When we talk about playing a game, we usually mean a specific approach: the player is focused on the game at hand, with as few distractions as possible pulling them out of the experience. Many of the biggest games are designed specifically to encourage this immersion, often proactively punishing players if they veer off course.
I wouldn’t describe my relationship to the game that way. You may be familiar with “podcast game,” a game that takes a fraction of your full attention to play comfortably, with audio muted or ignored while a podcast, TV show or Twitch stream is playing in the background. This has gone from what I do occasionally Things became the way I spent most of my time gaming and even factored in my decision to play it in the first place. What started out as a sinful habit, over time it became a way of understanding us A new way of how to “play” games.
A good “podcast game” depends on who you ask, but the best games have some DNA in common. They need as little story and dialogue as possible, can be challenging but don’t require your constant attention, and perhaps most crucially – they need at least some repetitive mundane elements. Grinding is a good example: I spent most of my life leveling up Pokémon unknowingly, and a series of podcasts kept me entertained because I was focused enough on the game to avoid dying.
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