Playing on your own

Way back in the very early 90’s, in a time when chatting to people involved meeting up in real life and Burritos hadn’t been invented yet… I got a NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System. When I first played it, everyone watched. I jumped on Goombas heads and hunted some ducks whilst that damn dog laughed. People watched. When I got new games and then new consoles I excitedly hooked them up, rounded up the family members and despite their waning interest and I forced them to watch. Then came the Wii! And people wanted to watch again. I loved showing off that magical little box and how amazing it was to have a game of bowling without having to wear those sweaty, crappy shoes. Now I live with the wife and every so often I say “watch me play this,” which then brings on that crushing disappointment that she’s not impressed and wants you turn it off in time for Big Brother.

Sometimes though, you don’t want people to watch. There are games I’ve played in which the thought of a spectator would completely ruin everything. The most recent example for me is Flower. I knew I wanted to blog about it, to write about its loveliness and profess my adoration in the hope that some soul out there might +1 it on google and prove I’m not alone. Trying to put into words why it’s great seems like a near impossible task though.

In Flower you play as some petals. Yup…

You fly a petal leaf in the direction of some other flowers, they bloom and another petal joins you. Soon you’re flying this big group of flower petals through the air and then… Well that’s kind of it. You’re going to go and buy it right now aren’t you?

I need to mention the music, which is bliss. What I can’t do for the life of me is describe to you just how great it feels.. The wife watched me play me a bit of it and questioned my masculinity. She also can’t comprehend a game just feeling great because she’s a competitive sod and it’s only a game if you’re winning. Having someone sit beside you as you play it changes the whole thing. When I played it on my own I just flew about and watched as the world changed and the music adapted to my motions. I was immersed in doing nothing really, just relaxing. When someone’s watching you feel a need to show them a point, to entertain them or validate your chosen use of the TV.

I’d guess it’s the same as reading a book. You can talk to people about a plot or your favourite characters but have you tried reading a book with someone, sitting beside that person and sharing that experience? Well of course you haven’t, that’s just silly talk. When you read a book you’re sucked in and all of its intricacies form your enjoyment. You wouldn’t enjoy reading a plot summary on Wikipedia but at the same time that’s the bit you’re going to tell your friends about and the hook with which you hope to reel them in. How do I convince you to try Flower without the same hook? I’m really struggling so I’ll stop. I loved it and if you’ve agreed with any of my other blog posts then you might just love it too.

Back to that point about playing on my own.. Games in general have always had some kind of social element. That’s part of the territory when 90% of them are competitive. Nearly every big release has some online component and the rise of eSports is still a strange thing to even someone like me who loves the medium (American sports networks are televising game tournaments now!!) I still love the local multiplayer of Mario Kart and as I’ve said before there are games in which I’ve loved playing with the wife beside me, a shared experience. There are games however (and books, and music) that are expertly crafted for you to be on your own. Sometimes it’s best to get completely sucked in, sometimes it’s nice to have an hour in which nothing else exists.