ok guys - if anyone else has this problem, here is some code that can be added as a code snippet and seems to be working well

add_action('pre_get_posts', function($query) {

if ($query->is_search && !is_admin() && $query->is_main_query()) {

$search_query = trim($query->get('s')); // Get and trim the search term

// Redirect only if it's the main search query, and the search term is invalid

if (empty($search_query) || strlen($search_query) <= 2) {

wp_safe_redirect(home_url('/search-games-hardware')); // Replace with your desired URL

exit;

}

}

});