Some video games are like novels. Others are like poems.
I’m a big proponent for small-scale, personal, experimental, and/or narrative indie games. Stuff that you can finish in a day or two, made by a solo dev or a group of friends.
But, as ashamed as I am to admit it publicly…I’m really bad at carving out the time to sit down and play them.
I love spreading the word about them, I love buying them and supporting the creators, but…actually sitting down and starting them? And finishing them? For some reason, I have a tougher time working that into my schedule.
It seems counterintuitive. A lot of these games can be completed in one or two sittings. Shouldn’t it be easier to play them than to play bigger games?
I think it’s a psychological thing, and also down to preference. Like how my partner loves to binge 8 episodes of a TV show in a row, but “doesn’t have time” to watch one movie. It just feels different. The TV show makes you feel like you can dip out at any time you want, and can keep going if you want. A movie feels like a commitment. It’s best to finish it all in one go for it to really land.
I kind of feel the same way about games. I mean, I’m not good at completing any games, and I have a horrible attention span if I’m being honest. But I don’t mind chipping away at a big AAA game and having to space it out into chunks. But if I’m playing someone’s really personal narrative game, and I get 40% through and then fall off…it’s hard to feel like I can pick up where I left off. I’d rather just do it all in one sitting.
For me, roguelikes work because they’re the easiest to “carve time out for.” I can easily get one or two runs in of my favorite roguelike per day, and then put it down. Maybe that’s the time I should be making for playing these short experimental games.
And yet…there’s also a matter of attention and emotional headspace. I can play some Balatro runs on the couch while I’m half paying attention to my partner playing Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth on the big screen. But am I gonna split my attention like that when I’m playing a really unique, personal visual novel? Probably not.
One last obstacle: platform. For a lot of tiny solodev stuff, usually the best (or only) place to play it would be on my desktop computer. Again, not always a good fit for hanging on the couch or for travel.
It’s a resolution of mine, I guess, to get better at this. I really want to sit down and play short games. I want to browse through itch.io, find everyone’s awesome passion projects and personal stories. I want to play more of the fantastic Indiepocalypse games I’ve bought. I want to develop a habit of playing these types of games to completion and reaching out to the devs so I can say “Hey, I loved your game!”
But, much like poetry, I currently only delve into it on spontaneous occasions where it crosses my timeline and I have an afternoon to spare.
I have a feeling I’m not alone in this way. I’m sure a lot of people find it a lot more natural to play 1 or 2 AAA games than to play 20 tiny games. I think I’ll have to make a concentrated effort to carve out time for it, and change my old habits.
