2. The Art of Failure

Another book from the Playful Thinking series, this week's book was The Art of Failure. It was written by a professor at the NYU Game Center. The author discusses the paradox of gaming (much like the paradox of painful art), which goes something like this:

1. As humans, we avoid the negative emotions that failure cause us.
2. Games present us with the constant threat of failure.
3. People seek out opportunities to play games, which often result in failure.

Ultimately, the most likely explanation for why we play games similar to why we watch horror movies. Research shows that while we consume any sort of fictional media, there are two parts of the brain that remain consistently active for the duration of the event. In the case of the horror flick, one of these parts focuses entirely on the movie. This is why you jump when something scary happens. The other part keeps track of all of the other things going on around you, what the people in the theater are doing, where you are, and reminds you that you are watching a movie. This is why you don't run out of the theater when something scary happens. While we can be fully engrossed in a game and any failure can be devastating, we always have the option of walking away and telling ourselves that it was just a game.

The author performed a small case study in which he asked people to play a short game he had created and rate their enjoyment of the game. The study showed that players who completed the game without failing once rated the game lower on average than players who failed at least once. Players who failed too frequently to complete the game rated the game only slightly lower than players who never failed. The author also talked about specific and general causes of failure and how these perceptions can change the way characters react to the failure and how much they enjoy the game.

Failure in the storytelling aspect of a game is a tricky subject. While most literature and film is shown in a third person perspective, games usually force the player to take on the role of the protagonist. In fiction, we can feel empathy for the protagonist as we watch his (or her) world fall apart, this generally doesn't work well in games because the players' and protagonists' goals are generally aligned. A failure (personal tragedy) for the protagonist is a failure for the player. There have been a few games that have successfully pulled off tragic endings (namely, Red Dead Redemption) and there are games that focus on deception and complicity to keep the players' and protagonists' goals in line.