Week 1

Getting Over It review: This game was incredibly frustrating to me. I might have missed it, but is there a backstory to why he is in a pot? Why isn’t he using the sledgehammer to smash the pot he is in? Does he even want to be out of the pot? IDK. I was annoyed that the narrator was rambling, but when he stopped, I missed having something to listen to other than the hitting of a rock. My body was very tense watching the game being played.

Pain station thoughts: I can see what draws people to play this game, but it’s weird at the same time. Is kind of a form of punishment when you do something wrong, but also it’s fun. It’s like touching your tongue to a 9V battery; you know it’s going to send a shock, but you’re anticipating it. (Am I the only one who did this?)

Townscaper review: I can see why this is entertaining, creating stories of who might reside at the houses you are building, but at a certain point I think I’d get bored. I guess that’s what the game is all about: close it and restart another day when you remember the game exists. The sound effects are amazing.

Fair Food Maker review: OMG! I thought this was the best game ever when I was a kid. Tori mentioned playing this game, and I got flashes of memories of this game that I could sort of remember, but I wasn’t positive. You basically select a machine you would see at a fair and make the food. Ex.: lemonade, funnel cake, snow cone, corn dog, etc. This game has no end state; you make the foods and eat them, and you can start over with another food or be done.

Slither.io review: This is another example of a game without an explicit end state. I still love this game and play it to occupy my short attention span. You collect food, grow bigger, and eventually die. Then you start again. There is no progress saved other than a past high score. Every time you die, you start new, as small as everyone else when they start.

What are the issues Ian Bogost raises about social games with Cow Clicker?

• Enframing- friends are resources
• Compulsion- psychological manipulation, exploiting human psychology in order to make money
• Optionalism- the game’s meaning comes from the choices a player makes; gameplay is optional
• Destroyed Time- “Social games so covet our time that they abuse us while we are away from them, through obligation, worry, and dread over missed opportunities.” It’s the disrespect of time that we could be being more productive, other than wasting it on a game.

How do social games like FarmVille enframe friends?

• Friends are used as perks. “Get 100 coins by inviting 1 friend”

How do social games destroy time outside the game?

• “Social games so covet our time that they abuse us while we are away from them, through obligation, worry, and dread over missed opportunities.” It’s the disrespect of time that we could be being more productive, other than wasting it on a game.