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Astoveth

Logbook · Entry 01

Playing well

Where to get free help in the UK, a private self-check, and plain advice on planning sessions, breaks, sleep, seasickness and deep water, flicker, spending, online contact, age ratings, family settings and gaming disorder.

20 linesAbout 8 min to read

01Why this page is here

Games about the sea are made to pull you onwards: one more reef to map, one more island on the horizon, one more wreck below. That pull is part of their beauty, and it is also why a site that recommends them should be straight about the downside and about keeping play something you enjoy rather than something that runs your evenings.

02Help that is free and private

Chests, card packs and spinning wheels you pay for work in a way close to gambling: the money goes first and the contents are a surprise, and that surprise is exactly what keeps people paying. When the hours or the money spent on games start to feel unmanageable, for you or for someone close, these services can help, free and in confidence:

  • GamCare

    Confidential help at no cost for anyone whose play or spending has got out of hand, and for the family and friends around them. Its National Gambling Helpline, 0808 8020 133, and its live chat run around the clock.

    Visit GamCare

  • Gambling Therapy

    Trained advisers online, peer support groups and self-help tools, free of charge, in many languages and from anywhere.

    Visit Gambling Therapy

03Blocks, treatment and family support

If gaming or spending starts to slide towards gambling, or you are afraid it might, these UK services can put blocks in place, provide treatment and help families:

  • GAMSTOP

    Free self-exclusion in the UK: if play has started to wander towards gambling sites, it shuts off every UK-licensed gambling site and app for six months, a year or five years.

    Visit GAMSTOP

  • Gordon Moody

    A UK charity running residential treatment, online recovery courses and help for families once gambling has started to cause harm.

    Visit Gordon Moody

  • NHS gambling support

    NHS guidance on warning signs and self-help, including how to refer yourself to a specialist NHS clinic in England.

    Visit NHS gambling support

04Help right now, and for young people

Free and confidential, for anything that is worrying you, not only games:

  • Childline

    Under 19 and worried about anything? Ring 0800 1111 for free, or chat to a counsellor online.

    Visit Childline

  • Samaritans

    A listening ear at any hour, with no judgement: ring 116 123 free from any phone.

    Visit Samaritans

  • YoungMinds

    Mental health help for young people, plus a helpline for parents and carers who are worried about a child.

    Visit YoungMinds

If someone is in danger, ring 999. For urgent medical help that is not an emergency, ring NHS 111 or go to nhs.uk. Texting SHOUT to 85258 reaches free, confidential support at any time of day or night.

05Check in with yourself

Over the last few months, how often has each of these been true for you?

  1. A session lasts much longer than I meant it to.
  2. Gaming gets in the way of sleep, meals, school, work or people.
  3. I feel on edge, irritable or flat when I cannot play.
  4. Money goes on games or add-ons beyond what I meant to spend, or I do not mention it.
  5. I play mostly to get away from how I feel.
  6. I come back for daily tasks, events or rewards even when I do not feel like playing.
  7. I keep going for one more island, wreck or chapter after it stopped being fun.
  8. I have tried to play less and found it hard.
  9. Someone close to me has said they worry about how much I play.

This is a prompt to reflect, not a diagnosis. Nothing you tick leaves this page.

06Plan before you go in

  • Decide how long tonight is, and when screens go off, before the first game starts. Every review in our dive sites names a save point.
  • Use the dive plan: a start time, a surface time, a break between games and nothing bought along the way.
  • Turn on the play-time limits on your console, computer or phone too; they keep going when willpower runs out.
  • Stop at a save point rather than in the middle of something, so stopping never feels like a loss.
  • Keep some evenings entirely free of games.

07Playing with others

  • Agree when the session ends before it begins, not when someone wants to leave.
  • Let “last one” mean the last one. Nobody should be made to feel bad for logging off on time.
  • Co-op survival games ask a lot of a group. If someone is tired or frustrated, end the session there and carry on another day.
  • Stopping is easier among friends; people you have never met have no reason to let you go.

08Looking after eyes, ears and back

  • Each twenty minutes or so, rest your eyes on something across the room or out of the window for twenty seconds.
  • Roughly every half hour, get up for a few minutes, stretch and have a drink of water.
  • Keep headphones at around 60% volume or lower, and switch on the headphone safety features your phone or console offers.
  • If your hands, wrists, neck, back or eyes hurt, stop, and see a GP if it keeps happening.

09Sleep

Aim for screens off a full hour before bed. Light from the screen and an absorbing world keep your mind switched on well after the console is off, and late sessions almost never end on time. Most teenagers need eight to ten hours a night and most adults seven to nine. Bedtime and downtime settings sit in the family controls of consoles and phones.

10Motion sickness and deep water

Swimming freely in every direction, rocking boats, fast currents and sudden drops into the dark can bring on nausea, headaches and dizziness, and deep empty water makes some people anxious. A wider field of view, less camera sway and no motion blur all help, as do a bit more distance from the screen and a lamp on in the room. Stop as soon as you feel queasy; a short rest usually settles it.

11Flicker, flashes and seizures

For a few people, flashing light or busy patterns can set off a seizure, occasionally with no earlier sign of epilepsy. Lightning storms, glowing sea life and sun glinting on water can flicker. Check each game’s warning, play with the lights on, keep some distance from the screen and stop straight away at any dizziness, change in vision or twitching. Where someone at home has epilepsy, ask a doctor before they play.

12Money, add-ons and paid surprises

  • Set a monthly budget away from the game, not in the middle of a session.
  • See the main game through before adding expansions, and add them singly.
  • Convert coins, pearls or credits back into pounds before you spend any.
  • Steer clear of paid random items; the not-knowing is the very thing that keeps people buying.
  • Under UK industry principles, under-18s should not buy paid random items without a parent or carer knowing, and platform spending limits make that happen in practice.
  • Leave purchase approval on and take stored cards off children’s accounts.

13Daily tasks, events and pings

Login rewards, daily tasks, seasonal events and limited-time items exist to pull you back when the game wants, not when you do. Mute its notifications, let an event go by without a second thought and return when you genuinely feel like playing. Nothing on our list punishes you for skipping a day.

14Contact from other players

  • Switch text and voice chat to friends only, or turn it off, both in the game and in the platform settings.
  • Keep passwords, home address, school, phone number and photos to yourself.
  • Take care with anyone who asks to move to a different app, offers presents, wants pictures or asks for secrecy.
  • Report an adult whose contact with a child feels wrong to CEOP. Setup guides for every console and app are on Internet Matters.

15What the age ratings mean

UK releases are rated by PEGI at 3, 7, 12, 16 or 18, and a box or store page also shows when a game has in-game purchases, or in-game purchases (includes random items). In UK shops, PEGI 12, 16 and 18 are enforceable by law, with the Games Rating Authority in charge. Every symbol is explained in the PEGI label guide. Remember that a label covers the game itself, not the people you might meet in it.

16Setting up the devices

Daily time, a bedtime, purchase approval and chat permissions can be set on every device a child uses, through Nintendo’s Parental Controls app, PlayStation Family Management, Xbox Family Settings, Steam Families, Apple Screen Time or Google Family Link. The depth limits section of our home page says where each one lives.

17Use the comfort settings

Subtitles, colour-blind filters, reduced motion, gentler currents, bigger text and remapped buttons are there to be used. Turning them on is not cheating; very often it is what turns a frustrating evening into a pleasant one.

18If gaming turns into a problem

The World Health Organization uses the term “gaming disorder” for gaming that keeps winning out over the rest of life even though it is doing harm, typically over a year or longer. Things to watch for:

  • sessions that keep running far past the plan;
  • sleep, meals, school, work or friends being pushed aside;
  • feeling irritable, low or anxious away from the game;
  • spending beyond what was intended, or concealing it;
  • other hobbies and people fading out.

In England and Wales the NHS National Centre for Gaming Disorders sees people from the age of 13, and a GP anywhere in the UK can help you find support.

19Worried about someone?

Start with curiosity: what do they love about the game, and who do they play with? Small agreed changes, like a set save point or sessions only with friends, work better than an overnight ban, especially alongside plans that are fun without a screen, from a swim or a walk by the water to a meal or a board game.

20What this site leaves out

Astoveth is built without log-ins, push notifications, streaks, ticking offers or anything that rewards you for returning. If this page raises a question, ask us through hello@astoveth.co.uk.