Usually my younger siblings wait until I’m done with work — they’re in earlier time zones than I am, so they’re being polite — then the group chat lights up: “Splat.” “Splat.” “Splat.”
This is our shorthand for “It’s time to play Splatoon 3.”
I am not what you would call a gamer, but I did buy a Nintendo Switch in 2020. That’s kind of when this all started. I am the oldest of five, and most of my younger siblings love video games. In the interest of bonding, I started hanging out with them on FaceTime while we played Animal Crossing together. In 2022, one of my brothers got Splatoon 3. Eventually, most of the rest of us did, too. Now four of us (and one of my brothers’ significant others) play Splatoon together.
