19 pandemic was dreadfully boring. I am not under the assumption that my experience was exactly the same as everybody else’s. Some people may have been deemed “essential workers” and continued leaving the house, without their daily routines changing much. Others experience may have included working remotely or even worse, job loss and collecting unemployment. Some areas of the country implemented strict stay at home orders while other areas seemed to go on as if nothing were happening at all. Regardless of your personal situation or experience through 2020, overall the world experienced levels of boredom that few people were equipped to deal with.
When you bring up the topic of how to tackle boredom post shtf, you tend to get a mixed bag of responses. Some are preparing for the inevitable by stocking games and activities for their family to stave off boredom, while others have a different outlook. Some seem to think of boredom as some sort of personal shortcoming, that there will be enough to do and you should not be bored in the first place, as if boredom and laziness are the same thing. I wonder now, how many of those same people feel the same way after living through a year of near isolation. The whole point of this series of posts is to take a truly awful situation, and try to spin something positive from that in the form of a lesson. So if you think of 2020 as a sort of “dress rehearsal” for the big one, does anybody think they’re ready for opening night?
Depending on where you look and who you listen to, you’re going to find different answers on what leads to boredom. Some look at it somewhat existentially, by defining it as a lack of ability to find meaning in a task. Others point to physical deficiencies like lack of rest or nutrition. In this report, Prof. Erin Westgate states that it is caused by both under stimulation as well as over stimulation and leads to a loss of focus. Honestly, every one of those seems like very likely circumstances in a grid down situation, and losing focus, even for a bit, could be down right dangerous.
The way I see it, most people that stumble across this site probably have some disaster that they view is likely to happen. Whether it’s financial collapse, natural disasters or the classic zombie apocalypse, we all think there is evidence of a likely outcome, and choose to prepare for it. So if you view boredom as not only a likely situation that you will face, but as something that will cause a problem, you should take steps now to mitigate the damage. So armed with that knowledge, let’s take a look at a few things to help stave off the monotony.
Playing Cards
I reserved the first spot on the list for the humble 52 card deck of playing cards for a couple of reasons. First, because they are so small, cheap and versatile. For only a few dollars you can get your hands on a deck of plastic cards that will last nearly forever. Also, the sheer number of games that you can play with a classic deck of playing cards make them a no brainer. Penny for penny and ounce for ounce, you really can’t beat a deck of poker cards.
That leads to reason number 2 that it deserves my top mention. Since they are so ubiquitous on just about every list you are likely to read, I feel the need to slap a giant disclaimer on them. Simply put, just because cards are so incredibly versatile, that does not mean that you should stop there. Don’t just chuck a deck in your INCH bag, hike off into the sunset, and expect to keep your sanity for long playing solitaire. A deck of cards is like a swiss army knife; it’s super handy to have, and do a lot of things in a pinch, but it’s a poor replacement for a complete tool box. Just imagine if you had to make it through all of 2020 with no internet, cell phone, netflix, and only “go fish” and “old maid” to entertain you and your household.
Boxed games
I’m not really sure if there is a better term for this, but I’m going to lump many games together into the same category. This is the spot on the list where your Monopoly, Uno, candyland, skip-bo and chutes and ladders fits in. Pretty much anything that comes packaged as a stand alone, all in one game. Honestly, I’m willing to bet that pretty much every house in the developed world has at least one game that would fit into this category, so I’m not going to spend much time or energy here. Since you likely already have these around, it doesn’t make sense to stock them, just remember that many of these only appeal to select age groups. Have young children, then they probably won’t get much entertainment from stratego or risk. Mostly adults and teenagers in the house? Then Candyland probably won’t see much play time, do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy of Cards Against Humanity and you’ll thank me come doomsday.
Puzzles
Growing up my family had a very love-hate relationship with puzzles: my parents loved them, and the kids hated them. We sat down every holiday and suffered through the obligatory puzzle. But when it came right down to it, it passed a lot of time and I have many childhood memories associated with sitting cross legged around the coffee table searching for edge pieces. Despite how you may feel about puzzles, once cabin fever started to kick in, the world practically ran out of puzzles! Demand rose over 300% in 2020 for the humble puzzle.
They’re big and bulky, pieces seem to vanish over time, and are never as fun to put together the second time. But if it’s something that your family enjoys, then it’s worth having a few of them set aside. Plus puzzles have been shown to lower stress levels, improve memory and problem solving skills, not bad for the ordinary puzzle. Even if jigsaw puzzles aren’t really your thing, you could try slide puzzles, crosswords, or even activity books like the aptly named F*ck I’m Bored.
Books and Music
This is a pretty obvious addition, and the chances are that this is something you use to kill time and relax already. People have been using books and music to pass the time for as long as either of them have been around. So there isn’t much to say here that hasn’t been said a hundred times over. But I will add that if you have an e-reader or even just download an e-reader app on your phone, you have access to years worth of books at your fingertips (assuming an EMP didn’t render them useless). I have a nook glowlight, this thing runs for days on the same battery charge. The best part about it, I search “free” in the bookstore once a month and download just about everything that pops up. Sure you have to sift through tons of trashy romance novels (unless that’s your thing), but I have a library of thousands of books that I will probably never read unless I find myself in a situation where I have nothing better to do.
Trading Card Games
Trading card games can provide countless hours of entertainment. Especially if you have children (or adults) in your family that are already interested in them. Pokemon, YuGiOh, Magic: the gathering, the list goes on. If a family member already has them, then you’re all set, but if you’re new to the TCG world be aware that some are more age appropriate than others as different games have scaling complexity to the rules.
I’m more than a little biased here. One of my guilty pleasures Is Magic: the gathering. I have been playing it for decades and have amassed quite a large collection. However you can find these “instant collections” of around 1000 cards for around $20 on ebay and other sites. If you’re completely new you can always get a few starter decks, complete with rules, at just about any big box store for around $10 each. You will find that playing with the same deck over and over again will get stale pretty quick though. With a small collection you can build new decks to play with and play against whenever you want, pretty much ensuring that you will never play the exact same game twice.
Tabletop RPGs
This has got to be my absolute top pick. Battling boredom in the apocalypse can be as fun as battling kobolds in the sewers. Tabletop RPGs like dungeons and dragons just flat out don’t get enough credit. Sure, the mere mention of of D&D likely summons images of pock-marked teens sitting around a table in a dimly lit basement and dressed in full LARP regalia. But you might not be aware of how much fun those kids are having. All you truly need to get started is a copy of the Core Rule book and some dice, plus a pen and paper. After that, the world and everything in it is left to the discretion of your own imagination.
RPGs really give playing cards a run for their money when it comes to the amount of entertainment that you can get from a single item. I have played games that lasted for years, meeting up one day per week after work for a few hours. And if you get bored with playing a game, just decide with your play group to put those character sheets to the side, and start a new game all together. I like to think of the rule book as simply the laws of physics for the game. It just tells you how things will interact with each other. Everything else that fills in the game is up to you. So if the game gets stale or boring, just add a new challenge in. Goblins and trolls aren’t really your thing? Just make your game centered on cowboys with six shooters, or even blasters and sabers of light.
If you’re like me, and didn’t have the opportunity to play as a kid, then you should know that not all D20 system RPGs are created equal. Personally I find that Pathfinder is the simplest for new players to learn. If you’re completely new you could even try out the Pathfinder Beginner Box, it has everything you need to get started playing a very slimmed down version of the game. If you decide you like it and want to progress further, just grab a full copy of the rule book and keep going. You could practically fill a library with all the available books on the market, but most are completely unnecessary. Most information is even available to download and print off online if you don’t mind keeping loose leaf paper in a binder. And just as a tip, print off some blank character sheets and laminate them. Keep a few china pencils or dry erase markers around and you can use the same sheets over and over in case you don’t have access to a printer when you need them.
My list here is by no means exhaustive. And when it comes right down to it, everybody is going to have a different idea of what is fun or relaxing. However my point remains the same; when the S hits the fan, you need to have a little more than just a deck of playing cards to help pass the time. You can only chop so much wood, do so many chores, and keep an eye on the neighbors for so long before your mind and nerves will eventually snap. For those of you that spent the entire year of 2020 in a coma, feel free to tell me how wrong I am. And everybody else, drop a comment on anything that should have rightfully had a spot on this list. Who knows, you might even be able to change my mind.
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