I’ve been playing a bunch of The Sims lately, as I do every now and then. The Sims is a weird game for me; it’s one with no goals. You can’t beat The Sims, not in the way you can other games, the point is just to play. Any ‘point’ to playing is one you make for your own — have your Sim fall in love, reach the top of their career, build a massive mansion with a sprawling underground complex where Father Winter resides as a live-in boyfriend — that you set out to accomplish. That’s the game.
Most games have a point (and often a variety of side quests along the way) and, over the past several years, I have become a player who plays a game for the point. I played Armored Core VI with the intention of finishing it, Destiny 2 has a laundry list of things for me to do each day that resets every three months or so. There’s not just stuff to do in these games, there are things to accomplish, things to get done.
And so gaming becomes a bunch of tasks to check off a list. A game is a bunch of things to do, fun is secondary to accomplishing the goal — finishing the thing is all the gratification you need, never mind the journey. I once managed to do everything in one of Destiny’s seasons and suddenly felt like there was no reason for me to play anymore, at least not until the next season started.
I don’t think I like that mindset, I don’t think I like games being a Method By Which I Accomplish An Arbitrary Task and not Something I Do To Have Fun. But so much of life has been subsumed by it: a season of tv is something I watch to say I’ve watched, a book is read so I can cross it off my ever-growing list, cooking is something I do so I can eat.
It’s such a screwy approach to things — the process should be part of the fun. I enjoy a good hike, but reaching the destination isn’t why I hike, I hike because the long walk is something I enjoy. I don’t buy LEGO just to have the cool model, I want to build that spaceship, make the thing. Because I do enjoy the process — I enjoy playing games, I enjoy reading, I enjoy cooking; and reducing it all to a simple means to an end robs it of its joy.
So maybe spending time aimlessly in The Sims is a good change of pace. Maybe it’s good to do something pointless for a while and just enjoy the process.
Additional Reading: Greg Pak has a lovely post about washing the dishes and being willing to take the time with stuff. There’s some relation there to this wanting to enjoy the process, and probably some relation to me trying to learn how to rest.
Essays, Not Rants! 