Dear Mother: Can games help me stay in touch after I move away from my family?

I’m about to make a big life move away from my family into a completely different, opposite time zone. It’s really tough and it’s especially hard because I have a close relationship with my mum and feel guilty about being so far away.

One idea I had for ways we could stay in touch, beyond just FaceTime calls, was giving her my old Nintendo Switch (or possibly a Switch 2) and using Game Chat or just online games to try and stay in touch.

She’s played Animal Crossing in split-screen with me before, and despite being worried that she wouldn’t get [it], she picked it up pretty quickly. Was just wondering if there are any other ideas for games we could play together online? Preferably games without huge stakes or a competitiveness to them. Literally I’m just even thinking of things like Chess that could let us have longer chats. Or even non-gaming ideas too. Maybe we could just paint a Bob Ross together every now and again.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated,

Bob Ross Twitch Channel Admin (not really)

Dear Bob Ross Channel Admin, 

Thank you for taking the time to write in. I myself have moved over 9 times and I know that a big change like that can feel scary and difficult to process. This is especially the case when you need to move away from loved ones.