What, pray tell, is ASMR? It might not have the friendliest acronym, and “autonomous sensory meridian response” doesn’t sound at all inviting, either, but we’re talking about feeling good. Like, have you ever watched The Joy of Painting, even though you weren’t following any of Bob Ross’ tips, nor had much of any interest in illustration? You just liked the sound of ol’ Bob’s soothing voice. It relaxed you. Maybe it even gave you a tingly sensation?
That’s ASMR, and there’s a whole YouTube sub-culture devoted to it. Entire channels with hosts speaking softly, leading a kind of guided meditation, or simply offering some precisely-pleasing white noise. One might think, at first, that the competitive and often adrenaline-pumped arena of gaming would have no place for ASMR. Well, as it happens, a blending of the two actually takes up its own sub-sub-culture on the YT. Listen to the plainly-named ASMR Gamer explain the phenomenon in calm, comprehensive detail…
ASMR can be applied to any type of gaming video. Enjoy unboxings? Here’s the ASMR Nerd’s unboxing of a Skyrim map kit, wherein the host takes care to ensure the viewer can hear every calming fold and crinkle in high fidelity as he scrutinizes the cartography of that fantasy realm, Tamriel.
Ms. Fushi makes Let’s Play videos chill. In this clip, you can follow her on a deliberately-paced exploration of Minecraft that could easily double as a guided meditation session.
Weirdly enough, ASRM Let’s Plays can even work with balls-out ballistic shooter sessions of Call of Duty. If it all seems fundamentally incompatible, give the ASMR Gamer a chance to prove differently as he comes back around to count some head-shots in hushed tones.
On a 1-10 scale, how relaxed are you, now? Describe all tingly sensations in the talkback.
Featured Image Credit: theASMRnerd