Why Do We Play Games?

By the time my brother and I were allowed to buy video games, it was too late for me to get obsessed with them. I had somehow convinced myself that video games were like junk food — they felt good in the moment, but didn't actually provide lasting nutrients like playing sports or reading.

A few years ago, I changed my mind. If you haven't already, listen to Ezra Klein’s interview with philosopher C. Thi Nguyen about his book Games: Agency as Art. Their conversation made me realize that despite my aversion, games are everywhere in my life: Instagram posts, dating apps, and performance reviews all have rules, points, and winners.

“We’re not simply playing these games — they are playing us, too. Our desires, motivations and behaviors are constantly being shaped and reshaped by incentives and systems that we aren’t even aware of.”

The lens of viewing everything as a game is useful. It helps me consider implicit rules and question how much I care about winning. I also started to think about video games less as wastes of time and more as immersive art pieces. Playing a game is like stepping into a new mini world where, refreshingly, the rules are explicit and winning is achievable.

In games, it's more clear how well you're doing because there are generally points. In life it's much more opaque: You went on a great run, but then you burnt your dinner and you've got a runny nose, but finished your book. I guess you're doing… alright? Are you better than you were a year ago? Are you making progress? In life these can be difficult questions, but in games you just look at your level.

For the first few decades of our lives, school and grades are a kind of real-world point system. I wonder if games appeal to adults because we crave the certainty we had at the beginning of our life. It feels good to know that you did a good job. It feels good to feel smart.

I think games can teach us a lot about life. In future posts I want to analyze the game mechanics, design choices, and ideas for improvement for a variety of games I've been playing recently. Why did Wordle go viral? What makes NYT's new game Connections so fun? What sort of games appeal to different people? Stay tuned.