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I want more games to redefine what ‘survival’ meansMainly so I can be good at survival games
Mainly so I can be good at survival games
I think we can generally agree that one of the main functions of video games is wish fulfillment. They let you believe you might not only be a powerful and competent person, but also the most powerful and competent person in the universe (and if that is not the case, why do Bethesda games even exist?). And, that being the case, survival games occupy a strange twilight world for me. I really wish I was good at them, because I really like the idea of mostsurvival games.
Don’t Starve, a survival game where I have never not starved.
But there is a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for me, because there are a bunch of survival games around that are sort of redefining what “survival” might mean.
The Trebhum, the herd of willy-shaped creatures you control in The Eternal Cylinder
The Eternal Cylinder, which is out later this year and isthree penises in a trenchcoat pretending to be a normal survival game, has some of the usual gubbins like having to eat and drink and watch out for areas that are too cold, but there’s no gradual building up of a safe home. You’re constantly running away from a big horrible rolling pin (so the pace is in some ways similar toThe Flame In The Flood). Survival is just the survival of one of your little tribe of critters, and the passing on of the knowledge you have accrued; there is no list of tasks to be performed every day in order to cling, limpet-like, to the safety you have gradually carved out.
There’s alsoAmong Trees. Among Trees does have a list of tasks, but they are things like ‘go to the river and collect driftwood’ or ‘hike to the place where the cattails grow’ or ‘water the beetroots in my greenhouse’. Among Trees is about living in absolute peace in a forest, rather than constantly being stressed that you might die of thirst if you don’t find a radioactive puddle in the next five minutes. There are occasionally bears, I admit, but if you’re a big coward like me you can turn the bears off, and then you just have to remember tonot eat the poisonous mushrooms.
I am still very early on but I already have a pet ghost bird who likes the rustic table and chair decorations I built for my camp. I have been rewarded with scout badges for fishing and building and talking to the ghosts. I am gradually reclaiming and taming the Cosy Grove, and I am restoring the memories of the ghosts, who were sad lonely spook-clouds until I, a Spirit Scout, turned up. And I put it to you that words and indeed meaning are meaningless, so I’m allowed to redefine “survival” a little bit. And I think developers should have a crack at redefining it more often. For my specific benefit.
