Reasons To Play

     There are loads of different reasons why people play video games, but their reasons are not the same as their favorite aspects. You could say you love challenge, exploration, or competition, but do you know why? What things in your life brought you to the point where you'd rather play Minecraft than League of Legends? 

     Asking myself these questions I get the answers I repeat all the time. I like exploration games and fantastic adventures to see things I've never experienced before and enjoy escaping into a fantasy world while my problems fade away until further notice. What brought me here was years of stress and not wanting to be myself. I don't mean myself as in who I am, because I like everything about me. It just feels tough, like I'm playing life in Hard Mode in hopes of a bigger reward. 

     So what do you like most about video games? What elements of your favorite games do you enjoy most? Why do you like that so much?

Does Game Length Matter?

     Why do games that last 3 hours feel as good as some that last for 30? When you spend hundreds of hours in a game, how many of hose hours were fun to play? Some people consider games that don't last a few hundred hours not worth the $60 price. Others think play time has nothing to do with how good a game is, but rather the experience you have with it. If a game is paced well enough (take Portal for instance) the few hours spent playing it are forgiven in favor of the great experience that does not need to be any longer.

Empathy With Characters

     Games are a lot more intense when you care about what happens. It can make the difference between a chore and an activity. While I'm playing Pokemon Y I'm noticing small details that really make it shine for me. One of those details is the empathy I feel for the monsters I send out to fight for me. They're more interactive than ever and turn your friendship with them into a game mechanic.

Immersion Makes the World

     When you get into a game, and I mean really into, it'll stay with you as a life experience forever. I notice a big difference in the amount of investment I give a game when I feel like I'm in the world. I find myself pouring hours into games like Pokemon, GTA, Zelda, and Skyrim because I play games for escapism. To forget my worries for an unspecified amount of time so I can explore, overcome fantasy conflict, and just have fun.

     To make an RPG people can immerse themselves in is a dream of mine. I want to build a world people want to spend time in. Games that achieve this are the ones I love most and want there to be more of. Being able to put all my worries aside, even for just a moment, is the biggest reason I play games. It makes me incredibly happy and I just can't seem to give the feeling justice with words.