I thought DayZ would be a fun survival adventure, but it turns out it’s just a beautifully disguised therapy session designed to show me how much I hate humanity. I haven’t trusted anyone since my father left me on a rainy Tuesday in front of a gas station, telling me he’d return with chocolate. DayZ makes that betrayal feel like a warm hug.

This game didn’t just steal my ability to connect with others; it buried it somewhere in Chernarus and left me to dig it up with a shovel I’ll never find. Every time I hear friendly in proximity chat, I’m reminded that “friendly” actually means I will shoot you in the back and take your pants.

Sometimes, I find fleeting hope when I stumble upon another player, thinking we’ll form a bond, maybe survive together. Ten minutes later, I’m tied up, stripped of my belongings, and being forced to eat raw human meat while they laugh. If DayZ has taught me anything, it’s that trust is just the prelude to betrayal.

The game is a masterpiece of misery. You can starve, freeze, get eaten by zombies, and then die of cholera because you drank from the wrong pond all while being hunted by players who seem to thrive on suffering. It’s like the developers took all the worst aspects of life, wrapped it in a post apocalyptic setting, and said, Enjoy!

DayZ has given me more PTSD than my ex and father combined, and somehow, I keep coming back. Maybe one day, I’ll feel happiness again, but until then, I’ll wander the wasteland, haunted by the sound of gunshots and broken trust.

10/10

I have not been able to connect any friendship, work or sexual relationship in my life since I started playing counter strike. I hide behind my veil of sarcasm and irony where I silently hope that the day will come when I still trust another human being enough to reveal my honest emotions. This game gave me more trust issues than my father, who left me at two in the morning at the German border at the age of five, promising to be back in five minutes.

Whenever I feel good in my life and a wave of positivity fills my veins, I remember counter strike. That white lightning of flash rises in front of my eyes, I hear the sounds of toxic Russians and dying characters. Maybe one day I will once again live in blissful ignorance and without fear.

10/10