Eva0102's Blog - Apr to Jun 20 (6 followers)
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Jun02
Mindless Games (And why the can be important)Permalink
Hey Everyone! Been a hot minute since I did a blogpost and wanted to do a quick one here while I have a brief moment from all the crazy happenings around the US here to talk about a genre of games that is not defined necessarily by themes or game mechanics but is almost entirely driven by the player and how they feel. The kind of game you put on and can zone out and barley pay attention on screen or pop a podcast in and listen while you play or a game you get sucked into so much you just dont notice time flying by, a game collection I call Mindless Games. (Patent pending)

Now when I play a game I try very hard to get invested in the world, the characters, mechanics or whatever the developer has made for me to put my time and money into and to get the best experience possible. Final Fantasy 9 for example one of my favorite games of all time I still spend hours reading the same dialogue or planning the right equipment for a boss fight or get choked up when you find out Vivi's fate despite having played that game now over 50 times...no joke I play it at LEAST once a year. So with all that said some people see FF9 or other RPG games as mindless games. Go here, kill monsters, level up, swap gear, use spells, queue the victory music etc. that is what they see or how they play that way and that is OK. It is all about how you approach games or enjoy them and of course it is all subjective. Lets take an example for myself, ManEater which just released is the perfect mindless game for me.

ManEater (or ME) at its heart is a fun Shark focused, open world RPG.....and has some admitted surprising depth in terms of underwater mechanics, strategy for diffrent enemies and upgrades but for me.........ME BIG SHARK ME BITE YOU!!!! I platinumed the game by just biting and jumping. Thats it. Not to say I didnt die or their were not better ways to approach things but for me all I wanted to do was turn my brain off and eat people.....because I am a shark.....I named myself Beatrice. However some people can look at ME and spend hours roleplaying maybe even looking for hidden secrets or just admiring the underwater environments and thats great! But its not my cup of tea. So again just to be clear Mindless Games is not a bad term necessarily its just a broad label for games that differ from person to person.

Why talk about this at all though? Well as most of you are aware the country around me is in a bit of a mess and we are having to confront serious issues and problems that have been ignored for years. People are getting hurt and its tough for a lot of people. If coming home to play a game that lets you just shutdown and relax is something even a small fraction of people can do to help themselves mentally I think thats a great thing. Gaming can be a refuge, a way to recover mentally or just a safe space to be in. So maybe if your stressed about whats going on or just need some you time, grab a game and relax.

How bout you guys? Any games that you consider Mindless for yourselfs? Let me know and also everyone stay safe and spread some love.
Posted by Eva0102 on 02 June 20 at 18:34 | There are 2 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
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