Big Ideas: In defense of single-player games

Posted Nov 25th 2009 2:00PM by Akela Talamasca
Filed under: Culture, Features, Opinion

Raph Koster, author of "A Theory of Fun for Game Design", has famously said "The single-player game is a strange mutant monster which has only existed for 21 years and is about to go away because it is unnatural and abnormal." He makes the claim early on that we all learned to play games with other children, and that such play is inherently social and "normal".

But what about those times when we played alone? When we entertained ourselves with a puzzle, or building blocks, or happily invented our own games with our own rules, playing against ourselves for the sheer imaginative force of it? I don't for one minute believe that the single-player game is either unnatural or abnormal ... nor do I believe it's doomed.

There is a subsection of game players whose preferred gaming environment is online, playing against other humans. The very existence of multiplayer modes in a great number of games would seem to argue that the demographic may well be the majority of players. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that those players don't enjoy the single-player experience as well. There is a lot to be said for playing through a new game in single-player mode in order to become well-acquainted with the controls, witness the full length and breadth of its content, and develop useful initial strategies against opponents who use the full range of weaponry against you. These strategies can then be taken in against other players and evolved into strong offensive and defensive mechanics that will stand the test of time.

But that argument is mere generosity toward those who prefer to play against others. The point is that even for the strict multiplayer-only audience, there is still value to be had in the single-player mode. Speaking personally, my last head-to-head match against anyone was nearly 10 years ago, playing Starcraft against several friends at a local LAN-hub. That was fun, but I haven't missed the competition. The entirety of my joy comes from playing alone, just me versus the game.

Whenever I'm asked to provide a reason for my love of video games, my stock answer is that playing a game is like accepting a challenge from the designer: "I have made this game, and I defy you to beat it." There are rules, hard-wired constraints that provide the structure within which the player must use their own skill to prevail. There are powers, abilities given to the player to help them achieve this goal. And there is the underlying assumption that the goal is attainable -- the game can be beaten, and in fact was designed to be beaten. It may take a lot of time to win through, but that is the purpose of the game's existence.

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Tags: big-ideas, featured, joystiqfeatures, opinion, single-player

4 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Raph Koster has displayed a startling lack of understanding of computer gaming if he likens the entire medium to games like hide and seek.

Games have the unique facility to tell stories, and provide an escapism that complimentary media like film and television and literature never, ever could.

And there's obviously a very longwinded argument related to that, and how there's no shortage of storytellers (and even huge names in the world of film migrating to games, realising the unique capacity to tell stories in different ways), and that there's a strong market for singleplayer games that has coexisted with multiplayer games for as long as gaming has existed, and has survived a decade of MMOs and much longer-still of MUDs.

But I think the most relevant issue is probably that of competition. There's an oligopoly in the multiplayer market of most genres, and a monopoly in others. In the FPS genre, there are three names that rule the genre: Valve, DICE, Infinity Ward.

In the RTS genre: Relic, Blizzard, EA, Creative Assembly.

In the MMORPG: Blizzard, SOE, ArenaNET (I'm out of the loop for MMORPGs, but I believe LotRO and WAR aren't doing too well).

The simple fact is that the extreme majority of gamers have a mainstay game (or two) of choice within their favourite genres, and they will play those games for months or years.

And most other games are ignored, or given only cursory glances before gamers go back to the games and names they know can deliver. These developers have such a stranglehold on their respective genres that most other companies simply don't stand a chance, unless they display extreme talent.

The singleplayer market is fundamentally different. There is of course a fierce competition amongst singleplayer games, but never (or only rarely) will there be a situation where someone will say: this game is great, but I'm not going to get it because this game is better. Owning Dragon Age won't preclude that person from buying Fallout. There is a competition, but it is a very different competition.

With the multiplayer market, buying one game - most of the time - really, really does preclude that person from buying its competitors, because so many people, particularly PC gamers, play the same online games year after year.

And it's that if nothing else that will keep multiplayer games from killing singleplayer games. It takes only a few games to completely sate the majority of the demand.

And getting on the 'in' list is very, very hard.Posted at 3:00PM on Nov 25th 2009 by asfm

"I've even found greater joy in playing MMOs singly than with teammates."

Right there with you. My time in WoW is pretty much 95% time devoted to all my characters, even going as far to be the only player in my own guild.

The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games are the exception to my own personal feeling of "SP over MP". Those games I purchase and play more for the MP aspect, though, I still tend to be a rogue player by not chatting or interacting with others outside of each match.Posted at 3:24PM on Nov 25th 2009 by George McBain

I've always been about single player games as a way of doing something fun when a friend isn't available. Sure the Internet makes it easier to expand your set of possible teammates/opponents, but that doesn't make playing against yourself / the rules / an AI any less fun...Posted at 1:45AM on Nov 26th 2009 by whipit82

Great article. I always like Single-player games more than the Multi-player games. Multi-player ONLY gamers are most of the time dicks who have no life what so ever and like to live upon their achievements in a virtual world.Posted at 4:29AM on Nov 26th 2009 by blkrb0t