The things that are good about games it's so weird that they're so terrible about real life, right? Like, in a game navigating a space and exploring a world and finding all the nooks and crannies is wonderful. And in real life, uh, that experience we call being lost and being lost is awful. Uh, being lost makes you reach for a map. Uh, it makes you call a friend. Uh, it makes you go to your smartphone. Um, it makes you try and just seek the answer immediately. No one likes being lost. And yet, so many games are sort of built on the foundation of pleasurable exploration. And I'm actually going to a place and willingly not know what to do next and willingly not know where to go next and that's actually okay. And I'm not sure what about games makes it okay. Um, uh, I know I'm super susceptible to the pleasures, the, the kind of chores and tasks I would never ever want to subject myself to in real life. I'm perfectly willing to do, uh, in a game. I mean, think about Grand Theft Auto IV, which is a game I really enjoyed, and I enjoy parts of it that people really hate. And I enjoy parts of it that I hate about real life, you know. You're in the middle of trying to do something important and your cousin Roman calls you. And your cousin Roman wants to go bowling. And a lot of people kind of I think criticize the game for some of those kind of intrusions, but it's, it was awesome. You know, I always stopped whatever I was doing to go bowling with Roman. I mean, it seemed, it's something I've never done in a game before. It seemed kind of novel. Um, and it actually made me feel a certain way about Roman because it always felt like Roman was calling at the wrong times. In real life, when my cousin calls me at the wrong times, uh, to do things I don't want to do, I find it highly irritating and I just don't pick up.
