Glorious Toys versus Empathic Storytelling
Two years ago I picked up the pre-acclaimed PC game, Spore. This was after downloading the sample Creature Creator, listening to over a year of evangelizing from Electronic Arts, and dealing with their intrusive DRM. When I finally inserted the disk and got my hands dirty, I was underwhelmed. As a long-time gamer, I could easily point out the product’s influences. In fact, I often felt my time could be better spent playing it’s inspiring works; flOw, World of Warcraft, Age of Empires and Civilization to name a few. It found it’s way into a box of loose disks where it sits as we speak.
Despite my experience, to hear Will Wright talk about his creation is quite an eye opener. Having grown up in a Montessori school, Will expresses a game development philosophy based loosely on the Montessori method. This approach unlocks the potential of the audience by providing them with ‘high-leverage tools’ to allow the player to be ‘building this world in their imagination and extract it from them with the least amount of pain’. He is presenting the game as a toy which the player can play with, and be empowered by.
Hearing his justification, I feel like I’m a little more connected to the game and I can experience it the way it was intended. He created a game that does not drive the player, but let’s the player drive themselves through curiosity. Moreover his use of the term ‘high-leverage’ tools is something I appreciate and agree with. The interface should be intuitive and empowering.
Still, I felt after a few days of playing that I was not engaged. Inversely to Spore’s ideal, other games may introduce a protagonist, or some relatable character that the player can empathize with. This is something the game lacks. Spore creates investment by allowing the player to personalize many, many details of the organisms they represent. But there’s always a level of separation provided by the ‘God’ complex granted by the game. Without a compelling goal paired with a sense of mortal investment, you’re left with the very feeling Mr. Wright was pursuing… the feeling of playing with a toy.
I can’t whole-heartedly condemn his philosophy, especially since I have an invigorated desire to play with Will Wright’s bright and well-intentioned toy once again. On the other hand, as a consumer I often seek an empathy and connectedness. To me, it is very important to give a game the staying power to live on in my memory, and I think this is the sort of thing that comes to mind for many gamers.