Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
Yesterday, Offworld's Laura Hudson posted a pretty fascinating article examining her personal fondness of time management games. These games tend to be based around unglamorous scenarios that she's lived out in reality (the life of the harried waitress, for example) so their appeal to her might be a bit surprising. In her own words, "Why did I want to play intentionally stressful games that simulated the exact work experiences where I'd once felt so underpaid and undervalued? And why the hell did playing them make me feel so relaxed?"
Hudson's answer to that question not only provides insight into the widespread appeal of the "____ Dash" time management genre, but reminded me of my own profound fondness for a similar kind of play...
Hudson writes:
The reason I find these games soothing isn't because they simulate stress, but because they simulate the idea that it is manageable. They create a sense of expertise and earned control over a what feels like an initially overwhelming set of tasks, a feeling that might be particularly appealing for working women, who disproportionately bear the burden of housework and child-rearing even when they have full-time jobs.
The hustle and bustle of time management games has never appealed to me personally, but a similar genre does. I'm a vocal fan of Harvest Moon, a game series that dons some serious rose-coloured glasses in its simulation of rural farm life. Typically in these games (and not unlike the more fast-paced time management games Hudson is referring to) you start with little more than the bare necessities. You'll have a field and a shack and maybe some rusty old tools, and you'll use them to build your way towards a proper house, a barn full of livestock, a happy family, and a local community thriving thanks to all your hard work. Your hard work, which boils down to the exact same routine, day in day out, season after season. Wake up, tend your crops, tend your animals, greet your neighbours, chop wood, break rocks, forage, go to bed, wake up and repeat. Some people think it's boring. Personally it reminds me of knitting; slow, steady progress towards a more satisfying whole, routine to the point of muscle memory.
Harvest Moon nowhere near as stressful as the games that Hudson is writing about, but there is some overlap in their appeal. I know the reason that I find Harvest Moon so appealing is based on the idea that hard work and diligence is enough. That if you keep your head down, keep at it, and keep smiling, you'll get where you want to go. This is not really how life works, but it's a comforting thought, don't you think?
Of course there's much more to Hudson's argument than I've shared here, but I need to leave you with enough motivation to check out the rest. You can read Hudson's full article for yourself over on Offworld.
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