It all started when I bought lawn mowing simulator. It was a free game with PS5 premium, so I figured why not? Of course, it’s not that interesting of a game, all you do is mow lawns, but I figured it would be pleasant and relaxing to de-stress every once in a while. So I decided to download it and give it a try.

As soon as I started playing, I was instantly hooked. Even when the game told me that I’d done enough for the job, I always made sure that the job was entirely finished, and every blade of grass was cut down to the precise length, as contracted. At first, it was just one lawn per day. Then it was two until I started losing count, and I ended up mowing lawns when I got up to when I fall asleep. After a while, I became increasingly determined to make every lawn perfect; not just every blade of grass, but as soon as something becomes damaged or a flower is destroyed, I restart the whole process to make sure that it’s done correctly.

After a while, everyone I knew started to become increasingly frustrated by how I do nothing but mow lawns. After a while, my dad ended up kicking me out of the house because “I only cut virtual lawns and not real lawns like a normal person.” But he never once played the game to try it himself, but is so quick to judge me. Same thing with my friends, and my girlfriend. They keep asking me if I’m going to hang out with them. Soon after I started inviting them over, they all decided to hang out with me less because “all I do is play lawn mower simulator” and I don’t “let (him) play mower simulator.” After a while, my friends became increasingly distant, despite not playing the game themselves.

At this point, my friends don’t talk to me. My girlfriend broke up with me, saying that she’d “rather be with a man that cuts real lawns.” She also never played the game herself. No one understands the simple complexities of lawn mower simulator, and I don’t think anyone is as dedicated to making virtual lawns as perfect as I do. I’m not mowing lawns for a job don’t ask me, but I don’t know how to get out of this. I feel as if I’m stuck on a lawn mower, unable to get off and leave the game without picking up another contract. Does anybody else share this kind of problem?