Nov 27
Games should be like mowing the lawn, according to Chris Taylor
There are a lot of ways to describe what games should be like - and mowing the lawn isn’t one I would think of. And I doubt that’s the first thing that came to your mind either - unless you’re Chris Taylor, head of Gas Powered Games. He has a vision for what he believes games should achieve, and it happens to be similar to mowing the lawn:
When I ride the lawnmower I don’t think about steering and cutting grass… I think about life. I think about work. I think about things I have to do. I recharge - charge my batteries up.
When I finish mowing the lawn, I haven’t done a chore - I’m actually ready to take on something. That’s what I think gaming needs to be.
I don’t think that’s quite the best analogy for what he’s trying to say, unless mowing the lawn is the only time when he actually reflects on life and work and the only thing that leaves him feeling accomplished. However, he elaborates further on the meaning of what he said in an interview with PC Gamer UK, and fortunately strays away from his confusing lawn mowing analogies in favor of one about Saturdays:
Do you want your entire Saturday to be laying around or do you want your whole Saturday to be about working, or would you rather a combination of both? You do some chores, you sit, you enjoy. It’s a balance. I’m striving for that in my next designs - a balance of energy output and energy input.
The fact that many people would prefer to just lay around without working aside, it seems like an interesting idea. However, games should be about fun and enjoyment, not about completing a chore. I’m sure he can understand this, and so I’m not sure what he hopes to accomplish while still keeping the game as an enjoyable pastime, not just more work that is only about fun for half of it.
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“…games should be about fun and enjoyment, not about completing a chore.”
I’m going to frame that.