02/20/2026
“Reality is the only thing that’s real.”
— Halliday, Ready Player One
Rewatched this one with my son now that he’s older (9 years old, lol) and deep into gaming, and that line just hit different this time.
As gamers, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the worlds we love, the quests, the lore, the detailed worlds beyond ours, the lobbies, the chaos, the grind. And honestly, that escape is part of what makes gaming amazing. It takes us out of the world we know; the world with all these problems and gives us an escape, a distraction, it makes all the problems just not seem like problems even for the briefest of moments you are focused on a game, a task, a different persona one that's not your own and it makes you forget all the worries that are real.
But Halliday had a point; and now, as a parent, it feels like the biggest point of the whole movie. Gaming is amazing. You can meet some of the greatest people through games and digital worlds. Those connections and friendships can be incredible… but they aren’t the same as real‑life moments and real‑life experiences.
Even in 2026, with all the digital noise, the real world still matters. The laughs on the couch, the breaks between matches, the moments that aren’t on a screen.
So, as the kids say these days… go touch some grass.
Gaming may be our world - but it’s not THE world.
Balance matters.
Presence matters.
Real world matters.
