A Beast Named "Fun"

As I read through "Fun" is a Four-Letter Word, I found several concepts that I had previously thought about, a lot of things that I agreed with, and just a couple that I didn't agree with. The overall feel of the article is correct, I believe, in saying that for games to expand and become a respected form of media, they must break away from the norm and add other aspects.

One thing that I don't necessarily agree with is that games are not being made for other purposes than just to be fun. While there are not many examples of large video game companies making buckets of cash off of games with un-fun selling points, there are games that are bridging the gap. Most people's definition of fun wouldn't be: playing an insanely hard game, having your character die permanently, losing hours of progress and the only thing left of your character is a morgue file. Yet, there is an entire sub-culture of gaming based around just this premise called Roguelikes. Roguelikes have a MUCH higher challenge level than many other types of games, which is a large part of their charm. Roguelikes are a haven for the hardcore, who are tired of playing the games that have been specifically manufactured for the "mainstream" or the "casual gamers."

Now, you may be thinking, "Okay, so there is such a thing as an un-fun game. How could that be used in the real-world where you have to make a profit for a game to sell?" Actually, there are quite a few games that share traits with roguelikes. These games include: the Diablo series and Demon's Souls. Diablo II has a "Hardcore" mode where, if your character dies, they are lost forever(along with all the hours of play and sweet gear.) This gives players the option to add extra challenge if they desire it, and also gives the true fans the privilege of bragging rights that they beat "Hell" difficulty on "Hardcore" mode. While Diablo II has a choice between whether or not to make your character "Hardcore" or not, Demon's Souls does not let you choose an easy path. A Demon's Souls character does not die permanently, but will most assuredly die often and to many things. Also, there are permanent effects of death, such as the World Tendency to turn darker, increasing the difficulty of the game and locking legendary weapons from whichever world you are currently in, so the player can never get them.

Some other interesting games that have emerged in spite of the fun-or-go-home mentality are called "One Play" games. These games try to reflect the aspect of reality that you only have one chance to make any one choice. As a result of this unusual twist on what appears at first to be a simple flash game, these "One Play" games are immediately hated by most, but saluted by the few that appreciate new interpretations of what games could be. I played through each game multiple times by clearing cookies in the browser.

As I played through You Only Live Once, I felt like a weaker Mario who lost hearts like Link, but had no way of regaining health. Eventually, I was impaled on a spike pit. Ironically, I spent more time watching events unfold after my characters death than I did actually playing the game. I felt slightly insulted that the creator of the game knew this would happen, and put at least as much time into the after-game as was put into the actual game. After two playthroughs, I had seen enough of this game. But, the game was funny in a ridiculous kind of way and I couldn't hate on a game named after YOLO.

One Chance was my favorite of the "One Play" games. I actually tried to play it 3 times because, from the look of it, all of the endings were pretty grim. After a quick Google of why One Chance was so tragic, I found that there was no way to save your wife and no matter what you do, the majority of the world still dies because of something you invented. I don't feel like replaying or reading about One Chance really ruined the creator's intent. In fact, I believe that the creator realized that people would do this, and purposefully made the choices hard as if to say, "Even if you cheat, you're still going to be disappointed."

I honestly don't know what to think of (Why is) Johnny in an Art Game? And I'm not really sure if it's worth me even considering it on the same level as One Chance. It looks like a very simple parody of "Artsy" games, but without any of the deep meaning or options. Basically, (Why is) Johnny in an Art Game? seems like a bad rendition of a Deterministic interpretation of a shadow of what One Chance was, mixed with Before the Law. Except, instead of choosing to move forward and seek greatness, you kill yourself.