iPad Mini Might Be Perfect For Gaming | Digital Minimalism

I've shown how I use my iPad mini for productivity, entertainment, as well as how I have it set up in its entirety. It's also no secret that I enjoy my indulgence of video games as a way to temporarily disconnect and honestly help me avoid creative burnout. I know from the comments alone that there are a good amount of iPad owners who watch these videos or some of those people who are just on the fence about making the decision whether to get one or not. But today I wanted to talk about something a little more niche in regards to the iPad mini specifically and that is why I believe the iPad mini might be perfect for the casual or for minimalist gaming. So today I'm gonna talk about my experience using the iPad mini for gaming and hopefully explain some things that you might not even know it's able to do. But first, if you're new to my channel, thank you for stopping by. Here we talk about minimalism, frugal living, tech, and things of that nature. So if that sounds good to you and you end up liking the video, be sure to like and please recalibrate all the subscribe buttons devices so they're forced to watch the Big Bang Theory. Let's get started. The first thing I want to talk about is that it's not a commitment to a dedicated gaming device. And I really just think this is a great place to start. I can't say for certain, but there has to be a good percentage of people out there who don't even bother trying a game because usually right off the bat, it requires committing to a dedicated gaming device in some way. And for any practicing minimalist, this can be a complete deal breaker. For a lot of people, the financial and time commitment required to justify the purchase of a dedicated gaming device might not even make the most sense. But with the other capabilities of my iPad mini, being able to game on it as well makes it much less niche. Capabilities I'll elaborate on later on this list, but for someone who wants to casually play or occasionally play something, the iPad mini and really any iPad for that matter is the nearly perfect device. I know that for myself, I used to feel really guilty about owning things I would never or rarely use. So owning something that's dedicated to a hobby might make me feel more pressure to use that thing, even if I didn't feel like it. The overall point is that the iPad mini is able to pull its weight when it comes to casual gaming without the requirements of going out and buying a console or a gaming PC. The next thing I wanted to talk about is that it has most of the benefits of a handheld gaming device. Something I've just started to appreciate in my old age is just being able to do things laying down or in a position of comfort. And that leads me to the point of the benefit of a handheld device, which is being able to use it pretty much anywhere. I don't need to be sitting at a desk or have it hooked up to a TV. I can throw it in my bag and out of sight and just have the overall inconspicuousness and convenience of that handheld device. Which by the way, I'm sure is a huge reason why a lot of people can't even play in the first place because they just don't have the time to even sit on the couch for a couple of hours. But maybe there's just a few minutes in bed at the end of the day where that mindless screen time is needed to unwind. And that's where my iPad mini has shown brightly as a handheld gaming device. As well as some of that downtime at work or even just a break throughout the day. It has an amazing library of games. If the library of games on the iPad wasn't that good, this entire video wouldn't even be worth making. It really has something good in almost every genre and a lot of things that I've tried myself that I can absolutely recommend. Some of my favorites that I've tried include Dredge, Thronefall, Genshin Impact, Cod Mobile, Stardew Valley, FTL, Among Us and my favorite, Bellatro. But there are plenty more. Just in the few years that I've owned my iPad, I've seen so many that used to be console or PC exclusive make its way to the App Store. Oftentimes at a discount while still being the entire game and not diluted. And in my experience, the App Store does a pretty good job of filtering out the junk games compared to other console stores. As a matter of fact, when I first got my iPad, it included three months of Apple Arcade for free where I got to give that a try. And I will say, if you allow yourself a very small entertainment budget for the month, Apple Arcade is a decent option because it's much easier to find shows and movies for free online rather than games, just saying. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say about this, but the iPad's pretty good at running emulators as well. I'll just leave it at that. Next is its modularity. I do feel like Apple products are pretty notorious for not letting you do too much as far as customization goes. And even the simple things like changing your own battery, which is very unfortunate. But I have spent a lot of time trying to see if there are ways to use my iPad rather than what's on the surface or some things that can be paired with or just plugged into my iPad to be used, which has led me to discover that even controllers as well as a mouse and keyboard can be paired with it to be used for gaming in rare cases. Once I paired my controller to play certain things in the iPad mini, it was pretty shocking to see how well it responded and how similar it was to playing on an actual console it really felt in some cases. Not to mention, if you really felt like going nuts, it could still be plugged into a monitor where it'll simultaneously charge and mirror what's on the screen of the iPad mini at the same time. And paired with a controller, it doesn't do a bad job of replicating the actual console experience. I'm definitely not saying these additional pieces are necessary because the point of all this is to show how good the iPad mini is on its own for gaming, but its versatility with different add-ons really can shape the overall gaming experience with it. Next is Discord. Being able to chat with my friends in a room while playing the game with them simultaneously is really just the icing on the cake. I really feel spoiled that chatting online with friends and playing the games with them online is completely free on iPad, while on every other console, it requires a subscription fee. A few months ago, a large group of us were playing Among Us where a few people were on their computer, a few were on console, and I was on my iPad mini, playing the game on Discord, chatting with everyone pretty seamlessly and completely free. And I remember that moment specifically being the moment I realized how capable the iPad mini is for gaming and socially gaming with friends. And even when I'm not playing something with friends, there have been several times where I was just at work and had some of my friends stream whatever they were playing or doing to Discord and just have the iPad on my desk where I watch them and chat with them. There's not much else to say except that having Discord on the iPad is probably not talked about or appreciated enough. Overall, the iPad mini can absolutely serve as the perfect thing for the semi-casual gamer or even someone who gets that occasional itch to play something. I realized that this was a rather niche topic to talk about in regards to the iPad mini, but reading through some of the comments, I do know there are a lot of iPad and iPad mini owners out there who hopefully got some value from this. Anyways, I hope you did get some value from this. And if you had any questions about anything I talked about today, please leave it in the comments. And I'll be sure to get back to you. Anyways, as always, I appreciate the time you spend here and I appreciate you watching. If you did like this video and you like this type of content, be sure to like and consider subscribing to my channel. And I'll see you next time.