deathmtn

I just started Play Anything. I have liked every article I've read by Ian Bogost, so I'm optimistic about this book being insightful. One of the premises seems to be: The value of games comes from accepting and embracing their limitations. That makes sense to me, and I'm looking forward to seeing specifics that make the case for this.

In the preface, he goes on to say that this mindset can be applied to the rest of your life. Maybe I misunderstood, but here, I'm not so sure. I can't help but think of Principal Skinner trapped under a stack of newspapers in his garage.

For the next week I stayed alive by eating my mother's delicious preserves and maintained my sanity by dribbling a nearby basketball with my one free hand.

I made a game of it. Seeing how many times I could bounce the ball in a day, then trying to break that record.

I mean, yes, that's the best you can do in that situation, but is it a reasonable thing to do all situations with boredom or discomfort? I guess we'll see!