I have often heard the phrase “Life is what you make it.” This is based on the idea that life will not simply hand you the things you want and/or need, even if you ask nicely. There are always limitations that exist, whether it be in the amount of money or material possessions you possess, the talents you have, or the time you have to do something. These limits have, and always will, exist; it’s part of being human. However, another part of being human is overcoming these limitations. We are constantly striving to overcome our limitation, even from a very young age. From our first steps and words, to pursuing a college degree, to climbing the corporate ladder, every major point in a life are marked by the overcoming of limitations. Games are a prime location to look to see this human drive; you, as a player, are constantly striving to overcome the limitations played on you by the game. This thought brought up a couple of important questions to look at when it comes to games. What effect does limiting a player’s options have in a game, and how do players overcome/surpass these limitations? How do these limitations effect the player’s experience of the game?
To attempt to answer these questions, I set up an experiment using Portal, a puzzle-solving game published by Valve. I had the players play the first two levels of the game as a introduction/refresher to the controls and basic puzzle solving concepts of the game. I then had them play the actual test level (Test Chamber 13) and limited them based on whether they had played before or not. I imposed a time limit of three and six minutes, respectively, and then had them play through the level with the goal of finishing within the time limit. After they played for the time limit assigned to them, I had them answer a questionnaire, in order to obtain participant opinions. This questionnaire included questions about whether they had played Portal before, how often they played video games, how difficult they felt the limitations made the game, and how much fun they had playing the level. Only four of my participants finished the level within the time limit assigned to them, three of which had played before and one of which had not. However, all four of these participants ranked themselves five out of five on how often they played video games and ranked the difficulty of the limitations a two or below on a scale of five. Those who did not finish within the limitations set ranked the difficulty somewhere between two and four, regardless of whether they had played before or not; only one person ranked the difficulty as a five out of five. The most important result that I drew from the participants is that no participant ranked the fun they had while playing to be less than a three out of five, with the majority of my participants (13/15) ranking fun a four or five.
When comparing my results and the questions I was asking, a few patterns emerged. The most obvious result answered my first question: The setting of a time limit resulted in the majority of the participants not finishing the level. However, while the limitations placed prevented the majority of the participants from completing the level, each participant strived to advance as far as possible. No one gave up, and if they became stumped by some particular ‘puzzle piece’, they would experiment with their environment to figure it out. To that effect, my second question was answered: no matter what limitations are placed on a player, they will strive to succeed and complete the tasks assigned to them. This was most obvious in the participants who completed the level within the time limit, all of whom are avid gamers. The problem-solving skills they had learned from other games carried over into Portal and helped them to overcome the limits imposed. Even the participants who did not finish strove to overcome these limitations. My third question had the most evidence supporting it: despite additional limitations like time limits, players will still have fun playing the game. Overcoming the additional limitations was just another part of the fun.
On a side note, because many of my participants had not played Portal before, or video games on a more general scale, many had a steep learning curve on the test level. They had to learn how utilize portals while under an additional limitation. I feel that had they had a chance to learn to effective use portals, many more of my participants would have succeed in overcoming the limitations placed upon them.
Problem-solving is a crucial skill to have and be able to utilize effectively, be it in a video game, advancing from one level to another, or in real life, advancing up the corporate ladder. As Koster states, “Games are puzzles to solve, just like everything else we encounter if life.” (34) He believes the puzzle solving aspect is crucial to games and to the amount of fun we have. As he says, “Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun.” (40) I saw this in my participants, especially in those who had never played before. There was always a sense of accomplishment, of pride, when they figured out how to solve a portion of the puzzle. Even with the participants who had played before, something about overcoming the limitations set upon them, either by me or the game itself, gave them a sense of satisfaction. They enjoyed themselves because they were constantly being pushed to solve some portion of a puzzle, to go beyond the limits set.
This sense of accomplishment was present in all of my participants at some point or another, and is a indication of why problem solving is so important. We need problem solving skills not only so that we can succeed, but so that we can experience that thrill achieved by overcoming a limitation or obstacle. We enjoy being able to boast and show off when we have succeeded. As McMahan states, “Many users appreciate games at a nondiegetic level- at the level of gaining points, devising a winning (or at least a spectacular) strategy, and showing off their prowess to other players during the game and afterwards, during replay.” (69). That drive to succeed, to overcome, is crucial to puzzle-solving, and all of my participants displayed it; not one of them gave up at any point, even if they were killed.
Puzzle-solving itself is all about examining the limitations placed on the player by the game and figuring out how to overcome said limitations. We explore all the possibilities until we find out what works, never stopping or hesitating in our pursuit of the answers. As Bogost states, “This is what we really do when we play video games: we explore the possibility space its rules afford by manipulating the symbolic systems the game provides. The rules do not merely create the experience of play- they also construct the meaning of the game.” (121) This idea was reaffirmed by the results of my test. While the majority of my participants did not actually finish during the time limit assigned, they all pushed to overcome the limitations set by both the game and myself.
Limitations are a crucial part of any game, no matter what they control. Overcoming these limitations is what drives players to succeed, and they can find unique ways of doing it every time. The surpassing of these limitations is crucial to the fun that a player can experience. In short, while limitations do exist, they exist to challenge the player to rise about them, and the result of this is fun.
Works Cited:
Bogost, Ian. “The Rhetoric of Video Games." The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Edited by Katie Salen. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008. 117–140.
McMahan, Alison. “Immersion, Engagement, and Presence.” The Video Game, Theory Reader. Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, eds. New York, NY: Routledge (2003)
Koster, Ralph. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Phoenix: Paraglyph Press, 2004. 34-98. Print.
Survey Questionnaire:
Name of participant:
Have you played this game before?: Yes No
If you have not played this game before,
have you seen this level played before? Yes No
How often do you play video games? (1-never, 5-all the time): 1 2 3 4 5
Did you finish the level within the set time limit: Yes No
If not, why do you think this was?
If you have played this game before, how much did the added limitations increased the challenge for you? (1-not much, 5- very much): 1 2 3 4 5
Why was this challenging for you?
If you have not played this game before, how difficult was this game for you? (1- not very difficult, 5-very difficult): 1 2 3 4 5
Why was this challenging for you?
How much fun did you have playing this game? (1- Not much fun, 5- lots of fun):
1 2 3 4 5
Why was this game fun (or not) for you?
Procedure Run Down:
How I identified participants:
- I choose my participants from my group of friends.
- The reason for this is, while not all of them where avid gamers, I know them and I knew they would give me honest opinions.
- I had the participants come in on their own time over the course of a week and a half. I had them sit down and play the first two levels of the game as an introduction to the controls of the mechanics. I then loaded Test Chamber 13 and had them play through it. After they played for their allotted time, I had them fill out the survey. I analyzed the answers later for use in my paper.
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