What makes a good video game? This is another one of those things that was on my list.

I grew up absolutely in love with many video games, though I haven’t really played anything in recent times– probably because I have more real world challenges with work and my own life– fitness, sleep, etc– which might be less “exciting” as games, but have more payoff.

I’m going to try and write from scratch before referring to the notes I had. The most important thing about a game in my opinion is– well, two things– it has to immerse you into it, and it has to propel you forward. Technically I guess it’s the same thing with good movies and good books– you have to get immersed into it, and you have to want to turn the page, you have to want to keep watching. That’s storytelling. You have to have some sort of urgency– not necessarily a crazy emergency of sorts, but there has to be a sense of “I think I ought to go somewhere and do something”, because otherwise you’re going to lose the player.

The player has to relate to whatever they’re controlling. If it’s an FPS, it should feel good to walk around, to look at things, and to interact with the environment, with enemies. If it’s an RTS, the player should be able to understand what’s on the ground in front of her, and what she ought to be doing– what the objectives are, and how she ought to use the units and resources at her disposal. All of these things should be communicated very clearly. But that’s kind of functional, tactical stuff. It’s execution– the equivalent of good language, good cinematography. You still need to have something to say, some sort of challenge for the player to rise to.

The last game I really got into and enjoyed was the Mass Effect series– it got me very interested in the characters, and it made me want to see them overcome the conflicts that they were embroiled in. I suppose I also enjoyed Final Fantasy 6 and 7, Breath of Fire 2, Dragon Age Origins. I really appreciate Megaman X. With all of these games there’s a sense of somewhere to go, something that needs to be fulfilled. It can start really small, and then the world opens up and you realize there’s so much more.

A game has to give a player a sense of power. You can take it away from them at times to make them feel powerless, violated– there’s a part in Dragon Age Origins where you get attacked in your little encampment where you expect to be safe. In Mass Effect 2 (or 3, I forget), your ship gets attacked while you’re away, and you have to control Joker, your physically feeble pilot. In Megaman X you face a boss that you’re not actually capable of defeating– all of these things give you a sense of powerlessness.

I suppose I’d like to take a minute to think about why I even care about what makes a great video game. I suppose it boils down to this– almost all good video games feel a little more engaging than real life in some sense, which is why people can get so carried away and addicted. Video games are designed better than most of our lives are– in real life, the objectives are fuzzy, the next levels are fuzzy, it’s not clear what we could be doing to get to “the next level”, it’s not clear how we ought to be improving ourselves, what demons we ought to be defeating. Good video games lay that out for you, and sorta cheer you on as you succeed. You feel like you’re learning and growing– all sorts of things that school ought to be doing, but rarely does.

And when you watch say, Michio Kaku explaining the fundamental forces of the Universe, or listen to the guy talking about the perfumes that were still intact in the Titanic– when you see anybody who’s incredibly passionate about what you’re doing, you get a sense of that drive, that motivation. And I think that’s what we all need in life (again I wonder if the Zen-type folks might disagree with this). I glanced at a Paul Graham essay where he wrote about “What doesn’t feel like work?”– there are some things that feel like work, but some things that don’t, and we should typically try to end up setting up our livelihoods and our vocations around things that don’t feel like work. (Steve Vai: I’ve never worked a day in my life).

Video games start to suck when they feel like work, or when the game feels like it’s punishing you for no fault of your own. When the camera angle is bad, and so you can’t see the enemy, and you get killed for no fault of your own. Sadly, a lot of life can be like that– you have no idea why you’re suffering, because of forces and powers beyond your control. That’s just the way it is. But we should be trying to design things better, so people have a clearer sense of what they’re doing.

I saw a funny comic on Imgur I think about what life would be like if it were more like video games. Things like– when you’re going to talk to somebody, there’s a hologram above them telling you what you ought to talk to them about. In a sense, we can achieve that– not necessarily through the direct technomagic way, but by asking people what they’d like, or by doing the reading and research in advance. (Dale Carnegie talks about this.)

Okay, now I’ll glance at what I had written before, which some elaboration. I repeat myself a bit:

• Graphics: A video game doesn’t need to have cutting edge graphics. See: Flappy Bird, Pacman. Good graphics are about efficiently communicating ideas. Journey. You just need to feel like there’s something that can be done, and that you can do it. Fruit Ninja. Candy Crush. Saints Row 2, FF6 and FF7, Terranigma- all of these are great games with some nice graphics here and there, but not necessarily spectacular graphics.
• Length. There are short games that are great. There are long games that suck. The Godfather is a long movie, but there’s no wasted minutes. You don’t want to plan the length in advance– you want it to be exactly as long as it needs to be to communicate the essence of what you’re trying to say.
• Buildup. A great game has pace, buildup. Things swell, like music. You feel like you’re going somewhere. Something must change, and you must be changed by it. If nothing changes, why bother? The stakes has to change. Make it harder.
• Gameplay. A game must be literally fun to play. Surprisingly, this isn’t as critical as it might seem. There are some games that are worth playing even though the gameplay isn’t perfect. But this helps a lot. Real life corollary– sometimes you have to do things that aren’t fun, like send out a bunch of emails or do a bunch of mechanical tasks. But there can be ways of turning those things into games to make it more fun. Time yourself, challenge yourself.
• Character Development. I read somewhere that one of the most crucial things about any movie is that the protagonist must go through some sort of change. If they are the same person at the beginning and at the end, it feels like you wasted your time.
  Variation. You need to change things up.
• Plot. Why are we doing what we’re doing? What is the challenge that needs to be overcome? What is the objective? What were we not aware of before, that we need to learn? Good plots should expand our imagination, and perhaps force us to acknowledge that reality is more complex than we had previously conceived.
• Multiplayer– not all games need to be multiplayer games, but good multiplayer experiences are awesome. Counter-strike, Dota, Left4Dead– it’s great when people can help each other out, save each other from tight spots, and achieve more together than they can do on their own. It’s a very fulfilling experience, and you bond strongly with people.
• Sense of accomplishment, purpose, direction. Sometimes when I’m procrastinating I want to play a video game like Bare Knuckle III or Metal Slug X, because I like feeling like I’m in control, I like feeling like I’m performing this exquisite dance of sorts where things are getting done thanks to my skill and competence.
• Atmosphere (dead space). This is all about immersiveness. Throw me into a beautifully detailed world and help me forget about my day to day life for a while.
• Sense of chioice/power/customizability (Dragon Age, GTA, VC). Allow me to express myself through my decisions. In a way, a lot of life is about identity-expression too, if we want it to be. If we choose not to care about it, that’s a sort of identity-expression too.
  – Strategy tactics (Heroes 3). I guess this was about problem solving. When you find a creative solution to using your limited resources to do more than you previously thought you were able to do. That’s a heady feeling. The “Chess” element.
  – Sense of awe/power (suit up/level up)
  -Epic”-ness. Real life can be subtle and mundane. Fiction and video games and such can potentially make us feel things much more strongly by turning up the stakes. And they can tell us a lot about how we ought to approach everyday life. Bullshit breaks down at the extremes.
  no corridor-ness – Final Fantasy 13 was horrible because it was basically an endless series of pretty corridors. Corridor Simulator 13. Give me some choices, let me express myself by giving me multiple ways to solve a problem.
  – no drudging grinding. Why should I have to do the same thing over and over and over again? If I’m good at something, allow me to do it quickly. Allow me to skip things that I might not necessarily want to do, if I’ve already proven that I can do it. Quick-walk in Dragon Age, etc was great for this.
  – not too repetitive. Nobody wants to do the same thing over and over again. I’m looking at you again, Final Fantasy 13 and repetitive combat. Challenge me. Make certain things inaccessible. Force me to see things differently.

I suppose all of these principles also go into Life design, when thinking about how we ought to live and play the games that are our lives.