Today was monumental in the Croom household. I downloaded my first computer game. This is big news for the guy who doesn’t even have games on his phone. Personally, over this next month I hope to figure out if there is a specific reason for that fact. Maybe its because my youth hobbies didn’t include videos games and once I passed that stage I didn’t feel a desire to do it. Maybe it’s because my teenage friends played music instead of games and it just wasn’t part of my social life. Maybe it’s because I shy away from organized competition. Maybe, just maybe, this experience will change my perception of video games.
So let’s start before I even installed the games. I did a TON of anecdotal research from those around me who played games. What’s your favorite? What’s free to play? What feels like a safe community for nongamers? Maybe I should check out tried-and-true classic games so I can better understand the communities I am reading about throughout our books?
In the end, I took the simple advice of cadremates and broke nearly all of my rules. I chose a game that a few others were playing with relatively little knowledge of what the game actually was. Looking back, I think I had created unnecessary metrics in my head to unconsciously distract myself from having to actually play the game. Why make a decision when it could the entirely wrong decision? But what exactly would even qualify as a “wrong” decision? Too hard to play? To learn? Too much time investment needed? Incompatible with the device?
So I’ve equated this experience to a sort of first day of school. You are worrying about pieces of the event that are unnecessary to your success. What should I wear on the first day? I sure hope I have all the school supplies I need!
So here I am playing Monaco because, quite simply, others were too. And I’m surprisingly in a comfortable environment. The graphics are slightly retro with a more pixelated feel. The perspective reminds of me of Pac-Man. You perspective of the game is God-like from the sky and you see these mazes that your character will traverse to complete its mission.
Now I took advantage of my lack of prior knowledge on the game and just jumped in. So I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely sure what our objective is. This has probably influenced my game strategy thus far which is get to the end of the stage in the fastest time possible. To make it out of area, you and your team (up to four total) have to collect enough coins to leave. After a series of the areas, you have completed your mission. Each character has a competitive advantage (one is fast and can pick locks, one can bust through walls, etc.) and no one can complete all the necessary tasks it takes to complete your mission. Because of this, you lean heavily on your teammates within the play. Feel pity on my teammates.
To be honest, I’m proud that I can cohesively explain our objective this much so far. I’m fortunate that controls are relatively simple (so far I’ve only had to utilize the arrow keys and the space bar) and the main objective is fairly traditional game design: make it to the end. I chose my character, the Locksmith, was assigned my teammates, and was thrust into my mission. Which we successfully completed! A design trait that I noticed was that directions and hints are embedded into the world as if they are wayfinders.
This was helpful in that my eye wasn’t being pulled in another direction to learn what the heck I was being asked to do in a game where the pace is relatively fast. This fast pace made time pass by really quickly as played. Overall, my first gamer experience was great. I survived my first day of school. One thing that will be fun to analyze is what is that second experience like much like watching a movie the second time around. What will I notice that I didn’t the first time? How am I playing different now that the barrier of never playing before no longer exists? Will I play more collaboratively as opposed to focusing on individual now that I understand my strengths? How will things clear up now that I’m out of the disorientation? I’m looking forward to see what that experience will be like.
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