The Path Dev: Braid Is Not a Game

Keane Ng

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The Path Dev: Braid Is Not a Game



Michaël Samyn of Tale of Tales, the developer of The Path, an art game that some people said isn't a game, is taking that same observation and making it about his indie peers. Games like Braid and Everyday Shooter, he wonders [http://tinyurl.com/cw9f9a], maybe aren't games at all.

Michaël Samyn hasn't finished games that many people like: Braid, Everyday Shooter, Knytt, Zeno Clash. It's not that he has a problem with supporting his fellow indie game developers, it's just that he gets to the point where he's stuck and has failed - the point, he eloquently puts it, at which "the game blocks itself off, closes up like an oyster refusing to give up its pearl."

He'll admit that he doesn't "particularly like games." But when it comes to games like chess, there's a difference. There, he might lose, but he still likes playing, and is happy to see someone (his human opponent) win. Not so with videogames. With games, he says "nobody really wins. And it feels more like the game is designed to make you lose. As if you deserve to be punished for something. When all you did was try to play a game."

Electronic games, Samyn ventures, are like tests. "They make it hard for you, on purpose. They're not meant to be easy," he writes. "It's a format that lends itself to quizzes as well as school exams." Quizzes are considered games, but exams aren't, though formally, they're pretty similar: you answer hard questions, but you do one for fun and the other because you have to.

Braid is, on some level, like an exam. "What makes Braid a game?" Samyn asks. "Its rules, goals and challenges? No. Because the same format can apply to something that is not a game (an exam, e.g.). On some level, Braid is serious. Like an exam."

After which point he admits that maybe it comes down to subjectivity, suggesting maybe we can call something a game simply because it's fun for someone out there. By that logic, counting ducks can be a game, an exam can be a game, and, Samyn admits, "maybe everything can be a game!"

That's kind of dodging the question he brought up initially, but the observation stands. Sometimes a videogame can get hard enough to the point where it feels like nobody wins. I know there were some points during my Braid playthrough when it felt more like an exercise in a logic textbook than a game. Anyway, some food for thought for you to chew on.

[Via Kieron Gillen's Twitter [http://twitter.com/bremxjones]]


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TsunamiWombat

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He'll admit that he doesn't "particularly like games."
And it is at this point I stopped listening to whatever he said and realized he was a douchebag.

DO NOT TRY TO -MAKE- GAMES, IF YOU DO NOT -LIKE- GAMES.
 

Kiutu

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This guy just sounds like a jerk. And yes, anything can be a game. Imagination is an amazing thing. Plus there are chalanging games like Braid that test your mind which can be fun. There are also games that allow for more mindlessness. Ofcourse you can make tests foryourself in those too. GTA you can just go be a crazy mass murderer, or you could test yourself to see if you can do that AND escape the eventual army of law enforcers.
 

Kojiro ftt

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I unfortunately cannot comment on whether or not The Path is a game, since it won't run on any of my computers due to it's ridiculous graphics card requirements. It won't even run on my wife's brand new Dell laptop. Bah! I hate PC games.
 

Brotherofwill

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On a certain level I think he has a point, but then again this could just be a defence mechanism against the criticism of his game:

Reviewer: "Awesome visuals but lacking in gameplay"
Samyn: "Your mum has awesome visuals"

His game got an amazing 80 on Metacritic, so why does he care?
Why anyone would go through the trouble of designing a game while not liking the medium is beyond me.
 

insanelich

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On any level I think he's a douchebag trying to beat Cliffy B in being the most douchebag game developer ever.

That's quite the task ahead of him, but being dumb throughout, I have no doubt that he will succeed with enough persistence.

If you don't like or understand games; please don't develop games nor comment on them.
 

Kaisharga

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Chess cannot be compared to Braid, or really any single-player game. Single-player chess against a computer opponent is a project of suffering. There has to be a challenge in most anything we do, otherwise it is completely uninteresting. The competitive multiplayer experience has the luxury of challenge built into it, whereas cooperative multiplayer and single-player games need to invent challenge through some in-system method. That there is a brain behind one and a set of algorithms and situations behind the other does not necessarily mean one is a game and the other is not; at the same time, it can make all the difference in the sort of enjoyability a game can convey.
 

Nick Halme

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Speaking from personal experience, most people who make games do not like games. Or at least, they loathe the games they work on. In some cases they won't even play their own game. It's not uncommon and it doesn't seem to effect the quality of games, but it is indeed very strange. Interestingly it is "outsider thinking" like this that is actually important for game design (which often never questions its own values).
 

Mr.Pandah

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I thought thats why we play games...to overcome challenges. Many others have said it already, but I mean, come on...Why the hell are you making games if you don't even like them?
 

ElArabDeMagnifico

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He'll admit that he doesn't "particularly like games." But when it comes to games like chess, there's a difference.

I think that's worded wrong. He likes games, but mainly games like chess, or I guess an MP game.

I get the point, maybe Braid isn't a game because there's no distinct "winner" - but maybe overcoming a challenge can be a 'game' too.
 

Keane Ng

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As regards this "particularly don't like games" bit, this is what he said in full:

I don?t particularly like games. That?s true. I won?t go out of my way to play a game of chess or hide and seek. And I?m not exactly thrilled when my daughter wants me to join her game of Legos or Playmobil.
He said it, but I think he might have done so a bit playfully, at least I hear that. My bad for making that unclear, but I think you can read it more than one way.
 

SharPhoe

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MaxTheReaper said:
They hurt you because they love you.
PC games are like...a dominatrix.
Console games are a pillow.

A really good pillow will not hurt you at all. It is also fairly cheap.
However, it does not love you.

A really good dominatrix is designed to hurt you. It is also very expensive (I am assuming.)
Therefore, it loves you whole bunches.

In this equation, love is equivalent to "goodness."
Therefore, PC games are better than console games, fact.
I'm not going to lie.

That is a very off-putting analogy.
 

Dalisclock

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Braid is more of a game then the Path is. All the Path has going for it is a bit of atmosphere. Braid has beautiful visuals and music, atmosphere and some rather interesting puzzles.
 

TsunamiWombat

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Keane Ng said:
As regards this "particularly don't like games" bit, this is what he said in full:

I don?t particularly like games. That?s true. I won?t go out of my way to play a game of chess or hide and seek. And I?m not exactly thrilled when my daughter wants me to join her game of Legos or Playmobil.
He said it, but I think he might have done so a bit playfully, at least I hear that. My bad for making that unclear, but I think you can read it more than one way.
... *facepalm* This guy has his defintions of "games" all borked up.

What the hell is with these pretensious "I'll take a dump and call it art" game dev's...
 

samsonguy920

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Reading to what this guy was saying, all I could hear in my head was, "Sounds like those people who think paint blown on a canvas by a jet turbine is art." He says he doesn't play games, and yet he plays chess, and has fun with it. Seriously, how many games that have been released for either PC or console relate in a significant degree to chess? And he rants about losing like it's a disease. Losing isn't the endall buddy, it's the point where you pick yourself up and learn from your mistakes, not sit and cry and never tackle the game again. If that was the rule the Red Sox would never have made it to the top.
 

Tech Team FTW!

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I believe that it is possible to 'win' an exam, if you phrase it just right.
Eat my logic Michaël Samyn.