Text Games
The text games that were available to play were a new experience in gaming for me. Only one other time in my life had I even observed a text game and that was way back in 9th grade. At that time I thought, what a stupid, boring game? But after having played one for myself I have to say.....what boring games?! The games are somewhat interesting, trying to find commands that actually work is a definite challenge but I found myself getting more frustrated than anything else. Yet, I still felt the need to continue playing the game only to find the next command. The games, although boring, were strangely addicting. More than a couple times I caught myself saying, "This game sucks...but what is the answer?" It was an interesting experience.
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Darrell Kuntz on Text Games: The reason I was frustrated an
Derek Tickle on Text Games: Hi Darrell! After reading your
Dennis G. Jerz on Text Games: Thanks for this candid post, D
Derek Tickle on Text Games: Hi Darrell! After reading your
Dennis G. Jerz on Text Games: Thanks for this candid post, D
Thanks for this candid post, Darrell. What do you think it says about yourself, about the level of success the designer achieved, and the genre of games that you have this complicated reaction? Remember that when we study something, we examine it in a different way than we would if we had chosen it simply as part of our relaxation.
Film critics and music critics have to pass judgment on things that they wouldn't ordinarily choose for their own entertainment, and they need to be able to speak effectively about the particular qualities of THIS polka album that make it better than THAT polka album, even if they would never choose to listen to polka (or watch horror films, or read science fiction comedy, or whatever) purely for pleasure.
What do you think it means, that you were frustrated and addicted at the same time? Perhaps something we've read recently will help you address this issue.
Hi Darrell! After reading your blog entry I thought of something that could help make your text-based game experience more interesting. What if you used another person while playing the game? This could help because you could bounce ideas back and forth between the two of you. This is also similar to modern day video games, "multi-player" option. These games are a great experience because they can be addicting. I posted a blog entry called "IF is one of a kind!" that links the "Read Game" article which gives a lot of information about text games.
The reason I was frustrated and yet intrigued was part of the whole hard work and fun of video games. However, the ending was disappointing to me because of the lack of a satisfying reward at the end of the game. I did enjoy the clear descriptions of areas within the game but I really wished that the author of the game didn't use the cheap "its only a story" ending. The game led me to hope that the story would all tie in together, and it kind of did but it just seemed too much like a cheesy ending to a tv show.