Can a game be too easy?

[Sushuri Madonna]

Some games reviewers complain bitterly when a game is "too easy". Some complain that games in general are getting too easy, because "casual gamers" are becoming more and more prominent.

My Amalah on the other hand says there is no such thing as a too-easy game and I am inclined to agree.

I have often wondered if I am a "casual gamer" or not. I think I play more games than the average "casual" and have been more interested in them for longer. On the other hand, I am not especially good at them, and can become bored when they get too "serious" - I spoke in the previous patch about how I tend to love Zelda game at first but lose interest after a while largely because the color palette is too dull, though also because as the dungeons get more complicated they require you increasingly to have a sense of direction and a memory of where you've been and what you've done - both of which I lack in both physical and virtual environments.

I do like games, but I enjoy them because they are colorful and like storybooks (I have trouble reading). I play them to be entertained rather than challenged and I don't like getting stuck or doing the same bit over and over again.

Am I a hopeless lightgame-philistine? What are y'alls feelings about these things?

[Minami Kohime]

I agree that there is no such thing as a too easy game. Even because the so called "hardcore gamers" should understand that not all games must necessarily match their needs as gamers - and I believe this is what is happening now. Some like it adventurous, other like it strategical, the bongo like it violent. But to disregard a game as seeming to be too easy just because it isn't the sort of genre they like is simply to be ignorant.

True gamers (which I believe is our case) know what they like, but will not say "no" to experimenting new types and even enjoy these games for what they are (provided they are not mindless shooting and gore-filled ones, please). The other "old school" opinions are just full of prejudice. Let us face it like this: healthy people do NOT waste their time with impossible games just to show they are good at it. Games these days show forth more moderation and fun above all else, so that we can keep our lives and play our deésse when time permits. And that definitely doesn't necessarily put us in the "casual gamer" category. The way I see it, it puts us in the sensible gamer category - and I guess it is better than being called hardcore, ne?

(Oh, dear... I do tend to be passionate about game-related things... I'm sorry, heehee )

[Petite Sorcière]

Early games were hard because early games machines had very limited memory. There was no room for lots of text and story, or lots of different scenes. The only way to make a game last a reasonable length of time (considering they were quite expensive to buy) was to make them hard so the player spent a long time on each scene and had to keep going back and playing it over because she couldn't do it the first (or second or third or fourth...) time.

I am sure that is where the idea that games are supposed to be super-challenging originally came from. Then it got baked into the em-eh-ell-ee pride and boastfulness - the idea that only someone really good at it can beat the game - the whole culture of bragging and sneering at people who can't do it. These people hate easy games because they are too accessible to the "non-elite".

I agree with Kohime-chei. I like games a lot, and I don't consider myself "casual", but I also do not have endless time to devote to playing. I want to have fun, and see different parts of the game, not spend hours trying to get past one little bit.

I absolutely agree with your definition. We are not "casual" and we are not "hardcore" either. We are sensible gamers who enjoy games as a charming pastime and a valid form of art and entertainment, but not as an obsession.

[Mengxia Yu]

I do think it is possible for a game to be too easy, but one would really have to try to make it excessively easy. I once played a game in Elektraspace where, in order to win, you walked your little coloured square across the room and through the door. That was it. One level. No obstacles. But that is the odd game out.