Games as work

I was recently browsing Pocket when an article caught my eye. The title
"All Work and No
Play"
grabbed my attention. The article mashes two perspectives together. The
first is about plight of game designers who are working untold hours for
low pay and no job security, and the games that these developers are
creating. The second is about the types of games they're producing. The
more interesting perspective for me is about the games that are
produced, though this is not to say that the low pay / long hours of the
developers is any less important.

The article is a review of the book Press
Reset
which deals with the stories and situations of various video game
developers and the studios that have collapsed around them. The article
posits that much of the games of the 21st century are reflections of
those who have created them, and the games that they're creating feel
like extensions of 21st century work. This is interesting because I've
felt that many of the games (video games, board games, etc.) hew close
to the tasks of work. Worker placement games have a feeling of managing
little meeples and directing them to be in the right place and the right
time in order to get scant resources for creating an economic engine.
We've turned our play into an extension of work. The rewards are victory
points, or score or some other trifle. Many games have an in-game
currency where you can purchase different items to customize your
experience so you can perform better in the game or add a minimum of
personalization to your character.

This line of inquiry into games and game design makes me think about the
games that we've had over the past two decades. It's also giving me
another perspective on why I've bounced off of many of the newer board
games and haven't taken to a whole lot of video games as of late: they
just feel like more work.

Definitely some areas to think about. More to come.

http://decafbad.net/2021/08/07/games-as-work/

#misc #Adayinthelife #VideoGames #GameDesign #Rants