Written by Taoan, 2021 Cohort
Recently one of my university friends bought a game called “Inscryption”, and he streamed his gameplay on an online video platform. It is a meta rogue-like indie game with horror elements ( in my view), which actually is not the type of game that I will enjoy or try, and my friend is an amateur that just has one or two followers ( including me) but we still had a lot of fun with the streaming. Why?
The main reason may be quite clear. It brings me back to my childhood. I used to watch my friends or my older cousin play games a lot instead of playing by myself. The reason I think is that most of the games were difficult and I did not have much opportunity to play at that time, so my gaming skills were not as good as my friends and cousins. But I could still enjoy the games by watching them play.
Another reason is that, if unexpected things happen when we are playing, my friends and I always want to share with each other. With streaming, we can have the same experience together when something funny happens, and we can interact with each other immediately even if we are in different time zones.
The final reason is that it is interesting to watch the way people play the same games but different from you. For example, I think I am a perfectionist when I play RPG games. I always explore all the levels, finish all the side quests, find all the collections, then push the story forward. But other people may want to immerse themselves deeply in the game, so they may follow the story directly, instead of exploring the whole level. It gives me the feeling that I am watching a novel be written in a different way.
In conclusion, I like streaming because it reminds me of my childhood, allowing me to interact with my friends remotely and directly, engaging me in different experiences of the same games I played. That’s also why I am attracted to games. I can enjoy them even if I do not play them! (of course, if I can play by myself, it will be better!)