Unique Ways to Play Tarkov if You're Bored

After playing Tarkov for as long as some of us have, the game can sometimes begin to lose its luster. Wipes always help reignite the excitement for the game; new mechanics, maps, weapons, gear. On top of having to start over once more. But once you have wiped with the game enough times, and you begin the process of starting the same quests over and over again, even those can begin to feel stale. The monotony of redoing the exact same quests in the same order can really be a drag. We got a small break this wipe with the release of Ground Zero and having to start there now instead of Customs. But again, it’s only 6 quests at the start. To be fair, Ground Zero is a solid map, and can now be played post level 20, for some spicy PvP encounters. But if you’re someone who has played for years and has become desensitized and bored with the current Tarkov, you’re not alone. A ton of players feel this after the game wipes. In fact, it’s typical for the game to surge with players soon after a wipe, and then slowly overtime, the amount of people playing usually tapers off, before surging again next wipe. So, if you are still playing Tarkov, because you are trying to enjoy it, you might just need a different way of engaging with the game to help bring the spark back before the next major update. I’m going to propose some different ideas and ways of playing Tarkov that aren’t too far-fetched for most players should they feel inclined. None of these ideas are wholly original; many people already engage with Tarkov in these ways, but perhaps it's your first-time hearing about them. So, give them a shot and see if it reinvigorates your desire to play the game.

Within Tarkov there are different ways to play with different types of gear. A personal favorite of mine that many others enjoy is rags to riches. Basically, starting with whatever your scav currently has on them, immediately extracting and staring your PMC journey with that kit. By looting, killing other AI and maybe some PMCs, you can profit and use that money to directly reinvest back into your kit. Better weapons, ammo, attachments, armor etc. And you simply rinse and repeat this until you die. The goal is to be as accurate with your spending as possible, even if it means busting out a calculator to get the exact math. Whether that’s after only one raid, or you go on a massive 10 raid streak with the kit and can max it out, this way, you don’t spend much of your own money on gear but instead directly use rubles you find in raid to put back into the kit. And you can experiment with different endgame goals for weapon types, armor or whatever you want to set up for yourself. Other than just running what I want, this is my next favorite way to engage with late game Tarkov. If you want to take it a step further, starting with literally nothing is also an option. But tagged and cursed might prove to be difficult to overcome; as hordes of scavs chase you down to put a bullet in your head. But without much effort or thought, rags to riches is one of the easiest and honestly most enjoyable ways to go against the grain of Tarkov’s typical late game experience.

Without modifying the game itself, there are ways people have come up with more official challenges that many in the community uphold. The most popular being Deadly Slob’s Hardcore Challenge for Tarkov. Basically, the main gist is that you are unable to purchase anything from the vendors. Barters are okay, but everything else must be found in raid. There are more rules that go along with this challenge, but that’s what’s most important. Now, it’s not like you adjust the game’s parameters so that you are unable to buy anything, you just go on the honor system. But this is probably the longest lasting challenge in the game’s history. And for good reason. Not being able to fully utilize one of Tarkov’s most easily accessible mechanics being the traders forces you to play the game in a unique way. Once you start, getting your hands on a gun is usually the first step. From there, people try to build the foundations for a solid start. Basic supplies such as meds, ammo, other weapons, and some early game armor allow you to keep going. And with very limited secure container use, you won’t be able to spoof items in there either. Regardless, hardcore is a long-standing challenge in the Tarkov community. Many have tried it, and some have gotten all the way to kappa with it. So, if you’re looking for possibly the hardest way to play Tarkov, give hardcore a shot.

There are other ways to engage with Tarkov that are less than ideal depending on how desperate you are. If you have the expendable income, purchasing another account to perform these challenges on isn’t the worst idea in the world. It can even be just a standard account. But considering what has transpired recently, people are probably not so inclined to be buying new accounts anytime soon. And probably the lowest common denominator would be to just reset your account back to a level 1 fresh account. Most people are least likely to go down this route just because restarting after dumping hundreds of hours into it after a wipe only to do it all once more when the game is most likely going wipe again in the near future is a hard sell. But again, this would be a last resort; only for those who are the most desperate to experience Tarkov in a different form. Even if it’s just starting over.

These are just some ways people like to engage with the game should they begin to feel the boredom of the normal gameplay loop creep in. By just adding a single restriction or having a whole host of rules dictating how you play the game, it can really breathe new life into the game. It’s no different than something like a Pokémon Nuzelock or any kind of Souls’ game challenge run. By following some simple rules, or only using a certain weapon or playstyle, you can drastically change how you need to think about the game, and what you need to accomplish to succeed. Challenge is how we grow, and that is no different in the realm of video games. Of course, for some, once you start playing games in this special kind of ways, it’s hard to go back to vanilla versions of these games. But with something like Tarkov, it can be brutal enough that even going back to playing it normally, will still feel like a challenge. No matter how bored or desensitized you might be. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments down below if you’ve ever tried hardcore Tarkov or any kind of challenge while playing and be sure to subscribe for more videos about how people spin the rules of the game, so they won’t be bored to tears, especially if they play 60-100 hours a week of this game. I hope to see you in future ones.