Cozy Gaming v Triple-A: What Makes Slow-Paced Games So Entertaining?
Image by Rylie Howerter via Flickr
Animal Crossing: New Horizons defined the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns for gamers on an international scale. At such a distressing and uncertain time in humanity, people turned to the highly immersive game for a sense of community, comfort and entertainment. As a series Animal Crossing has served the same purpose continuously since its original release in 2001, providing people with an outlet to access a subdued reality where players can fish, catch bugs, dig up fossils, pick up weeds, furnish and customize homes or chat with the animal villagers on their island. Ultimately, these characteristics have led to Animal Crossing becoming globally recognized as one of the most renowned titles in the ‘cozy gaming’ genre.
In comparison, Triple-A games are typically considered to be titles that are of a much higher quality, and have a more expansive production process with an often larger team working on them than ‘cozy games’. With some popular examples of Triple-A games including the highly successful titles Grand Theft Auto and FIFA, one can instantly gauge the key difference between player expectations here; as in GTA, if you aren’t incredible at completing the missions in a time-controlled and precise manner, you will often fail and face harsh consequences as a result. Similarly, if you don’t allocate the right units with the right statistics in FIFA, players are more prone to losing matches.
The burden of ‘high risk’ gameplay sometimes carried with playing Triple-A games are what sets them apart from ‘cozy games’ in terms of their overall entertainment value. With much of the fun in these games appealing to the standard human essence of competitiveness and determination to win, it is hard to imagine that the average player would turn to a game like GTA to relax and slow down their mind, especially with alternate experiences available that allow players to genuinely enjoy and find happiness in the activities the game offers.
Because Triple-A games often have much larger development teams, they tend to operate around making an additional profit through the constant release of new downloadable content (DLCs) available for purchase. This can often leave players feeling urged into buying additional content to avoid missing out, or for their game to feel as if it has a broader range of playability. This model of production can also often cause the audience to grow tired of constantly emptying their pockets for content that is extortionately priced and, arguably, should have been included in the base model of the game.
The additional pressure to attain mainstream commercial success, paired with higher financial restraints present many challenges for Triple-A games, often leading to these titles being presented in a poor light as the interests of players fizzle overtime, with many players to turn elsewhere for entertainment in spite of the industry's extraordinarily high production budgets. In contrast, 'cozy games' are often independently produced and are usually able to cultivate a more loyal and consistent following, as by comparison any DLC produced is often more affordable and far more sparsely released, reinforcing the idea that these games aim to serve as positive and stable online environments for people to dispense time and money into.
At the end of a chaotic emotional time, a hectic workday or a snug day indoors, 'cozy games' like the Animal Crossing series can provide the perfect escape due to its inherently slow paced and inconsequential nature - where it doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do. When compared to ordinary daily life, there is such a deep lack of pressure in all aspects that the experience becomes tailored to each individual playing it no matter their lifestyle, creating a safe environment that is free from worry by building a comfortable and accessible relationship between the player and the game.
Edited by Karan Nimsons
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