Why I play games

I am a bit of a loner in my family, being the only person I'd class as anywhere near "gamer", (although my sisters fiancée is close). So when I talk to them, it can be a tad hard to find a subject to discuss at times, since their hobbies rarely match mine.

One of the questions I've encountered, not just in my family, but from others as well is "Why do you play games so much?"

A fair question, and one that is kind of hard to answer in a short time.
Games, at their core, is the same as other forms of entertainment. Music, films, cartoons, books and so forth all strive to tell a story. To let the player experience a story from the viewpoint of one or more characters.
A well-written book or great film can move people, can induce emotions and explain things in ways that are difficult to do in conversations.

Games take this a step further. Games allow the player to create their own stories, through the medium. No game is ever truly the same. Even the simplest games have you ending up with a slightly different ammo count, or one more secret area. Maybe you did this and that in a different order.
Much like films, books and so on, games tell a story. But while a book will only ever tell the same story, and films will only truly surprise you once, games tell your story, not that of others. And it always changes, through your own actions.

Some games allow you to control everything, creating the world and your story however you want (Minecraft), while others have a limited place for you to move about in (Doom).
Either type of game is unique, and so each playthrough is slightly different than the others.

Games, to me, are a way of passing the time, of experiencing things I can never do in real life and, most crucially, of letting me create a story about myself that is unlike any other.


I am Changrey, I am a gamer.

See ya all on the bounce.