There’s no getting around the fact that 2020 has been a rough year. We’ve all taken different avenues through which to weather its storm, and, for many of us, a significant path was paved by video games. We all play for different reasons. In recent times, my compulsion to play has revolved around a desire to witness great storytelling and experience stories that are greater than myself. But this year that compulsion…changed. Because I somehow found myself captivated by two “story-less” (to varying degrees) titles: Grand Theft Auto Online and Fallout 76. As well, while The Elder Scrolls Online is far from “story-less,” my reasons for playing it centered less on reading ESO tales themselves and more about playing with others. Together, this odd trio of games breathed life into an aspect of games that I had always known but never directly acknowledged: the joy of self-direction.