Funny thing, I've also been playing Pokemon (White/Omega Ruby) and Assassin's Creed (3/4) in my free time, as a way to relieve the stress.
I should be focusing more on my Master Thesis before even dreaming about a possible PhD, but the anxiety is killing me. Maybe I will try some Nuzlocke challenges in Pokemon and see if I can transfer part of my real life pressure to the game
I'm applying to two Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering PhD programs: UCLA and Minnesota. Although my field is computational materials science, those programs' researchers fit my interests better then others from Materials Engineering ones.
I'm expecting to have some news from Minnesota by end January or beginning February, but UCLA may take a while.
Best luck to all!