Why Do We Play Games?

On 12/01/2013 at 06:47 PM by building blocks

It's Friday night and I find myself slapping SKU labels onto boxes as quickly as I can pick them up.

How fast I go is irrelevant to when I will leave work, but somehow, having a goal helps.
Regardless of when this pallet is finished, my lone partner and I will move onto another, break it down, label it and then reassemble the crop circle-esque pyramid it was originally shaped in.

It is my second day at a new job, and I'm feeling very blessed to be working again. over time in fact. As we sticker-stack-repeat, a conversation is born out of silence and follows a similar pattern often seen between young strangers. What do you want to study? Why did you stop? Where have you been? As a clearer picture is formed from what was moments ago only an outline of an individual, the topic turns to hobbies.

"Do you play videogames?"

I laugh sheepishly and say yes.

"What kind?"

I like games that make people think.
Someday I would like to go to school for animation, to make my own.
Maybe even work on projects that reach beyond being a commercial product, and get into psychological commentary and experimentation. I would like to make games with engrossing stories and characters that become tools for learning about our own kinks, twists, biases and archetypes. But I don't say all of that.

"I like strategy games, and competitive ones. Or anything with a really good story I guess. Zelda."

I can't help but feel an awkwardness when speaking about gaming with the uninitiated.

Is it childish? The concepts aren't.
Is it a waste of time? The mental stimulation, community, broadened vocabulary and effected reflexes seem to differ.

So why is it that I experience a concrete tenseness around the subject with people who don't play them?

As I left work and headed home I kept wondering. . .
Why do I play games? Why do they feel so innately important to me?

Trying to filter my thoughts into legible sentences, concepts bubble to the surface. Lucid dreaming. Experiments in consciousness and perspective. Chemical reactions, highs and lows. Self realization. Education. Networking. Creative communication.

But honestly I don't know.
This space is going to become a place for me to write about these ideas and develop them, hopefully with all of your help. It is not intended to tell you what you should buy, how you should feel about it, or to be anything more than a public stream of consciousness.

For the last couple weeks I've been having trouble writing anything to post here, but I suppose a question is as good a place to start as any.

Why do you play games?

Cary Woodham

12/01/2013 at 07:40 PM

I have a very simple and stupid answer.

I play games because they are fun.

building blocks

12/02/2013 at 12:43 PM

No answers are stupid!

we all have a unique perspective and biases developed by the environment we developed in. Understanding someone elses perspective no matter how simple or complex helps us to understand each other :)

leeradical42

12/02/2013 at 09:36 AM

Its a hobby for me that keeps me out of trouble and keeps me busy where if I wasnt I may be in bars etc so to me I love em and the bonus it keeps me out of trouble lol!!

12/02/2013 at 12:41 PM

Hahah yes I can definitely relate to using it as an alternative to more risky ways of blowing off steam!

transmet2033

12/02/2013 at 10:51 AM

It is reallly such a simple answer. I find the fun, but the problem comes when I try to think of why I find them fun.

12/02/2013 at 12:39 PM

Exactly.
People can tell you that surfing, drawing, writing, going hiking, doing their taxes, etc. is fun, but I think that is more of the outcome of elicited feelings and chemicals (dopamine, endorphins, testosterone) and not the underlying reason people spend huge percentages of their time and paychecks on an activity. For being the fastest growing and fastest selling medium of information and entertainment (even compared to literature which has been around for thousands of years) I find it interesting that most gamers can't come up with much more than 'fun'.

for more on brain chemistry and games:
http://blogs.saschina.org/chemicalparadigms/2013/01/27/video-games-are-they-only-harmful/

12/02/2013 at 01:26 PM

I like the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a game, or beating a particularly nasty boss. I like the interactive nature of the medium. I like being able to enjoy a story and have a hand in how it may unfold. I like using more than one part of my brain when consuming media. Books do a far better job of this than movies because you need to paint the picture of the story yourself.

I also like videogames because they are a way that some of us sepnd time with other people. I am not talking about online multiplayer, but the local stuff. My brothers and I would get together regularly to play Halo. Yeah, you can get together and watch a movie, but movies tend to be a "Shut The Hell Up" affair. No need to shut up when you need teamwork to decimate the oppsing team.

I am starting to ramble I think.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

12/02/2013 at 03:43 PM

I play games because they take me away from humdrum reality. And I like experiencing worlds of the imagination, and I prefer games over movies and TV. I love games, man.

PixlBit