Seeing that spark when they "Get it"

Hi
Just wanted to post something since I'm a long time lurker but never really talk much on here and I dunno I might as well try something.

Learning something new and gradually acclimating to the mechanics/technique/concept of something is very hard, frightful, even distasteful to some. But when learning something you are passionate or interested in, nothing feels better! even the boring tedious bits helps you to see the bigger picture making you even more excited about learning.

 Now take that passion you have and remember that moment when it all just .... clicked!

That moment when you learned something new, drew something good, wrote a great poem, learned a fun new board game and how it felt when you finally understood something! like having all the puzzle pieces fit or the stars aligned just right at that moment! Well for me I don't have those moments anymore or at least as often but I have the next best thing

 Friends to show those things to!

Everyone wants to be understood reasons why they like this or that. Why some people choose chocolate or vanilla, Marvel or Dc, or just red or blue. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and should be respected for making that choice. Its showing other people why you made those choices spending lots of time/resources on something that can change their opinion on the subject or make them aware of something they did not understand before and they come to like it as well!

 Which lead me to write this article for fun

I notice I've been showing lots of my friends games that are pretty niche. I own a VR headset and play lots of games add me on steam(http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198043896541) lets play sometime haha but I want to share an experience which was pretty rad and super fun and it wasn't even me who had it

 Civilization 5!

This is a really dangerous game for me When I first bought it on sale I thought "Oh great another rts." What i did not know until I got in game was that it was almost exactly like a board game I play all the time called Settlers of Catan with the hexagon shaped resource tiles and a system based on great leaders of history landmarks and technology. My first play session played for more than 15 hours straight and did not sleep a wink that night. I dreamed tiles in my head that morning and even after winning the game, played more until I nuked the whole world as Gandhi

Fast forward a couple years later I banned myself from playing the game because it left me wanting more. Eventually I forgot about it. A couple months back my friend @kaylinart got a gaming computer and I figured I'd give her a warming gift for her new pc since the game is dirt cheap at 5$, she never really played it
until last week

She kicked my ass hardcore at Starcraft 2 and i needed vengeance and quick. I'm not that great at real time strategy so looking through my library of games I found Civ5. I remembered I was really good at Civ5 and decided hey why not play it together!
After she downloaded it we were queued up and ready to go.

I dropped her in with not much of a tutorial and told her its turn based so no need to rush and we started. I expected it to be quick and she would give out at like 30 turns or so. But we kept going back and forth and before I knew it we were 200 turns in and 7 hours passed like it was nothing I had to get off since I had to take my sibling to work but it was my victory by a long run

I was Gandhi. I love that aspect of being a ruthless killer with an avatar of Gandhi its too funny to me.

She was at the bottom of the board the whole time and I felt like I beat her pretty bad and felt dejected that i couldn't do much for half the game since she wouldn't tell me her location dammit! after falling asleep and waking up later that afternoon I come back on my computer and GUESS WHO'S PLAYING THE GAME NOW. Lin got on and played all day while "multi tasking" for her trip. I laughed my ass off cause here I thought she wouldn't touch the game after that morning but to my amazement she spent another couple hours already playing. seeing her play by herself and learn the mechanics of the game was such a beautiful thing to see and experience 2nd hand! and i wanted too talk to her more about it but she went on a trip this is just the start though and hope to play more down the line!

These moments is what really makes gaming for me! connecting to others and having lots of fun seeing the other person become addicted to something you showed them. it makes the time you put into it yourself worth it when looking back and remembering that exact moment it happened to you. I want to give writing more of a chance on here but I am not that great at organizing thoughts but hopefully this article will give you a kick as much as i did writing it(pre word check though ugh) haha what games have you guys been playing?