2026 is as good a year as any to quit smoking, vaping, dipping, or consuming tobacco/nicotine products however you see fit. There are dozens of reasons to quit, but I'm not your mom, I'm definitely not your doctor, and I'm definitely not judging you, whether you're here for advice, out of morbid curiosity with no intention of quitting, or actively smoking a cigarette right now. As someone who has been for the better part of 15, I totally understand not giving up. But I recently decided to quit for my own reasons.
I'm not a doctor. This is not medical advice. I am sharing a personal anecdote, and if you find some value in it, I hope it helps. If not, ugh.
I expected the first 2-3 days to be the worst, but around the week it was the hardest day for me. I quit cold turkey and knew when I bought my last Copenhagen roll this would be it. At the time of this writing I am still actively in nicotine withdrawal, however publication of this article has been delayed due to headaches. They haven't been too bad except for that one, with most headaches being 2-3/10 on the pain scale and only lasting a few minutes. The usual feeling of something missing in my mouth is as uncomfortable as it gets, but the absolute worst was the degree of separation I could never have predicted. Everything felt off or wrong and I felt like I was out of my mind for a few days. I didn't know such a thing was possible and I was more irritated (and I'm already an irritated person). It's safe to say that just like those cool kids, I'm going through it.
Every free game released on the Epic Games Store (April 2026)
Here's a list of all the games that were free on the Epic Games Store. You have until April 9th to get the current games for free.
So cold turkey, no patches, nothing – I did what I always do. I played (and still play) video games with the intention of ignoring the lingering withdrawal symptoms. They should fade in the coming days or weeks, I hope so anyway, but I can speak to my personal experience of using video games to deal with these physical symptoms. But first, it's worth noting that video games alone won't help with everything. For example, my need to have something in my mouth was always treated with sunflower seeds, peppermint or chewing gum. I can't actually chew a video game.
Go for the Grind, not the vibes
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Cozy games don't have to be the answer
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Avoid video games with a lot of “downtime”
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Grinding
I bought a Nintendo Switch 2 and Popopia a few weeks ago and I'm still actively trying to outfit my biomes, complete my Pokedex, and so on. Or so I thought. The problem with Popopia is how passive a lot of things are, and the amount of downtime (or just preparing for downtime) doesn't match my patience level at the moment. Time travel helped a bit, but it's not something I really want to do much. I'll come back to it, but I found that any downtime or sense of down time made the withdrawal symptoms worse. The same can be said for games like Life is strange.
i played Life is Strange: Reunion on release, the night before I finished and decided to play them all Life is strange games after that. Oh, the problem is that the exploration and heavy cutscenes give way to retreat inside. I'm finishing this marathon at a more uneven pace than I expected, but I don't think cozy or slower games are really the best for downloads.
Some grinding helped me the most. I played Pokémon HeartGold on my 3DS, and the turn-based, decision-driven combat does a lot to keep my mind elsewhere. What really helped was grinding on Larvitar in the Safari Zone. I don't know who decided to make it so difficult, but thank you. I spent nearly five hours replaying encounters and trying to catch one, and those five hours offered all the escapism I needed.
Pick up the pace!
It probably goes hand in hand with finding the right grind, but I've found that a quick multiplayer game goes a long way. That helps Apex Legends it has seen so many changes over the years because while it feels familiar, it is also drastically different. My friends and I decided to play it again after a few years and that was probably my biggest help. By far, the worst general time for symptoms is mid to late afternoon, and that's usually associated with video games anyway. So proper direction helped a lot.
Place 9 games in the grid.
Start
Place 9 games in the grid.
I find that the social aspect of multiplayer games does a lot to ease the symptoms, at least because my friends themselves are basically one big distraction. I haven't tried co-op games to see if they would help, but logically they fill a similar gap. But what does he do? Apex Legends so great are the dopamine hits that come from hits/kills/wins. Nicotine abstinence has taught me how much my decade + of dipping has affected me chemically, but these moments are great little stimulant hits that I know I was relying on nicotine for.
The nicotine abstraction is platform agnostic
Since I stopped gaming, I've played games on my PC, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. I'd say my symptoms have been more or less consistent no matter what platform I'm on. My PS5 and Series X have me in the same place so it makes sense. Maybe the real Console Wars were just in our heads all along. Playing on my Nintendo consoles (always from a handheld) anywhere seemed to have no major impact. And the only place/time I'd say the symptoms were worse than on other platforms is on PC because I had my role on the table (always within reach). So it seems less of a platform issue and more of a common area issue to me.
The worst symptoms seem to have subsided now, with only persistent headaches and occasional reaching for my phantom limb/log. And while coping with nicotine withdrawal through video games isn't something I intend to repeat in the future, I found it super interesting to see what I gelled with and what didn't.
