- What do I want?
- How can I get it?
When I'm playing a game, these are the questions I end up asking myself -- the big, important questions about my experience. If the answer to either question is uninteresting, I don't continue play.
What do I want?First of all, I must want something. Lately, I've found myself wanting
knowledge. I want to know how to do this thing, I want to know what lies behind this door, I want to try something new so that I know what it feels like.
Linear games might expect me to want something, even impress upon me what it is that I ought to want. (I naturally rebel.)
Open-world games often drop the ball, leaving me to wonder what it is that I want and to answer "nothing." (I am nihilistic. RIP)
How can I get it?Secondly, if I want something, I want to understand how I get there. In some cases the answer being not immediately apparent is interesting -- if the answer is "I don't know, but if I pursue some of my other interests I may find out," that's often compelling enough
if I do in fact
have other interests as a player.