Game plan: the complete beginners' guide to gaming – from buying a console to exploring new worlds

What's the best way to have fun while social distancing this winter? As hordes of retirees and parents are finding, with a bit of kit and know-how, there are countless ways to escape

With much of the world stuck indoors in 2020, video games have been experiencing a boom - in fact we are spending more time, and more money, on gaming than ever before.

And if you're imagining that it's lifelong gamers who are leading the surge, you're wrong. All kinds of people have discovered - or rediscovered - a passion for video games: from retirees with extra time on their hands to stressed parents looking for something to do with the kids. And now, with a socially distanced winter looming, the halting of big gatherings and the possible threat of more lockdowns, video games have quickly become one of the safest - and most popular - ways to socialise.