There is something interesting about Snowrunner and other similar games. To be specific I’m considering games of the Simulator type, be it farming simulator or even powerwashing simulator.
In a sense we are constantly doing chores in these games and in some cases jobs that a lot of people wouldn’t want for themselves in real life. So why are they so compelling?
Yes these are just fictional deliveries I’m making with my truck, and yet I feel a deep sense fulfilment when I finish a tough job in snowrunner, or similarly when I complete a long powerwashing job.
This really speaks to a human urge to complete tasks, even if they technically don’t mean anything. We like checking stuff off lists and feeling like we put in work.
Funny enough that doesn’t always work for real life things – you may have some dirty dishes piled up while you read this. So why aren’t we, in some cases, as good as completing tasks outside of games?
One reason may be that the low friction and low effort of playing a game versus doing something physical is a nice hack to get the satisfaction of completing a task without having to put in as much effort. We can get a similar dopamine rush by doing something ingame without the hassle of physically doing the thing.
This may sound a bit dystopian – are we all going to end up plugged to a computer getting dopamine spikes from doing fake chores while robots do our real chores in the background?
That’s for sure a possibility but for now we can try to extract something from the gaming scenario that might help us complete more tasks in real life, and that is to gamify activities such as doing the dishes, taking out the trash, cooking a meal or doing some exercise.
Something to play around with there, but bringing it back to games – I am fascinated to see games mix in sim-like elements into other genres. Maybe we can maintain our own car in the next GTA and get better performance on it if we do a good job, making some missions easier for example. I would love to see that added as an optional element where you can spend time on it if you want and get an advantage elsewhere but you can equally choose to ignore it and forego that benefit.
This may sound pointless – why include the thing if you let people opt out of it. The fact is opting in is part of the enjoyment and giving folks that engage with those systems a small but cool reward can be just enough to get them really excited.
We see something similar with base building in certain games like Fallout 4 or Subnautica, there are small rewards to those who take base building beyond the pure functional dimension. These are small convenience advantages you get for investing time into that system, while not breaking or changing the difficulty curve of the game.
Often times a cosmetic reward can be just as exciting for folks who are into that – I was happy to do a ton of side quests in Spiderman just to unlock all the suits.
To me, the sim-like element is a whole new dimension that can be added to games for those who want to get into it while allowing others to pass on it. Developers can make a strategic decision on how much time to spend on these systems so that it isn’t too much investment compared to the main parts of the game while also providing some really fun interaction.
A good example of this is Yakuza Infinite Wealth, which had a… well it had a wealth of minigames. Some of them really fleshed out, others more on the shallow side but all of it adding tons of layers to an already awesome game. I’m a big believer that minigames are an amazing addition to games.
We also saw it with the most recent entry in the Final Fantasy 7 remake: rebirth. Some incredibly fun minigames that let you choose how much you wanted to engage with them ranging from never touching to getting down and dirty to beat the harder modes.
In some ways Death Stranding had elements of Snowrunner with the deliveries and the ability to engage deeply with the traversal and getting strategic with routes you chose. I think that is a good example of integrating some of these elements into an otherwise story heavy game.
To come back full to Snowrunner, I believe all those elements are well captured with a veneer of simplicity that makes it all the more compelling.
I’m constantly looking forward to my next contract, and problem-solving the environmental challenges be it snow, mud or both.
Now I have to actually do the dishes though!