As always, Dr. Ian Bogost rocked the house at the Social Gaming Summit last week. Speaking on the first panel of the day, Ian discussed the potency of playing a character who is “us, but also slightly not us.”
The comment was made in reference to area/code’s Parking Wars, where players take on the roles of meter maids — a profession not known to be particularly glamorous or exciting. According to Ian, this is one of many reasons why Parking Wars is “the best game on Facebook right now.” It’s the same idea that first drove Diner Dash to mass-market success in 2004: the role of mundanity in game design.
As Ian puts it, “people like having experiences different from their own, no matter how mundane.” The key here is “experiences.” If a game can make a player feel like they’ve discovered the fun in waitressing, or editing Wikipedia entries, then it’s already one step ahead.
The trick to finding the fun in the mundane (or as I’m resisting calling it, “the fundane”), is finding the aspects of the experience that create “flow,” that euphoric mental state of efficiency (I’ve theorized for years that Flo in Diner Dash was actually named for Mihaly CsÃkszentmihályi‘s theory of optimal experience). Think about a job you’ve worked in your lifetime. Think about the repetitive aspects of that job in which you were able to enter a zen-like trance, the parts you actually enjoyed once you got good at them. This is game fodder.
Here are a few examples (and hey! Free game ideas!):
- Working at Quiznos: Next time you order the Chicken Carbonara, pay attention to the process by which your sandwich is made. It’s the Henry Ford model of food prep, and it’s oddly enjoyable. Think Cooking Mama + Root Beer Tapper.
- Repackaging RAM: I spent two summers working for a major memory reseller. My job? Removing RAM chips from old computers, repackaging and sorting for redistribution. I see a collection game on Facebook based on the rising and falling market value of memory. Players buy junky virtual PCs using the in-game economy, and strip them for their chips in a mini-game. Amassing a collection, players then buy and sell RAM between themselves in order to earn a profit and become the best in the world.
- Looking for a job: Okay, so the fun in this one is kinda hard to see (especially since I’m still in the midst of it), but the repetition is certainly there. Every aspect of the process — checking job sites, optimizing resumes, sending cover letters, interviewing, pitching salary requirements — all of these could be tied into a game experience. Format? I don’t entirely know yet. I’m currently working on a non-digital version. Let’s see if someone can beat me to the social game.