As a sort of autohypnosis, can you immerse yourself enough to feel exhilarated as you dive into battle from the back of a pterodactyl or get teleported off planet or fall in love?
In short, can you make yourself more alive through these games?
Its a bit like tickling yourself from the inside.
... doesn't everybody?
ReplyDeleteI joke. I'm aware not everyone has the same experience playing solo as reading a novel or movie, nor does everyone desire it. I suspect, though I'm not certain, that not everyone is quite as thorough about it as I am either.
I'm currently playing a horror game as gingerly as possible and I'm still having trouble maintaining distance.
I was watching a video by game designer Taro Yoko who discussed engineering peak experiences.
ReplyDeleteI asked myself -what do I want my game to help me experience? What narrative elements best facilitate that?
I want to hide from something way out of my league, I want a small act of kindness to alter the trajectory of a life, I want the bittersweet scene of leaving my familiar world for one of danger and adventure.
I've got the feelings which are the important part. Now I shape the story around them.
An advantage of solo play is I can sync the feelings to my own life experiences instead of guessing what element would immerse a player.
Got a link to that video? Interested in that subject.
ReplyDeleteI may have hit that peak a few times. I know it when I re-read a session write-up several times and it still puts a smile on my face the third or fourth time as much as when I wrote it.
https://youtu.be/OO_d3fwTNPo
ReplyDeleteTodd Zircher
ReplyDeleteI've hit this level of immersion, under optimum conditions, or when everything aligns just so in play. Like many other things, there are just those certain "moments". I suppose what makes them so special is that they're so elusive, hard to define, & hard to capture the essence of & put in a bottle.
ReplyDeleteTam H Did someone say...HORROR?!?! I'm listening.... ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha. Working on October's micro game. I did a play test, and it's not really "horror" so much as it is a framework for telling stories that could be horrific if you have it in you to go that way.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about the idea of "peak experience" today, as I finished up the play test and tried not to identify too strongly with the characters. I don't know if this is really what's meant by that, but I get very into what I'm experiencing, to the point where I forget I'm also controlling things. Part of me is with the hero, like a book or movie, part of me is pulling strings.
It's a weird little mental exercise but a fun one! I find it more satisfying than just reading because I do have that little bit of control over the outcome, and what I put down on paper becomes "real".
Hope that makes some sense.
I see us as pioneers of structured imaginative narrative play. We have only scratched the surface of the possible. The surface of
ReplyDelete- an invisible wall -
beyond which is a new realm of gaming.