A little over a week ago I started playing PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS in duos, and it makes the game feel entirely different. My normal strategy of hide in a corner and wait doesn’t play well in a group, so I was forced to sweep from building to building actually engaging enemies as we moved inward to remain in safety. I actually had to take shots at people who weren’t first shooting at me (as you can tell I didn’t manage to kill any of them) which changed how I had been playing the game in a big way. It was a blast to be aggressive for once, and it made me more confident in my subsequent games.

Last night I was playing solo and someone ran up into my building without knowing I was there. I was able to take them out with an uzi and found an 8X scope on their body, the first time I’ve come across such a high powered scope in the game. I affixed it on my M16 and watched over the city below me. It wasn’t long before I saw two people engage in a firefight, and it was an awesome feeling to take out one of them from afar. The other player ducked back inside that building, unfortunately, and never poked their head back out. I decided to continue keeping watch over the city, as I had seen two other people walking around it, however this contributed to my downfall as I was shotgunned in the face while looking down the scope five minutes later.

In another game last night I found ideal cover by driving a vehicle up against a cliff and hiding prone underneath it. My backside was covered and I felt relatively safe despite being out in the open. I’ve found I actually tend to survive longer if I’m crawling in the grass than I do if I’m hiding in a building, I assume because most people gravitate toward solid cover and ignore the open grass. Unfortunately, this optimal cover didn’t last as I soon had to make the trek inward again. I eventually ditched the vehicle by a rock and began crawling slowly and carefully as I ended up well within the circle with plenty of tree and rock cover.

This turned out to by my best solo game yet, as the circle closed in on a wide open area and everyone had to abandon their buildings and work toward it. I stayed silent in the grass by the trees and watched as everyone started picking each other off. I could hear bullets whizzing over my head, but I resisted the urge to get up and just waited. Before long I caught a glimpse of someone working their way toward me, but they hadn’t seen me yet. I decided I needed to take action, and tried taking them out, but the sound of gunfire attracted more eyes and we were both put down by someone else. I finished 7th, in one of the most excited games I’ve played yet.