Four weeks from never played to a regular game, or from player to your first live stream

By the end of four weeks you will either be playing a video game you enjoy three times a week with your account properly locked down, or, if you already play, you will have broadcast four live streams and know your first regular viewers by name.

Why this works

Cath Bowie did not set out to hold a Guinness World Records title. She saw her grandson playing Fortnite in 2017, opened her own account in 2018, and kept turning up. She told Guinness she sets herself a goal for every game and does it “for me and to chat with my lovely supporters”. Nine years on she has more than 24,000 followers.

This plan borrows her three habits: play little and often, give each session one small goal, and do it somewhere other people can join in.

There is modest evidence that the playing itself is worth something. At the University of California, Irvine, non-gamers who played a three-dimensional game for 30 minutes a day for two weeks improved by about 12 per cent on a memory test; those who played a flat, two-dimensional game did not. A follow-up with older adults, published in Behavioural Brain Research in 2020, found similar gains in recognition memory. These were small studies of particular games. They are a reason to try a game with a world to explore, and no more than that.

Before you start

Something to play on. A console, a computer or a tablet you or the family already own. Do not buy anything in week 1.
A game. Ask a player you know what they would start a newcomer on, or choose one that is free to download. A three-dimensional game you move around in suits this plan better than a card or puzzle game.
A locked account. A password you use nowhere else, plus two-step sign-in. Our guide to passwords and two-factor walks through it.
Chat settings. Voice and text chat set to friends only, or off, until you choose otherwise.
A spending limit. Free games sell extras. Decide your figure now. Nought is a fine figure. Do not save a payment card in the game.
A screen name with nothing personal in it. No surname, birth year, town or house name.
For the streaming track: a free account on a streaming site, a microphone (the one in a headset will do), and a look at what is visible behind you if you use a camera. A camera is optional.

The plan

Week	Do this	How often	Notes
1 (new to games)	Sit beside someone who plays for 20 minutes, then take the controller for 20. Learn to move, look around and one other action.	2 sessions	Looking and moving at once is the hard part. It comes within a few hours.
1 (already playing)	Set up the streaming account with two-step sign-in. Record, do not broadcast, a 20-minute session with your microphone on and watch it back.	2 sessions	Check the sound first. Viewers forgive a poor picture sooner than poor sound.
2 (new to games)	Play alone for 30 minutes. One goal per session: reach a place, survive five minutes, finish one task.	3 sessions	Write the goal down before you start, as Bowie sets one for every game.
2 (already playing)	Go live for 30 minutes on two fixed evenings. Talk through what you are doing even if nobody is there.	2 streams	Almost every stream starts with no viewers. Bowie’s grandson told her nobody would watch.
3 (new to games)	30 minutes a session. Play one with a friend or relative on your friends list, with voice chat on for them only.	3 sessions	Playing with someone you know is the quickest way to learn.
3 (already playing)	Same two evenings, 45 minutes. Greet everyone who types in the chat by their screen name. Tell one friend when you are on.	2 streams	Set the rules of your chat early: friendly, no personal questions.
4 (new to games)	Three 30-minute sessions. In one of them, watch a live stream of the same game for ten minutes first and copy one thing.	3 sessions	Count what you can do now that you could not in week 1.
4 (already playing)	Same two evenings, 60 minutes. Aim for three viewers whose names you recognise. Post your schedule on the channel.	2 streams	Regular times matter more than long hours.

If it goes wrong

You feel sick or dizzy. Motion sickness in three-dimensional games is common. Sit further back, brighten the room, stop at the first sign and try shorter sessions. If it persists, choose a different game.
Sore hands, eyes or neck. Stop every 30 minutes, stand up and look out of a window. See your GP (family doctor) about pain that lasts.
Someone is unpleasant. Mute, block and report. Every major game and streaming site has all three. You owe strangers nothing.
Someone asks for money, gift cards, a private chat on another app, or your details. That is a scam, however friendly the lead-up. Block and report.
You have spent more than you meant to. Remove the card from the account and set a spending limit or a purchase password in the console or device settings.
It is eating your evenings. Set a timer. Bowie streams for hours because she loves it; your number is your own.
You do not enjoy it. Try one different kind of game before you decide. Then decide. Nobody has to like this.

Track it

Measure	Start (week 1)	End (week 4)
Sessions played in the week
Session goals set and met
Things you can do in the game without thinking (count)
People you have played with whom you know
Streaming track: streams broadcast
Streaming track: viewers you know by name
Money spent (£ or $)
How much you enjoyed it (1–10)

What next

New to games? Keep the three sessions a week, and try the streaming track when the controls no longer need thought. Already streaming? Hold the same two evenings for another six weeks and aim for 10 regulars.
Find the others: many games and streamers have communities for adult players where the tone is friendlier. Bowie told NPR that most of the people she plays with are between 30 and 50.
Tech Confident: the scam-proof guide covers passwords, two-step sign-in and the scams that turn up wherever strangers can message you.
Read keeping your mind sharp for other ways to learn something new, and Sandra Riley’s walking football team for the same idea, a regular game with regular people, on grass.

General information, not medical advice. Check with your GP before starting a new exercise programme.