The tense is past continuous for “was playing,” and past simple for “went.” So the full sentence mixes both: “When I went there” = past simple, “Bucky was playing video games” = past continuous.

Breakdown

  • When I went there → past simple.
  • Bucky was playing video games → past continuous.
  • Used together, this usually shows one action in progress when another shorter action happened.

Why it works

“Was playing” describes an ongoing action in the past, while “went” marks the action that interrupted or happened during it. That’s the standard pattern in this kind of sentence.

TL;DR: The main tense in “Bucky was playing video games” is past continuous.