This article is a step by step explanation of why we like video games. It is written in co-authorship with the Captain Obvious. It is controversial and abounds with author’s extrapolations.
Yes, there are very few things that we value so much and waste so ineptly. It can be an extremely obnoxious situation when you waste time on just waiting. And it is even more disgusting when there is some free time, but you have absolutely nothing to occupy yourself with. All these pauses are easily filled with games.
But it often turns out that playing games we lose more time than we "save". During this time, we could have built a house, planted a tree, etc. It is much easier to make children if you do not sit by the computer until morning.
But, honestly, do we consider the time spent on games really wasted? Even if we believe it is wasted, we are not entirely sincere. Why? Because there are many reasons why people play games. For example…
In childhood, we imagine ourselves as heroes of our favorite books and films and play astronauts, soldiers, etc. We live the lives of our heroes and enjoy their emotions. This does not go away when we are grownups.
For a good fantasy, you need a framework: a fairy kingdom, historical events, certain life circumstances. Games do not only set a framework (compared to movies and books) but allow you to participate in the imaginary world you love. To quickly fall in love with an imaginary world, it's enough to surprise us. Because…
Everything unusual attracts our attention. We get attracted mostly by those games that surprise us, it can be graphics, characters, story or anything else. We also like everything new, never seen before, because...
We have been learning all our life. And we continue to learn until old age. Now, after school and college in our everyday life, we also learn. We optimize the route from home to work. We learn how to turn on and off the light without looking. We learn how to choose the best restaurant or app. Even bums are constantly pumping their skills, for example, searching for aluminum cans.
Maybe this is not our single basic instinct, but the high adaptability of a man is the result of his continuous learning process. Other animals also learn and even use tools to achieve their goals. But civilizations were built by people to whom it was always not enough what they know and can do.
Any game – is learning. Skills that games develop, in 99% of cases will be useful only in games. But this is learning in its pure form. When we start playing a new game, we are awkward, inattentive, make a lot of mistakes. But in a very short period of time we get better and then...
We love it because it happens not so often in our real lives. Even those goals that seem 100% achievable and when the achievement depends solely on us, even with these goals there appear problems at the worst possible moment.
Life has plenty of variables for all plans to come true. Games are invariant (yes, they are). They are designed so that the most attractive goal could be achieved by the widest range of players. So, do we need all games to be casual? No, because…
We fell the need to fight, to struggle. We need a battle. We are social beings. And, like all social creatures, we constantly make a fuss about our place in the pack. Usually, it is not the fight for being number one but merely for the distance to the toilet on the plane. But if on the plane we can just buy a ticket for good seats, in life our social position depends on constant fights in any community.
All this is sublimated in games. And the more stable we are in our current position the more we want to challenge it. Playing games, it is not necessary to deal with your evil boss, but the evil virtual boss (and easily do away with him.) And for the victory...
There are often some problems with getting all the rewards you deserve in real life. How many times we have been promised: “Finish the project before the deadline - and you may go on vacation.” Or: “Please work three more months and we will increase your salary, yes we are certainly very happy with you now, but you are already earning more than other workers here.” And so on, and so on.
It is easier to get rewards in games. You know that you will be rewarded and you know how exactly. But sometimes for a two-week epic quest, the random algorithm may throw out a trivial not rare thing. Game developers sincerely believe that this is funny and fair. But they just did not read this article. If you go a little farther into speculations, it becomes obvious that...
Most video games have simple rules. In many games you cannot break the rules at all, their engine is too simple. Yes, of course, there is a huge number of all sorts of cheaters, but compared to real life, the vast majority of games is simply a fantastic harbor of legality.
And with all the artificially created "injustice" that games are filled with, we like that everything here is clear and structured. You can rest from the aggressiveness that surrounds us in our everyday life. Here you have plenty of opportunities to reveal your hamster nature because...
In real life, we have lost the habit of collecting and saving food - it can be bought in a store. Yes, not all of us can save money. Usually, you would try to pay off a loan before you get another loan. But we happily collect and save in games: gold, points, improvements, cool things, hero development. And although the admins try to make sure that players do not grow fat (especially in F2P), it's so nice to feel like Scrooge McDuck.
In games, you can punch above your weight because...
You can find elements of gambling almost in any game. Even in Tetris, you hope on good luck not to receive several long pieces in a row. It reflects our real life. An excavator operator can sometimes find a treasure. Isn’t is gambling when you often press F5 on employment websites to be the first one to notice an interesting job announcement?
Uncontrollable urge to keep gambling can be done for free in games. In a well-made game, in which there is a reasonable balance between “random” and “skills”, walking through the level sometimes gives the same amount of endorphin as winning the lottery. But the main thing is that...
We play games because they give us positive emotions. Look at my points above. If playing games may satisfy at least half of the points above, it has all the potential. If it does not, then see the first point - about wasting time. If a person in his real life is systematically experiencing most of the points mentioned above, then he rarely plays games.
Share positive emotions in any field and particularly in games.
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