Games aren't fun anymore?

The black box on my desk gently hummed as the screen came to life. The ethereal blue of the default Windows wallpaper, the snow-white menus. It was 2020, I just got a computer, and the world looked brand-new.

Confined to the life of a schoolchild, I loved all games. Racing, match-3, I could get enjoyment out of anything. I remember turning on Minecraft and just… playing. Building an underground facility with bunkers everywhere and weird redstone of my own design. It was ugly, but it was sincere. That’s still an option, booting into a new experience is always fun. But occasionally, a voice at the back of my head nags me: “but why?”.

Why climb a digital mountain when I could hike a real track? Why go through the motions in a life sim when I could explore my surroundings? A shooter doesn’t sound as appealing when you can play airsoft. I suppose this is a “privileged” perspective – not everyone has access to the real deal a lot of the time. But so be it – it’s also the one relevant to me. You could also argue games offer experiences not found in the real world – but how different are they fundamentally? Is fighting ruffians with a medieval sword that distinct from defeating an opponent one-on-one with a modern épée? A focus on “gameplay” more often than not translates into performing an activity I could do in real life in a more worthwhile or useful way. Even sandboxes lose their charm if I think too hard about what I could do instead of indulging in them. Okay, I built this virtual house – could’ve done something with my hands instead. When was the last time I drew again?

This isn’t about games not being as fun as they used to be. No, they still are, and more great ones get released yearly. But when more options are available to you, some games become simulacrums of real, much more fulfilling activities.

I’ve been increasingly playing only two kinds of games – those that promise a good story, and puzzles. Of course, there’s room for exceptions – playing online with friends is always fun, and an action game can be a way to relax.

Yet as I currently go through CrossCode, much like Hollow Knight: Silksong earlier it offers a window into the other side. Whenever I pick up a long game with lots of digital exploration and “content”, the experience is exciting. Places to be, people to meet, foes to slay. Why haven’t I been doing this more often?! It’s like living in a novel, a new surprise awaiting at every corner. I could spend all my time here!

“…Sometimes makes you wish you could just stay in this world…”
– from CrossCode

But that’s the problem, isn’t it? That can’t end well. I played for three hours today, what did I accomplish? Some “errands” and “loose ends” taken care of before moving on further into the story? That could’ve been three hours of real errands. My time is finite, to the point I question whether I’m even having fun optimally. I love traversing this make-believe world, and almost fourty hours in aren’t sure I’m even halfway done with it. But do you know how many books one could fit into fourty hours? Was CrossCode deeper than War and Peace so far? I don’t know. More importantly, why do I care?

Have I lost some of the ability to truly enjoy games for the sake of games? If I increasingly avoid what a medium uniquely offers, can I still say it’s my favourite?