Online games of all varieties are getting more and more complex, with top players often dedicating their lives to mastering the vagaries of their beloved pastime.
However, that is not to say that new players should be put off from giving them a go. After all, how can you possibly know how you will get on until you have tried?
Here are some of the most popular games out there at the moment – with some accessed on mobile platforms and others on PC or console – along with some tips on how to get good at them as quickly as possible.
Classic Card Games
Among the array of classic titles that are making a stunning comeback online at the moment are card games, with poker leading the charge.
Although there are many varieties of online poker, the main one that captures the imaginations of gamers is Texas Hold’em.
Getting to a reasonable level of proficiency can be achieved by reading and absorbing much of the free content available on popular poker sites, as well as watching video tutorials which will let you familiarize yourself with the basic rules and tactics involved. You’ll realize that you make rapid progress at first but that after a while, your learning curve will plateau, requiring you to put in a little extra effort to start competing against high stakes pros.
When this happens, it is usually necessary to start putting some major study time in, using study guides and packages such as those offered by Upswing Poker and Raise Your Edge. Put the hard yards in, and soon enough you will find the confidence to start competing against some of the biggest ballers in the game.
Legendary Board Games
If cards are your thing, then Texas Hold’em should be your pick, but if board games are more your cup of tea, then ancient classics like drafts and chess are going to be perfect.
With chess, the best way to go about learning the game is to simply start moving pieces on the chessboard, preferably with a more experienced player who can show you the ropes.
Once you know how all the pieces move around, as well as tricky moves such as castling, you can begin to read up on particular strategic approaches to the game, of which there are many.
The great thing about chess is that there is a wealth of free and paid tools out there that can help players of all levels improve, such as the training area provided by Lichess.org or similar ones at Chess.com.
If you are still struggling for inspiration there are plenty of the world’s top chess grandmasters who upload incredible video content to platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.
Learning in the Midst of Battle Can Be Tough
While poker and chess are by-and-large slow and methodical games, some of the most popular online titles out there today are anything but, with players thrown straight into the middle of online battlefields.
Indeed, battle royale games like Call of Duty and Apex Legends can be incredibly daunting for new players for this exact reason. This is the reason why some players would turn to gaming hacks. We would recommend that you should always be on the safe side; Battlelog.co for example is proven to be safe and undetectable.
While there really is no better way to learn than launching yourself straight into the game until you have all the controls and commands mastered, there are some other ways to ensure you swim rather than sink when you are getting started.
Begin by watching top streamers such as Zlaner or NickMercs who will guide you through how to best approach the game.
You can then even employ the services of a video game coach via platforms like Fiverr, many of which are tried and trusted. Just make sure you read the reviews that a coach has garnered, in order to ensure that their teaching methods align with how you like to go about learning. Sites like Fiverr are also great places to pick up advice about the other games mentioned in this article.
Go Down the eSports Route to Fame and Glory
While most people who play video games online only do so to have a bit of fun, there are some who find their true calling in the online ether, committing themselves to a game that may or may not result in eSports fame and fortune.
For lovers of certain games, this is a path certainly worth following, especially if you are something of a natural when it comes to the most successful eSports such as DOTA 2, League of Legends, or Formula 1 2020.
Indeed, get good enough at the latter and you could even see yourself being signed up by a professional racing outfit, with many such motorsports organizations now actively recruiting talent from the realm of eSports.
Whatever Game You Play, Ensure Your Practice Has Direction
Now that we have covered how to improve your play of individual types of games, the next step is to go into more depth about how to eek those last few percentage points of improvement out of the gaming ability you have at your disposal.
This brings us back to practice. The mistake that many fledgling gamers make is thinking that spending hours at the poker tables, or in the lobbies of battle royale games, will automatically make them better players as if the game itself will be absorbed by virtue of it being played.
While this is true to a point, there comes a time when only proper practice and training will propel your play to greater heights.
This means that if you are just winning all the time in practice, it probably means you are not playing at a high enough level to be tested. Likewise, if you do find yourself on the wrong end of a result, have you sufficiently analyzed what went wrong? Ultimately these are the sorts of self-critiquing questions that players of all games should be asking themselves if they truly want to become the best in their field.