So, there you are: playing Competitive mode in CS:GO like a madman. After all, recently, all ranks were reworked and you just need to get back to your previous rank. However, one evening, you sit down and play a match, which ends in a humiliating defeat, completely destroying your will to play further. Now, you're starting to see playing competitive as a chore, and you're just not having fun. What is there to do? Here is a list of suggestions regarding burnout:

1. Rest

This should come without saying. If you've reached burnout, then you probably played a LOT of CS:GO lately, which means that you should probably step away from the computer for a while and just relax. Maybe it's time for you to watch a movie with your family, go outside, or just hit the gym. There's plenty to do besides CS:GO, and you shouldn't look at a game the same way you look at a job. Gaming should be a hobby, and if you're starting to get burned out of it, then perhaps you should find a new one.

2. Play other games

If you really want to keep playing, but you're through with CS:GO, then you are in luck, as there are plenty of other options around for you! If you want another First Person Shooter, then you simply can't go wrong with Team Fortress 2 or perhaps a Call of Duty title. If it is First Person Shooters that you are burned out on, but you still want to maintain a competitive attitude, then you should try a MOBA game such as League of Legends, SMITE, or Heroes of the Storm.

3. Play CS:GO differently

Alright, so it has come to this. You don't want to take a break from the computer at all. In fact, you don't want to stop playing CS:GO! What is there to be done in that case? Well, you can explore the amazing variety of game modes that CS:GO's community features. After all, there are other ways to have fun besides competitive.

If you're looking for official game modes, then you are only limited to the ones that Valve has in the game's menu, such as deathmatch, arms race, demolition and casual. However, if you're open to downloading new maps and fiddling with the community server browser, then the possibilities are endless.

A. Downloading Steam Workshop maps

If you have a group of friends, then you can easily download fun maps from the Steam Workshop and use them to host a lobby for a bit of fun. There are a lot of maps, ranging from maps for serious casual matches (including previous operation maps, or even reworks of current, popular ones) all the way to silly maps such as "Decoy Dodgeball", in which every player has 1 hp and a decoy grenade. Here is an interesting 2v2 map, perfect for fighting your friends, and here is one of the many iterations of "Decoy Dodgeball". In order to download these maps, just press the "subscribe" button while logged in with your Steam account, and you will find them under the "workshop" tab in your in-game lobby.

However, if you're planning to improve your skills for your eventual comeback to competitive, the workshop also features a lot of trainings maps for every aspect of the game, from bunnyhopping to aiming. Additionally, you also have smoke grenade training variants of popular maps such as Dust 2, which feature visual cues and instructions useful for learning new smoke and molotov throws.

B. Using the community server browser

If CS:GO was your first Counter-Strike game, chances are you don't have any experience with the community server browser. And why would you? After all, Valve tries its best to make users forget about that feature, and instead focus on their game modes, as the community browsers may contain custom models they don't approve of.

However, if you truly want to breathe new life into your CS:GO experience, then you should start using it. People all over the world are hosting servers on player-made maps for custom game modes, such as "surfing", which has players using the Source engine in order to move across maps by pressing against surfaces. Another interesting game mode is "deathrun", which has one player controlling traps, while the rest have to avoid them and reach the end of the course.

Surf is a popular custom game mode

"Hide'N'Seek" has CTs chasing Ts around the map. The game ends when all Ts are dead, or when the time has ran out, and Ts are expected to run around the map, using similar mechanics as in "surfing" in order to outrun their murderers.

Of course that there are countless other fun game modes which make CS:GO feel like a whole other game, and can save you from burnout. Play these at your own risk, as once you see for yourself how fun they are, you won't feel like going back to competitive just to be yelled at by toxic players.

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