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In a capitalist world, making video games that are designed to not be replayed over and over again is an act of resistance. 
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
I want to design and make games that are short enough to let you plenty of time to play other things, watch other things, read other things, talk to other people. I am a little worried that writing that sounds weird.
We tried to design @BMMLgame so that you only play it once. It was partly due to its topic, and also partly due to you having other things to discover.
Some players were very angry with that, and even though I understand where it comes from, that really worried me.
Some players were very angry with that, and even though I understand where it comes from, that really worried me.
We put achievements in the game, and probably we shouldn't have. Or we should have put achievements that you automatically get in 1 playthrough.
And I'm happy that some people took the time to play the game thoroughly and discover all of the routes and all of the endings.
And I'm happy that some people took the time to play the game thoroughly and discover all of the routes and all of the endings.
But the idea that you'll get the "full experience" by spending 100s of hours on a game is, to me, questionable. I mean, sure, soccer players spend 1000s of hours playing soccer to really master it, but, it's their job. Most of the time, for most people, video games aren't work.
So, what are they? What do you want them to be?
Do you want them to be a device for people to lose and forget themselves in? I get it, it's not your fault that they hate their life under capitalism. But by providing them with a way to get numb, maybe you're part of the problem.
Do you want them to be a device for people to lose and forget themselves in? I get it, it's not your fault that they hate their life under capitalism. But by providing them with a way to get numb, maybe you're part of the problem.
To be clear, my point isn't that game with high replayability shouldn't exist. It's more that I believe they come with an enormous responsibility. If you're going to make a game that players are going to spend 1000s of hours in, you HAVE got to make it worth their time.
I don't know how to make such games. And the prospect terrifies me. So I prefer to make games that are short, (hopefully) dense, and that leave a lot of time and mental space for a lot of other things. I mean, look at life! The possibilities! It can't all be mine.
And I say that having spent an insane amount of time on the CIV series, and an even bigger one on Football Manager. Some of those hours I really, really enjoyed. They made my brain work, fed my imagination, changed my perception of the world even!
But I inevitably reached a point when I was playing to not think about a lot of things. And while it's surely not wrong per se - sometimes you just need to pull the plug for a while - it sure isn't helping to fix the issue either. I ended up still feeling like shit, only older.
I know we're not mental health doctors. I know what people decide to do with their lives isn't our direct responsibility. And once again, I don't blame anyone! I just feel like asking ourselves what our creation entail, enable and allow is part of our responsibility as #gamedevs.
