Abstract scavenger game needs an ending

[droqen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77yLiMmKtk

[droqen]

[AB]

How do you end something like this? It's a loop, for sure. You go out, you gather, you come back. But there's a problem: The design does not have enough inherent friction. I could introduce such friction, yes, but . . . I think that would necessitate too many systems?

Maybe I need to go back to the basics.

What is the idea of survival or scavenging? There is one big number that goes down; you move closer to death over time. Then, you have to perform actions in order to avert death. This is a big loop. I don't think it has the right puzzly characteristics. So what would, or could?

In theory there is something to trying to get the right mix of stuff. I like to play with probability... maybe I could do something with probability? A gamble... how to communicate that a tile has a chance of one outcome over another? Do I even want to play with that? Hmm

[droqen]

Looking at the gallery manifesto (first part).

- THESE SMALLER EXPERIENCES ARE DISTINCT BEINGS, THEY DO NOT RUN TOGETHER INTO A GRADIENT OR A SMEAR; UNLESS THE GRADIENT IS ITSELF THE BEING, UNLESS THE SMEAR ITSELF IS THE BEING
[..]
- THE OBJECT OF EACH EXPERIENCE IS AUTHORED BY ONE PERSON, CAPTURING ONE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

- THE PRIMARY TERRAIN THAT LIES BETWEEN EACH SUBJECT AND EACH SUCH EXPERIENCE IS PRIMARILY EXPERIENTIAL AND SUBJECTIVE IN NATURE; THAT IS, THE PLAYER TRAVERSES AN INTERNAL TERRAIN: THE OBJECT OF EXTERNAL TERRAIN IS SECONDARY AND ULTIMATELY SERVES SUCH PERSONAL SELF-TRAVERSAL.

[droqen]

In particular I was thinking of that last part, w/r/t gambling. "THE PLAYER TRAVERSES AN INTERNAL TERRAIN." I have to keep that in mind, when considering something as mechanical as 'randomness' or 'gambling'... what is the internal terrain? When playing Ziggy's RGB Scavenger, what is the internal terrain? What is the personal experience being tapped into and galvanized?

[droqen]

The internal terrain traversed in RGB Scavenger is, primarily, navigation of an unchanging space in order to find what is needed. That's something I like a lot. It's also not enough. It's a loop, and haiku games don't have game loops. Rather, the loop isn't the thing, it's just a structure. A game loop is a gallery. A GAME LOOP IS A GALLERY, NOT A GAME. So the loop has to contain experiences, whole experiences that stand alone... hmm

[droqen]

Abundance. I forgot to note, abundance. The reason not to cache droqevers is to know that I trust in abundance. I won't release a game every day. That's fine. But there will always be more games. Always, always, always.

A survival game is a loop, a holding pattern. Can I even in principle end the loop? Then it ceases to be what it was...